CK30 FEL Won't drop

[Leithal]

So I was down at the creek this morning pushing around some brush and all of a sudden my loader wouldn't go down. It goes up fine and the bucket pivots both ways as normal. I thought a line might have been disconnected so I looked underneath and found what you see in the attached image. Hopefully this is my problem and that it won't be to expensive. BTW the joy stick didn't want to move forward either. Any advice would be great.

 

[Alien]

Happened to me a couple of times. Once I had squashed a pipe on the bucket and the second time a stick had released a hydraulic chuck plug in the valve block and the hose was just sitting in there looking like it was still hooked up.

 

[VictorW]

I had to take both of my caps, the silver cup in your picture, off for cleaning, lubing, and re-sealing because moisture caused some corrosion. The end of the spool in the valve block has to go into that cup when lowering the fel. The spool pulls out of the cup when raising. I'm sure that is why the joy stick won't move correctly and not allowing the fel to drop. That cap also has three small steel balls in the bottom that allow the spool to lock in for the float function. The other cap is for the bucket curl function and doesn't have the three balls. I remember a few years ago, a member lost the float lock function. He removed that cap to find corrosion and the three balls destroyed. When he priced a new cap and if memory serves me correct, it was @$200. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Leithal]

Well I've got it in my shop right now with some 4x4s under the bucket just in case. I guess I can take loose the qdc and release the pressure so I can lower it. But do I need to completely take out the joystick valve or can I just r/r the cup.

 

[VictorW]

You can just remove/replace the cup from the valve block. Two allen head bolts. You'll see the end of the spool with a spring attached sticking out of the valve block about an inch. There are seals in the valve block that seal the spool so no fluid will leak out. When I cleaned my cups, greased liberally the inside of the cup and spring on the spool, I put a very thin film of silicone seal on the flat mating surface of the cup to the valve block to keep moisture out. Mine started to get stiff the second Winter from new. It's been eight years since then and all is good.

 

[Leithal]

Looks Like I Need Item 11 From This diagram. Just wanted to make sure before I ordered it.

 

[Leithal]

I was able to kinda shift the cup back in place and lower the lowder. Got the cup off and am going to see if I can have a friend weld up the crack, kinda doubt it since it's cast aluminum but he's one of the best repair welders I know and figure it's worth a shot.

 

[VictorW]

I hope he can weld it. It holds no hydraulic pressure. Just the pressure from the spring to center the spool and when you push it into float. #11 is it from your diagram. Good luck.

 

[Rustyiron]

There really is an opportunity for someone to make & sell tractor "under armor". It doesn't take much on today's tractors to have a little stick cause expensive repairs. Come to think of it, with (basically) all things being equal between tractor brands, other than your favorite color, a factory option for a skid pan might give one "color" an advantage over another. It could be a simple dealer installed option or just a p/n available to the customer.
But then the "bean counters" prolly have it figured out that they are ahead selling parts and service/repair work for damage that they know is going to happen.

 

[Coyote machine]

I'd try JB Weld before trying to actually weld that piece. I doubt there is enough metal to take the heat of welding, whereas the chemical bond of the JBWeld would likely hold it together....