Hoping for some help here. I have a Kubota M105S (cab, 4wd, 3 rear remotes). Previous owner used it to pull a 15 ft rotary cutter trimming highway medians in Virginia. I can seem to figure out if I have float on one of my three remotes or not. I cannot seem to get any of the remotes to stay locked in detent all the way forward no matter what I do. Here is a picture of the remotes that I have. I'm assuming since this tractor was previously used for rotary cutter duty that it has float on one of its three remotes. Here's a picture of what I have. Can anyone tell me what I may be doing wrong or if any of these three are float remotes? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Cant figure out if I have float or not?!
- Thread starter Ace327
- Start date
TheOldHokie
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3901/LA525, B7200DT/B1630, G2160/RCK60, G2460/RCK60
Cant really say but normally flost is a fourth position and the cap on the end of that valve will be an inch or more longer. Based on that picture I wouldcsay no float or all float. If you use the levers on the spool you should be able to tell if the spool has three or four positions.
Dan
Exactly what I was going to say...I'd say there is no float on the three spools.
Thanks for the replies fellas, all three of these remotes "act" the same way snap to center when anything attached to it gets to the end of its stoke. I was leaning toward that I didn't have any floats but just wanted some reassurance from those far more knowledgeable than me. I would have normally just said "hey I dont have any float" but the previous owner had done some really strange things to this tractor.
TheOldHokie
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3901/LA525, B7200DT/B1630, G2160/RCK60, G2460/RCK60
I don't know much about batwings. One I looked at had a single-acting cylinder on the height adjustment, I'm pretty sure. Is it possible that some part of the linkage on the wings allows them to float when in the fully down position?
TheOldHokie
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3901/LA525, B7200DT/B1630, G2160/RCK60, G2460/RCK60
Maybe I should read more closely. I missed the purpose behind the question.
SA cylinders dont have down pressure and will float independent of the valve.
Dan
Sorry, my post was confusing.
The SA part was just a comment. Seems like pressure raised the back height and release lowered it.
Second part, I was just wondering if something in the linkage might let each wing flex when its cylinder was extended.
Hey, I said I didn't know much about them! Maybe nothing.
TheOldHokie
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3901/LA525, B7200DT/B1630, G2160/RCK60, G2460/RCK60
I think everybody would benefit from a good description of why float is important and what its meant to accomplish.Sorry, my post was confusing.
The SA part was just a comment. Seems like pressure raised the back height and release lowered it.
Second part, I was just wondering if something in the linkage might let each wing flex when its cylinder was extended.
Hey, I said I didn't know much about them! Maybe nothing.
Dan
I’’m confused by this comment. The cylinder on my dump trailer is single acting. But it doesn’t float. It extends to dump the trailer and when the valve is put into the center position, it holds that position. It might leak down very slowly but not enough to notice a normal operation. Dump bed lowers when the control valve is moved to the lower position, and stops lowering if the valve is centered.
Dan, could you explain your statement a little further?
TheOldHokie
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3901/LA525, B7200DT/B1630, G2160/RCK60, G2460/RCK60
Sure.
Your dump trailer is an example of a SA cylinder under full time compression (gravity). Consider the SA lift cylinders on this old loader.
Thete is no hydraulic down pressure so if we lower the loader to the ground and start moving forward the bucket will float up and then back down as it moves along the surface of the ground.
This is because the cylinder is free to extend when the ground pushes the bucket up. It simply pulls a vacuum inside the cylinder when the rod extends. It will float back down again when the surface of the ground gets lower allowing the rod to retract. The only thing it wont do is drop down lower than the starting position unless we lock the spool in the lower position. In that mode the rod is free to fully retract and extend. Its full floating.
Dan
Last edited:
I'm assuming each wing has a cylinder and uses a remote valve, although both could be plumbed to use one valve. The wings need to float independent of the center section in order to follow uneven ground.
But then, I started off saying I dont know anything about batwings. Maybe I should just shut up.
TheOldHokie
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3901/LA525, B7200DT/B1630, G2160/RCK60, G2460/RCK60
Common or uncommonr sense???
Sorry - couldnt resist
Dan
The devil is in the details. Need some specifics from the OP.
Dan
Being a bat wing Mower, it would seem that the outer sections would be raised by a single acting cylinder. Each cylinder would be no different than my dump trailer cylinder, with the rod exiting the top of the cylinder.
I can see Dan‘s explanation fitting the situation Perfectly.
I’m thinking that probably the way it works is the wings are lowered until they touch the ground. Then from that point forward they can float downward independently of one another, by pulling a vacuum in their respective cylinders, until maximum rod extension is reached.
Float in the upward direction would be supplied by the 3PH.
Very interesting design f this is how it works.
edit: This design is really cool. If the mower goes over a convex hump, the center section will rise, and the outer sections will drop to follow the profile. If the mower goes over a concave dip, the other sections will rise to the point they were at when they touched the ground initially, so they essentially float up somewhat to cover the profile of the terrain as the center section drops.
I can see Dan‘s explanation fitting the situation Perfectly.
I’m thinking that probably the way it works is the wings are lowered until they touch the ground. Then from that point forward they can float downward independently of one another, by pulling a vacuum in their respective cylinders, until maximum rod extension is reached.
Float in the upward direction would be supplied by the 3PH.
Very interesting design f this is how it works.
edit: This design is really cool. If the mower goes over a convex hump, the center section will rise, and the outer sections will drop to follow the profile. If the mower goes over a concave dip, the other sections will rise to the point they were at when they touched the ground initially, so they essentially float up somewhat to cover the profile of the terrain as the center section drops.
Last edited:
TheOldHokie
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3901/LA525, B7200DT/B1630, G2160/RCK60, G2460/RCK60
Before we make too many leaps we really need to see the thing to know anything for sure.
Something we have not talked about - how do you use a DA valve to operate a SA cylinder?
Dan
TheOldHokie
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3901/LA525, B7200DT/B1630, G2160/RCK60, G2460/RCK60
Just trying to stimulate the conversation.Easy Peasy...but you already know that
Dan
In the interest of science, I paid my closest (JD) dealer a visit. They had Woods 12' and 15' batwings and a putrid green 15'.
First, there's a clever mechanism (you can see the silver ball ends) that simultaneously adjusts the height of the center and wings. All 3 use an SA cylinder to raise it for traveling and rod stops to set the cutting height.
Then, for folding, they use SA cylinders that retract to fold the wings, shown in the picture. If you notice, the rod end connection on the Woods is slotted, presumably to allow some float I guess. The green one wasn't slotted.
The Woods 15' had 3 SA circuits, the Woods 12' had 2 SA circuits, 1 for height and 1 teed to both wing cylinders. The green one was like one of those.
One thing I noticed was that they all plugged the 'dry' side openings. You can see the pipe plugs on the Woods, and the JD had plastic caps. Maybe some kind of vent is provided that the dealer hadn't installed yet.
Interestingly, they also had some 3 section mowers. Those had 1 SA circuit that teed to all 3 cylinders. But, of course, on a mower like that the height adjustment on each section is done with spacers since each deck has floating wheels.
Hokie, remind me how to properly operate single acting cylinders with DA valve.
First, there's a clever mechanism (you can see the silver ball ends) that simultaneously adjusts the height of the center and wings. All 3 use an SA cylinder to raise it for traveling and rod stops to set the cutting height.
Then, for folding, they use SA cylinders that retract to fold the wings, shown in the picture. If you notice, the rod end connection on the Woods is slotted, presumably to allow some float I guess. The green one wasn't slotted.
The Woods 15' had 3 SA circuits, the Woods 12' had 2 SA circuits, 1 for height and 1 teed to both wing cylinders. The green one was like one of those.
One thing I noticed was that they all plugged the 'dry' side openings. You can see the pipe plugs on the Woods, and the JD had plastic caps. Maybe some kind of vent is provided that the dealer hadn't installed yet.
Interestingly, they also had some 3 section mowers. Those had 1 SA circuit that teed to all 3 cylinders. But, of course, on a mower like that the height adjustment on each section is done with spacers since each deck has floating wheels.
Hokie, remind me how to properly operate single acting cylinders with DA valve.
TheOldHokie
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3901/LA525, B7200DT/B1630, G2160/RCK60, G2460/RCK60
Pretty common to use vented plugs/breathers in rod end of DA cylinders when using them as SA.
To use DA valve with SA cylinder the unused work port on valve gets plumbed to tank. If you just plug it you deadhead the pump against the plugged port during retract which is generally considered "a bad thing".
Dan