Right in the good range IMO. How about when it's running? You can put a piece of black tape on the bracket behind the site tube to make it easier to read. JD makes a red dye you can add that colors the fluid to make it easier to read, too.

 

Thanks for the reply Tmac! When it’s running with the snow the plow attached the sight glass goes empty unless I have the blade down lifting the front of the tractor up.

Should I be able to hear the whine of the transaxle? I’ve only had this machine since August, and I never paid attention to the transaxle before. But now I hear it whine and I’m not sure if I should.


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They all whine...varies with each machine. Have you changed the fluid & filter? Running JD low-vis hygard?

 

No, I haven’t changed the fluid or filter. We’ve got a snow storm coming in a couple of days and I’ll do it after that. I don’t know if it has low-vis or regular hygard.


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When I do a fluid/filter change I try to get the fluid about where yours is with the tractor running, then go forward and back, make a left and right turn, and exercise both hydro levers a little to get the fluid evenly distributed then add a little to get the level right by the SM.

 

Here is the procedure from the 430 Operators Manual. It should be the same for the 322. You can purchase and download an operators manual for the 322 from Deere.com. There may be other sites that offer it at no charge.

 

You can purchase and download an operators manual for the 322 from Deere.com.

Techpubs.Deere.com has almost every operators manual available to download for free.

Search for Equipment Publications - Technical Information Store

techpubs.deere.com

 

Just a comment if this is your first time changing the fluid and filter. After you get about 5 qts poured in, take your time adding any additional fluid. It takes a little time for the fluid to drain from the fill tube to the bottom of the transmission case and sight tube. It's easy to over fill at that point.

 

It's my understanding the level in the glass Guage will only be visible when the machine is OFF.
When you start the machine, it will dissappear. I've run my 322 this way for years. It will be over filled if you have fluid in the site glass when the engine is running, that's why the manual says to check it on level ground, engine not running.

 

It's my understanding the level in the glass Guage will only be visible when the machine is OFF.
When you start the machine, it will dissappear. I've run my 322 this way for years. It will be over filled if you have fluid in the site glass when the engine is running, that's why the manual says to check it on level ground, engine not running.

Thanks Swampfox!


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Well that explains it then...

 

Acronyms? Acronyms? We don't need any STINKING acronyms...just better cheap reader glasses!

 

But where are my readers. I have four pair and yet they all hide..DLTH

 

But they keep you moving...lookin for them. A pox on these blasted bifocals! Especially under a machine on your back...

 

Tmac,

Tri-focals are even a bigger challenge for working in odd orientations. I keep a pair of 'computer glasses' with my mid focal prescription lenses as the whole view for just such work -- at least the "active" area of the lens is full size and not just out of useful orientation like the bi-focal and tri-focal configurations are when looking up at the undersides of something...

Chuck

 

The next best for me is the strap on my forehead/hat rechargeable light that has four different light intensities my kids got me last year for XMas. Greatest thing since sliced white bread!

 

Sterling! 2 new ideas to pursue in the new year.

 

Good stuff, bought a small bottle 3-4 years ago and used maybe 10 drops out of it. It'll dry up long before it's gone. One note: VERY effective colorant...plan your application/use or just wait for your purple fingertips to shed enough skin to be rid of it.

 

Add a little Hyguard fluid to the jar of dye to rejuvenate the dried up dye. It doesn’t take much to dye a small jug of fluid.

 

Picked up a jar of that dye. Ought to be in an easier to use container. Potent. If want to use it, be careful.
And best to add during a filter/fluid oil change. If try to add via the fill tube later, it may not get down in there per se and be of any help.
Few drops is all it takes. It will change the color of the JD hydraulic fluid/oil so that it looks red, like ATF.

 

Yes indeed...I color my new Hygard with it during filter/fluid changes. Don't have an eyedropper so I dip one end of a long fireplace match in it, catch enough to make a drip, add to fluid, repeat & stir...plus I put the lid back on each container and shake it up before adding. A white or light colored piece of tape on the frame/bracket behind the sight tube makes it easier to read...have white duct tape on my tractors for this. Black Gorilla tape is good, too, if you stick to plain Hygard. Contrast is what does it.

 

Just a couple notes on this. I suggest you make a label and affix to the tractor or keep a note in your tractor file that you added red dye to your Hygard. It will save you or the next person that needs to add fluid to the tractor from scratching their head wondering if they should top off the fluid with Hygard or automatic transmission fluid. As per the Deere manual either is fine but I don't mix my Hygard with ATF.

Also as this is the time of year that folks are quickly buying used plows and blowers or hooking up attachments that have been sitting outside in the weeds all year - think about the fluid quality in those attachments. Whenever I purchase a used attachment with hydraulic fluid in it, I always drain the fluid before I attach it to my tractor. If you just changed the fluid in your tractor and hook up to an unknown hydraulic component, you've just mixed the fluids and you might have picked up dirt into your clean system. Worse yet, the attachment could have water in the lines and you've just mixed water into your system. If you use Hygard in your tractor because you prefer its qualities over ATF, and you hook up to an attachment with ATF, you have just mixed ATF with your Hygard.

 

How do you drain the attachments? For those who don't know, including me.

 

You don't need to...unless the attachment destroyed itself internally and you suspect metal shards in it. People on this site have been buying and selling hydraulic attachments for years interchanging them with 40-year-old tractors and I've never heard of any problems caused by not changing the fluid in the attachment. The hydraulic filter on the machine takes care of any minor contamination. Farmers all over the world exchange attachments between tractors and neighbors' tractors.

I use a dye I bought off of Amazon called BRIGHT DYES.(RED) I use it in anything when it's hard to see the fluid on the dipstick or site glass.

 

Draining fluid from attachments can be done different ways. Obviously you have to be cognizant you will be releasing pressure from lines that may have some residual pressure in them if a cylinder has a load on it so take safety precautions and do whatever necessary to avoid that situation.

On a simple angling snow plow or snowblower, with the attachment not connected to a tractor, if you have an extra male and female hydraulic fitting, you can connect the mating fitting into each hose fitting and hold the hoses over your drain pan while you manually move the attachment through it range of motion to compress the hydraulic cylinders and "press" out fluid. If you do not have extra hydraulic fittings, you can remove a fitting from the end of the hydraulic hose line or even at the cylinder and drain accordingly. Use gravity to drain residual fluid in the lines whenever possible. Others may have other procedures that work for them. YMMV

To refill, reconnect fittings or hoses to the attachment if you disconnected them. Connect the attachment to your tractor and cycle the hydraulics. Stop the tractor as necessary to check and refill the tractor's hydraulic system. You may need to cycle the tractor as you do when you change fluid to make sure you work all of the air out of the hydraulic system.

 

After the conversation above, I thought I would add I think my kids are trying to tell me something.... I got a pair of hand lights for XMas. See attached.

 

I agree. If I borrow an attachment from a known source, I'm OK with that. However, if I purchase an attachment from an unknown source and plan to keep it for a long time, I change the fluid. Not knowing the fluid's age, quality or type, and not knowing if the fluid has water in it, I don't want to mix that fluid in my machine. Filters don't remove water from hydraulic fluid and if a snow plow cylinder leaks hydrailic fluid from its seals, water can enter the system. Many of us have purchased machines that we could tell had not been maintained to the same standards we like to maintain our machines. Attachments usually get zero maintenance unless they break. For less than a quart of fluid and a small amount of time, I change the fluid. Your mileage may vary.