1841 front bucket

Hey all,
Well i finally got the steering conversion done on the newly aquired tractor. Installed a new steering ram and rotary valve to replace cable steering. Works great.
Now that i am able to drive tractor i have noticed one issue.
The front bucket is very slow to raise. It lowers fine and the tilt on the bucket works great both directions.
The kicker to the problem is this..... If i tilt bucket all the way back and try to raise bucket at same time it raises at normal rate of speed.
If i pull back on the handle with great force it will raise very slow.
It almost looks like and feels like little button/ actuator that the handle pushes on is sticky and doesnt move like the one on the bucket tilt handle next door.

Hope this makes sense. I dont know alot about how this system works.

Thanks, jeff

So you have the bucket cylinders fully retracted, and if you pull the other lever gently or slightly back to raise it, the cylinder piston speed is normal, but gets slow if you pull the lever fully back?

Sounds like an open center 2 spool control valve, one lever for each set of cylinders, a common and or typical component of a these era loaders for many years.

Do you have any worn linkage parts? Is this lever connected to the spool,(button as you call it) with #60 roller chain master link? Does it have lots of free play from wear? Look at the link pins and holes in the levers, that can cause what you describe in reverse, it won't pull back far enough.

Its possible there is a problem in the double spool open center valve. You could release all pressure from the system, and take that valve apart, inspect, clean, check for any o-ring or seals that are defective. I would have to believe something is awry with the valve somewhere. Iknow from being outside they can rust or get gummed up, my log splitter valve had issues, just took a good cleaning to make it right, there was rust and some gumming that hung up the detent that releases it under pressure. A little different, but the same principle.

The steering repair sounds interesting, any photos or details you can share, someone else with one of these may benefit from what you did, seems the steering system on these industrials are unique and problematic once worn. Don't believe these industrials are all that common, though I see them for sale with some regularity over the years.

Yes, you are on the right track as far as the controls go. One lever for each operation. I looked tonight again and there is no likage. Just the lever pushing on the putton sticking out of the controller.
Looking now it appears that when the lever is pulled back/down the button is only going in 1/2 the distance it should be.
So yes, possibly gummed up or a o-ring / seal jas become dislodged?
How tricky are these to tear apart for a hydraulic novice?
The difficult part will be the hard lines feeding to it. The fittimg are all so close together and a normal wrench doesnt seem to fit??

Thanks for the input.
I will post some pictures of my steering conversion. It cost me about 1/2 of buying a kit and works awesome.

They're not difficult, more typical than not, having a removable cap on the opposite side of the lever that actuates the spool valve. I don't know that you need to disconnect the steel (per your description) hydraulic lines. Remove those caps, and the valve should slide out, well after you disconnect the levers on each one. Then its a matter of inspecting things, inside the valve and the valve itself which should have o-rings or seals of some sort. I'm no hydraulic expert either, what you describe sounds like a simple repair job, unless there is another problem in there. Did this tractor sit outside for a long time?

Post some shots of this valve, it will be helpful for others to comment about, same with the steering, be good to see your repair.

YOu can swap the lines so that the other lever raises and lowers the loader.