Laser grading hydraulic valve issue.

[Complete Turf Care]

Look where the red box is in this picture. You will find an orangeish/yellowish cap that can be used as a pressure free tank return if you drill it out and tap it
Aaron Z

Yes, here is a pic of the filler cap. And, I know for sure that I did operate the 3pt hitch when the first coil failed. The only way I could get my tiller and my blade to fit on my trailer was to hook the tiller on the tractor, raise it all the way, then hook the blade on the drawbar, and transport it on the trailer like that.

If I want to dump the oil into the filler cap, would I just plug one hose into the remote valve, and the other would go to the filler cap?

 

[aczlan]

Yes, here is a pic of the filler cap. And, I know for sure that I did operate the 3pt hitch when the first coil failed. The only way I could get my tiller and my blade to fit on my trailer was to hook the tiller on the tractor, raise it all the way, then hook the blade on the drawbar, and transport it on the trailer like that.
If I want to dump the oil into the filler cap, would I just plug one hose into the remote valve, and the other would go to the filler cap?
View attachment 349918View attachment 349919

Yes. The only caveat being that when the lever (on the tractor) is pushed/pulled to turn on the remote, your 3 point hitch will not raise.

Aaron Z

 

[Complete Turf Care]

You might consider a 3000 psi hyd gage in the system to monitor and trouble shoot the hyd system. Cost about $30

Sample test set.

I think this is my next step in this process. How would you suggest I put a gauge in my system?

 

[aczlan]

I think this is my next step in this process. How would you suggest I put a gauge in my system?

I would use the following:
1x 1/2" Quick coupler set: 1/2" NPT QUICK COUPLER F/F S20-4
1x 1/2" Tee: 1/2 X 1/2 X 1/2 NPTF TEE
2x 1/2" nipples: 1/2 NPT HEX NIPPLE
1x 1/2" to 1/4" bushing: 1/2 NPT TO 1/4 NPT BUSHING
Gauge: 5000 PSI 2.5" LF LM GAUGE CF1P-350-A

That would give you: male quick connect > 1/2" close nipple > Tee > 1/2" close nipple > female quick connect
Then off the other side of the tee you would put the bushing and the gauge.

Depending on where your tractor remotes are located, it might be hard to read the gauge like that and the length might be unwieldy (depending on how your hoses run). If that's the case some options are:
Add a hose to the gauge so that you can have it in a more convenient location:
Hose: Surplus Center (pick a length)
Coupler: 1/4 X 1/4 NPTF COUPLER
The hose goes into the bushing on the tee and the coupler is to connect the gauge to the hose.

Add a hose between the male quick disconnect and the tee so that you have some flex:
Hose: 1/2" X 12" 1/2 NPTM X 1/2 NPTM 3500 PSI HYD HOSE
The hose replaces the nipple between the male quick disconnect and the tee.

Total would be $40-$56 depending on what you got and shipping would be another $12ish.

I would use a liquid pipe joint sealer on the threads such as: Oatey Great White 1 oz. Pipe-Joint Compound-312291 at The Home Depot

With the above setup, you could put the gauge on either line and watch the pressure while working to see what it gets to.

Aaron Z

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I picked up the fittings to put in a valve. I'll plug one end into the tractor, and plug the hose from the blade into the other end. I got most of the fittings from my local Tractor Supply, and the valve at a local machine shop.

I'll put it all together tomorrow and try it out to see if I have any back pressure.

 

[aczlan]

Looks great. One note, if those are black iron and galvanized reducers, I might replace them with Steel Hydraulic Adapter, 3/8 in. M x 1/4 in. F - Tractor Supply Co. and Steel Hydraulic Adapter, 1/2 in. M x 3/8 in. F - Tractor Supply Co.
IIRC Black Iron and Galvanized fittings are only rated for ~600PSI

Aaron Z

 

[Complete Turf Care]

Looks great. One note, if those are black iron and galvanized reducers, I might replace them with Steel Hydraulic Adapter, 3/8 in. M x 1/4 in. F - Tractor Supply Co. and Steel Hydraulic Adapter, 1/2 in. M x 3/8 in. F - Tractor Supply Co.
IIRC Black Iron and Galvanized fittings are only rated for ~600PSI

Aaron Z

Thanks Aaron. I had picked up this at Tractor Supply, but when I got to the machine shop, he said that it wouldn't work. So he gave me the galvanized reducers.


I went back out and put it all together and plugged it into the tractor. It's getting late now, so I'll hook up the blade tomorrow and try it out.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I got everything hooked up and took it for a test drive. You can see in this first video that the pressure on the 'return' side stayed under about 200 psi, but when I uploaded the video, I noticed that it spiked up to about 800 psi for about 2 seconds at 48 seconds into the video. I'm not sure what caused the spike, because I didn't see it until I watched the video again on my computer. Could this be enough of a spike to cause my back pressure problem and make my coil fail?

I'll post another video with the gauge on the 'pressure' side hose later.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

Here is another video with the gauge on the 'pressure' hose. You can see that it fluctuated between about 500 and 1000 psi when the blade was within it's working range. But, when the blade couldn't go any higher, the pressure would peak at about 2400 psi and stay there until I drove to an area where the blade would get back into it's working range. Really not much to see in this video.

And, yes, there is a lot of oil leaking from my gauge setup. I used some kind of pipe dope from Tractor Supply. I'll probably take it apart and use some teflon tape before I use it again.

 

[J_J]

Where is the return/OUT hose dumping the laser valve expended fluid?

You should not have much back pressure with the OUT hose going directly to tank.