I've an L5030 with a factory cab and the joy stick remotely mounted inside next to the right arm rest.
I forgot about my sticking problems last winter until they returned now that it has gotten cold again. I put my sub frame on and mounted the snowblower.
I use the up-down to raise / lower the snowblower with the tang on the subframe and need the lower detent (float) to let the snow blower follow the ocntours. In the cold it won't stay in the detent (float position) until the cab really warms up.
A worse situation is the chute rotation, which is kind of different. Curl in rotates the chute to the left but it won't rotate to the right by simply moving the joy stick to curl out position....and this even had a Kubota tech scratching his head...the one who did my initial break in on the new blower. A phone call and he discovered that there is a detent on curl out. It is a pretty rugged detent compared with the float detent on the "lower" position. You almost feel like you might break something! But jam the joy stick hard to the left (curl out) and into the detent and lo and behold, the chute rotates nicely to the right.
Last winter I rigged up a hair dryer and plugged it in to blow on the joy stick block for awhile before I went out to snowblow. That worked fine. But the rotate chute right (curl bucket out) position is so sensitive that if I get out and leave the cab door open, cold can prevent me from getting into that curl out detent, which is a major pain in the butt when far away from the hair dryer and a lot more snow blowing left to do....and I really don't want to break anything.
I see orange tractors parked out in the cold all around me. I see many without cabs and I have to wonder how their joy sticks work (or don't) in the cold.
Is there a "cure" in the way of some lubricant that will keep the joy stick free to move to all positions, inspite of cold?
My dealer's suggestion was a drain hole. He says moisture (as from condensation) can occupy the space needed for the joy stick to go into that curl out detent and if frozen will prevent it from getting into the detent and so I'd have no chute rotation to the right. His fix would be to disassemble the block and drill a small drain hole. Otherwise he can only recommend the heat.
So, aside from my question as to whether there is any "fix" with some lube such as WD-40 and how to get it in where needed, other question would be how to heat it....safely. The hair dryer is a pain. A light bulb hung next to the joystick and tented with a blanket would be better in my mind.
What do you fellows think about this "sticky" situation.
I forgot about my sticking problems last winter until they returned now that it has gotten cold again. I put my sub frame on and mounted the snowblower.
I use the up-down to raise / lower the snowblower with the tang on the subframe and need the lower detent (float) to let the snow blower follow the ocntours. In the cold it won't stay in the detent (float position) until the cab really warms up.
A worse situation is the chute rotation, which is kind of different. Curl in rotates the chute to the left but it won't rotate to the right by simply moving the joy stick to curl out position....and this even had a Kubota tech scratching his head...the one who did my initial break in on the new blower. A phone call and he discovered that there is a detent on curl out. It is a pretty rugged detent compared with the float detent on the "lower" position. You almost feel like you might break something! But jam the joy stick hard to the left (curl out) and into the detent and lo and behold, the chute rotates nicely to the right.
Last winter I rigged up a hair dryer and plugged it in to blow on the joy stick block for awhile before I went out to snowblow. That worked fine. But the rotate chute right (curl bucket out) position is so sensitive that if I get out and leave the cab door open, cold can prevent me from getting into that curl out detent, which is a major pain in the butt when far away from the hair dryer and a lot more snow blowing left to do....and I really don't want to break anything.
I see orange tractors parked out in the cold all around me. I see many without cabs and I have to wonder how their joy sticks work (or don't) in the cold.
Is there a "cure" in the way of some lubricant that will keep the joy stick free to move to all positions, inspite of cold?
My dealer's suggestion was a drain hole. He says moisture (as from condensation) can occupy the space needed for the joy stick to go into that curl out detent and if frozen will prevent it from getting into the detent and so I'd have no chute rotation to the right. His fix would be to disassemble the block and drill a small drain hole. Otherwise he can only recommend the heat.
So, aside from my question as to whether there is any "fix" with some lube such as WD-40 and how to get it in where needed, other question would be how to heat it....safely. The hair dryer is a pain. A light bulb hung next to the joystick and tented with a blanket would be better in my mind.
What do you fellows think about this "sticky" situation.
