they have closed center hydraulics but it was ih's early foray into flow and pressure compensating hydraulics, in some hydraulic apps the customerand sometimes the dealer didn't understand the difference and some probs resulted.agree on the battery issue,the round axles were just on the first two years,if i remember right the square axles where used on the last  year,also the bolts on the front end are metric.we had round  axles never a issue,if mfd, look for the ih unit the elwood units weren't as durable.