hitch problems for new owner(what else is new)

[joehinvt]

ok first off new to tractors and this website.i would like to thank everyone beforehand for any and all replies! i just aquired an 85 ford 4610. had to hook up the back hoe to transport the tractor( i drove it the three miles home) 3pt lift raised the hoe and i hit the position draft levers down after i shut it off and it dropped a little. the next morning after starting.. and everyday since raising and lowering the draf or position levers does nothing!!! moved handles to no avail!! it looks like the lift arms are up in about the halfway position. am i missing a valve or did dropping the levers after shut off jam something?? thanks again for the help!!!

 

[joehinvt]

ok,today i went out and fired it off to do some work and immediatly i hit the position lever and up and down it went,several times even. but after driving to the work area bam nothing happened!! think maybe low on fluid??? just had to add this to for the troubleshooters! thanx again...joe

 

[joehinvt]

oh! and this tractor sat for five years before i came along and put a new battery in and cleaned out,changed all the filters and touched her off!!! forgot to add that!!...joe

 

[RickB]

If you have a 3pt mounted backhoe that allows the hitch to travel up and down, you have one serious safety hazard there. Unless I am not understanding something. Every 3pt backhoe I have seen has a fixed toplink mount that holds the frame and swingpost at a fixed height. Sounds like a recipe for a crushed operator.

 

[joehinvt]

the top link is fixed but the lower arms still move up and down. when in use the downriggers hold every thing steady......will try to upload some pics. is this set up wrong???

 

[RickB]

will try to upload some pics. is this set up wrong???

I can't say without better understanding the hook-up.

 

[joehinvt]

heres the pics i mentioned. as you can see the top link goes through the hole. it can pivot but cant move. the trailing arms are attached to a u shaped arm thats under the seat. what i thought was a typical three point hitch. I AM NEW TO THIS SO PLEASE GO EASY ON ME!!! LOL

 

[rambler]

1. Leave the position/draft lever in Position mode. Always. Draft is very specialized for using a molboard plow - it can really give you bad results for other things.

2. The fixed top link on a backhoe should carry the load. You should not put the 3pt selector lever all the way up. I understand there is a bit of slop in all the linkages so you can make the backhoe go up or down a tad bit; but that isn't what you are supposed to do really. The fixed top link should hold the hoe.

3. If you raised the 3pt selector lever all the way up, you may have heard a high whirrr, and noticed the engine grunt just a little bit? That is oil going through the bypass (pressure relief) valve because you are overloading the hydraulics. It is designed to do this intermittently without harm, but if you left it doing this for long periods, that really heats the oil & works your oil pump very hard & could weaken the bypass valve.

You shouldn't really overload the hyd system like this. You can rock the hoe up or down a little by moving the selector control a little bit - sure. But don't put it all the way up. You can just leave it all the way down, and let the hoe hang on that fixed upper link - that's how it's meant.

4. Water, dirt (causes the bypass or other valves to stick open), low oil level causing the pump to lose prime, and other issues can cause the hyd pump to no longer move the 3pt hitch - any of which common to a tractor that has set for a while. Since the hoe has it's own pump, I will guess you do not know if any other hyd circuts are working, and so it is hard to tell for sure what is going on.

Not sure what happened or what you did exactly, but hope this gives you some place to start or explain fruther.

--->Paul

 

[wjsizemore77]

heres the pics i mentioned. as you can see the top link goes through the hole. it can pivot but cant move. the trailing arms are attached to a u shaped arm thats under the seat. what i thought was a typical three point hitch. I AM NEW TO THIS SO PLEASE GO EASY ON ME!!! LOL

With all the weight of the hoe hanging on the toplink, would it be possible that it is pulling on the draft sensor and thus the hydrauics are trying to raise the heavily loaded "implement"? There should be a place to install a hitch pin to lock out the draft sensing ability of the top link. Just a thought.

 

[RickB]

With all the weight of the hoe hanging on the toplink, would it be possible that it is pulling on the draft sensor and thus the hydrauics are trying to raise the heavily loaded "implement"? There should be a place to install a hitch pin to lock out the draft sensing ability of the top link. Just a thought.

That's a very good thought. The first photo shows a pin in the uopper hole of the bottom of the toplink mounting bracket. It is unclear what is in the bottom hole; either nothing or a hollow pin. For safe backhoe use, there should be a pin in both of these holes, effectively locking out draft control. Draft control can still function if the draft spring is in extension, even if the selector is in position mode.

Rambler has given excellent advise as well. Couldn't have said it better.

 

[joehinvt]

ok when i said new owner.. i meant HAVING NEVER OWNED OR OPERATED A TRACTOR!! im a mechanical guy by nature but my somewhat rural vermont upbringing made it so i knew what a three point hitch is but other than that... NADA!! rambler said leave the position lever down.. i am.. but when i go pick up the back blade and brush hog i want this thing to pick em up!! i havent checked fluid levels yet so i hope im not just wasting your guys time! i do have every factory manual made for this thing but reading it is ponderous because i dont understand the nomenclature. thanks for the help guys just go easy on me!!!

 

[rambler]

3pt lift raised the hoe and i hit the position draft levers down after i shut it off and it dropped a little.

Most Fords have a lever, or the option for a lever, that is the position/draft lever. I thought you were refering to this lever. In 'position' mode your 3pt will oporate as you think it shoulf.

In 'draft' mode the 3pt will react to the amont of load on it, and will not work properly for most operations.

See if you can locate this lever, and make sure it is in 'postion' mode so you can position the 3pt where ever you want it.


Hummm. I looked up your model tractor on NH parts diagram, and I see you have 2 similar sliding levers, one called 'draft' and one called 'position'. This is a little different than the Fords I have been around.

I believe you will want to park the 'draft' lever in a home position where it is not in effect - you do not want 'draft' to be in effect, and only use the 'position' lever? I am a bit out of my element now, and I can see where my info would be a bit confusing to you. On many other Ford models, the 'draft' lever is a bit more hidden, and is either on or off 90 degree turn, not a sliding lever. Sorry if I confused you, and offered wrong advise. I meant well, but it doesn't fit the setup of your particular model exactly.

--->Paul

 

[joehinvt]

ok just got back from vermont! ( i was on vacation!! woo hoo!)lol anyways after looking closer i see the top link bracket does move(not that I can move it) it looks like it has something connected at the top that must be the draft sensor(plunger lookin thingee under seat) hoe is off tractor and the three point will not move with the position lever. fluid is full now! i can lift the hitch arms up and down no problem. any other suggestions? the manuals tell you how to remove things but not diagnose! thanks for the help because i gotta make it work before the snow flys!!!!....joe

 

[crashz]

Hi Joe,

I'm not familiar with Fords, but I think the first his you may want to do is remove the backhoe. The reason I say this is that the backhoe appears to be operated off of a PTO driven pump, however one of your power beyond ports (the pressure and return lines) is also attached. So I'm confused to what hydraulic power is used for what.

On some tractors, the backhoe attachment uses a haydraulic connection that is inline with the 3 pt hitch. So when the backhoe is attached, it does not allow movement or only limited movement of the 3 pt hitch. Don't know if this is true for your application, but at least its a start.

 

[Soundguy]

Hmm.. wonder if there is an ASC valve on this tractor?

soundguy

 

[joehinvt]

soundguy is that short hand for a loose screw behind the wheel?? lol! and crashz the hoe is off. the hoe is ran by a pto driven pump. the hoses you saw run forward to the front bucket controls. does that help??? thanks again

 

[kthompson]

Rather than go on with memory here..if you have more than one hole which you could pin the top link to, then there is probably one you should use for position use and another or possibly more for draft use. Not sure if Ford uses that set up. Too long since hooked up to a Ford.

I have used a boom mower which uses the locked lift arms and it would allow some movement up and down but not a lot. I think if pushed something would have given. At same time you may have an issue with the lift system but doubt you will be able to know for sure until you remove the backhoe. kt

 

[Soundguy]

soundguy is that short hand for a loose screw behind the wheel?? lol! and crashz the hoe is off. the hoe is ran by a pto driven pump. the hoses you saw run forward to the front bucket controls. does that help??? thanks again

Nope.. not a cut on you... ASC refers to auxillary service control.. it's a common valve type found on some tractors.. each brand has some similar name.. etc.. For instance.. you can select between 3pt hyds, external hyds.. or shared.. etc.. depending on the model.

soundguy

 

[sunspot]

The top hole on the fixed link is for draft.
By the operators side there are 2 levers for using the 3 point. They are side by side. One is for draft and the other is for position.

joehinvt, the draft lever is used for ground engaging implements like a plow. Leave your lever in the down position.


I have a 3910 but no backhoe.

 

[joehinvt]

ok everyone. soundguy is the man. there is an asc(i think it is anyway) under the seat of the tractor one valve runs the bucket the other is the hitch!! i had a friend who knows tractors way better than i do look at it and needless to say he called me a few friendly but earned names!! lol (dumba@@ being the main one!!) i have some pictures of the valves under the seat and they must be in the neutral position or the hitch wont work. thank you all for helping another dumba@@ newbie fumble his way around a tractor!!! lol