How to replace a sight gauge in hydraulic reservoir

[DR Buck]

I have a leaking sight gauge on the hydraulic reservoir for my FARMA knuckle boom  loader.    I have never replaced one of these.   There is no documentation for the hydraulic power pack that came with the trailer bit the reservoir looks to be a standard 5" one.   I have not yet removed the old leaking one as I need to use the trailer this week.  Do these things screw/bolt on from the outside of the tank (is tank threaded) or am I going to have to build some kind of special tool to hold and screw nuts on from the inside of the tank ? 



 

[moosehunter]

The one I changed looked just like yours. There were four holes. Two threaded for the bolts, two just holes. There were o-rings around the holes. If you are ready with your parts you won't even loose much fluid.

mh

[snowstorm]

its no big deal to replace the orings   if the nuts are welded to the inside of the tank

[DR Buck]

Well I got it done.  But it was not as easy as I expected.   In fact I think it was the worst of all possible issues I had to deal with.   First, the old and new site gauge are mounted with nuts on the inside of the tank.   :(   Not threaded as I hoped.    So that meant I had to drain the tank.   The tank is welded to the hydraulic power pack frame and the drain plug is directly over the pump and there is no room for a funnel to catch the fluid.  At $8 a gallon I guess I lost about $5 worth trying to drain the tank without any disassembly.    I had to remove the Honda engine from the frame so I could get a larger funnel under the drain plug and finish draining the tank.   Then I had to disconnect the supply and return hoses from the tank and pull the entire power pack frame assembly out .

Using a magnet on an extender handle, several different curved and off-set wrenches and a pair of those $5 Harbor Freight pliers that are long and bent in weird ways I was able to get the nuts off and the new sight gauge installed.  The whole job took about 2.5 hours and most of that was spent wiping hydraulic fluid off of me and everything else. :D



            



                

[moosehunter]

When you had it drained did you extend your drain so you won't make such a mess next time?

mh

[Southside]

I would have tapped it while it was apart just in case I ever had to get into it again.  

[DR Buck]

I would have tapped it while it was apart just in case I ever had to get into it again.  

Can't tap a hole that is already bigger than the threaded inserts.

[coalsmok]

Form a Funnel Draining Tool for no mess oil changes
I have found these to work rather well.

[hedgerow]

DR Buck
Glad you got it fixed. I had to repair one last year on a seed tender for a buddy. I couldn't believe they hadn't welded the nuts to the reservoir. They had used lock nuts also. Then inlet and outlet and fill were so far away from the gauge you couldn't reach the nuts. I finally cut a hole in the top of the reservoir and welded in a piece of flat I tapped holes in so changing the gauge next time won't be a problem. Welded a patch back on the hole I had cut, leak checked with air and repainted the tank, reinstalled and filled with oil. Spent close to all day to repair a sight gauge. 

[Larry]

I have a cheap little drill operated pump that is made just for pumping oil and such from impossible to drain tanks.