The Float position connects the 2 working ports together on the FEL lift circuit. This allows the FEL to set on the ground under it's own weight and folow the contours as the tractor moves. Without Float, the FEL bucket is hydraulically coupled to the tractor frame. If the front tires go into a hole(or the rear tires over a rise), the FEL bucket digs in, If the front wheels go over a high spot(or rear into a hole), the fel bucket leaves the ground. I usually use it for finish smoothing the soil after doing some ground work.. IE: dig/pull out a stump, fill in the hole and using the float position, smooth out the finished product to match the surrounding terrain. You can control how agressivley the bucket edge digs into the soil by setting the dump/rollback angle. It usually works better backing up because you have better control of the bucket angle and the assembly won't dig in and attempt to raise the front of the tractor such as it will when going forward(imagine a pole vaulter). When backing you can set the bucket from parallel with the ground to perpendicular(or beyond) like a rear blade or anywhere in between. My current tractor loader valve dosn't have float. Got a very good deal on the setup but this is my only complaint. I plan on changing out the valve to one with float in the spring as it is much less work to get good results.
