M108s slow 3-point hitch

[LonnieBarham]

I've owned this tractor for more than ten years. Use it now to cut, rake, ted, and move hay. The outlets work fine and at good speed, but the 3-point hitch is really slow. I've turned the speed setting under seat, but see no change. We do most of our mechanic work ourselves, so any advice would be appreciated.

 

[LonnieBarham]

Come on guys. Give me some ideas.

 

[NCL4701]

What else do you have running on hydraulics? Loader, third function, anything on remotes, etc.?

 

[LonnieBarham]

What else do you have running on hydraulics? Loader, third function, anything on remotes, etc.?

Nothing. It has a loader, but is most noticeable when picking up hay.

 

[LonnieBarham]

3-point hitch is strong and will pick up anything, it's just slow about doing it.

 

[NCL4701]

Well hopefully someone with experience with that specific model or who at least had a WSM for it will weigh in. I know she large tractors have closed center hydraulic systems where the circuits are independent of each other. If yours is closed center ignore the rest of this. TractorData lists it as open center. Most of us here deal with open center hydraulic systems: one loop that daisy chains around the everything hydraulic on the machine. The easiest to solve is when the system has gone into relief for some reason, which causes low flow on an open center machine, but that causes slow response on everything, not just one thing, so that doesn’t sound like your problrm

The typical chain for open center is loader first, rear remotes second, three point last. “It will lift anything” sounds like you have pressure from the pump and it’s not getting lost down the line so that would seem to eliminate a lot of things such as leaking fittings, lines, seals, etc. “It’s just slow” sounds like a flow problem.

So back to the open center order of plumbing. If the loader works normally in both lift capacity and speed that would seem to eliminate anything to do with the pump, screen, filter as you know the input from the pump is adequate in both pressure and flow. So is the flow from the loader’s power beyond port restricted? If it’s going to the rear remotes and they work normally, it’s not restricted. So then you’re on to the power beyond port from the rear remotes to the three point. If it has external cylinders on the three point all that may be outside the rear housing and easy to trace.

If all the plumbing is external you might be able to trace the order of plumbing visually. If you can’t do that, you’ll probably need a WSM to verify how it’s plumbed, then start at the pump and follow the daisy chain around to the point the restriction is causing slow response.

Also noted you said you adjusted the flow control under the seat. For most of us with smaller machines that flow control under the seat just affects the return rate on the three point flow so it only impacts the fall rate and has no impact on the raise rate. Yours might be different.

 

[TheOldHokie]

3-point hitch is strong and will pick up anything, it's just slow about doing it.

NCL4701 pretty much covered it. Your remotes are sectionals that stack directly on to the hydraulic cover. You have good flow at the remote work ports so the problem would seem to be the (internal) power beyond feed from the valve stack to the 3pt. I see the valves are cable operated and the first thing I would check is that all of the spools in that stack are fully returning to neutral. If one or more spools hangs up in a partially shifted position its going torestrict flow to the three point. You could unpin the control cable ends from all of the spools and manually move the spools to neutral to see if that corrects the issue.

Dan

 

[TheOldHokie]

NCL4701 pretty much covered it. Your remotes are sectionals that stack directly on to the hydraulic cover. You have good flow at the remote work ports so the problem would seem to be the (internal) power beyond feed from the valve stack to the 3pt. I see the valves are cable operated and the first thing I would check is that all of the spools in that stack are fully returning to neutral. If one or more spools hangs up in a partially shifted position its going torestrict flow to the three point. You could unpin the control cable ends from all of the spools and manually move the spools to neutral to see if that corrects the issue.

Dan

I just happened to notice the parts diagram makes reference to a "flow control" option on the remotes. I don't know what that means but it sounds like something you might want to investigate,

Dan

 

[Bulldog]

I just happened to notice the parts diagram makes reference to a "flow control" option on the remotes. I don't know what that means but it sounds like something you might want to investigate,

Dan

That's just to adjust the flow on the remote.

 

[TheOldHokie]

That's just to adjust the flow on the remote.

I understand the purpose bur how does it do that? If it limits input flow to the remotes it will limit output flow to the 3pt.

Dan

 

[LonnieBarham]

Thanks guys I'll check remotes to see if fully disengaged. Everything y'all said makes perfect sense. We've been cutting hay with this tractor, you can set 3pt and it will hold all day, you can lift cutter head with remote and they work as they should. We finished baling and went to move hay with this tractor, loader works as it should, but you have to wait every time you pick up a roll on the back, not unusable, just annoying.

 

[LonnieBarham]

I understand the purpose bur how does it do that? If it limits input flow to the remotes it will limit output flow to the 3pt.

Dan

The flow control on remotes limits how fast remote would operate something, such as not slamming my hay cutter on the ground or sending hay rolls flying across the field from the bale kicker (both examples speaking from experience )

 

[Captain13]

Filter may be clogged, hydraulic intake screen may be clogged, low fluid. Also, make sure your draft control lever is all the way down. My loader started acting slow on the curl and when I moved the draft control lever down, it stopped being slow. Also, you may have a pressure relief valve stuck partially open due som debris in it. That will definitely cause the problem.

Here’s a WSM free download for you.

KUBOTA M108S WORKSHOP MANUAL Pdf Download

View and Download Kubota M108S workshop manual online. M108S tractor pdf manual download.

www.manualslib.com

 

[whitetiger]

I understand the purpose bur how does it do that? If it limits input flow to the remotes it will limit output flow to the 3pt.

Dan

The flow control only controls how much fluid is sent through the couplers and has no effect on the flow to the three point.

 

[TheOldHokie]

The flow control only controls how much fluid is sent through the couplers and has no effect on the flow to the three point.

Thanks. I figured as much but I am struggling to come up with ideas that match the symptoms. I am not at all familiar with the operation of Kubota draft control. Is that a possibility here? Perhaps I should download a workshop.manual and do some reading on that subject.

Dan

 

[LonnieBarham]

Filter may be clogged, hydraulic intake screen may be clogged, low fluid. Also, make sure your draft control lever is all the way down. My loader started acting slow on the curl and when I moved the draft control lever down, it stopped being slow. Also, you may have a pressure relief valve stuck partially open due som debris in it. That will definitely cause the problem.

Here’s a WSM free download for you.

KUBOTA M108S WORKSHOP MANUAL Pdf Download

View and Download Kubota M108S workshop manual online. M108S tractor pdf manual download.

www.manualslib.com

Thanks

 

[Bulldog]

I understand the purpose bur how does it do that? If it limits input flow to the remotes it will limit output flow to the 3pt.

Dan

It limits the output from the remote to the implement