Leyland 272 three-point hitch will not lift

I have 272 British Leyland tractor that was being used with a three-point hitch to plow a garden. The three-point lift worked for several furrows and then suddenly stopped lifting at the end of one furrow. I do not know if the tractor rocked backwards and tripped some safety, but there is no power when lifting. I had the exact same event happen once while plowing a 20-acre field about a week earlier. In that event the three-point failed to lift when I reached the end of the furrow. When that happened I wiggled this lever and that and finally it lifted after about 15 minutes. I have no idea what finally made the lift begin to function again.

In fall of 2008 we had the same three-point lift failure while plowing a field and sent the tractor to the repair shop. The mechanic decided that a valve assembly in the tail-end might be failing and replaced it. Given that we have the same problem in the fall of 2009 and the tractor only uses three-point hitch in the fall I am skeptical if the mechanic replaced the correct failing part or if the lift simply started working again.

The oil is (new) clean and the filters were replaced in the tail end. The hydraulic hoses all have lift pressure so that part is working. I can not see anything that could be binding from the outside and need suggestions. The mechanic is about a month from looking at this tractor and by that time the ground will be frozen in Wisconsin. I still have another 30 acres to plow and don’t have another tractor that can pull the plow. Suggestions please.

i don"t think there is any safety mechanism on the tractor that would stop it lifting the three point hitch, i wonder if the draft control is playing up, the fact that things started to work again before when you played with the levels might indicate that. Or is the auxiliary hydraulic being used? if that lever got moved it might be taking all the oil and leaving none for the 3 point. I"ve never operated a 272, but have used a Nuffield 10/60 (a forerunner of the 272 - but they are a little different) You could try this forum, I"ve found it useful
Leyland

Thanks for the link. I’m not at a place where I can access the link, but I will review it tonight. None of the other hydraulic connections are being used at this time so there is plenty of oil for the three-point lift. Let me mention that none of the control levers move easier nor harder once the problem started.

I called a parts yard yesterday and they handed the telephone to a mechanic/customer that walked in the door that has some experience with Leylands. The mechanic suggested pulling off the arms at the tops and remove the top cover. He stated the valve on the top is sticking. I don’t have any pictures so I can’t say for certain that I know exactly what to see once looking in the top. The mechanic went on to state that there is a split-ring as part of the valve assembly and it is likely binding which prevents the valve from changing once the linkage is moved and hence the lift is absent. He went on to state that I should remove the split ring and I need a magnet for something. Maybe that is to retrieve the split ring once I drop it in the oil. My target is to tackle this approach Saturday morning. Any suggestions prior to then are appreciated.

I borrowed a repair manual for a Leyland 284. I read the notes and reviewed the drawings a few times. I can tell you the casting for the top 3-point hitch arms on the tractor is very heavy. I removed the top of the lift arms from their pins and dropped them downward. I removed the 8 bolts on the top casting and rotated the casting up and clockwise setting it on the tool box. From there you can see the top of the valve assembly. There is a safety valve on the top-link assembly. The oil level was adequate. When I pushed the top-link plate inward on five attempts it stuck inward at least once. Maybe a lazy spring in that assembly. I also cleaned off some deposits on the outside of the top link area. I am not sure how to replace the spring in that assembly. My urgent need was to get the lift working again. I also noted that the LIFT lever might be out of adjustment and the valve assembly might not be traveling far enough to properly send the valve into lift mode. I loosened the Lift arm adjustment lock nut on the side of the control arm toward the rear of the tool box, turned the adjusting nut one turn clockwise, (located behind and slightly left of the back of the toolbox) then retightened the lock nut. I used "CASE IH Gasket Eliminator" to create a replacement gasket seal between the casting and the lower hydraulic unit. I was told an 1/8" bead is all it takes and then the pressure of the casting begins the sealing process. I snugged all the bolts and then torqued them evenly. I let the new gasket seal sit for about 20 minutes and tested the lift with power. No leaks and the lift reacted very snappy to the control lever being moved. I also check the lift in "draught" mode too and that worked. I repeated my testing several times and never did it fail. We will be testing with the plow on Tuesday afternoon.

If anyone has additional comments on this repair I am interested to hear them. I won"t be convinced that it"s 100% repaired until I have another 30 acres plowed.

Got the land plowed, but noticed that as the tractor and oil warmed the hydraulics lifted slower. I had put new hydraulic oil in the case late Spring and checked the level. All was good. I didn't have any new incidents where the lift didn't work. I suspect the safety on the toplink caused my initial problem.