FEL JoyStick Assembly Cable Replacement

[Kubota Tee]

Hoping someone out there can help me with this repair or at least share some related experiences.

My wife was using our Grand L5740 HSTC-3 tractor yesterday for moving material in the FEL. At some point, the FEL stopped working in the down position and only went up at a snails pace. The curl function was still working as normal. She was smart enough to stop what she was doing in order to avoid any further damage.

When I got home, I started investigating and found the Joy Stick control very lose in the down position, almost as if there was no connection. Thinking that the linkage may have broken, I started following the assembly cables to where they connect to the hydraulic valves and found that the up/down cable was not moving anything. Of course, this was after removing the rear tire and the access panel within the wheel well. I was able to operate the valve manually, so that seemed to confirm that the hydraulics were fine and it was a linkage/cable issue.

I haven't taken apart the cable yet, but have identified the Kubota Part Number as TD270-35252, Loader Valve Lever Assembly Cable.

Here are some of my questions . .

Do these cables just where out / break at times? Is this a relatively normal repair?

How difficult is it to change this cable? Any special tools needed?

Is this a symptom of something else - operator issues? I did purchase the tractor used with approx 400 hours on it. It currently has 540 hours.

The cable is not that expensive - $120, but I want to make sure I'm not getting myself into anything that I may not be able to complete.

Any / all thoughts, suggestions, comments are welcomed!!

Thanks!

 

[i7win7]

shut tractor off, cycle joystick to relieve pressure. Disconnect hydraulic lines and re-attach them. Sounds like a line started to work loose and the shut offs in couplers are starting to seal.

Most cables stretch over time, can you see some type of cable adjusters.

 

[Kubota Tee]

shut tractor off, cycle joystick to relieve pressure. Disconnect hydraulic lines and re-attach them. Sounds like a line started to work loose and the shut offs in couplers are starting to seal.

Most cables stretch over time, can you see some type of cable adjusters.

I am able to operate the hydraulics manually by moving the lever that the cable is attached to, so I don't think there are any hydraulic issues. The cable seems to have a spring inside of it such that it moves when I disconnect it and operate the Joystick, but when there is pressure on the cable, it just doesn't move.

I'm not quite sure about the whole spring thing mentioned above, it's just what it feels like when I operate the cable manually and it is disconnected from the hydraulic valves.

Does that make sense?

BTW - thanks for your quick feedback and suggestions!

 

[Tornado]

Saw this thread on tractorbyte, maybe it is of some use to you

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/281009-l5740-loader-control.html

 

[Kubota Tee]

Saw this thread on tractorbyte, maybe it is of some use to you

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/281009-l5740-loader-control.html

This is EXACTLY my situation! Very good to hear it is a straight forward repair. My part is ordered and should arrive tomorrow.

I'll report back on how it goes!

Thanks again for sharing this link!

 

[Kubota Tee]

Okay - thanks to Tornado and the referenced post on TractorbyNet I was able to successfully replace the assembly cable. It was not a difficult job - just a few tight locations that would have been better served with a stubby wrench versus the full sized wrenches that I have. Nonetheless, I was able to get the job done with little interruption. The hardest part was removing the interior trim and the right rear tire.

After removing the trim and tire, it was easy to remove the access panel and gain access to both ends of the cable. Before I installed the new cable, I laid the new one along side the old one to compare and contrast them. The old one was definitely broken at the lower end where it connects to the valve lever. IÂ’m attaching a picture of the two cables laid out side by side.

From reading the post that Tornado referenced it appears that using the float position puts extra stress on the cable - especially if you are slamming it down. I use the float position all the time during the winter for snow plowing and will try to remember to be a bit more gentle when engaging the float position in the future.

One other note - when researching the part, it appears that Kubota issued an engineering change at some point - I just hope the new ones are stronger than the ones that were used during the factory install. Also, this part and assembly is not included in the factory service manual.

Hope this post is helpful when someone else has the same situation.