[AT] What to do now?

[Greg Hass]

In a previous post I mentioned my skid steer has been down for over a 
year. I have used it for a few minutes here and there. It runs fine but 
leaks out a quart of oil in 5 minutes at half throttle. I have always 
figured it was the seal between the engine and flywheel. Due to health 
problems, I never got to it until a week ago. A friend helped me pull 
the engine and last Sunday I bought a flywheel puller and pulled the 
flywheel. To my amazement the seal was still in place. What I next 
discovered was even worse. The crankshaft moves up and down and opens 
the lip of the seal allowing lots of oil out. This was Monday and 
Tuesday health problems had to get in the way. I had to have surgery on 
my hand for carparel  (sp ?) tunnel. The cast stays on till next 
Thursday and I don't know how long after that till I can use the hand 
(all this one handed stuff is not working good for me). Well, today 
another friend came to look at it and we spent 3 hours looking and 
talking and reading up on it. Before I go any further; the skid steer is 
a New Holland L-325 just over 30 years old. The engine is a 24 hp. Honda 
GX670BDW with only 281 hours and is twelve years old. It is the third 
engine; original was a kohler 23 horse which blew a rod ( those engines 
were known for that) followed by a short block which started burning too 
much oil and would never start and was replaced by this Honda. When it 
was only a couple of months old I was driving it and it started to shake 
and lots of smoke came out of the engine and then it stopped. After a 
few minutes it restarted and I had it checked by an approved shop. They 
claimed they found nothing but after later hearing things about them I'm 
not sure they actually checked anything. I am now thinking that whatever 
happened then took this long to show up. I've never heard of the bearing 
behind the flywheel giving out in less than 300 hours. From what we 
looked at today it appears the bearing or whatever you call it is part 
of the engine. That particular part of the engine includes the cylinders 
and the cost is over $1100 dollars. It appears I have two choices- a new 
engine or a different loader. The new engine  appeals to me but 
somewhere underneath is a bad oil leak (3 quarts in an afternoon of hard 
use). My plan was to fix the engine first and then block the loader up 
18 inches so I could remove the skid plate and then the gas tank so I 
could see underneath. I have always thought it was a leaky hose or a 
blown "O" ring but it must be running under pressure to see it and 
without an engine that can't happen. I called the dealer and most parts 
seem to be available except he wasn't sure about the squash plate in the 
hydro.  One could say get a used on but my brother bought a used Bobcat 
a few years ago and had nothing but trouble. He paid $5000 for it and 
last year managed to trade for $3000 so he was happy. I have always 
liked this loader, which I bought new, so I see no up-side to changing. 
Also I do have my Ford loader for many things but some things are best 
done with a skid steer. Any thoughts or ideas are appreciated.
         Greg Hass