John Deere 300x Loader - Will not dump

[Thowle]

Used the 3520 to bush-hog today; some trees/saplings that got pushed over with the loader.

After about 5 hours of mowing, went to shut tractor down and level out the bucket.. it will raise, lower, and tilt back, but it will only dump about 1" then you can hear the hydraulic strain. Any ideas? Figured maybe a stick or something was wedged between the arms and the bucket, but didn't see anything.

 

[arlen4720]

I would unplug and reseat the quick connects. That fixes 99% of "my loader doesn't xxxx". If that doesn't fix it, swapp the lift hoses around with the curl hoses, and try to isolate the problem to the loader or the tractor.

 

[JD 4520]

Did the lock lever get moved? Right side in front of joy stick.

 

[Tx Jim]

Ditto on possible hyd QD problem. Possible tree/sapling damage to FEL valve control cable.

 

[Thowle]

Not the QD's... everything looks fine. Took bucket off today and tried to extend arms (dump), and there is a lot of resistance after about 1". My buddy thinks one of the rams is bent. Guess time to take to JD.. that plus the AC quit working!

 

[arlen4720]

Don't mess with it too much without a bucket on. If one ram is bent, the healthy one will shear the timing rod pin. Or take the timing rod pin out for now

 

[Thowle]

Maybe they are both bent, because we took that timing rod off, and they both stayed about the same.

 

[catdozer]

They make look fine, but do unplug and plug back in all 4 quick couplers!
If rods are bent they will still go in an out, unless its an extreme bend like 90 degrees.

 

[arlen4720]

They make look fine, but do unplug and plug back in all 4 quick couplers!
If rods are bent they will still go in an out, unless its an extreme bend like 90 degrees.

Yes, I agree. If you bent both rods you would have noticed.

 

[Thowle]

You all were right! Took the QDs off, and re-seated, and now she works like a charm!

 

[kennyd]

I would unplug and reseat the quick connects. That fixes 99% of "my loader doesn't xxxx". If that doesn't fix it, swapp the lift hoses around with the curl hoses, and try to isolate the problem to the loader or the tractor.

Like Arlen wrote: 99% of the time...

 

[ddivinia]

I had the same problem on my 400x. It happens,

D.

 

[Spindifferent]

I have a 3520 with a 300x that won't curl the bucket at all. Loader lift arms work fine. I've checked the quick connects, switched the lift/bucket lines, checked fluid, etc. I think there is an issue with the spool valve. Going into the repair shop this week.

 

[compact]

Check the regen - normal - lock lever under the loader joystick - it may have gotten kicked into lock in which case the bucket won't move.