I'll try and be brief but cover what I've done and what's happened. Short summary at the end.
~First tractor of my own, no mechanical background other than basic oil changes, replacing belts, starters, alternators, brake repairs, etc on trucks.
~When i bought it the curl down was weak (wouldn't put more pressure on ground than just resting) and FEL boom lowering was SLOW. Curl up and FEL raise were decent.
~I thought it was low on fluid (hydraulic fluid was leaking from coupler near lever, leaked fluid near 3 point)
~So I drained the hyd fluid and it looked like milky light green snot. I can post a picture tmrw.
~Cleaned the filter (magnet/canister type) with kerosene per the manual. It was full of metal shavings on the magnets and 1/2" of sludge at the bottom (and 1 fly.)
~Filled with 12g of hy/trans oil (Traveller RENEW) the amount per the manual. TSC didn't have any listed oils.
~Fired her up and lifted the bucket fine.
~Curl up fine and curl down was slow as it used to be.
~Raised the bucket all the way and curled down all the way and lowered the bucket.. still slow as molasses. Then the bucket wouldn't curl up. This had happened before and I went up front and jiggled it a little and hopped back in and up she went.
~Lowered everything to almost touching and checked the transmission and it went fwd and reverse fine in 2L.
Then I went to raise the bucket again and it wouldn't go. At all. Tried lowering it and it went slow as it always had. It wouldn't curl up, but it curled down slow, which again was always weak. I did hit the throttle when I tried raising it. Did nothing. Might have hurt pump? The 3 point wouldn't raise but lowered slow to the point where it was bottomed out, then wouldn't go up again.
~Checked dipstick, hyd oil level was a bit high to begin now lower but still within range of markings on stick.
~Leaking from front right FEL lift ram. Leaking snotty looking old fluid, while dipstick has clear new fluid.
~Idled engine for 15 min and it leaked fluid. Saw drip originating at throttle body pretty steadily which makes no sense so it has to be coming from somewhere else above but I'm not familiar with the hydraulic system enough to know what's what.
Summary: changed out hyd fluid and cleaned filter to try to fix weak power in new-to-me tractor. Found snotty milky oil and sludge in filter. FEL worked for one raising and lowering to get new fluid into cyl and then pooped out and stopped working altogether. New leaks were found.
I'm thinking I did one or more of the following mistakes:
~wrong hy/tran fluid
~too much or too little hy/tran
~blew seal in pump
~I have a clog in quick connect or line somewhere but that doesn't explain sudden total failure of system.
It's my first time working with hydraulic systems and it's all a little new to me. Forgive my ignorance and thanks to anyone who wants to help a 1 post newbie. I won't ask for help and leave.
~First tractor of my own, no mechanical background other than basic oil changes, replacing belts, starters, alternators, brake repairs, etc on trucks.
~When i bought it the curl down was weak (wouldn't put more pressure on ground than just resting) and FEL boom lowering was SLOW. Curl up and FEL raise were decent.
~I thought it was low on fluid (hydraulic fluid was leaking from coupler near lever, leaked fluid near 3 point)
~So I drained the hyd fluid and it looked like milky light green snot. I can post a picture tmrw.
~Cleaned the filter (magnet/canister type) with kerosene per the manual. It was full of metal shavings on the magnets and 1/2" of sludge at the bottom (and 1 fly.)
~Filled with 12g of hy/trans oil (Traveller RENEW) the amount per the manual. TSC didn't have any listed oils.
~Fired her up and lifted the bucket fine.
~Curl up fine and curl down was slow as it used to be.
~Raised the bucket all the way and curled down all the way and lowered the bucket.. still slow as molasses. Then the bucket wouldn't curl up. This had happened before and I went up front and jiggled it a little and hopped back in and up she went.
~Lowered everything to almost touching and checked the transmission and it went fwd and reverse fine in 2L.
Then I went to raise the bucket again and it wouldn't go. At all. Tried lowering it and it went slow as it always had. It wouldn't curl up, but it curled down slow, which again was always weak. I did hit the throttle when I tried raising it. Did nothing. Might have hurt pump? The 3 point wouldn't raise but lowered slow to the point where it was bottomed out, then wouldn't go up again.
~Checked dipstick, hyd oil level was a bit high to begin now lower but still within range of markings on stick.
~Leaking from front right FEL lift ram. Leaking snotty looking old fluid, while dipstick has clear new fluid.
~Idled engine for 15 min and it leaked fluid. Saw drip originating at throttle body pretty steadily which makes no sense so it has to be coming from somewhere else above but I'm not familiar with the hydraulic system enough to know what's what.
Summary: changed out hyd fluid and cleaned filter to try to fix weak power in new-to-me tractor. Found snotty milky oil and sludge in filter. FEL worked for one raising and lowering to get new fluid into cyl and then pooped out and stopped working altogether. New leaks were found.
I'm thinking I did one or more of the following mistakes:
~wrong hy/tran fluid
~too much or too little hy/tran
~blew seal in pump
~I have a clog in quick connect or line somewhere but that doesn't explain sudden total failure of system.
It's my first time working with hydraulic systems and it's all a little new to me. Forgive my ignorance and thanks to anyone who wants to help a 1 post newbie. I won't ask for help and leave.
Last edited:
