My quest for "Grand" 3 point performance from my "economy" tractor. The L3400

[GMtb42]

Update , used BB yesterday , did not notice a real improvement in BB with spring and washer in , but no reason to remove did not hurt either .

[Harvest Moon]

Thanks for the update GMtb42. Thats kind of how I feel about the LSV that I installed. Since I've never operated the new PCV without the LSV change, your experience is critical to evaluating it's influence.

I used my BB last week and was amazed at the ultra fine control I have with the new PCV. Interestingly, after a few hours I began to notice something strange.

Originally, when I'd move the control handle, it might take up to 1/2" of travel before the hitch responded. Then after installing the new LSV that changed to a nearly instant response. After installing the new PCV, the handle responsiveness seemed to all but returned to the way it was.

Now, I'm noticing that there is a response to a slight handle movement, it's just delayed. It seems if I make a minute adjustment to the handle, a few seconds later I see the BB make a minute adjustment. This is a something of hindsight observation, I'm not positive it's consistent or reproducible but it did happen multiple times over the course of a few hours. Initially I blew it off as a glitch that I was hoping would go away but now I'm thinking, with a little patients I can use it to my advantage. I don't know if others experience this but I suspect it's related to the LSV change.

Does anyone know anything about hydraulic delay?

[GMtb42]

There is a slight delay in mine as well , but it still moves the 1/4" .
I don't think we can get a infinite movement from a 1/4" valve , although it is a vast improvement over the 1" valve , it is still not what is expected from a 3 point hitch , the hitch should be as controllable as the FEL is in movement .

[mjfox6]

I did the annual maintenance on my tractor this past weekend. When I ordered the fluids, I also ordered the spring and washer. I added these while I had the fluids drained. After getting everything back together, I tried the 3pt hitch with a 6 foot, 900 pound rotary cutter. It was pretty jerky, enough so that I thought it was worse than before.

So, I removed the spring and washer and tried it again. And yes, the hitch is much better without the spring and washer.

Just so it is noted, I also increased my hydraulic pressure from 2300 to 2500 psi before adding the spring and washer.

[Harvest Moon]

Thanks for the update mjfox6. I'm somewhat surprised to hear that and then, somewhat not. When I installed mine there was a significant increase in the jerkiness but I had the old PCV valve.

You're the second report to try the spring with the new PCV valve. GMtb42 added the spring but had the L3010 valve and didn't notice much to report.

Now that I have the new PCV valve, my hitch is sooo much better I can hardly complain but it's by no means smooth either. I'm up for my 200 hour maintenance, maybe if I get motivated and I'm making good time I'll trade back to my old LSV and see if there's any improvement.

mjfox6, did you notice a change in the responsiveness of your lever with the spring? For me the biggest change was that if I move the lever so much as an 1/8", I get a response, all be it delayed. This, I believe amplified the jerkiness with the old PCV but am not sure about the affect on my new PCV. With the old valves I could move an entire number on the scale and nothing.

I was also considering boosting my loader pressure, I already own a few shims of various sizes. I wonder how much of an effect that has.

[mjfox6]

I did not really notice a difference in moving the lever between having the spring/washer and not having it. It just seemed like with the spring/washer, the 3pt hitch "sprang" to action faster, causing it to jump up faster, so it had to stop faster and that translated into a lot of movement of the whole tractor.

This rotary cutter is new, so I don't have a lot of experience raising and lowering it, but it just felt like it was a lot jerkier than normal. So, I decided to remove them and see and it was a lot smoother without the spring/washer.

[boxr_fan]

At this point we need more info. from someone with a WSM for the L3010. We need to know what size the L3010 3 point cylinder is, I think that means something to this puzzle. I'm close to duplicating the L3010's system in my L3400 and I need to know what's missing to make sense of this.

The L3400 Cylinder Bore is: 75mm/2.9528 inches.

I'm new to the forum and have read this thread. I didn't see a response to this inquiry so I thought I'd reply.

I took a look at my 3010 WS manual and the bore is 90.00 mm (3.54").

Hope this helps.