Woods Dual Loader 145 FEL control valve stuck

[gzebrick]

Hello all - I found this forum searching for help on a problem I have with a front end loader on my tractor.
I never had a loader before and last year I picked up a B1550 with the FEL. My experience has been mostly with gas cars, not diesel tractors, and I never had a hydraulic attachment but it comes in handy! I've used the loader a few times.

A few day ago I use the B1550 with loader to scrape snow off of my driveway. Worked great over about an hour of use. I decided I'd clear some snow off the streat, and as I was using the loader the UP / DOWN lever got stuck. The joystick moves fine right-left to curl an dump the bucket, but the joystick won't physically move up or down. Of course it gets stuck down, and I have to have someone literally pull my tractor out of the snow as I dragged the buck sliding on the ice/snow road back to the house since I couldn't raise the bucket off the street. I go home and checked the fluid level and it appears okay.

My question(s).

Is this a common problem?

Could there be something wrong with the hydraulics causing the valve to lock?

I had no luck searching for a replacement valve assembly if I have to replace it - any aftermarket do? (spec says 5 GPM) Suggestions?

Once it warms up a bit more I plan on pulling the valve assembly off the tractor - cleaning it up and inspecting. I'm hoping I'll find something simple and mechanical causing the lever to no work, but I won't know until I put my eyes on it.

Thanks for helping a newbie!

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[D2Cat]

Welcome to the forum. Your problem could be there is moisture in the valve actuation springs and it froze. Before removing anything try using the loader when the weather is above freezing for a couple of days. If it still acts the same you may be able to remove the covers on the backside of the valve and clean the spring, lube a bit, and be fine.

Post a picture of your valve showing the end opposite the handle.

 

[gzebrick]

Welcome to the forum. Your problem could be there is moisture in the valve actuation springs and it froze. Before removing anything try using the loader when the weather is above freezing for a couple of days. If it still acts the same you may be able to remove the covers on the backside of the valve and clean the spring, lube a bit, and be fine.

Post a picture of your valve showing the end opposite the handle.

Thanks - I'll pull it off the tractor and take pics maybe this weekend. I don't think it will be a freeze issue as it worked fine for about an hour before the failure and the weather had warmed up into the mid 30s by the time I was on the street. No other issue with the hydraulics - the 3-point hitch moved up and down and the hydrostatic drive seemed ok. Still good to check now that it's warming up. Got over 60 which is a lot better than the 2'F we saw last Friday!

 

[D2Cat]

Here's a picture of a typical loader valve. The part that will have dirt, rust, water, crud that can make the levers not work properly are under the shiny silver caps on the opposite end of the handles. This is just for a reference. Can you get to that part of the valve without removing the entire valve?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Spool-Hy...791926?hash=item5248265cb6:g:Y-gAAOSwEONfG~zb

 

[gzebrick]

Thanks - I'm going to have to disconnect all of the lines off of it to get to the beast. There's a large metal cover that won't come off unless the lines are disconnected first. With it all attached and the cover loose I can look underneath and see it's pretty dirty - looks like maybe some weeping of oil too near the fittings as the dirt seems a bit heavy there.

Never saw a drop on the ground but I think a removal and full cleaning will be the first order of business.

 

[MINICUP28]

Check that the three point hitch control is in it's neutral position. I have a rear snow blower and sometimes I leave the lever in an up position and then there is no hydraulic flow to raise the loader.
When clearing my drive I plow forward and snow blow backwards. The constant raising and lowering of the two while driving backwards can get out of sync sometimes. The first time I got stuck like that I called the dealer and one of their techs told me to look for that.

 

[gzebrick]

Quick Follow up. I pulled the valve off the loader - It was mechanically jammed. I wound up tracing it to the "float" mechanism that captures the Up/Down valve when you push it all the way down. It is supposed to lock in the float position, held in place by 2 ball bearings that push into a groove in a shaft extension. It had been working I guess as I am sure I pushed the lever into float a few times (felt it click and lock) and just pulled it back out.

Well I guess a ball bearing or spring got jammed because it was the float-lock that was holding the valve down. The float-lock is mounted external to the main valve body, so I was able to disassemble it, clean it, lube it, and put it back together and now I think I've got it solved.

There was plenty of dirt and grime in the float assembly - Not awful, but enough I guess to cause the issue.>

I don't have any good pictures to share, but I did find a similar mechanism diagram on the internet. The yellow is the shaft extension that comes out of the valve body and goes into the float lock housing. The orange shows how the spring-loaded ball bearing captures the shaft. (Mine has 2 ball bearings, one on each sire). Lots of little parts to lose and clean.

Well it's all back together now and so far, so good.

Thanks