Background:
I bought a "new to me" BX23S last fall with only 220 hours. It came with a loader, snowblower, and mowing deck—but no backhoe (the previous owner sold it after not using it for his previous projects). The tractor is in like-new condition and was intended as a refresh upgrade from my weathered but trusty 2007 BX24D.
I sold the mowing deck since I don’t use it. I immediately removed the loader and installed the snowblower, along with a weight box on the 3PH. Everything worked flawlessly for snow removal all winter.
This spring, I reinstalled the loader and used the tractor lightly around the yard (mostly as an expensive wheelbarrow) with no issues. Recently, I found a like-new BT603 backhoe locally, installed it, and tested its functions but haven’t used it for actual work yet.
Issue:
This weekend, I started a digging project at my camp and noticed the loader had very little lifting capacity—though down pressure and curl power seem fine. It struggled with basic lifting tasks that my old BX24 handled easily.
I checked the hydraulic fluid level and it’s full, but I was surprised by how hot the hydraulic coupler near the fill/dipstick was. Once cooled a bit, I disconnected the BH hydraulics to eliminated that, however still had the same lift problems. At that point, I shut it down to avoid potential damage to the hydraulic system (hoping I haven’t already caused any from the heat).
I am looking for some assistance with diagnosing:
I bought a "new to me" BX23S last fall with only 220 hours. It came with a loader, snowblower, and mowing deck—but no backhoe (the previous owner sold it after not using it for his previous projects). The tractor is in like-new condition and was intended as a refresh upgrade from my weathered but trusty 2007 BX24D.
I sold the mowing deck since I don’t use it. I immediately removed the loader and installed the snowblower, along with a weight box on the 3PH. Everything worked flawlessly for snow removal all winter.
This spring, I reinstalled the loader and used the tractor lightly around the yard (mostly as an expensive wheelbarrow) with no issues. Recently, I found a like-new BT603 backhoe locally, installed it, and tested its functions but haven’t used it for actual work yet.
Issue:
This weekend, I started a digging project at my camp and noticed the loader had very little lifting capacity—though down pressure and curl power seem fine. It struggled with basic lifting tasks that my old BX24 handled easily.
I checked the hydraulic fluid level and it’s full, but I was surprised by how hot the hydraulic coupler near the fill/dipstick was. Once cooled a bit, I disconnected the BH hydraulics to eliminated that, however still had the same lift problems. At that point, I shut it down to avoid potential damage to the hydraulic system (hoping I haven’t already caused any from the heat).
I am looking for some assistance with diagnosing:
- What could cause hydraulic functions (curl/down) work fine while lift is weak, I assume flow blockage somewhere?
- What could cause the hydraulic fluid to get so hot? similar blockage like above?
- Any diagnosis steps or insights would be greatly appreciated! I have a pressure gauge but I need a different coupler as the BX24D style hydraulic couplers are different than this BX23S.