Where in the wide world of sports have I been!

[horticattleman]

It moves less than a foot per minute with no load, but when you have a load, it moves more and in my opinion any is too much. I don't have that problem with ASV, John Deer, CAt or none of em. I have to constantly leep pressure to the leftto keep the load up, but when I barely tap it to the left instead of going up, it loses pressure until I heel it over hard.

Should I change that black box under the joystick??????

 

[J_J]

It moves less than a foot per minute with no load, but when you have a load, it moves more and in my opinion any is too much. I don't have that problem with ADV, John Deer, CAt or none of em. I have to constantly leep pressure to the leftto keep the load up, but when I barely tap it to the left instead of going up, it loses pressure until I heel it over hard.

Should I change that black box under the joystick??????

What black box? I am assuming that you are talking about the lift arm and bucket control valve.

Take the joystick valve to a hydraulics shop and have them test it. Just about all front end loaders arms and buckets will leak down. Some you can watch watch leak down, and others will take a week to leak down. You can do all the test if you know how.

 

[SnowRidge]

You say you are holding the joystick to the left. That would mean the tilt is leaking down, not the lift. If that is the case, it is most likely a worn tilt cylinder. Take it to a hydraulic shop for evaluation and possibly rebuilding/replacement.

It should be a whole lot easier to remove and replace the tilt cylinder than the joystick valve.

 

[ponytug]

Before you take a cylinder off, you may want to clean and inspect the check valves. They have the similar symptoms of leak down, but unlike a bad cylinder, they have enhanced leaking under cracking pressure. I think that absent gross injury to the cylinder, probably more likely as the cause, but YMMV.

In the black valve bank box are three check valves, situated between each of the hydraulic lines. If you get dirt in a check valve, just barely moving the handle will cause the the cylinder to dump, rather than slowly increase.

I had this once; it was a simple fix- drop the FEL on something solid so you can release the pressure in the lines, and have room to work safely. Blow the area clean and use enough cleaner to get all of the dirt off. Then take a socket and open up the nut. As it comes unscrewed, oil will leak out, so be prepared. Again, have the area ultra clean, because the point here is to get dirt out, and there is a lip on the nut that collects dirt! Inside is a little gizmo (my recollection is that it is plastic). Clean it off, clean out the seat, and reassemble.

Call Terry if you want better details; I have a bad case of CRS on the finer details of this.

I haven't had any more troubles since I did that.

All the best,

Peter

It moves less than a foot per minute with no load, but when you have a load, it moves more and in my opinion any is too much. I don't have that problem with ASV, John Deer, CAt or none of em. I have to constantly leep pressure to the leftto keep the load up, but when I barely tap it to the left instead of going up, it loses pressure until I heel it over hard.

Should I change that black box under the joystick??????

 

[SnowRidge]

I just went back and reread the thread. There is a problem.

You say that the lift arms fall. You also say that you have to hold the joystick to the left to hold the load up. Unless your PT-425 is plumbed differently than mine (and everyone else's that I am aware of) that should not be the case.

Normally the joystick functions in the following manner:

Back -- raise loader arms
Forward -- lower loader arms
Left -- tilt QA plate/implement back and up (curl)
Right -- tilt QA plate/implement forward and down (dump)

Is your 425 not plumbed this way?

 

[horticattleman]

Sorry....its the curl. The lift arms hold pressure ok, but the curl falls. I think Ponytug is onto something. I called Terry and I think I heard him saying kinda the same thing, but me being a Cajun and him being a ??? I just can't understand a dam word he says. (he prolly says the same thing bout me!)
I'm gonna re read Pony's post and try to understand it better and hope you guys have a better understanding of my problem.

 

[J_J]

Before you take a cylinder off, you may want to clean and inspect the check valves. They have the similar symptoms of leak down, but unlike a bad cylinder, they have enhanced leaking under cracking pressure. I think that absent gross injury to the cylinder, probably more likely as the cause, but YMMV.

In the black valve bank box are three check valves, situated between each of the hydraulic lines. If you get dirt in a check valve, just barely moving the handle will cause the the cylinder to dump, rather than slowly increase.

I had this once; it was a simple fix- drop the FEL on something solid so you can release the pressure in the lines, and have room to work safely. Blow the area clean and use enough cleaner to get all of the dirt off. Then take a socket and open up the nut. As it comes unscrewed, oil will leak out, so be prepared. Again, have the area ultra clean, because the point here is to get dirt out, and there is a lip on the nut that collects dirt! Inside is a little gizmo (my recollection is that it is plastic). Clean it off, clean out the seat, and reassemble.

Call Terry if you want better details; I have a bad case of CRS on the finer details of this.

I haven't had any more troubles since I did that.

All the best,

Peter

I believe the checks in the valves are to prevent the load shifting while you are moving the spool. If it were leaking, then you would probably not be able to lift or curl very much with a load. With the valve in neutral, the checks are not utilized. So I am thinking cylinder leak or valve spool leak. You could perhaps take that valve apart and clean it, and if it has o-rings, replace them. If you shut off the engine with a loaded bucket in the air, and took off the out line of the valve what would happen? If a cylinder is trying to equalize, the fluid will go from one side of the cylinder to the other. If the valve is leaking, then the fluid will come out of the out fitting on the valve. If you are going to do this test, do not get under the bucket. and take off the out line on the valve slowly. If the bucket drops, and if the cylinder is not leaking, the fluid has to go somewhere.

 

[ponytug]

Yes, and no.
Yes, the check valves keep the load from shifting. However, when you get some debris in there, they hold under load, but dump as you crack the valve.

Trust me, it has happened to me and cleaning the check out solved the issue.

Horticattleman- repost if I can edit the instructions to make them clearer. One thing I didn't make clear, but the access to the check valves is from the front of the machine, i.e. under the loader arms, hence the need to have them braced, and have the pressure relieved from the circuits.

All the best,

Peter

I believe the checks in the valves are to prevent the load shifting while you are moving the spool. If it were leaking, then you would probably not be able to lift or curl very much with a load. With the valve in neutral, the checks are not utilized. So I am thinking cylinder leak or valve spool leak. You could perhaps take that valve apart and clean it, and if it has o-rings, replace them. If you shut off the engine with a loaded bucket in the air, and took off the out line of the valve what would happen? If a cylinder is trying to equalize, the fluid will go from one side of the cylinder to the other. If the valve is leaking, then the fluid will come out of the out fitting on the valve. If you are going to do this test, do not get under the bucket. and take off the out line on the valve slowly. If the bucket drops, and if the cylinder is not leaking, the fluid has to go somewhere.