3-Point Hitch 3 Pt Hitch Stuck in Full Up

[aczlan]

So that is how I knew it would go UP but not DOWN. And that is how I ended out with the thing stuck in max UP position. (I had to get a second tractor to remove the attachment from the 3PH; since I couldn't get it down, I didn't want to leave 825 lb of chipper on the raised 3PH from Sunday till this next Friday evening.)

Not the aux hyd remote lever. Not rust & corrosion. I'm hoping it will be the 3PH descent rate knob and a fat foot.

It will be. This is a common problem. If that knob is in, it WILL allow you to raise the 3 point, but will not allow it to lower.
I frequently use it on our B7500 when I am using the bushhog. It will let me lift the bushhog, but not lower it (which is good because the 1/4" valve will let it slowly drift down as I bump along).

Aaron Z

 

[robiefield]

BTW, I don't believe anyone mentioned the lever at the 3pt hitch location that allows one to operate the 3pt hitch from near the right rear fender/well. It is referred to as the External Position Control Lever on page 4-35 of the owner's manual Part#DH14-001 March 2010. This lever ought to be checked too to make sure it is not forcing the hitch into the full up position.

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement, CM.

I was actually using the external position control lever (p. 4-35) when I discovered the 3PH would not lower. It's mechanically linked to the position control lever (p. 4-34) by the seat. It's easy to watch them move together, which indicates one hasn't become unlinked from the other. Even so, I climbed into the seat to see if moving the position and draft controls (separately and together) would somehow work. Nope. That's how I ended up with the chipper lifted all the way up at the top of the movement range, and no way to get it down without help.

Also on page 4-36 the Lifting Arm (Lower Link) Control Lever, otherwise known as a KNOB! (It is actually mistakenly referred to as a 'lever' in the description below the picture). When turned clockwise to its end can fix the implement to a certain position. In re-reading this section I think somehow you may have disconnected this knob from what it screws into.

I'm right with you. In fact, that exact page of the owners manual is the whole reason I started this thread--has anyone ever seen this happen? I failed to read the manual when I was there at the tractor trying to work out the problem. Dummy mistake of the highest order. So I got home after several hours' drive and read specifically that section of the manual. Self-administered a firm dope slap to my head immediately.

I'll be back at the farm Fri night, and you can be sure, before I even unload the truck, I'm heading straight to the barn and rotating that lifting arm control knob CCW. If it's tight when I find it, I'll know it got moved CW to the stop, which the manual says (and others here have pointed out) "can fix the implement to a certain position."

OTOH, if it is freewheeling loose, (the other end of the spectrum) perhaps it has become disconnected from the valve it controls. So I'll lift the boot and look for something that might keep the linkage from adjusting the valve position.

If it's neither, and I can't get the lift arms to lower, then it might be time to call my dealer and get him involved.

Everybody loves a free fix. Especially me. Especially if I created the problem and was too DUMB to Read The Freakin' Manual when attempting to resolve it. So I will have a week to feel my idiocy before i can resume what I hope will be a very brief troubleshooting process. Sure hope so--got some bush hog work to do!

I do appreciate all the kind help from TBN members. Thanks, y'all. We'll eventually work this out. I hate learning through shame (and I never forget those lessons) but in this case I'll take shame over being tractorless while waiting for a warranty repair at the dealer. Really hoping it's the lowering speed control lever. (It's where all the oddsmakers are going!)

-Chip Robie
Robiefield Mountain Farms

 

[Coyote machine]

Dude, Go easy on yourself!
That knob is not located in the best location IMHO to begin with, and I had to read the Korenglish several times last night before posting to make sure I understood what they were attempting to say; then to find out that there was a typo where they meant to say knob and instead said lever. Once I made the correction in ink I was able to make sense of it all.
I had similar trouble with my winch when I first used it, being a total newbie to tractor 3pt hitches. I didn't know if I was to pull the yellow handle or the red one or both and kept trying to determine which controlled the raising of the winch, etc. I felt like a total idiot:confused2: but no one was watching so the pain was not as great as if I had an audience to see my stupidity as it unfolded.:laughing::drool:
It's not like you attempted to lift up a large stalk of a log attached to it's stump with your tires in the roadside ditch so you couldn't get any closer to the sought after object, only to have it twist on it's base, fall over and clear the loader arms, miss the front brush bar and smash the c*ap out of the hood?! Yep, I did it and within only a short time after owning the new tractor. Did I kick myself? No. I just accepted what I had learned the hard way, and moved on. I'm NOT saying it was easy, but nothing else made sense- there's a learning curve to things one is unfamiliar with... one can do it through instruction by someone who already knows or one can do it through personal experience applied in the field, literally and figuratively.
Have fun.

 

[robiefield]

Late night, long drive from the city to the mountain country.

Unloaded the wife and cats, then headed to the barn to check the DK40 cockpit.

That @#$% lowering control knob right by my boot heels was bumped closed!!!!! Ahhh-HAH!!! I opened it up CCW and walked around back to watch the 3PH quietly lower down. Simultaneous feelings of happiness (yeah! 3PH works! I can bush hog tomorrow!) and shame (You Big Dummy! You Didn't Read the Book when you had the tractor in FRONT of you!!) :mur:

I could have prevented ALL that hassle and ALL that drama if I'd read the FLIPPING manual *before* driving hundreds of miles home, away from the tractor. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I deserve what I got. Pshhheww!

It was late last Sunday evening. I was hot. I wasn't thinking clearly. What a dope... :ashamed: At least I know better now.

OK! Lesson learned. I'll NEVER forget the purpose of that knob, and I'll NEVER forget to check it if the 3PH ever acts up.

Big thanks to folks here for being understanding and helping me realize stuff like this happens. All those that told me it would be the lowering control knob with 99% probability were RIGHT. OK, off to get rest... busy tractor day tomorrow.

Thanks again for the reassurance, analytical thinking, and help.

Chip
Robiefield Mountain Farms
Stuart, VA

 

[Damifino]

Robiefield, :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Always glad to hear when a problem is just a simple one, now I bet you get the best nights sleep you've had in a week .

The above posters are a great resource here, I can only hope they will be here if and when I run into a problem with my Kioti.

Have a great weekend on the DK40 seat this weekend.!!!!!

 

[k0ua]

Hey we all are just glad that's what it turned out to be. We were all pretty sure, but sometimes bad things do happen to good tractors:laughing: Happy tractoring:thumbsup:

James K0UA

 

[Reg]

My 2011 DK40SE HST has 46 hours on it. I use it every weekend when I work at my 100 ac mountain farm. This might be an early failure, or more likely, it's a problem resulting from failure of the ignorant owner to RTFM.

Sunday I went to remove the PTO chipper from the 3 pt hitch and I could not lower it. Been using the lift controls all day with no issues. Now it would go up, but not down. I finally ended up with it stuck at the top of the travel.

No observable deficiencies in hydraulics of FEL & bucket. HST working as usual. No leaks or wet spots under tractor. The 3 pt hitch and all hoses are dry and intact.

Just the darn thing stuck at the top. Raising and lowering lift position control lever and draft control lever won't do anything, engine on or off.

Used a second FEL and chains to remove the attachment from the 3PH. Inspected unloaded A-arms closely. No leaks or wet spots. No binding at the A-arm attach points. Neither arm will come down regardless of lift position (or draft) control lever setting.

Left the tractor in the barn with the lift in max up position when I drove home to the piedmont. Just couldn't figure it out. No, I did not read the flipping operator's manual... until I got home 170 miles later.

So, after doing some homework, maybe a little late, I think I have one of two things:

1) a stuck valve in the 3PH hydraulics, or,
2) possibly during one of my recents dismounts from the seat, my boot heel whacked a previously unnoticed and until now, seemingly unimportant knob which is identified in the manual as the 3-Point Hitch Lowering Speed Knob.

It dawned on me it might be a Good Thing(tm) that I had not yet called my dealer from the Unhappy Zone about my stuck 3PH. This might be my own fault...

So here is my question for the wisdom of those who've Been There:

Is it possible my big clumsy foot, during trips on and off the tractor, has accidentally whacked this 3-Point Hitch Lowering Speed Knob to a position that is so closed that the 3PH will not lower? Is that setting possible, that will keep a raised hitch from lowering?

Is it possible that when I locate this knob and give it a little twist counter-clockwise I will hear the sound of lowering hydraulic A-arms? (to be followed immediately by the sound of my palm smacking my forehead?)

Or is there a history of 3PH hyd release valves sticking on 40-some hour old tractors?

(Right now I'm hoping for Dumb Operator over Warranty Repair.) I will trade the shame of a big rookie mistake for the pleasure of a working 3PH. Also, should I worry about leaving the unloaded 3PH in the full up position for another 5 days before I return to the farm?

Your experienced thoughts will be appreciated.

Chip
Robiefield Mountain Farms

Before I read the other prognostications I'm gonna say
"It is Very unlikely that an accidental boot clout on the control knob would SHUT that lowering speed control valve COMPLETELY !"
I brush mine occasionally on the small tractor and I only notice it if it lowers the implement a little bit faster than I expected, e.g. if I am starting into a strip with the roto-tiller and want a gradual lowering while I am moving forwards.
I "Usually" set it up for the implement when I put it on, I don't like (most) implements to crash down suddenly.

OK, now I'll read what others have said - this post is probably redundant with those anyway (-:

EDIT:
Hahh, OK, so it WAS the lowering speed control after all.
I am pleased when I was wrong - it is when I learn.

I am a little bit surprised that this seemed to have happened SUDDENLY.
I would have thought that you 'might' have been bumping it with a boot throughout the day and noticed the lowering becoming slower and slower as the valve closed... maybe, maybe not.
I guess that last kick just DID IT ? (-:

Nothing like reading the FINE manual - - like FIRST ! (-:
:END EDIT

 

[lockhaven]

Been there and done that and felt embarrassed about it.

 

[teg]

Think of it this way, it's documented for others to read and maybe figure out on there own!!!!

...but most likely, they'll just post an identical question :laughing:

 

[Reg]

Think of it this way, it's documented for others to read and maybe figure out on there own!!!!

...but most likely, they'll just post an identical question :laughing:

Yes, but it often happens that TBN members;
a) Can't/don't use the search function wisely
b) Can't (easily) access the forum from their tractor or remote location anyway.

c) The search function within TBN is quite limited anyway, i.e. doesn't work for phrases such as "how do I use x ?"
I still use Google for those and sometimes limit the search to site tractorbynet.