Through the years observation

Eric in IL · Nov 20, 2020

In my many years of reading Yesterdays Tractors, a pretty frequent question is, "What can I do to make my 3 pt. hitch stay up while the tractor is shut off ?"

Why are so many people needing the 3 pt. to stay up?

At first I thought maybe they have a spray or fertilizer tank on the 3 pt., then an implement hooked to the drawbar also. But the question seems to arise too frequently for that to be the reason. Most times the question is asked of a smaller tractor. Likely too small to be lugging a tank and an implement at the same time.

Who knows a good reason ?

fixerupper · Nov 20, 2020

There are two reasons I can think of offhand. Reason number one; because it is supposed to stay up.

Reason number two is safety. If someone is standing on the three point hitch or has a limb in the way of a moving part he or she can get crushed real bad when the tractor is started and the hitch suddenly raises.

Eagle Beagle · Nov 20, 2020

More than likely, it's the .0005 tolarance that the control valve spools are machined to. No 3pt systen that I know of are equiped with a dual pilot check valve installed. You can still have microscopic seepage past new o-ring and poly pack cylinder sealing components. What rate of seep down do you consider exessive?

My 730 Case arms will drift down in week with a 500# load on them, some will drift down while you are having lunch. Cut a 4x4 to length to block up the 3pt if it becomes a problem. I'm sure the remote cylinder you have will drift down for the same reasons.

Beagle

Eagle Beagle · Nov 20, 2020

Oil under pressure is like an Angus calf, it's going to find and use even the smallest hole in your fence to escape!

Beagle

Gary Mitchell · Nov 20, 2020

Per my Pop, we lowered them when we parked the tractor for the day, lunch. etc. so the seals in the system wouldn't be under constant
stress. gm

old · Nov 20, 2020

To me I would think leaving it up would be hard on the hyd system. But I have seen reason to have it stay up. Like the time the back blade froze down and when I tried to lift it the front of the tractor came off the ground before the blade freed up

Hayfarmer · Nov 20, 2020

My jd 430 will hold rake or blade up for a long time when turned off. My Farmall 560 will drop from field to the house so I put a shut off valve in line, but I don't leave it up most times anyway. I think if it is up it puts an immediate load on hydraulic pump when you start tractor and you don't need that. can see what Old is saying thought maybe in winter put a 2x4 under blade.

old · Nov 20, 2020

The tractor I have the back blade on I keep a 6X6 block under it when ever I part it and most of the time in winter I put a board of some sort under the loader bucket so it does not freeze down

karlinpa · Nov 20, 2020

my 730 case will stay up all winter my problem is they wouldnt lower come spring without jumping up and down on them i leave them down now andthe hydraulics move them for me without sticking

Eric in IL · Nov 20, 2020

The safety section in my manual says to lower the three point when parking the tractor. That seems fairly safe to me I guess.

Brian G. NY · Nov 20, 2020

(quoted from post at 20:10:54 11/20/20)
Why are so many people needing the 3 pt. to stay up? /quote]

In my many years of reading comments about the 3PH not staying up, I understood it to be while operating equipment, not when the tractor is shut off. For example, while back blading or bush hogging. It seems to me that Leaving an attached implement raised when the tractor is not being used is just "an accident waiting to happen".

47fivewindow · Nov 20, 2020

When I worked for the local IH franchise we could get away with a lot, but leaving equipment elevated would get you fired. Children were always playing on the tractors. One must have been hurt at some time because the boss was serious. Sometimes we would display a loader raised, but it had the safety bars in place.

DavidP,South Wales · Nov 20, 2020

Hi, you’ve hit the nail on the head there with mention of children playing around tractors. That should be reason enough to leave the tractor safe.
DavidP, South Wales

John B. · Nov 20, 2020

I've read all the comments below and I have to say. There is no more stress on the hydraulic system with the arms raised or a cylinder holding up an implement when it's parked than there is with the engine running. The same stress is on the hydraulic circuits holding the implement up when the tractor is running or when it's not running. Either way the hydraulic system has to build enough pressure to raise the implement then hold it up.
Yes I believe having implements raised and parked is a very big safety issue which is called Kinetic Energy. Yes if parked and the implement is down and some one has moved the control lever to the raise position then the implement raises when engine is started is a safety concern. But we had a rule around home years ago, no riders and stay clear of equipment, because mounted implements just don't trail behind a tractor they can move side ways when the tractor is turning. I was teaching my 11 year old nephew how to drive my zero turn mower a few years ago and had to teach him about tail swing. Then he was digging divets in my yard each time her turned around. I told him to slow down when turnning around. His reply was, "I do it this was on my video game"... I told him his not playing no dam video game.

BarnyardEngineering · Nov 20, 2020

(quoted from post at 14:32:16 11/20/20) The safety section in my manual says to lower the three point when parking the tractor. That seems fairly safe to me I guess.

The implication in the instructions is that you have something attached to the 3pt. You would not want to leave a plow, or a back blade, or some other 3pt implement up in the air where it could suddenly fall on someone.

Lowering EMPTY 3pt arms for "safety" makes no sense. There is absolutely no "safety" advantage to lowering an empty 3pt hitch.

Brian G. NY · Nov 20, 2020

Lowering EMPTY 3pt arms for "safety" makes no sense. There is absolutely no "safety" advantage to lowering an empty 3pt hitch.

Thanks for setting us all straight on that!

Alvin 41 · Nov 20, 2020

My Leylands (384-272)have a lock up pin on the lift shaft and it works. Start up tractor and lift raises enough to release it.

old · Nov 20, 2020

Your right there is no more stress but there is a wear factor as in the longer it holds it up mean less time before the seals go bad. As a heavy equipment operator we where always told to work the levers after shutting the engine down to release all hyd pressure on the cylinders to make the seal last longer

Tom OConnor · Nov 20, 2020

My advice to anybody using a modern tractor equipped with a quick coupler on the three point hitch that they lock the three point lever in the up position any time they are towing an implement with the power shaft hooked up. If that lever gets knocked forward and the quick coupler comes down the next time that you turn a corner you will be buying a new power shaft. Another $500.00 dollars you can charge up to experience and a day that you can not use the grain cart or what ever else you are towing.

wore out · Nov 20, 2020

Nothing wrong with wanting them to be in tip-top shape without piston seal or other leaks, but on the other hand it's good, safety-wise to set a 3-point hitch load down before exiting the operator's station.

miangus · Nov 21, 2020

Maybe Massey Ferguson owners? When using a loader and rear blade with the internal pump it’s kind of handy if the blade will stay raised while using the loader. I use a bale on the three point as a counter weight while loading bales. I have to switch to lift control every so often to keep the bale up.

showcrop · Nov 22, 2020

2X what fixerupper said. They could ask the question this way instead if it would bother fewer people. "My tractor has a problem with the three point hitch hydraulics and I would like to correct it. I can tell it has a problem because it slowly drops when the tractor isn't running." I don't think that it is unusual or wrong to want your piece of equipmen to work properly.

Through the years observation

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