Hydraulics lifting REAL slow question - Pics

Hello again, another question for you experienced folks please.

Since buying the 8N the lift has never held it's position when raised, no biggie right now and not a part of the problem, just a little back history.

The lift has been raising just fine since I bought it and REALLY good after I changed the fluid a few months ago.

Until yesterday when I was using it to grade dirt from one area to the other. I was in the woods doing this and the grader blade would catch onto tree roots at times. After doing this all day the lift started to lift very slowly so I parked it and looked at it today.

When I pulled the inspection cover off the fluid stood out to me immediately as being pretty dirty and maybe some water in it. I started the tractor and the pump was moving as I saw movement in the fluid where the pump is. There was a slow drip coming from the ram cylinder and the control arm moved when I moved the quadrant. All of that seemed normal to me.


Should I change the fluid and see if that helps?

Or should I dig further into it before buying fluid and changing?


Thanks in advance!!

Have you ever dropped the pump & cleaned it out?

You can change the fluid every week but if the sump is full of dirt, etc, you will contaminate the new fluid.

That's what it looks like to me.
75 Tips

Did you know it takes close to 5 gal of fluid. And that it has 3 places to drain it. The dirt might have caused the big O ring on the lift cyl to leak.

Thank you both for the replies!

Bruce- No, I have not cleaned out the pump. When I replaced fluids a few months ago I put in ATF and alcohol and did a flush as suggested here but I never did remove the pump. At that time I was just getting used to the tractor and taking out the pump seemed like a really tall task. Maybe it sounds like that's what I should do next. I will do some searches on here but is there anything I should be careful doing when removing the pump?

Thank you very much!

davyfireball- Yes, I drained from all 3 plugs and replaced with close to 5 gals of fluid. That was after I did a "flush" as described above. I have not removed the pump so I assume that's why my fluid is so dirty and maybe the cause of my problem.

Thank you for the reply!

(quoted from post at 12:57:10 11/03/15)
Thank you both for the replies!

Bruce- No, I have not cleaned out the pump. When I replaced fluids a few months ago I put in ATF and alcohol and did a flush as suggested here but I never did remove the pump. At that time I was just getting used to the tractor and taking out the pump seemed like a really tall task. Maybe it sounds like that's what I should do next. I will do some searches on here but is there anything I should be careful doing when removing the pump?

Thank you very much!

davyfireball- Yes, I drained from all 3 plugs and replaced with close to 5 gals of fluid. That was after I did a "flush" as described above. I have not removed the pump so I assume that's why my fluid is so dirty and maybe the cause of my problem.

Thank you for the reply!

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I meant to say when I flushed I used diesel, ATF, 91% alcohol mix to flush. Then added UTF until if flowed out of the bottom inspection cover hole.

The oil looks GOOD...

(quoted from post at 18:11:58 11/03/15)
The oil looks GOOD...

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Really?? So, you think there's something further wrong with it?


Thanks for the reply and hope to hear your opinion. Thank you

Did you have it in Draft mode?

It looks to me like the control valve is not engaged enough?

Try loosening all four bolts that hold the quadrant to the lift housing and tap it back with a hammer than re tighten the bolts.

Zane

(quoted from post at 06:13:36 11/04/15) Did you have it in Draft mode?

It looks to me like the control valve is not engaged enough?

Try loosening all four bolts that hold the quadrant to the lift housing and tap it back with a hammer than re tighten the bolts.

Zane

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Zane, thank you so much for the reply.

I have the lever down to do grading work, I believe that is draft mode.

I apologize for my lack of understanding but I want to fully understand what you're saying to try.

When you say "tap it back", can you please explain in just a few words what I should tap? Is it the lever itself? And will I tap it towards the rear of the tractor or in towards the center of the tractor?

Thank you VERY much, sir.

Zane,

I did not even think about taking the lever out of draft control but I just went outside and put it in position control and the lift raises up at normal speed. But when I put it in draft, it raises real slow.

So, I believe what you were thinking you saw is probably what is going on. I will go back and take a look inside of the inspection cover and see if I can notice what you're seeing. Otherwise I don't want to tap anything unless I know what I'm supposed to tap and in what direction.

Thanks again for the reply and hopefully one of you nice gentlemen can explain what I should tap and in what direction.


Thank you very much! I'll hold on changing fluids as it doesn't appear that's what it is.

Basically what I'm confused about it what I should tap. I'm thinking you mean the control valve but I'm a little confused as to where I should tap it and in what direction. I may not have been very clear in my last post so I wanted to clarify myself. Thanks for helping a greenhorn. I appreciate it.

Thank you

After opening up the inspection cover again I believe I see what you're talking about. The control valve is at a slight slant as it sits right now. But if I push down more on the draft/position control lever I can see the control valve move a little to a more straight vertical position. So, I believe I'm supposed to tap down on the draft/position control lever once I have the 4 bolts loosened. That's what I'm in the process of doing now, just wanted to update. Thank you very much and I'll report back.


Thanks

The quadrant adjustment on the lift cover has 4 bolts. Loosen the 4 bolts & tap it to the rear of the tractor. Tighten the bolts when you're done.
75 Tips

(quoted from post at 07:28:27 11/04/15) The quadrant adjustment on the lift cover has 4 bolts. Loosen the 4 bolts & tap it to the rear of the tractor. Tighten the bolts when you're done.
75 Tips

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Thank you very much, Bruce.

I had just come in to reply. I loosened the 4 bolts and held the draft/position control lever down and tightened the bolts back up and tried the hydraulics. It did not move at all in draft and only a little in position so I knew I didn't do something right. I will go out there and do what you explained.


Thank you all very much!

I wish words could describe how much it means to me how helpful you all are. The hydraulics are now working the way they were thanks to your help.

With you all's advice and my F0-4 I put my hand down in the oil to see if the control valve was touching the pump at the same time and they were not, close but not close enough apparently.

I had to scrub off some grime to be able to move the quadrant back enough to make a difference but after a few adjustments I was able to raise the lift in draft mode at the speed it used to raise at.

Thank you ALL for your responses and advice!!


ZANE - How in the world did you know it was off a little by the pictures I posted? lol That's very impressive, sir! Very impressive.

The reason it quit working in draft is that hanging the implement on roots and stumps etc has bent the draft sensing linkage internally.

I make and sell a jig fixture with instructions to adjust the lift linkage right the first time.

See the link below.

Zane
ZANES LIFT STUFF

(quoted from post at 18:17:56 11/04/15) The reason it quit working in draft is that hanging the implement on roots and stumps etc has bent the draft sensing linkage internally.

I make and sell a jig fixture with instructions to adjust the lift linkage right the first time.

See the link below.

Zane
ZANES LIFT STUFF

Click to expand...

Thank you for the explanation of why it was not working properly.

I DO know that I need to buy the jig from you, I have known that since I found out you make those. I guess my question is, do I NEED one right now to correct the bent draft sensing linkage?

Or is it something that can be bought in the near future and tended to then?

I will be careful about catching the implement on roots and stumps until I can purchase your jig and I will get that in the near future. Just have been in a pinch the last few months and every little bit counts right now so if I can wait on that then I'd like to do so.


Thanks again for everyone's help. I really appreciate it!