As a 6+year
BX1860 owner (and I realize that the newer BX's have easy-on/easy-off FELs), one thing I have learned is NEVER move the FEL joystick up and down (raising or lowering the boom) when unmounting or remounting the FEL. ONLY use bucket curl (left and right joystick movement) to take the FEL off or put it back on. Once you use the raise/lower modes of the FEL control you are changing the basic geometry of how the engineers intended it should all work.
So, place the bucket down flat/level on the ground in a "neutral lift" position (that is, the bucket weight is off the tractor, and the FEL is not trying to pick the front of the tractor up), increase RPM's a bit, curl the bucket forward which unloads the FEL mounting pins, pull the pins out and drop them in their store holes, and then curl the bucket back. The FEL arms will disengage their mounts, and move both higher *and* forward of the tractor slightly. Now *slowly* and *carefully* reverse the tractor (in low range), moving backwards away from the FEL about 4". DO NOT GO ANY FARTHER OR ANY FASTER, or you can end up trying to drag the FEL by the hydraulic hoses -- which is not good any way you look at it. Now shut the engine off (see note 1 below), and disconnect the hydraulic quick-connects. With the tractor backed away just 4" or so from the FEL it's a lot easier to get to all of the QC's.
A few more hints...
1) After mechanically dismounting the FEL, but before disconnecting the hydraulic hoses, turn the engine off, and then move the joystick "circularly" (hitting all modes of the spool valves) a few times. This will release residual hydraulic pressure in the various cylinders of the FEL, which will make disconnecting and later reconnecting of the hydraulic hoses much, much easier. Once the pressure is off all of the cylinders (you will note that the FEL stops "settling" when this process is complete), lock the joystick in place using the little locking lever under the joystick pivot point. This will keep the pressure off the quick disconnects on the tractor if you inadvertently hit the joystick.
2) It of course helps immensely to have the tractor and FEL on level terms when mounting/dismounting -- e.g., a garage floor slab is optimum. So, don't take the FEL off on a hillside, you will have tons of trouble remounting it. Don't take the FEL off in 3" of mud, you will have tons of trouble remounting it.
3) The hose-end hydraulic couplers on the FEL may drip a little bit, especially as the temperature changes in the FEL storage location. I put the bundle of disconnected hydraulic hose couplers in a large ziploc bag along with a wad of industrial paper towels. After six months and a dozen or so connects/disconnects the towels are a bit gross and I start fresh again.
4) In certain circumstances, especially after a failed FEL mounting attempt, you may notice that one of the FEL mounting arms is positioned more forward than the other. This makes mounting the FEL impossible. DO NOT PANIC. These mounting arms are on the same hydraulic circuit, so simply get off the tractor and push/pull the arms back into place. However much forward one arm is moved, the other other will move backward the same amount, so you won't have far to move one to get them back in rough alignment.
5) Again, older BX models: don't forget to put the FEL kickstand down.
ps
On level ground I can get the FEL off OR on in about 3 minutes including hydraulic hookups.
wrooster
