The Classic Machinery Network

Gentlemen,
I wish to service the hydraulic oil filters on my Thwaites Orion 1 ton dumper tipping mechanism, it is a 1977 model.
Please can someone confirm what type of filters it will have?
I am assuming it only has a suction filter in the oil tank(?) as this is all I can find, would this be a washable re-usable type?
Lastly what grade hyd oil should I refill with?
Thank you for your knowledge in advance,
Chris Vince

All sorted, confirmed the details elsewhere, this may help other Orion owners?
It does have a return filter also a reusable suction filter.
The return filter is identical to a 1978 Skoda 110, £3.48 off Ebay, bargain!
It needs 32 grade hyd oil.

Forums like this are all about helping each other keep fine old machines working, my Thwaites Orion's hydraulic oil service was far from straightforward, my experience may help someone else?
I had the old style filter housing for which filter elements are now obsolete, I have tried for two months to find one without success, they are quite simply not available anymore, anywhere that I could find.
The information I gave above re: Skoda filters IS applicable to the superseded filter housing, Thwaites have only got one of these newer ones left, but I could not justify the cost of replacing this on a 40+ year old machine.
So I set about finding the closest oil filter I could source and adapting it to suit.
The best one I could find, for both size and robustness was one from a Mercedes C220D, I used a MEHR OF112, this is a good strong filter that lends itself to this application.
To make it fit:
The bottom of the filter sits on a spring loaded plate in the Thwaite housing, but it needs to be kept central until the sprung plate squeezes it, to achieve this I used 3 paper clips bent as in the picture with the straight length heated to red by a flame, and simply pushed into the plastic of the filter.
The top of the filter is held centrally by 4 lugs in the filter housing these are 48mm wide, the MEHR filter has a hole of 36mm so just 6mm needs cutting away with a Dremel burr, note that this material is best removed from the centre of the filter frame as in the picture.
Even the 'O' ring that came with the filter can be stretched to fit the Thwaites housing.
Best part, bought from an Ebay seller the filter was only £3-30!

Thanks Chris conversion and adaptation are always great ways to keep old kit running.

Jeremy

If it works you cannot beat a bit of home adaption!