MF 135 Hydraulics stopped working

[AndrewMF135]

G'day Patrick
Thanks for the tips, I'll try and get some photos up soon.
Backhoe stand built, today I started the tractor in the hope I could use the hydraulics to assist offloading the backhoe. They worked straight off, and continued to work! I got the hoe off and carried on using the tractor, sort of hoping they would fail, as now I can get to the workings.

My plan is to continue using the tractor tomorrow to see if it fails, as now without the hoe I won't be stuck dead. I have a new theory, which I will be testing.

My latest theory
I have been asked if I have enough oil, and I thought I had as the dip stick showed more than half full, but now I suspect I have not.
I am guessing that, even though the capacity of the hydraulic reservoir is large (this is where my theory may fall down), the volume used to fill the additional pipes of the backhoe is causing the level to fall too low. So, this time when I went to use the tractor all the oil had flowed back into the reservoir, as it had after I strapped up the device to move it.

If the tractor does not fail tomorrow, I put the backhoe on and get all the pipes to fill and see if it fails. At that point I'll check the dipstick, and probably fill it anyway. But I won't do that until it fails, so I can see that that fixes it.

So I'm hoping it will work tomorrow, then fail when the when it is hitched up, then work again flawlessly once topped up.

Any other theories?

I'll keep you posted.

 

[PatrickS2222]

That could be the case - certainly a possible scenario. I'd say, first, fit and connect the BH. Then, gently at first, operate each action its full travel several times - you need it to flush out as much air as you can. Keep an eye on the gearbox oil level and top it up when needed.
Keep in mind, where you can try to have each end of each cylinder somewhat upward so the air is where the hose connects and will be the "first out" when that end is emptied (piston is travelling toward that end of cylinder). There may be some air you cannot remove by mere operation - this is because I reckon some air will stay in pipes and hoses.
After you have done that, you should find the oil level is lowest when all cylinders are extended, and obviously at its highest when they're all retracted. Then do some digging and see how well it works.
A high demand of oil will circulate it more and stir up any sediment, so this might aggravate the filter restriction theory. If the oil returns to one end of the casing it could be even more pronounced.
Fingers crossed ..... Happy Digging!

 

[GAFarmer2]

G'day Patrick
Thanks for the tips, I'll try and get some photos up soon.
Backhoe stand built, today I started the tractor in the hope I could use the hydraulics to assist offloading the backhoe. They worked straight off, and continued to work! I got the hoe off and carried on using the tractor, sort of hoping they would fail, as now I can get to the workings.

My plan is to continue using the tractor tomorrow to see if it fails, as now without the hoe I won't be stuck dead. I have a new theory, which I will be testing.

My latest theory
I have been asked if I have enough oil, and I thought I had as the dip stick showed more than half full, but now I suspect I have not.
I am guessing that, even though the capacity of the hydraulic reservoir is large (this is where my theory may fall down), the volume used to fill the additional pipes of the backhoe is causing the level to fall too low. So, this time when I went to use the tractor all the oil had flowed back into the reservoir, as it had after I strapped up the device to move it.

If the tractor does not fail tomorrow, I put the backhoe on and get all the pipes to fill and see if it fails. At that point I'll check the dipstick, and probably fill it anyway. But I won't do that until it fails, so I can see that that fixes it.

So I'm hoping it will work tomorrow, then fail when the when it is hitched up, then work again flawlessly once topped up.

Any other theories?

I'll keep you posted.

Interested to see how this turns out. Did you check the level after you removed the hoe to see if it changed any? If I remember correctly, the 135 should have about an 8 gallon capacity, so having loader and backhoe both running could have dropped the level enough to have an impact. One other thing... Does the backhoe have its own filter? I didn't see it mentioned in any of the other posts. I have seen the filters there stop up with trash and create quite the mess when the gunk starts "back flowing".

 

[shona13]

G'day andrew .
if you attach any implement to your tractor after the initial oil required to charge the complete system the oil level will remain the same the oil level will not rise and fall enough to cause the pump to run dry, The Hydraulics will shudder if the pump draws air or runs low in oil.
I am not sure how your backhoe is connected to the tractor ,if you post a picture showing how it is attached I will give you more information on how to operate the hydraulics.
Hutch.