Slow, Noisy Hydraulics in Cold Weather

[massey184ferguson]

The other morning I went out to plow and when I went to raise the loader the pump made loud noises, the hoses were vibrating, and felt like they were going to burst. The loader was really slow too. Once the tractor warmed up (10 mins later) it was back to being normally responsive. What causes this?

[wdchyd]

Oil too thick....causing too much restriction through the suction strainers/filters/suction hose...(suction hose may be collapsing if it's not suction hose material)....resulting in cavitation

Similar to having a nice cold thick milk shake, sucking it through a straw and the straw collapses

warming up your tractor with the 3ph lever in the full up position may help cuz it will blow hyd oil over the relief valve and help warm the oil as the engine warms up

[CBW1999]

Once I get it started I run it slightly idled up for a while- depending on the temp. Before I do any work with it, I cycle the loader through its positions to purge that cold fluid out and see if the fluid in general has warmed up. I usually cycle the 3PH as well- but I never really thought about leaving it up to as suggested by wdchyd.

We has one of the "normal" runs of low temps last week (30 below) usually my "plan" works. I was able to start the tractor and let it idle for a while, but the hyd oil was so thick- it would stall out as soon as I tried to drive it. I had to shut it down and plug in the block heater for a bit to compensate. That's the one thing about the block heater in mine. It only takes about an hour to warm everything up. If I leave it plugged in overnight, It actually moves the temp gauge up- which doesn't happen when running under power!

BE VERY CAREFUL when cycling the loader when really cold. I have known for a while that I had a buldging cylinder seal (almost 2 years). I was playing the - replace it when absolutly needed/its not leaking- game. Same stated cold snap and when I was cycling the curl cylinder when I thought it warm........guess what. It is absolutly needs to be replace now.

[wdchyd]

................ I have known for a while that I had a buldging cylinder seal (almost 2 years). I was playing the - replace it when absolutly needed/its not leaking- game. Same stated cold snap and when I was cycling the curl cylinder when I thought it warm........guess what. It is absolutly needs to be replace now.

the bulging seal syndrome is the wiper being pushed out from a previous rod seal failure..(probably not enough leak to notice yet)..... the oil gets behind the wiper and pushes it from the inside

Your rod seal had already failed and you didn't quite know it yet......certainly the cold speeds up the damage to the rod seal

[art]

I'd be changing the fluid first. If it doesn't change it then look for a lighter oil.

[oldnslo]

Oil too thick....causing too much restriction through the suction strainers/filters/suction hose...(suction hose may be collapsing if it's not suction hose material)....resulting in cavitation

Similar to having a nice cold thick milk shake, sucking it through a straw and the straw collapses

warming up your tractor with the 3ph lever in the full up position may help cuz it will blow hyd oil over the relief valve and help warm the oil as the engine warms up

If his 3PH is of the position control type it will not blow oil over the relief at any point and if the oil is so cold that it is not flowing properly trying to build pressure wouldn't this cause the pump fail even faster?

[wdchyd]

It certainly could, but pump failure didn't seem to be the problem after it warmed up.....thinner hyd oil or thinning it with aviation hyd oil would be the best

I have seen some hyd systems that won't cavitate as bad with a slight load on the pump while warming up, but it still needs attention to stop the noise and hose vibration.....that ain't any good...

[kiotiken]

The Kioti owners manual has a chart that specifies the required warm up times in each given temperature range. It's some where around -5C that it says at least 20 mins. It's very rare I don't leave it at least that long other than in the summer months. When it is warmed up, I then get in and raise the FEL up and down several times as well as the 3 pt. to ensure the oil is warm and fully circulated.

[J_J]

You probably have some moisture in the fluid, and perhaps the wrong type fluid for your climate.

I would recommend one of the synthetic fluids for your climate.

You can also force the fluid over a relief valve by pushing or pulling the valve lever to max and holding it there and help warm up the fluid.

[kiotiken]

You can also force the fluid over a relief valve by pushing or pulling the valve lever to max and holding it there and help warm up the fluid.

I never thought of doing that, great idea.