Overnight FEL leak down

[Squirrel's242]

Last night I parked the tractor, left the FEL about 1-1.5' off the ground, and locked the joystick in place. Since we had been working on the perimeter fence, I left one 8.5' x 3.5" steel pipe loaded on the pallet forks. Probably 85-95lbs of weight, plus the 230-245lbs worth of pallet fork weight. Just now this morning I go out and the forks are resting on the ground. Is it normal for the FEL to leak down that much overnight? Tractor is an MT242 premium w the LL3003 loader. Tractor was parked about 4pm, and this morning I saw it at 930a.

I read some other threads asking the same thing about their tractors and the consensus in those was that much wasn't normal. I'm fixing to call the dealer and inquire. Right now is not the time I can have it sitting at the dealer, I'm using it. But I'm looking for direction from this point for when I can, if needed. It is under warranty.

 

[Bobrown14]

Mine never leak down......

 

[dodge man]

I think that’s normal. That’s not very much of a leak down. You really should set the FEL down when you shut the tractor down anyway.

 

[GS650GL]

All hydraulics will eventually leak down, some more than others. That's why it's recommended to lower all implements to the ground for safety when parking the tractor. There is no load check valve in the loader control valve like on some large farm tractors. On every tractor you can hear noises when the loader is slowly settling while parked. But if it settles fast enough that you can actually see it move, then that's too much.

 

[oldnslo]

Leakage depends on the quality of the valve and are the cylinders not bypassing internally.

You can ask dealer if there is a leak down spec for that tractor but don’t be surprised if there isn’t one specified.

 

[ning]

1-1.5' overnight? It's fine.

Always drop the bucket anyways, never know when a squirrel is going to play with the joystick.

 

[Squirrel's242]

I think that’s normal. That’s not very much of a leak down. You really should set the FEL down when you shut the tractor down anyway.

I normally do. This was the only time I ever left it up.


Sounds like the consensus is it's ok. That being the case I suppose I won't worry about it much.

 

[GS650GL]

My dealer checked several new tractors on their sales lot. They raised the loaders and put lines on the cylinder rods with a magic marker so they could determine how much they settle over time. All of them settled about 1/4" in a half hour. Then they filled the bucket with wet sand and rechecked and the results were about the same with the bucket full or empty. They have had a couple that the bucket or loader boom settled quickly enough that they could see it moving and they replaced some cylinders on those to fix the issue. To determine if the oil was bypassing inside the cylinders or in the loader control valve, they raised the loader and disconnected the hydraulic hoses at the quick couplers. If the loader still settled, the problem is in the cylinders. If it no longer settled, the problem is in the valve.