Loader Kubota Front Loader LA953 acting strange

[Little Mouse]

I bought a used Kubota L3830 with the front loader, which had a little over 100 hours in it. Everything worked fine for about 10 hours. Then one day, the front loader started acting weird. It could go up, and the bucket tilted fine, but wouldn't want to come down. So I left it at up position for a few days. The next time I started, it came down, and also it went up about half way, then it started to move up at a snail pace. It also came down very slowly. Eventually, I could get it down all the way, although it took forever. I left it there for a few weeks. Yesterday, I fired it up again, and this time, it went both up and down at a snail pace... About an inch per minute. Today, it could go up a little faster, but took forever to come down. A little later again today, it could go up at a decent speed about half way, then turned into snail, but could come down at a decent speed. All this time, there were no issues with tilting the bucket.

Any ideas what the problem could be?

 

[4570Man]

Are are the hoses connected properly? Is the oil level correct? Does the curl function correctly? Does the 3 point hitch function correctly. If you have any other hydraulics do they function correctly?

 

[Little Mouse]

The hose connections are good. My neighbor helped me with checking the oil and hydraulic fluid and he said they are ok. What's the curl and how do I check it? By the 3 point hitch, you mean like 3 point PTO stuff? I've been using the backhoe and it works fine, but it has its own hydraulic. It's probably coincidence, but I started to have problems with the front loader on the day I connected the backhoe. But I didn't want to take it off to see if it's the culprit because I thought it's probably not and it takes two people and hours to put it back on.

 

[4570Man]

When you tilt your bucket that is often referred to as curl. The 3 point hitch as in pto stuff, yes. Does your backhoe have a separate oil tank and a pto powered pump or does it use hydraulics off the tractor. If I try to use my backhoe and loader at the same time ( like when I get stuck and have two operators). The backhoe gets primary flow which makes the loader very slow. If your backhoe is powered by rear remotes and you were somehow dead heading the remote it might cause the problem at hand.

 

[jeff9366]

When was the last time every zerk on the FEL was greased?

An LA953 Loader is unusually large on an L3830.

 

[davesl708]

I had a similar experience with a used tractor. It was dirty hyd. fluid was blocking the flow through the control valve. Only certain functions were effected.
Have you changed the hydraulic fluid and filter? I had to flush my system and disassemble the control valve and clean it to get all the gunk out.

 

[Little Mouse]

4570, curl is good. And my backhoe has its own hydraulics. The only thing it's connecting to is PTO, so theoretically, I thought it shouldn't affect the main hydraulics.

Jeff, I greased everything in the early winter. Since then, I only put about 3 hours in it. Yesterday, I greased everything again just in case, but didn't make any difference. So, you think LA953 is too big? I bought it as a package (used) from the dealer...

Davesl, gosh, I would have no idea how to do all that if I have to do it myself... I'm a completely noob with farm equipment. It probably would cost a fortune if I bring it to the dealer, right? essimist:

 

[/pine]

Have you tried just resetting the QDs on the loader valve?

 

[4570Man]

Are you sure it has a la953 loader. Best I can tell that loader doesn't exist. Your tractor should have a LA723 loader.

 

[TripleR]

Agreed, never saw a LA953, my L5030 had an LA853 as did the L4330, L3830 would have a smaller loader. TractorData.com Kubota L3830 tractor attachments information

 

[Little Mouse]

Agreed, never saw a LA953, my L5030 had an LA853 as did the L4330, L3830 would have a smaller loader. TractorData.com Kubota L3830 tractor attachments information

OK, my bad. My tractor is L5030 and the loader is LA853. Sorry.

 

[TripleR]

That's a nice looking tractor. Mine only acted funny when the hoses weren't hooked up right. I unhooked all of them then hooked them up again, I took the loader off frequently; sounds like yours is something else.

Sorry I can't be of an help as hydraulics, valves etc. are a mystery to me. J J, MountainviewRanch and others are really knowledgeable, maybe they will check in or you might try a pm to one of them.

 

[jdjdjd]

I just had the same problem with a friend's L4200. It turned out to be the 3-point hitch adjustment. If you lowered the 3-point a little the FEL would work fine. Adjusted that and no more problem. Worth looking at.

 

[s219]

Check to make sure the 3-pt hitch isn't pegged and putting the system into relief.

That would definitely be something that could have started when you hooked up and lifted the backhoe.

The 3-pt is last in line to the tank -- taking PB flow from the loader. But if it's being pegged in a lift setting, it will mess up the loader functions.

If you're not real familiar with this tractor, you might not be able to recognize the sound/feel of this behavior.

 

[Little Mouse]

3-pt hitch it was! It was set at the highest position, and lowering it completely solved the problem with the FEL.

Thank you very much, y'all. You guys are awesome.

 

[s219]

OK, so if that tractor has position control, which I believe, that means you need to adjust the rod/stop that cuts off the hydraulics when in the "up" position.

But first, I'd run it without the backhoe on to make sure the backhoe wasn't interfering with the 3-pt getting to the up position. If it does, use a knob or stopper on the 3-pt lever to prevent you from trying to raise the 3-pt all the way up when the backhoe is on.

Some tractors will have a flip-down lockout to prevent the 3-pt from being raised above a certain point when a backhoe is attached.

If this tractor doesn't have position control, then check the 3-pt lever linkages to make sure it's not sticking in the up position, and again make sure the backhoe isn't blocking travel.