to20 hydraulic issue

so the story goes that the supposed original owner said the lift needed to be rebuilt when he sold it, guy i bought it from said the lift "worked fine" after he replaced the fluid (he put universal tractor hydraulic fluid in it), though he only used it to pull a trailer a couple times...when i hooked up a blade to the 3 point and put the lever all the way up, i could watch the lift arms pull up on the blade, but not lift it at all. pulled the side cover and looked in when the lift was engaged, saw the fluid whirling, so i replaced the relief valve, and changed the fluid to 15w-40. when the tractor was cold, it lifted fine, but as it warmed up the lift got weaker and weaker, and would only lift with the engine at high revs. i had gotten an naa piston to replace the old one already, so i pulled the lift off and looked at the piston, rings were shot. swapped the piston out, and it worked great for a while until i caught the blade on a stump when it was in the up position, since then its been doing the cold good, warmed up weak and will only lift with high revs. thinking the lift cylinder needs to be replaced since the old ring piston was so bad, might have bored out the cylinder a bit...is there anything else i should be looking at? am i on the right track? dont want to just throw parts and money at it until it works, would like to know if i am replacing the right part. thanks guys!

-danny
 
Boring a cylinder is a great idea.
Just as soon as you find an over sized piston.
Those are made out of "Un-obtanium". It's more precious than gold.

As for the 15/40, John(UK) once said that if it is the diesel grade oil, it will not allow sludge to sink to the bottom. It keeps dirt in
suspension and can damage components in the system.
I have found the Ford people preferring UTF (303) and Fergy people talking more about GL-1, 90W Mineral oil.
Strange thing is that both The early Fords and Fergies ran the same hyd system.
 
yes, it would be cool to get a larger cylinder....buuut i am aware that this is impossible, and i was talking about the old lift cylinder wearing and scraping the sides of the cylinder, making it not seal so well anymore. sorry i am not up on my right terminology, makes things confusing. thanks for the advice with the fluid, i will be changing it out again in the spring when its not so cold (no shop yet), and i will keep this in mind. thanks for the help man!
 
i will be changing it out again in the spring when its not so cold (no shop yet), and i will keep this in mind.

I am riding right alongside you with my TO20. It's sitting right out back with the finish mower hooked up, waiting for me to pull the inspection covers and see where the fluid is bypassing. I haven't even started leveling ground for the shop yet and on the rare day it's not raining here, everything is frozen.
 
I had a similar problem a few years ago, I emailed back and forth with John from Ferguson UK. He pointed me to the lift pump control valve. With the cover removed you could see the valve was leaking as you could see a swirl of fluid jetting around inside. Copy and paste this link for some video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxN6X9c6oIA&t=80s

He also instructed me to refill with 10W30 motor oil, not GL-1 or 90W. He sent me a PDF of the new(er) issued instructions.
I followed his advise and have had trouble free operation of my lift since. I have taken alot of heat from people telling me 10w30 is wrong and should not be used.
Zane
 
thanks zane! wow, 10w30...thought that would be too thin of an oil, but hey ill give it a shot. if i check and the control valve is in fact not happy, do i need to drop the hydraulic pump to replace it, or can it be done in place if i take out the pto shaft(like i had to to replace the relief valve) and disconnect the control yoke? thanks for the help!
-danny
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top