3-Point Hitch 3 point hitch won't lift

[Texas Blues]

Joy in tractorland. I put the piston seal in (tight fitting too!), reassembled the cylinder and started the tractor. At first, nothing happened. After a bit, I removed the cylinder housing and restarted the tractor. No oil was coming out of the cylinder feed port. I put the cylinder assembly back together and started looking elsewhere. I thought I had pressure problems from the pump maybe and cracked the pressure line and started the tractor. It started to dribble so I tightened the line back up. After that I restarted the tractor again, and the pressure was there and the lift worked good. I guess it needed time to purge the lines of air. Only have a dirt scoop as a load on it right now, but it lifted that just fine, in fact more responsive than ever. Ran out of daylight, but tomorrow will get back to using the tractor to haul more fallen trees from hurricane Ike. Thanks again for the input.

 

[JC-jetro]

Hey guys,

Been away from this thread a while. It's great to see things are looking up. If there is any better lift than Ford lift design is Kubota's external tandem pistons so basically nothing inside and all can be repaired from the outside. I think NH design is the best design around comparing all major colors with the exception of Kubota grand L's.

JC,

 

[Texas Blues]

I am also pleased to report that when I got up this morning, the scoop had not dropped to the ground overnight. It had not bled down like it has been doing all along. Leading up to the repair, the load would bleed down whithin a few minutes of shutting off the tractor. Will try a heavier load on it later in the week, my 5 foot brush hog is pretty heavy. Hey Sevan, what was the final outcome of your repair?

 

[sevans]

I got lucky...

My piston seal looked like new so I didn't replace it.

The spool valve was pretty rusted over and the rust went into one of the cylinders where there is an exposed valve that got rusted tight. JC warned me about taking the spool valve assembly apart and I headed his warning; there are lots of small springs, o-rings, valves in the assembly and it's a finely machined piece of work on the inside.

I removed the rust from the outside and soaked the whole assembly for 2 days at the same time 'working' the rusted valve lose. I could only get it to move about an 1/8 of an inch but thought I'd try putting it back in the tractor and test it out.

It worked!

Fair warning... Ford doesn't sell the individual parts inside the spool valve anymore and I was quoted around $850 for the entire spool valve assembly.

 

[sevans]

Oh... great work on getting yours fixed!

 

[JC-jetro]

I got lucky...


It worked!

Fair warning... Ford doesn't sell the individual parts inside the spool valve anymore and I was quoted around $850 for the entire spool valve assembly.

Good to hear that all your effort worked out enough to make your tractor workable. May be more use, hyd oil maintenance and proper storage of tractor can help to keep it working for many more years.


JC,

 

[JC-jetro]

I am also pleased to report that when I got up this morning, the scoop had not dropped to the ground overnight. It had not bled down like it has been doing all along. Leading up to the repair, the load would bleed down whithin a few minutes of shutting off the tractor. Will try a heavier load on it later in the week, my 5 foot brush hog is pretty heavy. Hey Sevan, what was the final outcome of your repair?

Tex,

Glad it worked out and the test shows it. In general during storage, I prop up any implements that is hanging from my 3 point on wood blocking and bleed the pressure off a tad by lowering the implement. There is no need to keep all the seals and orings exposed to high pressure when not needed.

jc,

 

[sevans]

Hey JC,

On a similar topic, I'm still using the post hole digger but when I'm simply driving the tractor around or days I'm not using it I chain the post hole digger to the bar as shown below and let the digger down. This way the digger is up and I can drive the tractor around without constant pressure on the digger.



Is this a good idea or am I causing some other problem?

 

[JC-jetro]

Hey JC,

On a similar topic, I'm still using the post hole digger but when I'm simply driving the tractor around or days I'm not using it I chain the post hole digger to the bar as shown below and let the digger down. This way the digger is up and I can drive the tractor around without constant pressure on the digger.

View attachment 110599

Is this a good idea or am I causing some other problem?

Hi Sevans,

nothing in life is black and white other than death and taxes

On the up part I see that you that you take the pressure off your lift system but consider that while the tractor is running you have the pressure always on due to the nature of live hydraulic you have, so the way you hung it is good for storage when the tractor is off. I guess what I would be concerned with Is the heavy auger that is hanging from the end , where the pivot point is and the amount of the force is exerted to the chain and the ROPS while you are traveling. I hate for the tractor wanting to back flip because of where your are putting force on the ROPS. Remember always pull from draw bar and never ever from the ROPS.

my 2 cent,

JC,

ps. You have dynamic forces (associated with velocity) and static forces. Dynamic forces can be multiplied many times let's say you happily moving down the pasture and all of the sudden hit an unexpected bump causing force to ROPS magnify.

 

[Texas Blues]

Hey JC, do you know of a good source for front rims for the 1700? Tire size is 5x15 6 lug pattern. The holes where the valve stem comes through is rusted and jagged. Tubes have been installed long ago before I got the tractor. But now the tires need to be replaced, and I sure would like a new set of rims. I might be able to have that hole welded up and just drill a new one for the valve stem. Did these rims originally come as tubless tires? Thanks

 

[JC-jetro]

Hey JC, do you know of a good source for front rims for the 1700? Tire size is 5x15 6 lug pattern. The holes where the valve stem comes through is rusted and jagged. Tubes have been installed long ago before I got the tractor. But now the tires need to be replaced, and I sure would like a new set of rims. I might be able to have that hole welded up and just drill a new one for the valve stem. Did these rims originally come as tubless tires? Thanks

Hey Tex,

Actually, I looked around for a good source and was not able to locate one. I was able to find an outfit here in kansas that actually fabricated a rime but they were prohibitively expensive. I was planning to get a a set of Ag as I have turf tires. I you have FWA then you need to be careful with the circumference of tire/rim combination to avoid damage to the drive system. If you have two wheel drive any thing close to existing radius with same bolt pattern should work. I do not know if the original set up was tubeless... probably not. I'd probably fond some plate and weld it up to stiffen the whole thing and poke holes where i need,

Jc,

 

[Texas Blues]

Yea JC, its a 2 wheel drive so any rim I find close should work. That 6 lug bolt pattern is odd though and I havent found any yet, other than the factory replacement part which costs around 160.00 each, ouch! Just for giggles here's a picture of the condition of my piston seal.....lol

 

[JC-jetro]

Yea JC, its a 2 wheel drive so any rim I find close should work. That 6 lug bolt pattern is odd though and I havent found any yet, other than the factory replacement part which costs around 160.00 each, ouch! Just for giggles here's a picture of the condition of my piston seal.....lol

Wow it's amazing.Mine looked a heck of a lot better, lol

JC,

Ps. One good thing is that the same exact piston seal is used on several newer NH TC, series as well, can not remember exactly which one, so future availability is of no concern.

 

[Texas Blues]

lol, well I have abused mine slightly. My 5 foot box blade is way to heavy for this tractor. And the 5 ft brush hog is pretty heayy too. It pulls those attachments no problem when they are on the ground, but when lifting the box blade it strains the hydraulics. The brush hog doesnt really strain it that much, its just a long attachment and it gets alittle bouncy. I'll be hooking the brush hog this weekend and see how the new seal works.