I have a new MT 125. My fel joystick seems to have way too much play. It will eventually get to a position where, when I need to curl the bucket up, the stick will hit the steering wheel and no bucket movement. If I move it around, it kind of resets itself and functions normally for awhile. Is there a joystick adjustment?
Loader LS MT125 FEL joystick adjustment
- Thread starter dhale63
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dieselscout80
Veteran Member
Sounds like a warranty issue/fix.
mslisaj
Gold Member
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2017
- Messages
- 323
- Location
- Klamath Falls, Oregon
- Tractor
- LS MT125 Loader/Backhoe John Deere Sabre Lawn tractor w/Snow Blade
My MT125 has/had the same issue. What I found were two things, after taking the boot off the valve and making sure everything on the top control and support levers were tight I notice that the actual long control lever was loose in the top of the valve. That helped most of the problem. But what I also discovered that this valve is not like any loader control valve I have ever used before in that it kind of gets "lost" doing two movements at the same time and it's easy to move the valve beyond it's limits. Also it doesn't really have any stops in it like other control valves I've operated. I first discovered this while pushing snow recently when I could not get the bucket to go into float. But after moving the control stick through all it's positions I could get it back "centered" again and all would work fine. Apparently what I was doing was moving the control stick too far in any direction and it would get lost. I finished the snow season without further difficulty being cognizant not to move the control stick farther then necessary and in more precise directions.
I have operated a lot of different kind of big loaders in my career and they all had short control sticks and felt like they had definitive stops in them. I also think they had tighter centering or neutralizing springs in them. But then again it may have been the short control stick and you don't have the leverage over the valve as you do with the very long control lever on the MT125. But I would first check the tightness of the control stick into the valve. I had to really cinch down on mine to get rid of the extra movement there. But be careful as the tightening twist you're putting right on top of the light weight lever supports and could break them. You'll see what I'm talking about when you get in there.
Good luck.........
I have operated a lot of different kind of big loaders in my career and they all had short control sticks and felt like they had definitive stops in them. I also think they had tighter centering or neutralizing springs in them. But then again it may have been the short control stick and you don't have the leverage over the valve as you do with the very long control lever on the MT125. But I would first check the tightness of the control stick into the valve. I had to really cinch down on mine to get rid of the extra movement there. But be careful as the tightening twist you're putting right on top of the light weight lever supports and could break them. You'll see what I'm talking about when you get in there.
Good luck.........
ThirdMan
Gold Member
As a Lisa says check that nut at the end of the loader stick. I had to tighten it up also
LS Tractor Owner
Super Member
- Joined
- May 1, 2017
- Messages
- 7,562
- Location
- Edgewood, NM
- Tractor
- LS XG3025 TLB, Previously MT125 TLB, Craftsman GTS6500
Yep, the nut at the bottom of the stick got loose on mine after hours of snow removal. Could hardly get the control to work at all. Drove back to the garage, popped the boot off, put the stick back to where it was comfortable and tightened the nut... Wala! Worked just like new! Plus it was now in a more comfortable position.