Hi guys,
I've an '04 L5030 with 900+ hours and the Kubota cab. My joy stick inside the cab is a remote, of course, with cables running to the hydraulic block outside.
When it is cold, the joy stick doesn't want to move, and I mean you would think the safety lock tab had been engaged! Up / down will free up first and the curl in / curl out will remain imoveable for a longer time.
On a cold start, below 20F I will plug in my block heater about an hour before I fire up the tractor. I have tried hanging a drop light on the remote block inside the cab and tenting it to capture light bulb heat.....no effect.
I've hung the drop light on the hydraulic block outside the cab and tented it to retain heat for that hour.....no effect!
I am baffled! I am running a snow blower this time of the year and raise / lower which starts working "pretty soon" lets me get going on snow removal. I just can't rotate my chute which uses the side to side "curl in / curl out" for some time.......but something happens over time....I don't know if it is cabin heat or warm hydraulic fluid flowing.....which finally frees up the side to side movement and allows me to rotate the discharge chute.
Oh, the float detent on raise / lower.....it's necessary to use float to let the full weight of the snowblower ride on and follow dips in the road and on a 0 degree day I had my up and down working but could not get into the float detent for some time.
It seems the "best" I've found so far is a hair dryer on the remote block inside the cabin. I'll sit there and run an electric hair dryer on the remote block while raising and lowering the snowblower as my engine warms up over five minutes or so. So whether it's the hair dryer or the warm(?) hydraulic fluid flowing.....eventually the float detent worked and subsequently the side to side starts freeing up. By that I mean I can finally move the joy stick sideways with a LOT of force. But, once I get any side to side movement it doesn't take long to free up completely, which has me thinking hydraulic flow has a lot to do with it.....more so than external heat from the drop light or the hair dryer.
Lots of people have to leave their tractors out in the cold...no heated garage! I can't believe everyone has this "frozen joy stick" problem.
I would really like a fix that I can do this summer....me or a service man.... does something have to be disassembled and cleaned and lubed with something to allow the joy stick to work right off on a cold start in winter?
I've an '04 L5030 with 900+ hours and the Kubota cab. My joy stick inside the cab is a remote, of course, with cables running to the hydraulic block outside.
When it is cold, the joy stick doesn't want to move, and I mean you would think the safety lock tab had been engaged! Up / down will free up first and the curl in / curl out will remain imoveable for a longer time.
On a cold start, below 20F I will plug in my block heater about an hour before I fire up the tractor. I have tried hanging a drop light on the remote block inside the cab and tenting it to capture light bulb heat.....no effect.
I've hung the drop light on the hydraulic block outside the cab and tented it to retain heat for that hour.....no effect!
I am baffled! I am running a snow blower this time of the year and raise / lower which starts working "pretty soon" lets me get going on snow removal. I just can't rotate my chute which uses the side to side "curl in / curl out" for some time.......but something happens over time....I don't know if it is cabin heat or warm hydraulic fluid flowing.....which finally frees up the side to side movement and allows me to rotate the discharge chute.
Oh, the float detent on raise / lower.....it's necessary to use float to let the full weight of the snowblower ride on and follow dips in the road and on a 0 degree day I had my up and down working but could not get into the float detent for some time.
It seems the "best" I've found so far is a hair dryer on the remote block inside the cabin. I'll sit there and run an electric hair dryer on the remote block while raising and lowering the snowblower as my engine warms up over five minutes or so. So whether it's the hair dryer or the warm(?) hydraulic fluid flowing.....eventually the float detent worked and subsequently the side to side starts freeing up. By that I mean I can finally move the joy stick sideways with a LOT of force. But, once I get any side to side movement it doesn't take long to free up completely, which has me thinking hydraulic flow has a lot to do with it.....more so than external heat from the drop light or the hair dryer.
Lots of people have to leave their tractors out in the cold...no heated garage! I can't believe everyone has this "frozen joy stick" problem.
I would really like a fix that I can do this summer....me or a service man.... does something have to be disassembled and cleaned and lubed with something to allow the joy stick to work right off on a cold start in winter?