Loader hydraulic issues on small JD tractor

[Kernopelli]

My good friend that I have quit loaning my tractor to has found a new sucker..........err, friend to borrow from.
As I was leaving work this morning, he stopped me and told me he had "screwed up his buddies small JD"... I've heard that one before. He doesn't know for sure what model it is but describes it a "large garden tractor" size machine...maybe like a 4100 or 4200 series I am guessing.
He said he was "pushing a good size a pile of branches" off a hill side using the front bucket to push with. When he backed away from the pile he realized the curl and dump functions suddenly would not work but the loader arms would raise and lower (with down pressure). When he cycles the bucket he can see the cylinder hoses expand and then the relief valve pops open but the cylinders will not move in/out. He ended up taking the bucket off thinking something was binding up or a limb was stuck somewhere and not allowing the bucket to pivot but found everything was clear and free. He took the pins free from the bucket cylinder ends and said when he pushes in on one cylinder rod, the other rod extends and vice versa, so the cylinder are apparently not bound. I asked him if he took any quick connects loose or otherwise messed with any of the hoses or joystick in any way and he said no.

Sounds to me that the cylinders are getting pressure since the cylinder hoses expand a little until the relief opens and the lift functions correctly so its not a pressure flow issue. My initial thought was that it was return issue ( return flow blocked, maybe through the joystick) but if the lift cylinders don't do this, could that be the problem?
Any opinions on what the problem may be and possible solutions?

 

[kennyd]

Unplug and re-seat all the QD's, I'll put a dollar down and say that will fix it...

 

[RobS]

Sounds like either a ruptured hose or a bent/kinked metal tube. Working in the brush can lead to these things. Give all the hoses and hard lines a good look over, clear back to the operating valve.

And +1 to what Kenny said, that's a good first place to check!

 

[Kernopelli]

Kennyd, my buddy owes you a dollar. Quick connect was the problem. He took them off and back on and everything works fine now.
The first thing I had asked him was if he had taken the QD's off and put them back on, thinking that was the problem since it has happened to me before but when he told me he hadn't touched them I thought it must be something else.
I am assuming that when he was pushing the pile he gave the system a good hydraulic shock (heavy spike in pressure) and it was just enough to unseat the QD but not make it leak or pop off?
Thanks for the help men!

 

[kennyd]

Glad it was simple I would guess a stick poked up there and pushed one of the rings back.

 

[john_bud]

Don't loan that man anything@@! Sounds like he can break an anvil.

jb

 

[2COR517]

Don't loan that man anything@@! Sounds like he can break an anvil.

jb

That's a good one. Can't help but think back to the Road Runner and Wiley Coyote............

 

[Kernopelli]

Don't loan that man anything@@! Sounds like he can break an anvil.

jb

Quick little story about "You could tear up an anvil". I grew up hearing that phrase and have often quoted it to my sons during moments of exaspiration about something being "modified". My middle son is very mechanically inclined and at a young age he began welding and metal fabrication and is truly gifted in ability.
My in laws, who are custom jewelers saw this ability and began teaching him how to make jewelry, which he was very interested in because he quickly learned that it involves making good money and a lot of casting, soldering, brazing, cutting etc. Within a year, he was selling pieces that were more intricate and imaginative than they themselves can make.
They decided that he needed his own jewelers tools and began buying him different items, one being a jeweler's anvil. My father in law had spent hours meticulously polishing this anvil to a perfectly flat, level, mirror like surface. (they do this to all anvils and hammers so no imperfections in the surface is transferred to the piece of metal being formed). My son who knows all this decides that if he can beat a 1/4" piece of cold steel on the anvil in the garage, he can use his jeweler's anvil to beat God knows what into oblivion using a non polished 24 oz ball peen hammer from his tool box. He destroyed the surface of the jeweler's anvil in about 10 minutes. When he realize what he had done, he was mortified and I was simply *ISSED OFF!!
I have to admit it was worth every second of frustration I felt, watching him resurface the anvil before his Grandpa found out, the whole time begging me to never tell him what he had done (which I haven't ).
The real satisfaction came when I told my wife what happened. She usually reacts to something in my shop getting broken by the boys by stating " Well, what do you expect, you're not the most careful person I know and they have learned it from you". As I held up the ruined anvil, I was finally able to vindicate myself when I stated, " SEE, I told you he could tear up an anvil and he didn't learn it from me!!"