John Deere 350D PTO winch control

Billturner

New User
I just acquired a I think 1988 350D crawler with a JD winch and I believe it to be PTO powered. The control cable goes from the control handle around and into the area between the winch and the crawler body just under the fuel tank. The is extremely hard to move, I was told that they were able to activate the winch but probably with another crawler pulling the cable out and were able to then activate the winch and pull the cable in?? I'm not sure where to start, pull the fuel tank and look at the end that goes into the winch (i think that is what happens) pull the winch and go through the control or what. The winch had significant work done on it in the last 3 years. I have the last 10 years of maintainence records on the crawler, former county piece of equipment and they gave me a copy. The crawler has about 3200 hours on it as shown by the hour meter which is working and agrees with the county records. Just not sure where to start. Everything else in super shape, anybody have any ideas?
 
Depends on what model winch. when I last worked at a Deere dealership, we put some 3325 winches on 350Ds as I recall (number might be wrong).
The winches, over time, came with three different types of control valves. Early winches in the 60s had a spool-valve bolted to the top of
the winch and did not have power-hydraulics. Next they came with their own hydraulic pumps and a small, square-shaped rotary valve that
also bolts to the back of the winch (early ones had a small spool valve). They gave us lots of problems and I had to go out an fix many new
350Cs with bad rotary valves. Deere finally gave up on them and came out with change-over kits to convert them to spool valves.

It sounds to me like you've got a rotary-valve winch with either a bad valve, or a stuck cable. You did not mention if the cable moves OK or
not. The winch needs at least 800 PSI of hydraulic pressure to go into "free spool" and let cable out. Two springs hold pressure on the
brake-band and a small hydraulic cylinder releases the pressure on the band and it gets pressure oil. Winch has its own tiny Cessna hydraulic
pump and the PTO must be turning for it to work.
 
Correction the model #. Likely a 3315 power winch. Works the same as I described. Must have 800 PSI to turn free so you can pull cable out.
If your winch still has a small square control valve bolted to the back of the winch (under the fuel tank). it has never been updated. I still have buckets full of bad valves laying around. No known way to fix them, just replace if bad. Valve has three positions. One for "free spool" when hydraulic pressure is sent to the little free-spool hydraulic cylinder. One for "winch in" that puts the brake-band in free-spool and also sends hydraulic pressure to the clutches, and the other for "neutral." Neutral cuts off all hydraulic power and is used for towing. PTO need not be running for that. If the cable slips and comes out when you tow, it likely means the brake-band is soaked with oil from internal leaks (very common).
 
Thanks for the information, Keep watching I will have a ton more questions. I will get the model # off the casting on the winch and talk to the JD dealer and have them look up the model. Then I will be sure we are both on the same page. I will try to post a picture of the winch also. Thanks for the return.
 
There are not many different winches that will fit on a 350D. If it is operated with a control-cable and does not have a huge master-
cylinder mounted right on top - it is going to be a 3315 power-winch. Deere calls them "power winches" because they have their own self-
contained high-pressure hydraulic system. The older non-power winches came on 1010s and early 350s. No hydraulic pumps in them. Just a
huge double-acting master-cylinder mounted on top of the winch. Here is a photo of a 3315.
a153392.jpg
 
Sorry it didn't work quite right but if you click on model search then put in 350d all the schematics come up, then scroll down to winch and I think the first one is the control. Hope this helps.
 
(quoted from post at 14:43:30 03/05/17) Sorry it didn't work quite right but if you click on model search then put in 350d all the schematics come up, then scroll down to winch and I think the first one is the control. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the Pictures, they look right. Would you have a picture of the other side so I can see what the winch end of the control cable looks like as it attaches to the control valve. What does the control cable end thread into and then the center cable that moves the control valve, how and what does it attach to? I am thinking that debris could have gotten into the small space between the winch and the main frame of the crawler and is keeping the valve arm from moving freely, if there is an arm?? I could clean that out with high pressure air or water???
I bought the technical manual for the crawler from JD ($$$$$) but it does not show how the cable end rotates the valve.
 
(quoted from post at 14:13:14 03/06/17) I see the pictures of the valve and the arm. Thanks.

Is there any way to see what the other side of the winch looks like? I don't know how much room there is between the winch and the body of the crawler and what is in the space besides the valve. On some of the pictures of winches of that I been able to see online there is also a filter? I can see that what I think is the bottom of that space if there is any, and it is plugged with mud and dirt. It looks like the valve could easily be obstructed if the space were to get much in it.
 
(quoted from post at 13:07:45 03/08/17)
(quoted from post at 14:13:14 03/06/17) I see the pictures of the valve and the arm. Thanks.

Is there some way to estimate how long it should take to remove the winch from the crawler. I think I am going to gete help and take it off and find the problem and fix it. I think that the control cable that does not look like factory because it hangs down way below the shield, like a 4 inch loop that goes down almost to the tracks. I think it is supposed to be completly behind the shield
seems like we should be able to get it off in about 4 hours,I have hired a private mechanic that seems familiar with small crawler and winches. it is also leaking oil, must be the seals on the left side of the drum. probably should get it all fixed at once.
Any advise?.
 
I had a friend,mechanic, come over today and we removed the seat so now we can see the back of the winch, still could not determine what was keeping the push/pull control cable from moving, we removed the filter so we could get the control cable disconnected from the control valve. The valve is the square, I think original, type. We could not move it by hand with the engine not running. It seems like it should move freely?? I am going to try to fink a replacement valve. Does the newer type that looks like it slides rather than rotating, fit the winch without modification??
I also found out the drum seal on the left side is leaking, the oil level was too low to leak when i bought it. I am wondering if that low oil level would cause a lot of wear on the pump and is that going to be a concern?? The way it looks to me now, I will have to replace the control valve, the drum seal needs to be replaced and the pump should be checked. Am I missing anything? Last question, can the valve be replaced with the winch still on the machine if the fuel tank is removed??
 

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