I went out this morning with my 3pth chipper on. chipped the branches from 2- 25' trees flawlessly. when i went to put the tractor away the chipper wouldnt lift more than a 1" off the ground. i took off the chipper and the 3pth worked fine (no weight). if anybody could offer me info on the system i would appreciate it for i dont know much about this part of the tractor. thanks
Did it stay at that 1" height when you returned the lever to the middle position, or did it settle back down? If it settled on it's own, perhaps the upper height limit has a problem and the piston has been overextended, damaging the "O" ring seals.
What is the hydraulic fluid level in the resovoir? Not really going to change when the 3PH goes up/down but if it was low and you are introduceing air into the system, this could prevent it from lifting a load effectively. A leak in the suction pipeing such as the union right above where the hydraulic strainer is located could also cause the same problem. You could have a pump failure and it is unable to produce enough pressure to lift a load. What was the engine RPM at when you tried to lift the chipper? Do you have a FEL, if so how is it working? How is the power steering working?
