I had an issue with cavitation in my 1548, the bucket would roll out quickly than the fluid would flow out of the cylinder at one one end faster than it would come in, causing a delay when returnig, Massey's solution at the time was to place an orifice inline to slow the whole process down and allow the fluid to escape slowly and allow fluid in and stop the cavitation, just slowed everything down and irritated you even worse, anyway at the time the mechanics told me there were some issues with the smaller tractors 1528 1533, but this was the first time they had come across it in a 1548. Cavitation would cause the sloppiness in the bucket as you have described, and Massey definitely had an issue with it, I believe there were even bulletins on it so check with your dealer. I don't have any problems with my 1533, but I have a John Deere 2305 and it has a similar issue, my deere dealer tells me it is common among all compact tractors as they don't have the pump capacities like the larger ag tractors maybe it's just his excuse not to fix it, but it makes sense. I find with my 2305 if i roll the bucket all the way out and hold the pressure there for a few second, then when i roll it back it stays rigid takes a little longer but it works. Hope this long and drawn out explanation helps.