3 Point-hitch Stuck in up position

[Cykalrrr]

Hello Knowledgeable ones,
I have a 1998 M4700 2wd w/ front end loader.
It has had a Woods 1050 backhoe attached most all of it's life.
It was recently stolen and the police recovered it but the backhoe was removed. The tractor seems ok but the 3 point hitch is stuck in the up position. The front end loader works fine. I have adjusted the drop rate knob under the seat but nothing. Tractor has just had new filters and oil changed. I have a few questions.
1, Does the backhoe require some type of diverter that would have
bypassed the 3PH?
2. I guess the lifting mechanism could be frozen,
3. Does this tractor have a lift locking lever ( I saw something about that
somewhere while researching).
4. Can I unscrew the drop rate knob to see if oil is coming out.
5. If frozen, can I apply pressure or hit the arms to break free.
6. Does this tractor have internal screen filter?

or what path would you recommend that I take in order to trouble shoot the problem? Is there a normal procedure of check this if ok check that....

Thank you in advance for your wisdom
RS.

 

[Cykalrrr]

Well, just to update, the local Kubota dealer said it was internal and wanted $1500 to take it apart. The more I thought about it, how could something that had never even been used (because a backhoe was always attached) be broken internally? I stood on one side and tapped on the other with a sledge hammer and it broke free. My 6 year old son was thrilled to operate the lever and lift me up and down a few times to loosen it and now it's working perfectly.

 

[coachgeo]

Good to hear you got it sorted!

 

[ShaunRH]

You did what I would've done. If it had never been used before, the metals just 'stuck' in that position after being there for so long. It happens. Nice job breaking it loose.

Glad to hear you got the unit back. I'm curious as to who stole it and their motivation... it would show up as stolen relatively quickly if they sold it. The new owner would likely try to do some maintenance or changes on it and discover it was stolen while getting parts. So, I'm not sure of the market for stolen tractors there, they show up really fast here. We mostly get vandalism in these parts.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I'm curious as to who stole it and their motivation.

They wanted the backhoe off of it is what it sounds like.

Thieves... about all their good for is tree and swamp fertilizer!

 

[Cykalrrr]

Well, it goes like this. My dad started having memory issues (at 81). My sister got power of attorney and put him in an assisted living home in Atlanta. We had a commercial construction co. which the tractor was a part of. With the economy the way it was my dad was trying to sell some equipment. When the tractor disappeared from a job site, I wasn't sure if my sister(we don't talk) had done something with it or what. I kind of assumed that is what happened. Anyway, because of all that, I hadn't even reported it. One day a detective called me and ask if I was missing a tractor. Turns out, the thief was using it to clean some property on a daily basis. Another guy got busted for something ( I think they were drug heads) and ratted the tractor thief out. The detective got a serial number and the Kubota Dealer looked it up and that led him to me. Pretty good police work if you ask me. The thief also got my trailer. Detective thinks they will locate all of it eventually. Also, Kubota told me that someone cut their fence and drove a new tractor right out recently. Police say that someone has been stealing diesel equipment around here so I go check and I have 2 John Deere 480 forklifts missing. I thought I found them on the internet in Florida but talked to those guys and the pics were from when my dad was trying to sell some equipment a while back. The good news is they had on of the serial #'s that I couldn't find. Glad to have the tractor back too because I may soon be growing my own food.

 

[ShaunRH]

We're all going to be growing our own food soon enough...

Glad to hear you got it back, sorry it was stolen.

As for the Kubota dealer, they need to start disabling the tractors on the lot and only enable them when someone wants to test drive one.