I had an issue in the winter with air getting in to the piston pump on my Jubilee, requiring me to bleed it at the allen-head cap on the pump each time I started to move snow. When the air was out it would spurt oil a couple of feet out, and then work OK when I replaced the cap. This Spring I intended to replace the shaft seals that connect the drive to the flywheel, since the suggestions were that air was leaking in causing it to lose prime, but it wasn't needing to be bled in warmer weather and I needed it for the mower, so I decided to wait until Fall. It seemed to be working great. In the last couple of weeks, however, it has gotten real slow. It will move immediately, although slowly, and can raise the full amount on the 3-pt. I tried to bleed it, and it was full of oil that just oozed out, rather than spurting like before. So, is that an indication that I need to rebuild the front half of the pump as well or could something else be wrong. That front set of pistons have been rebuilt a couple of times in the last 20 years, but it never made a huge difference. Right now, although very slow (I usually pop the deck up passing over a ditch while mowing, but it is so slow that it scalps the ditch unless I come to a full stop and let it rise), it does go all the way and holds its position reasonable well without hick ups until the oil gets hot. But, something has changed. Fortunately, when raking or tedding hay I don't even need the hydraulics.

From the sound of it that pump needs to be retired.

Dan