Deal or no deal--farmpro

[EE_Bota]

I worked on this tractor yesterday, and will be doing so today as well.

Yesterday....

My seat rotates on a bearing since it has a backhoe and a loader. That bearing was trashed. I replaced it with a new bearing, which turns out to be the same bearing as the clutch throwout bearing.

I replaced the seatbelt with a new one...the other one was rusty, and stuck.

I finally got the lift arms to go down...I can only stand on them since the backhoe is on. This is an important first step since my lift was stuck up, and the loader doesn't work, leaving me no good safe way to test the hydraulics.

The lift was stuck up because the knob in front that controls the lowering speed was stuck. I could screw it out a few rounds...but I had no idea that it will screw out much further than I had anticipated. Now I can stand on the arms and they will go down. This leads to....

They will come up again! So I am getting some flow, but at what pressure I don't know. I need to chain or strap them to see if my pump is developing pressure since it should be trivial to lift my boney butt using only the upper lift arms. But my loader still doesn't work.

I noticed in testing....if I hold the loader valve in a position that should raise the loader, and also tell the 3pt to rise simultaneously, the 3pt rises while the loader does not move (and no hoses "dance.") This implies to me that the loader valve does not block the flow for it's own use, but instead lets oil just go on through. I suspect the relief valve.

I cleaned the relief valve and the check...no difference.

I may try that again today as well...but it is hard to put work into a valve that everyone says is junk. I'd love to see it move I suppose...but it looks like even though I was (possibly) unjustified in buying the new pump (unused so far...since lift moved) I am probably justified in getting a new valve kit since it is much nicer in it's control and has float and regen. I can do without regen...but I really do like float.

I put on a new radiator cap, the old one was very rusty...a sign of both poor plating/poor choice of materials and the lack of an overflow bottle to keep the radiator full to the gills so the cap could be protected by the coolant's corrosion inhibitors. I may add an overflow bottle..but more fish to fry on this thing first.

There is a quick update of yesterdays wrenching. Oh...I forgot I replaced the rubbers over the gear shifter balls. I have more rubber to replace too, but I am still early into this tractor.

 

[greg_g]

Radiator caps are crap from the git-go. I replaced those on my 4 Chinese tractors out of hand. The important thing to understand is that these are very low pressure cooling systems. We're talking 4 pound caps here. If you can't find any rated that low, we've found that the more commonly available 7 psi cap doesn't promote undue pressure leaks. I got one of the cheap $10 overflow kits from JC Whitney. Worked just fine.

My memory is fuzzy on that 200 series, but the bit about having to jiggle the loader valve to make the rear lift work might suggest a dirty priority valve. That's the Y-shaped one ahead and to the left of the brake pedals. It disassembles for cleaning.

//greg//

 

[erj]

Do you have a gauge to see what pressure level you have in that hydraulic system?
RonJ

 

[EE_Bota]

Do you have a gauge to see what pressure level you have in that hydraulic system?
RonJ

I have the gauge, but I lack to fittings right now to pipe it in. I will have to come up with the fittings since I will have to set the reliefs at some point.

Yesterday, I strapped the upper lift arms down with truckers strap. Raising the lift gingerly showed that the lift likely could break that strap.

I am not a rookie to hydraulics...just a big dumb rookie to this tractor. I am getting a handle on it pretty quickly, thanks to the folks here. I have the manuals...all of them...but to understand them, sometimes you have to know in advance what the manual was supposed to have said.

The fact the lift and the loader are in a series circuit, and when actuated at the same time, the lift rose, but the loader did not, that is meaningful to me. The loader is not making it's grab at the flow.

I am mildly curious what is wrong with the valve, but I have been informed in advance by folks here and others that that valve is junk. Due to lack of load checks per spool, the spools have been ground to block flow well in advance of sending it out the work port (just like the valve on the backhoe.) That means that the relief will be challenged each and every spool movement, and feathering will be difficult. I hope this doesn't sound like a complaint...I didn't pay (yet) for a good valve, so I have no complaints.

Thinking about it further...perhaps I SHOULD pay more attention to this stock valve. It does not have the features I would like in a loader valve...but it could perhaps make a passable valve for hydraulic remotes. I'll have to think about that further.

 

[greg_g]

Have you located and cleaned the priority valve yet?

//greg//

 

[tommie holt]

ok i have a 2425 farmpro the clutch wont let me take it out of gear it stays in gear

 

[EE_Bota]

Have you located and cleaned the priority valve yet?

//greg//

I did fix the loader, so for all I know, all my hydraulics works right now.

Here's what I did...

I surmised that it was most likely the loader relief valve because if I throw the loader and the lift at the same time, only the lift moves.

Instead of sitting beside it on a stool (like last time) and working on it attached, I took off only the relief valve block, making it far easier to evaluate thoroughly.

The top hex cap houses only a check valve and I know that was working right, since trying to raise the loader while the tractor is off did not cause the loader to droop.

I went ahead and removed that check from the pressure inlet block since I need that access to push the main relief spool, spool spring, and pilot orifice seat out the bottom.

Upon close inspection, and keeping in mind it is a pilot operated relief valve* I found that the spool was not shifting fully upward to closed position. If I pushed the spool firmly with my finger, it would go a bit further into the block with a little bit of a click. Cleaning all the surfaces did not eliminate that stiction, so a small spring cannot shift the spool closed.

To fix this, I used a tiny bit of "Mother's" wheel polish on the spool. I stuck it back in, and lodged a bit of plastic hose in the base where the spring would normally be. I chucked that plastic hose into a drill. From the other side of the spool (coming from the check valve opening) I used a small stick to push the opposite direction. So while spinning the spool, I pushed it in and out repeatedly, cleaning the polish out periodically, and checking for smooth operation. I had to repeat the polish phase once more, and the spool would shift freely afterwards such that a spring could shift it. I cleaned it all one final time in the vat, blew it all clean with air, replaced the one pilot seat O-ring from kit, and lubed all with air tool oil during reassembly (knowing all would get doused with hydraulic oil upon restart.) It worked immediately upon cranking the tractor, and seemed to be strong, and also responsive to the relief settings.

*Here is a simulator for a pilot operated relief. To use it, left click (and hold it clicked) the "system pressure 1" slider and slide it to the far right. That is what my tractor was doing, but the pressure was nothing because the main spool was unable to go full right, and the spring could not make it do so.

Pilot operated hydraulic pressure relief valve simulation

 

[EE_Bota]

ok i have a 2425 farmpro the clutch wont let me take it out of gear it stays in gear

Hi Tommie. Welcome to TBN. You are welcome to post in this thread, but it would be for your own good to start a new thread. A good name for it would be.. "Farmpro 2425 stuck in gear. Clutch?"

In case you have already done so, I will go look, and if found, offer my feeble advice there.

Edit: I checked your other post, and you already received advice to start a new thread. I PM'd you, asking if you need any help starting a thread, and I did not hear back. If you like, I will start a thread for you...just post back here if you wish me to start the thread.