how to pull my ht23 safely... hydraulic repair questions

I was curious if my tractor has a valve that can be turned so that I can tow my tractor safely. It is pretty low on hydro fluid, and I don't want to burn anything up.. so I figured I would tow it over to grandpa's garage and begin my work before the snow hits. I need to pull it a full 200 +/- yards.. and don't wanna drive it while pumping expensive fluid out of the hard line leak.

The leak is somewhere around the starter? so here are a few questions if someone can answer them... it would be greatly appreciated


What is the best fluid and filter I can put on my tractor? how can I flush the exsisting fluid? I have a gift card for the JD dealership.. can I put some green branded fluid in my unit.. or is that sacreligious? any suggestion on the best type?

has anyone else experienced a leak in the starter area on their large frame?

Can I just weld the leak? I've never welded something like this.. but figured it could be done.

Will compression fittings work? any clue what size the lines are?

Where could I find a good used line(s) BHTS? do you have any? Are new lines available (will it require me to sell any of my body parts to afford them?)

Dad suggested unhooking the line up at the valve and just putting a plug in for a temp fix, and use the manual blade this winter. Any clue what type of thread the control valve has? It looks like it has a fitting that screws in like an AN type fitting, but then have a regular looking pipe type fitting screwed into it? Anyone have experience with these?

The Tractor supply guy told me to dump some hydraulic stop leak into the tractor.. this sounded like a good idea if I was fixing a radiator.. but stop leak in something like this sounds like a relatively bad idea and possibly damaging to the hydrostatic trans? Any opinions? I can't imagine spending 30 dollars on a jug of this stuff will work, but I also dont' wanna pull my motor to get to this line. The jug claims that it fixes seals, and restores the operation of hydralic components? hmmmm... dunno. Still sceptical...

Any and all opinions are greatly appreciated.. along with suggestions on how to "easily" pull the motor out. We have an overhead electric winch at grandpa's, although I doubt the Kohler weighs that much.

Thanks again,
Nicholas