KrisD_in_WV
New member
Greetings!
I am relatively new to hydraulics and have read through many of the extensive, informative posts in this forum. I have attempted to diagnose my problem with the resources I have available but have come to a stand still. I am trying to determine the highest probability of where the fault is in my hydraulic system. I will attempt to be as thorough as I can be, but am sure that there may be more questions.
Problem
Hitch will not raise under load exceeding the weight of a man.
Facts
Category II TPH rated at 3400 pounds of lift
- Hitch raises and lowers with no load perfectly although it does so slowly in each direction
- Hitch cannot raise a 1000 pound implement
- Hitch will raise with me standing on the bars (198 pounds)
- When I put the hitch control in the "raise" position, I can manually raise the implement and it stays; no leak down when I manually put it into position with 1000 pound load
- Some fine metal particles were present in the old fluid
What I have Done So Far
- Flushed hydraulic fluid and changed filter (original fluid was mostly clear however toward the end of the draining, moisture was noticed in about the last gallon)
- Removed a sampling of hoses and checked for obstructions; none found
- Verified flow through bypass plumbing
- Visually inspected entire circuit; found some fluid in various places but cannot tell if it from what I spilled or if there are leaks. Fluid amount was negligible.
Question
- Based on what I have shared, is the probability higher that my lift cylinder is bad or that I have a pump that is performing sub-optimally?
Thanks in advance for the help.
~kd
I am relatively new to hydraulics and have read through many of the extensive, informative posts in this forum. I have attempted to diagnose my problem with the resources I have available but have come to a stand still. I am trying to determine the highest probability of where the fault is in my hydraulic system. I will attempt to be as thorough as I can be, but am sure that there may be more questions.
Problem
Hitch will not raise under load exceeding the weight of a man.
Facts
Category II TPH rated at 3400 pounds of lift
- Hitch raises and lowers with no load perfectly although it does so slowly in each direction
- Hitch cannot raise a 1000 pound implement
- Hitch will raise with me standing on the bars (198 pounds)
- When I put the hitch control in the "raise" position, I can manually raise the implement and it stays; no leak down when I manually put it into position with 1000 pound load
- Some fine metal particles were present in the old fluid
What I have Done So Far
- Flushed hydraulic fluid and changed filter (original fluid was mostly clear however toward the end of the draining, moisture was noticed in about the last gallon)
- Removed a sampling of hoses and checked for obstructions; none found
- Verified flow through bypass plumbing
- Visually inspected entire circuit; found some fluid in various places but cannot tell if it from what I spilled or if there are leaks. Fluid amount was negligible.
Question
- Based on what I have shared, is the probability higher that my lift cylinder is bad or that I have a pump that is performing sub-optimally?
Thanks in advance for the help.
~kd