Stuck loader joystick: talk me through how to diagnose/fix?

[houska]

The curl function on the joystick of my Branson 4225h is stuck. I'm not experienced at fixing stuff; can anyone comment on my reasoning before and suggest where to look next? (It's my week for breaking stuff...including the truck I could use to take the tractor to the dealer/mechanic, so it's up to me to fix it in the field.)

The joystick physically won't move in the curl up/down direction. Lift up/down work fine.

I twiddled the joystick lock. I checked the hydraulic quick connects to the loader, wondering if a connection got jiggled loose (though I figured that would cause no actual curl but with the joystick able to move...). All good.

It's an open station tractor, and the joystick manually pushes and pulls cables that lead down below, presumably to the hydraulic control valves. I popped up the rubber boot and took off the control assembly from the frame for ease of access. See below (ignore the damaged rubber on the boot from a while back). As far as I can see, the metal triangle that holds the tops of the pins is in good condition (lots of reports here of those busting in some cases...). There was some grime that I got out and WD-40d it just in case. Still physically stuck.

Where to look next?
Take apart the control further (anything in there that could need attention?).
Try to take off the cables from the control (not sure how to unscrew from the control, and anything in there worth accessing?)
Go hunting for the hydraulic valve underneath? (But it feels like a mechanical issue not a hydraulic one?)

I'm not sure if the joystick control is original or replaced...a few years back a tree dropped on the tractor in a storm, busting some stuff. I know the dealer had to replace the joystick handle, not sure about the control assembly itself.

Thanks for any advice.... Posting here rather than the Branson forum since I doubt the problem is brand specific.

 

[K5lwq]

I would start by moving the joystick while watching the valve. When you move it left to right does the curl spool on the valve move in and out? Do this with the tractor not running.

If the spool moves then I would swap the lift hoses with the curl hoses and see if the loader lifts and lowers when I move the joystick left and right. If it does, then try moving the joystick forward and back and see if it curls.

On the first test of the spool does not move when moving the joystick left to right then the cable is broke. On the second test if the curl works with hoses swapped then I would suspect a quick coupler has failed.

 

[oldnslo]

Was this a sudden failure or was that function stiff and finally quit working?

If sudden I would try and follow the cables down to the direction valve to see if something got wedged or jammed in the linkage.

Would also watch the cables by the directional valve to see if it tries to move when moving the joystick.

I am not sure how the cables connect to joystick so can’t help on that question.

 

[Tinhack]

Could be a frozen cable from lack of maintenance. You should probably take your tractor to someone who knows how to work on them. Looks like someone already broke the cap getting that off.

 

[newbury]

WD-40 is for Water Displacement, 40th try.
If you want to lubricate use a grease, if it's rusted use something like PB B'laster first.
Do you have the workshop manual and a parts manual?
Follow the linkages carefully to make sure nothing is "hung up". If you can't move/wiggle the joystick while looking at the parts either get someone to help or jury rig some ropes.
Be gentle, if you bend something it will likely be an expensive fix.
I've had similar problems with both my tractors, each time fixed with a slight manual "unsticking" of bound parts followed by several squirts of garage door lube.

 

[houska]

I would start by moving the joystick while watching the valve. [...If] the spool does not move when moving the joystick left to right then the cable is broke

Joystick does not move from side to side at all, so I don't think the cable is broken, but (as mentioned in some other replies) there may be something jammed. So off to follow the cables to the hydraulic valve I go...

You guys are too damned fast I thought waiting for replies was going to give me a great excuse to not have to try to fix it over the weekend, but you've all given me a bunch of pointers so quickly that I now have to try them out

 

[Mike1955]

Joystick does not move from side to side at all, so I don't think the cable is broken, but (as mentioned in some other replies) there may be something jammed. So off to follow the cables to the hydraulic valve I go...

You guys are too damned fast I thought waiting for replies was going to give me a great excuse to not have to try to fix it over the weekend, but you've all given me a bunch of pointers so quickly that I now have to try them out

Dude it up to you now.

 

[oldnslo]

Joystick does not move from side to side at all, so I don't think the cable is broken, but (as mentioned in some other replies) there may be something jammed. So off to follow the cables to the hydraulic valve I go...

You guys are too damned fast I thought waiting for replies was going to give me a great excuse to not have to try to fix it over the weekend, but you've all given me a bunch of pointers so quickly that I now have to try them out

Well you asked for it

Best of luck in finding the problem..

 

[houska]

Joking aside, thanks for all the advice here. Based on the comments here (and some YouTube videos), I was able to confirm yesterday that the problem is either the cables or mechanically(?) where cables actually open and close the curl circuit in the SCV valve. Flipping the curl and lift hydraulic connections makes curl work but not lift, and joystick still doesn't budge in the should-be-curl directions. So it's a mechanical control issue rather than a hydraulic circuit issue. I took apart, cleaned, and properly lubricated the ingenious 2-axis ball-lever thingy (expert term...) which is what I had first suspected might be stuck, and that seems to be fine.

Of course, since the machine is in our off-grid woodlot/swimming hole, 2 miles by ATV from the road, time and annoyance is added by somehow always missing the right tool. So I couldn't take apart where the cables go into the actual SCV valve, since my Allen key wasn't long enough. So I'm typing this from home, having just stuck a looooong 4mm Allen key into the bag for when I next go down Tues or Wed...

Someone asked above how this happened. I'm not sure. There was no gradual deterioration, but I had several weeks where I ran my logging winch, brush hog, and wood chipper without having any reason to curl my bucket. And then, when I needed to, it wouldn't budge. I'm sure I jarred a few things brush hogging, so I first suspected it might be a loader hose connector jarred loose, but nope (and that shouldn't make the joystick immovable in that one direction). There was one time I hit a rock with the brush hog; the slip clutch kicked in but a smidgen later than I would have expected - enough to make me wonder if I adjusted it properly this spring. But I don't see how a stronger-than-ideal whack to the PTO could affect the loader valves?

 

[oldnslo]

If sudden it might be a case of an errant twig or branch got into the curl linkage and jammed or bent something. Surprising how twigs can work there way into stuff.