3-Point Hitch MF 2660 3 pt. lift will not operate

[JWR]

This is a near-new tractor hours-wise. An April 2011 purchase with around 165 hrs. now. Sat over the winter only started and ran some once a month. In Nov. 2013 the lift was used with no problem with a roughly 2500lb object (boom cutter) mounted. Had been used all summer. In early April 2014 the 3pt lift would not make the usual noises at "constant pumping" (fully up) levels and would not put tension on the linkages. Removed the boom cutter, moved the tractor and found the lift would then go up and down. Attached 1400lb 7ft bush hog and found the lift would only raise the front half of the hog. Would not raise the full hog weight. [An hydraulic top link was used to raise the rear after the 3pt raised the front -- then the whole hog slowly went down to the ground.Would not stay up.] So in effect the 3pt lift has become disabled.

Some suggest the control valve inside the pump is stuck. Some theorize a split line inside the tractor housing or else a busted seal in the lift cylinder. Note: All that is internal to the heavy tractor housing and thus any leaks go right back to the sump.

One more clue: The front end loader and other remote hyd devices work fine UNTIL the combining valve is engaged [whose purpose is to add 3pt pump flow to the total remotes flow.] Once the combinging valve is engaged, the FEL goes dead and nothing works via the remotes.

The tractor is waiting inline at the nearest dealer for serious investigation. Dealer mechanic has already been to the farm and verified there IS a problem.

Anyone out there had this happen before ?

 

[JWR]

Sure is awful quiet out there ... I guess I'm the only one ever had such a thing happen...

 

[JWR]

This is a near-new tractor hours-wise. An April 2011 purchase with around 165 hrs. now. Sat over the winter only started and ran some once a month. In Nov. 2013 the lift was used with no problem with a roughly 2500lb object (boom cutter) mounted. Had been used all summer. In early April 2014 the 3pt lift would not make the usual noises at "constant pumping" (fully up) levels and would not put tension on the linkages. Removed the boom cutter, moved the tractor and found the lift would then go up and down. Attached 1400lb 7ft bush hog and found the lift would only raise the front half of the hog. Would not raise the full hog weight. [An hydraulic top link was used to raise the rear after the 3pt raised the front -- then the whole hog slowly went down to the ground.Would not stay up.] So in effect the 3pt lift has become disabled.

This is just for MF owner info. Issue SOLVED. Just incredible. First, there was nothing wrong (!) Second neither the manual nor the dealers got across to me in 3 years time that the Draft lever (in fully up position) on these machines does NOT disable nor totally defeat draft sensing. Merely reduces the sensitivity. So if you have a heavy implement, lets say a 1460 lb 7 ft bush hog hung way out there in back, it puts enough "pull" on the top link to cause intrusion of draft sensing. The net effect is erratic operation of the 3 pt lift. In my specific loading case using the lowest of the 3 holes in the "beam" for top link attachment restores "normal" lift operation. To prove the source of the problem, I attached the top link to the axle via chains rather than via the normal top link attachment point. The lift then runs the hog up and down with ease ! (Because draft sensing is guaranteed to be out of the picture.) The icing on the cake was to find out from the regional MF service rep that a kit is sold specifically to lockout draft sensing. Since I am never plowing with this machine I am installing the kit ASAP. I find it frankly astounding that these machines are sold without anyone ever stating this circumstance ANYWHERE in the manuals, in bold face type on the first page, or in mandatory training from your dealer (which it should be.) I spent one **** of a lot of money, lost use, and time chasing this rabbit. I have to wonder how many others did the same. The incredible long list of suggested culprits from other users and dealers is equally amazing ranging from standpipes and o-rings, to internal hydraulic pump control valves, to combiner valve malfunction, etc. --- all manner of complex and potentially expensive repairs when in fact the ONLY problem was lack of information ! Astounding. jwr

 

[M&T Farm]

Having the same issue with my 2660 hd series. 3 pt is stuck in the up position. I’m new to this tractor, and don’t know hydraulic system well

 

[JWR]

Having the same issue with my 2660 hd series. 3 pt is stuck in the up position. I’m new to this tractor, and don’t know hydraulic system well

What load or attachment do you have on the 3pt? My problem in 2014 with my 2660 was the Draft control fooling me. See the original 1st post in this thread. I installed the Draft control bypass (which is just a shaft and a couple of bars with holes) that takes the Draft control totally out of the picture. Mine was never stuck in the uppermost lift position. Suggest first make sure your Draft lever is ALL the way up which desensitizes the Draft control so much that for most things it is out of the picture. Then use your Level control lever which SHOULD run your 3pt lift up and down. If it doesn't, check the combining valve (at your heel at the floor below your seat. Around a 5inch long chrome lever with a black tip on it.) Run that back and forth a couple of times leaving it in the full "off to the right" position.[Rats, I meant to the left, counterclockwise, but back against the seat base. 9/2022] It is usually stiff. OFF is back against the sheet metal in my open platform non-cab tractor. If yours is the cab model that may differ some (?) Check your operator manual on that.

I'm not saying the combiner valve is the problem but I have had the hydraulics act peculiar a time or two after using the combiner. The combiner valve allows you to ADD the hydraulic flow from your 3pt lift to that of your main auxiliary hydraulic pump up front on the engine in case you have need for some higher flow hydraulic attachment.

Actually now that I think of it, that MAY be your whole problem. You might have the Combiner valve turned in to combine flow. If you do, that disables the 3pt lift.

 

[JWR]

This thread is almost 8 years old ! Us other owners want to hear how you resolve this so please get back & tell us.

 

[UncleBuck1]

Adding another 9 months to the life of this old thread!

I'm another one of the apparently rare owners of a 2660HD and I have a question about the combined flow valve: does it disable all 3-point lift control (position and depth/draft) ... or possibly just the position control?

The reason I ask is that my position control lever has been so stiff as to be unusable for awhile although depth/draft control works just fine; my work-around is just to use draft control for everything, which requires constant attention when bush hogging. After reading this thread I'm wondering if my problem is that the combined flow valve is open - I hate to admit it, but I didn't know what the the combined flow valve control lever under the seat was and have ignored it. My tractor is 50 miles away so I can't test for myself until I'm back at my farm in a few weeks.

 

[JWR]

Uncle Buck: The horizontal short lever under and in front of your seat on a MF2660 is for the combined flow function. If fully clockwise (which just means it sticks out a few inches more; it does not move more than a few inches at the tip) that causes the output flow of the 3pt lift pump to be combined with that of the bigger auxiliary pump that feeds your remotes and feeds your loader valve. More gallons per minute. That's what the users manual indicates and all I know that it does. The 3pt would lack ANY hydraulic flow to lift it at that time with the combiner valve "on". The Draft lever would seem to be a moot or irrelevant thing at that point as well. I do know when the combiner valve is "on" you cannot lift anything with the 3pt. Then when I close mine (fully counterclockwise, back to the left pretty snug against the base of the seat) the 3 pt operates normally.

I assume you know that the Draft Control lever has to be all the way up to take Draft Control out of the picture. With the Draft Control lever all the way up, your Position control lever should raise and lower you 3pt hitch normally. I am puzzled when you say "my position control lever has been so stiff as to be unusable for a while." Your position control lever should never be "stiff" if you mean hard to move. If it is, that sounds like debris or something obstructing the movement of the linkage down inside that housing below the levers OR something hung up inside your chassis where the 3pt pump and cylinder are located. I have never had either one of those happen. But MAYBE that is not what you meant? Note: The position lever should not be any more or any less free to move than the draft control lever. IF IT IS then something is wrong.

You said your "work around is using the Draft Control lever to raise and lower everything." I have not tried using the Draft lever for anything. It is only intended to be used to maintain a depth level when plowing soil for example. The way it works [when intentionally using draft control] is that the heavy spring at the attach point for the top link senses "pull" on the top link and increases the lift of your 3pt internal to the tractor chassis so the plow (which was going down too deep) is pulled up toward the surface. That give and take in vertical level allows a plow to follow the contour of the land rather than being a fixed position or height relative to your tractor chassis. That is the meaning of draft control -- it controls the "draft" or depth of the plow in the soil. Your Draft Control lever is for that purpose and no other purpose. It is to adjust the automatic lift amount in response to the plow tip trying to bury itself deeper in the soil.

So the Draft Control lever might sort of work as a Position Control erratically and unpredictably but that is NOT intended in the design.

I assume you are not plowing or using a disk and probably have no need for Draft Control (as is the case for 99% of us! For nearly all of us it is nothing but a confusion factor.) Some new tractors (e.g. Kubota's larger ones for example) are now offering Draft Control only as an option, not standard.

I suggest this:

1) Place the Draft lever all the way up as far as it will go and leave it there.
2) Operate the at-your-feet Combiner valve back and forth a few times just to make sure it is operating. Then leave it fully counter clockwise back tight against the base of your seat area, not sticking out. That leaves you in standard configuration with the internal chassis 3pt lift cylinder and pump ready to go.
3) Put any available load, (like an implement, a weight, anything heavy enough to cause the 3pt to drop; a buddy standing on it will also do) on your 3pt hitch.
4) Then run these tests: a) push the Position control lever all the way forward. The load / 3pt should drop to the ground. It only goes down by gravity, not by hydraulic force.
b) then pull the Position control lever slowly back toward the upmost position. Do it gradually and you should be able to see the load and the 3pt. hitch rise proportional to the lever position. That is how the position control should (and must) work.

One oddity of the MF 2650/60/70/80 series is that there is very little control lever travel from the point where the implement is on the ground upward to where the implement is fully lifted. Just a couple of inches of lever travel.
I claim that is poor design. Offers very poor control; too sensitive. AGCO and MF say that is just the way it is. And I have tried it on several 2600 HD series tractors and discussed it at length with regional reps.

If you find the position lever "stiff" or hard to move that issue must be solved before doing anything else. Maybe a limb or debris of some sort in around the linkage ? Maybe needs lubrication? Maybe (hope not) there is some internal problem with the 3pt lift hydraulic control?

Anyway that is what I recommend and please let me know how it goes. By the way, I would be extremely surprised if there is really anything wrong with the tractor but of course things do happen. Note in my post #3 above there really was nothing wrong with my tractor. Simply understanding it.

 

[JWR]

By the way -- don't feel bad if your tractor is 50 miles from you. Mine is 330 miles from me ! I go work on my farm and another property there every month for a few days. I'm retired and bought the MF 2660HD new in early 2011. Mine is a low profile non-cab model. A friend back near the farm had a 2660 the same year I bought mine but his was a cab model. They are not numerous (or at least their owners are awfully quiet) but there are some around. There are 11 of the 2650/60/70/80 for sale on TractorHouse right now. One is a 2660 with only 297 hrs on it ! I have about 600 hrs on mine. I had several really bad problems with it new but once all those were fixed it has been a great tractor.

 

[UncleBuck1]

To maybe make this a little clearer, when I say the position control is "stiff" I mean that it is VERY difficult to move the control lever, almost as if the input shaft is locked out. My first thought was that the problem was in the quadrant and that control lever itself was rusted or too tight at the pivot. However, but when I disconnected the linkage rod that connects the lever and the control handle moves freely, so apparently it is either the input shaft (actually a tube) or something down in the bowels of the tractor. I'm heading to my farm this weekend and will try cycling the combined flow valve.