rjkobbeman
Platinum Member
I thought I would share information about the Self Leveling Valve that I ordered with my FEL. I have seen questions raised about this valve and I had questions/concerns myself, prior to purchase.
The Kubota Self Leveling Valve is a FEL valve that is in place of the standard FEL valve. It allows you to maintain your bucket at a constant position while raising and/or lowering the boom. Often times you will use it with pallet forks, maintaining a "level" position. However, unlike the name implies, it does not "self level" and it is not restricted to the "level" position. The operator has to put the buck/forks in the desired position (which can be any position), then the valve will maintain that position. This info is kind of assumed, but I thought I would share it anyway.
There is no linkage (mechanical or otherwise) that provides "feedback" to the bucket position. How this works is the loader valve accurately meters hydraulic flow to the boom and bucket. To maintain a constant bucket position, a specific amount of fluid is moved into or out of the bucket for a given amount of fluid moving in or out of the boom. Because there is no "feedback", the valve does not know if it is correct or not, it just meters the flow of fluid. Its metering is spot on though!
On my loader, there are two boom cylinder mount points. One is for maximum lift weight, the other for maximum lift height. If I change from one mount point to the other, the valve must be recalibrated. This is described in the FEL manual.
There is a lever on the valve, just below the joystick, that allows you to enable or disable the self leveling operation. Disabling the self leveling removes any restrictions from the self leveling operation. Speed is one restriction (the boom raises and lowers slower when in self leveling mode).
I think I covered everything. If you have any questions, fire away.
The Kubota Self Leveling Valve is a FEL valve that is in place of the standard FEL valve. It allows you to maintain your bucket at a constant position while raising and/or lowering the boom. Often times you will use it with pallet forks, maintaining a "level" position. However, unlike the name implies, it does not "self level" and it is not restricted to the "level" position. The operator has to put the buck/forks in the desired position (which can be any position), then the valve will maintain that position. This info is kind of assumed, but I thought I would share it anyway.
There is no linkage (mechanical or otherwise) that provides "feedback" to the bucket position. How this works is the loader valve accurately meters hydraulic flow to the boom and bucket. To maintain a constant bucket position, a specific amount of fluid is moved into or out of the bucket for a given amount of fluid moving in or out of the boom. Because there is no "feedback", the valve does not know if it is correct or not, it just meters the flow of fluid. Its metering is spot on though!
On my loader, there are two boom cylinder mount points. One is for maximum lift weight, the other for maximum lift height. If I change from one mount point to the other, the valve must be recalibrated. This is described in the FEL manual.
There is a lever on the valve, just below the joystick, that allows you to enable or disable the self leveling operation. Disabling the self leveling removes any restrictions from the self leveling operation. Speed is one restriction (the boom raises and lowers slower when in self leveling mode).
I think I covered everything. If you have any questions, fire away.