New Holland TM120 rear hydro remotes having problems

[newhollandlover]

I hope I am not posting an issue that has already been addressed. I did take the time to search several different ways and found nothing addressing the problem I have run into. My TM120 is an 2003 model with 1356 hrs on it. I know I have really put the time on it Ha Ha. All I do with the tractor is pull my BR7070 New Holland Round Baler with the bale command monitor in the cab, my Vicon KM3200 Trail Mower occasionally and my Bush Hog model 2615 Legend. The problem I am having started when I bought the BR7070 round baler after a couple days of baling hay the rear remote I was using to open and close the tailgate on the baler began to operate erratically. It would open the tailgate like normal but after the bale was ejected I would move the lever to lower the tail gate it would go from the neutral setting all the way forward to the detent position but the valve didn't operate as if it were in full detent. Having the mechanical levers instead of the electric controls I thought would be a good idea when I ordered the tractor, just thinking less electronics to replace or have calibrated all the time. But the feeling you get from the handle is that the lever isn't connected to the remote valve like the cable has come off. But if I pull it back like I was going to try to raise the tailgate then go to neutral and slowly push the lever into the lowering position it will sometimes start working properly again but it doesn't last very long if at all or I have to dead head it a little several times to the raise position then try to slowly push the lever forward to the lowering position. 9 times out of 10 it will not work when this happens is when the lever goes all the way forward as if I were pushing it in to the full detent position but the remote valve doesn稚 allow fluid to flow the handle is just loose and moves freely from the lowing position to the full detent. I was told by the dealership that I had the flow control on the rear remotes set too high for the BR7070's hydraulic system so the tractor was putting its self in a "Safe" or "Limp" mode so the valve didn't get damaged. So the technician adjusted the flow control knob to the setting that was best for the baler and marked it with a paint pen. I haven't touched the knobs since. Even though this tractor has pulled a New Holland 658 baler, BR 7060 (? I think that was the model that the BR7070 replaced. Either way it was a 4x6 baler with net wrap option basically just like my current baler) my bat wing bush hog and a couple different disc mowers over the years and never had the flow knobs anywhere but wide open. I have had to bale hay with my TN75S because of this problem with my TM tractor and it raises and closes the tailgate a lot quicker than my TM at the flow setting the tech marked on the knob. I talked to the dealer ships baler mechanic and he asked me what kind of quick connect ends were on the hydro lines on the baler. It came from the dealer with connectors with ball ends instead of the needle type. He said that was my problem that the round universal ends don't allow the rear remote valve to open the quick connect ball fully to allow the fluid to move as fast as the valve is set at. Well I was happy with that response and it made a little sense to me but why didn't I haven't I run into this in the past 12 years with anything else I have hooked to with two way cylinders? Then they said the metal lines on the my baler are smaller in diameter and they can't flow the same capacity as the previous balers could. I could see the logic in that also. But yesterday I was using my batwing bush hog and after about 35-40min. it started doing the same way. I had the line that operated the lift cylinder for the deck of the bush hog. I was getting in to a part of this field that has some small terraces in it so I would just raise the mower a little to clear the hump so the blades didn't dig in to the ground. The cylinder setup on my batwing, is like many of them, are single action and I had the hoses hooked into the correct port on the remotes to operate the single action cylinders like have since 2003 and before on my TS110 I had before my TM. I sat in the field for a few minutes every time I raised the deck trying to get the remote lever to allow me to actually put it in full detent to let the bush hog float. The bush hog has the nipple or needle type ends on the hoses. I really don't think the flow setting is too high for the baler especially since my TN75S can raise and lower it twice as fast if I run the controls at the technician's marks. They tell me I need to bring it in to the shop so they can hook up a computer to take it out of limp mode and reset the remote. I was hoping the problem was a linkage problem between the lever and the valve. That's why I didn't order the electronic controls in the first place. I mean it's not a bare bones tractor but it's not loaded with every option because once I had a horrible time with my first cab tractor years ago that was a 6635 with a 24speed transmission that had a high and low side for every gear. That was operated by a solenoid that was mounted and somehow connected to the electric solenoid for the PTO. You would get to the hay field and everything was fine then you hit a bump just right or you may still be driving over to the field and hit a bump in the road and you would lose all the lower gears. That didn't really concern me till I was baling and hit a hole or bump in the field, I know it's hard to believe that the hay fields here in central Arkansas are rough and have stump holes and ruts from idiots trespassing in a 4x4 getting stuck in the winter. lol, and the lower gears went away and the PTO stopped turning. There was no fixing it in the field, you might get lucky if you got under there and did a little fine tuning on the solenoids with a claw hammer or pipe wrench, I even used a rock one time. I have hooked the baler in the other rear remote and it does the same thing after a few minutes of baling.

I am not getting any error codes on the display or any flashing yellow lights by the little book with a hand pointing at it meaning I need to read the owner's manual to see the correct way to operate this function. I am trying to think of info you might need to know to help me diagnose my problem.

Here are the options and info on my TM120: It has the super steer front axle, which means it also has front wheel assist, 110" bar axle I think that is how long it is, I can put duals on it if I wanted but I have no need to, Power Command 18x6 tranny, Mid Mount valve to operate the 62LB Agri frontend loader, cab suspension, 25mph road gears, 456ci inline 6 cylinder intercooled turbo motor. New hydraulic filters(new holland brand filters and oil are all I put on any of my new holland tractors) were put on @ 1337 hrs. The fluid is so clean you can't see the fluid on the dipstick you have to touch it on your finger to see where the fluid level is. Also the filters have been changed yearly since it came from the dealership.

One other thing I just remembered was that last year at the end of the summer when it really started acting up I changed remotes that didn't get the tailgate down so I switched the hoses around in the remotes. They are side by side with blue on one set and green one. The ports are one over the other not side by side. I hope I am explaining this correctly on the back you have your center link pin then to the right you have the first remote that is the one the blue handled lever operates there is the top female quick connect above the second female quick connect that both have blue dots on their dust caps. Then mounted to the right of that is the other rear remote that has the top female quick connect above the second female quick connect with green dots on the dust caps. so I would think you would call the valves mounted side by side with vertical quick connects. The owner's manual says to use only the bottom port for single action cylinders. Again this problem never started till I bought the BR7070. The baler has one set of hydraulic lines to hook up to the tractor and they are for the double action cylinders that open and close the tailgate. One hose is approx.1/2" maybe 5/8" and a larger line that is approx. 3/4" or larger. The way I have hooked my balers up to any tractor I pull them with has always been with the large hose in the lower port and the smaller line in the top port.. Even on my TN75S which has horizontal remotes stacked on top of each other the left hand ports are the ones you use with single action cylinders and that is where I put the larger hose on the baler. That way when you open the tail gate you pull the lever back towards you till it opens fully then push forward away from you to close but if you push to far the remote would go into detent. Which I only use on my single action cylinders. I also had to replace both sensors that detect resistance in the hydro filters in case of a clogged up filter. The light started coming on as soon as the tractor started up first thing in the morning since there are two hydro filters and sensors I tried replacing the filters first then I bought the sensors. I believe the smaller filter is for the tranny and the larger is for the hydraulics. I could be wrong Lord knows I am not a mechanic I know just enough to really mess things up to the point it cost twice as much to fix. Sometimes I get lucky but not very often. I know I have written a book here but I just wanted to include all the info I think of. Thank you for any advice. Oh one other thing I have strong rare earth magnets on all hydraulic and oil filters but the problem started before I bought them. Thanks again

Jeremy

 

[TractorTech]

Jeremy, welcome!
First question, does this problem happen on both sets of remotes (green set and blue set)?
The problem sounds like it is in the cable or cable/valve connection. I'm thinking that the cable has kinked and it buckles up when put in "down" position, but pulls fine when in "up" direction.
The flow is not the issue and the coupler tips are not the issue. It has nothing to do with the baler and its hydraulic lines.

 

[newhollandlover]

The green remote is the one that will go from neutral to full detent but when it does it doesn't all the flow of fluid. The blue remote has decided that it no longer has a detent setting and only powers up or down. It would be awesome if your right and it's just a cable needing adjustment. I really miss being able to use this tractor. I had pull my Vicon KM3200 trail mower today with my TN75S. That little 62pto hp really has been a good all around tractor.

 

[newhollandlover]

I adjusted the linkage on the back of the remote valves them selves. You have to undo this sleeve to get to the little nuts that control how far you move the valve control or what ever its called. The cable from the levers in the cab open and close the valve by pushing in and pulling out on this plunger(since I can't think of the actual name of the part). Just adjusted the amount of travel along with the place ment each adjustment made on the handle's position. One thing I did learn was after you get the little nut set and reattach the cable to the back of the valve you need to pull that metal sleeve back up and tighten it up also before you try to open or close the valve. You can have the canle adjusted but skip that last step thinking it will make it easier to disassemble it if you need to change the position a little more. But it doesn't work that way. Just a little thing I learned by not doing it at first. But now both blue and green control handles are centered and I have open, neutral, close & full detent on both remotes. The green one always had detent but since 2003 when I ordered the tractor I was told the blue lever's remote didn't have a detent setting. My owners manual said it did but I would get the story of thats for a different hydraulic valve set-up than the one I specified when I ordered it or bring it in and I will hook it up to the computer to see what fault codes it has even though no codes were present.

 

[newhollandlover]

Tractortech thank you for your advice and calling BS on the hose end excuse and the computer diagnosis line of crap. It took myself and a friend just a little while to correct the problem. Thank You very much!!

 

[TractorTech]

Jeremy, no problem. Being a dealer, I have heard a lot of excuses/guesses for problems, even from my own mechanics. Electrical and hydraulic problems are often simple to solve, but often clouded by the mystery of computers and miscellaneous inputs from maybe type guesses. Thankfully, New Holland still tries to keep it simple.
Your discertation pretty well made the suggestions about hoses and tips null and void.
Glad to hear you like New Holland!

 

[newhollandlover]

I definitely am a new holland fan. We purchased our first tractor back in 1993 it was a Ford 4630 2wd open station with one rear remote. I use to look for any reason to get on it and do anything for my neighbors or on our farm. When I started baling hay we put a top on the roll bar and put a 7210 (I think that was the #) front-end loader and I was in heaven. Dince then we have had several different cab tractors and round balers. Even our lawn mower is a new holland and we love our Rustler 120 utv. I say if its not blue it will not do!