Added two hydraulic circuits to FEL

[ENG18LT]

I have been working on this project for a couple months on and off. I wanted to add auxiliary hydraulics to my FEL and change the manual QA SSL to hydraulic, cause I'm too lazy to get off the tractor to change it.

I ordered two stackable hydraulic diverter valves online. I mounted them on the loader post so when I remove the loader the valve stays on loader. To secure them I drilled and tapped holes and put nylon nuts to lock the bolts in place.




After removing the quick disconnects and setting them aside, I attached the curl hoses to the output ports that were live when no power was to the diverters. A local hydraulic shop made up two short hoses for me. These have the quick disconnects from the original curl lines on the end to facilitate loader removal.







Then while attaching the loader I realized that I could use more clearance past the muffler. A nearby shop very reasonably made me a pipe that facilitated me changing to a horizontal exhaust.





TO BE CONTINUED.....

[J_J]

I am thinking that the diverter valves are to low on the loader and might get damaged.

What are you going to divert other than grapple hyd.

[J_J]

Nice work.

I am thinking that the diverter valves are to low on the loader and might get damaged.

What are you going to divert other than a grapple.

When one diverter is activated, is the flow blocked to the other diverter.

So if using the grapple, can you use the other diverter at the same time?

[ENG18LT]

The diverters are well protected. The masts on the tractor come up about 4' off the ground before the loader portion attaches. First circuit is for future grapple. Second circuit operates the skid steer quick attach levers. Only one diverter can be powered at a time because I am using one center off switch to select which valve to energize. When neither is energized the fluid flows straight through to the curl/dump cylinders. So depending on switch position I have option of three circuits using left/right motion of loader joystick.

I will post more of the project tomorrow after I take more pictures.

[ENG18LT]

Once I relocated the muffler it was necessary to add a bracket to support/secure the muffler. I had some 3/8x3" flat stock lying around that I used.




Once that was done the hydraulic shop made up 4 hoses for me, two for each circuit. I ran them to the front. This required me to fabricate two brackets to secure the lines to the loader arm. I again drilled and tapped holes to secure them.




After figuring out the needed closed and open measurements for the cylinder I had the shop customize one to the exact dimensions. Once that was done the manual handles needed to be cut down. I then mounted the cylinder.




After one minor adjustment to prevent the cylinder from pushing the left lever down I added the flat quick connects to the grapple lines. Then it was time to try it. Nice. Makes changing buckets from the seat a breeze.

Here is the final product.



Any questions feel free to ask.

[dstig1]

Nice. That is the same way it was done on the bobcat I rented a few weeks back. Seemed to work well. I assume you are going to route those hoses better for protection.

I didn't quite catch what you meant - did you have a shop make a custom length cylinder for this? I wasn't aware that was something that could be reasonably done.

[ENG18LT]

The hoses will have to remain like that to accomodate for the bucket dump. At least until I can save up for some longer lines to route differently, will just have to keep an eye on them for now. Besides if I do rip one off then it will justify getting new ones .

The cylinder was a stock cylinder that the shop added 4.5" to and installed a 1" stroke limiter so that it would be 25" closed and 34" open. It was an added cost but not too bad, somewhere around an extra 125 I think it was. The customization was well worth the money as it saved me from having to come up with an extension system, I just had to drill holes in the modified handles and bolt it on.