1957 International 350 utility loader question

K. Thomas

Member
I love this little guy except for the loader issue. When I am driving around with the loader up it slowly starts dropping down within a minute. Also the bucket tilt does the same thing-droops down even with nothing in it. I move the levers back up and it goes back down. Doesn't matter what rpm. Loader also seems to go up slow. No leaks seen on cylinders. The tractor has a pump mounted in front of the grille, is that original? The tractor has an original loader on it. Do I need to replace the pump on the front crank? Thanks in advance for your input. Kurt
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Pump mounted on front of grille is not original.
Loader is not original IH either, although the pump and
loader may have been mounted on the tractor when it was new.
You may have cylinders leaking down past the O-rings or leathers.
The most likely cause of your problem is a worn loader valve.
 
Put the loader on top of a 2 foot support and lower it until there is no pressure up or down. Shut off the tractor. Move the valve for lift both ways
to assure no pressure. carefully (with a bucket under it), remove the hoses from the bottom of the cylinders and cap them. Try not to loose much
fluid. With the 2 hoses disconnected, lift the bucket carefully with a jack and remove the blocking. Lower the jack, and see if the loader lowers by
itself as before. If it does lower you can be sure it is the piston packing in the cylinders. If not it is as noted, the valve bypassing. Jim
 
I also have a 300 U and a 340 U. The 340 has a Superior loader which has worked well. The 300 has no loader. If your loader is somewhat like my Superior, then the loader valves are mounted on the loader frame near the operator's right hand. Usually these valves are fairly generic and can be replaced with aftermarket stuff easily. But if you take the valve apart, you will probably find that the spool has O rings which are replaceable. I have seen valves with O rings and others which are machined to tight tolerances and do not use O rings. If your's has O rings, then move on with their replacement. If not, then you probably want to replace the valve. Burden Surplus (Lincoln NE) is a common source of similar 2 spool valves.

It is also possible that the cylinders are leaking internally, and I have had similar cylinders rebuilt by a Hydraulics shop. But with your description of both the loader arms and the bucket sagging, I highly suspect the valve is the problem.

I have never seen a loader sag because of a weak pump. A weak pump means the loader will not pick up its rated load.

BTW: Have you changed the oil in the loader reservoir (possibly in the loader frame). Water does get into the oil usually from condensation and can make the oil into a froth as it is pumped. Most loaders will use a hytran type oil, but you may use something cheaper, as with a front pump it is very unlikely to be sharing oil with the tranny, tractor hydraulics, and rear end.

Good Luck

Paul in MN
 

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