Question about operating Hydraulics on Farmall 230

Jaebrav81

Member
I recently have gotten my grandfathers old 230 going again and everything is working now except the hydraulic system. It is not going up or down. It is the system that has one lever and a line going to the top of a piston and one to the bottom. Not sure which system that is, but I have been reading that some Hydraulics don't work unless the PTO is engaged and spinning.

Is this what I need to do to get it to work? Just put the PTO in gear and then it might work? I would get on the tractor and try it but I'm a couple hours away from it at the moment and won't be back to try it until next week. Thank you all for the help btw. You all are awesome.
 
A 230 has the hydralic pump on the motor,just like a superC. Clutch in or out makes absolutely no difference.Not to be a
smart@$$,do you have oil in the hydralic system?It can leak out if sitting for a long time.
 

Yes, I changed it out and cleaned the strainer. Got the recommended fluid suggested for the system but still no movement.

When I did push the lever up, the engine did act light it was under a light load as it adjusted to compensate for the lever being in that position and return to normal idle when I move it back to neutral. Is the pump trying to work?

When I took the strainer out it was fairly clean, but no fluid came out of the compartment when I removed it. Don't know if that has anything at all to do with it or not. These hydraulics worked 10 years ago when parked, so I'm taking shots in the dark as to what is exactly wrong. Should I remove the plug that goes into the box under my seat that has the two lines going to the piston and see if it shoots out fluid when I engage the hydraulics to see if it is even pumping? Or how could I test this to even see if my pump is bad and not something else? Thank you
 
On my 240 I had similar issues. I cracked the return line at the pump until pressure built up and tighted everything back up and my system
has worked well since then. Seems it just needed to get primed. Hope that helps!
 
(quoted from post at 15:41:34 10/23/16) On my 240 I had similar issues. I cracked the return line at the pump until pressure built up and tighted everything back up and my system
has worked well since then. Seems it just needed to get primed. Hope that helps!
I have read about that but didn't know how to do it. I just crack the low pressure line and run it until it comes out? Did you use the lever to activate movement to get it to move and flow or will it do it with engine running automatically?
 
It's pretty easy. I should have said the pressure line, not the return line, so my apologies about that. Just use a wrench and loosen the
pressure line. You'll want to keep it threaded some though. Then fire up the tractor. Pull the lever and at first it was nothing, then a
little trickle and then a stead stream. Now just tighten up the line and that got me good to go.
 
On my 230, the IH mechanic told me to set throttle at 1/3 to 1/2 speed. Then proceed to work the fast hitch lever up and down rather fast. It make take about 15-20
times to get air out of system. MAKE SURE OIL LEVEL IS FULL.
 
The 230 should have touch control or similar hydraulics near the gas tank. Do they work when you move the levers near throttle? If so then the pump works.
 
I had this problem on a 240 Utility and tried most everything suggested here but the cure was taking the fill cap off the hydraulic fluid reservoir and letting the air bleed as I operated the control lever to the right side of the operators seat , slowly . My problem now is finding a seal kit for the pump as it leaks at the seams and the hose assembly from the pump to the hydraulic control as the built in hoses pulsate and is about to burst .
 
when you removed the strainer no fluid came out that means the oil level is low and your pump is probably pumping it into the crankase check engine oil its probably high meaning the pump leaks into the engine.
 

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