MAHINDRA 3215 bucket control valve?

[Carr73]

My bucket control valve is no longer centered. It has slowly moved to the upper right quadrant. The cover is held on with 4 hex head screws. I am going back tomorrow with the proper tools to take a look. I sthis just a matter of adjusting and locking down jam nuts? Has anybody seen this problem?

[Carr73]

I removed the cover today and found the problem. On the left rear of the valve there is a pivot. The pivot or ball is threaded to a stud. This part had backed all the way out so the lever was now at the upper right. Tightenening this back down realigned the lever. I will loctite this piece before I use it again.

[consaka]

Nice to see you got it fixed. Now maybe you can give me insight into why mine is getting all stiff and sticking up and jamming in the float position. I cant even pull it out from a float position. I have to hit it kinda hard with my hand to get it back. Yesterday I almost rolled it when the bucket was full on a slight grade and it stuck going up.
I have a 2615 that is about two years old.
I like the tractor though it just doesn't seem as tough as the kubota's I grew up on. Just today I was going down a trail I travel on all the time and a little branch popped up and busted off the Anti-freeze drain. Yep sure enough its plastic held on by one screw.
I use this thing very nearly every day and that joystick is really starting to bug me. I'm open for ideas.

[LAWALLSTRACTOR]

Originally Posted by consaka

Nice to see you got it fixed. Now maybe you can give me insight into why mine is getting all stiff and sticking up and jamming in the float position. I cant even pull it out from a float position. I have to hit it kinda hard with my hand to get it back. Yesterday I almost rolled it when the bucket was full on a slight grade and it stuck going up.
I have a 2615 that is about two years old.
I like the tractor though it just doesn't seem as tough as the kubota's I grew up on. Just today I was going down a trail I travel on all the time and a little branch popped up and busted off the Anti-freeze drain. Yep sure enough its plastic held on by one screw.
I use this thing very nearly every day and that joystick is really starting to bug me. I'm open for ideas.

Have you taken the boot off of the joy stick and tried lubricating it? It may be that simple.

[consaka]

Originally Posted by LAWALLSTRACTOR

Have you taken the boot off of the joy stick and tried lubricating it? It may be that simple.

Iv'e been a mechanic for over 20 years, that was the first thing I checked. It is clean as a whistle under there. It is just that one plunger that is sticking and it is sticking inside. I use this tractor so much I havent even had time to take it apart to see what the trouble is.
I was mostly wondering if this is a common problem with the Prince valves. Where I can get a new one and if possible send the old one for warranty coverage. I am trying to figure out how to get it fixed with the least amount of down time.
My dealer is less then helpful. He lives 60 some miles out in the sticks and everytime something goes wrong with this thing he wants it back. Then it is a total expensive hassle to get it to him and I am down a week on jobs I need it for.
He has a mechanic that comes in every so often but I have not had much confidence in their mechanical work after listening to some of the explanations given for issues like the front differential gears breaking. They replaced them under warranty but I can tell the ratio is actually slightly different then it was before. It now binds a bit going in a straight line then it did before(front wheels turn a bit faster then the rear now). No biggie as I dont run in 4wheel all that much. Still I was told that it must have happened by pulling it out of 4wheel while it was moving. uh yeah whatever.

But for now id like to get a different Valve. I read somewhere that they used two different makes one was this prince and the other was made by someone else. Less then 3 years and so far not real impressed with the prince valve. Anyone got any ideas?

[LAWALLSTRACTOR]

Since I have been a Mahindra Dealer, almost 8 years, I have known Mahindra to use 3 brands of loader valve, Danfoss, Nimco, and now the Prince. It has been my experience that the Prince has been the least troublesome of the bunch.
I would try removeing the spool cap on the bottom of the sticking spool, and see if the problem may be in there.

[AchingBack]

Originally Posted by consaka

Iv'e been a mechanic for over 20 years, that was the first thing
I was mostly wondering if this is a common problem with the Prince valves. Where I can get a new one and if possible send the old one for warranty coverage.

consaka, I can't speak for Prince Valves used on anything other than my 2615. After four years, I've had no problems, and I can't recall a thread on the Mahindra forum that talked about any troubles with the valve. It sounds as if it is plugged with debris. But I can't say. You are the mechanic. I hope you find the problem soon. Please let us know.

[YellCoGin]

Like Galen said, pull the lower cap off the detent balls for the float,most likely have rusted. If it is sticky other than in float the valve mounting bolts may be over torqued, loosen them a bit and see if it helps.

[consaka]

Originally Posted by LAWALLSTRACTOR

Since I have been a Mahindra Dealer, almost 8 years, I have known Mahindra to use 3 brands of loader valve, Danfoss, Nimco, and now the Prince. It has been my experience that the Prince has been the least troublesome of the bunch.
I would try removeing the spool cap on the bottom of the sticking spool, and see if the problem may be in there.

Diesel mechanic, little rusty on the whole hydraulic thing. Thanks for the hint. Ill see if I can't get it in my "shop" for a wee bit today. Shouldn't take too long to pop that off and check things out because it is getting almost unuseable.
If the Prince is better then the others I guess that would explain why they just use Prince now?
Hmm come to think of it that was the one that froze on me last winter. Could have some water in it though I dunno how it would have got there. Ill let you guys know and Ill take pictures if it warrants it.

[consaka]

Originally Posted by LAWALLSTRACTOR

Since I have been a Mahindra Dealer, almost 8 years, I have known Mahindra to use 3 brands of loader valve, Danfoss, Nimco, and now the Prince. It has been my experience that the Prince has been the least troublesome of the bunch.
I would try removeing the spool cap on the bottom of the sticking spool, and see if the problem may be in there.

You are a genius. What would it take you to move to Vancouver WA? We need a good mahindra dealer up here.

Sure enough the detent balls are rusted into some shape other then round. the abrasive action of the oxidation destroyed the other two rub parts. I cleaned them up best I could and put it back together again with the various parts offset from where they were rubbing before. While it is much better it is still not perfect. I am going to need a kit that includes those 4 pieces. Any idea where I can get that? Ill prob get two just in case.

Now with all due respect to engineers at Prince. This spool design is really dumb. There are no gaskets, but there is a vent notch at the top of the cup to also let in water. And the bottom of the cup does not have a drain hole at all?
Why dont they just put a spring pressure relief valve at the bottom and a grease zerk on the top edge? OR use stainless steel parts that wont rust?

Can I get the little ball bearings in stainless steel?