How To Fix Leaking Deere FWA Hydraulic Motors

How To Fix Leaking Deere FWA Hydraulic Motors TRACTORS Miscellaneous 32-5-39 "A lot of the front wheel assist (FWA) hydraulic motors on older 20, 30 and 40 series Deere tractors are leaking now, and many people don't know where to go to get them repaired," says Roger Gutschmidt of Gackle, N. Dak. "I was in the same boat, but stumbled onto a company that specializes in rebuilding them. This place does phenomenal work." Gutschmidt restores his own tractors, and the first time he dealt with leaking hydraulic motors, he learned the hard way what not to do. He first took them to his local Deere dealership, where they replaced some sealsà but when he got them back, the motors still leaked. "Usually what's wrong is that they leak oil out of the relief valve, but you can't just go and replace the valve because it doesn't solve the problem. I found this place - Hydro Service in Roland, Iowa - where their specialty is machining these motors and checking the tolerances of the rotating assembly, which totally eliminates the problem." "Sundstrand manufactured these motors. Sundstrand also makes many of the hydrostatic units on rear wheel assist combines," he explains. "If the motors are engaged for long periods, they almost all leak." Before Gutschmidt sent his two motors to Hydro Service, they advised him to insure them. "These motors are quite valuable because they don't make them any more," he points out. When he phoned the company less than a week later to check on the job, he was told the motors were already on the way back to him. The charge at the time was $240 per motor. He was so happy with the results that he wrote the company the following letter: "I installed the FWA motors that you reconditioned in my tractor today. Everything looked real good. I then took the tractor to the field and tested the FWA. I had a leveler hooked to the tractor. I drove till the leveler was completely full of dirt and the tractor just sat there and spun, then I put the FWA in gear and it just æwalked' out of there. They worked perfect. I'm so happy I found out about you guys. Your service is excellent. You will be highly recommended by me to fellow FWA owners. I wrote the check out with a smile on my face. Thanks again for the good work and fast service." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gutschmidt Manufacturing, LLC, Roger Gutschmidt, 6651 Hwy. 56, Gackle, N. Dak. 58442 (ph 701 698-2310; shopdoc@ drtel.net) or Hydro Service, 202 N. Main Street, Roland, Iowa 50236 (ph 515 388-4096).

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