Another Ferguson35 hydraulics won't work right thread.

[Last Chance]

So my Fergy 35 got a set of pallet forks a while ago. Doesn't seem to have to much lift power. A full pallet of firewood won't go up, half a pallet will sort of go up half way, but not all the way. They feel a bit spongy to me, when I get on the end of the forks and jump they bounce about half an inch.

Took the little side cover off and looked in there, there is a very small drop of fluid coming off the cylinder, but it seems the same weather or not they are loaded or unloaded. Feel the tractor shuddering a bit. WHen tractor is shut off, with either the forks or just a drawbar on the arms, they come down in less then 30 seconds.

Am I looking at a relief valve? I have the parts manual, can I just take the cover on the seat off and up, or do I have to take the 3 point "horns" off too?

The other thing that may come across as odd, they lift at the top of the quadrant is so so, when the lever is a little more then halfway down it lifts harder and you can feel the tractor "load up" a bit more, but still doesn't pick up my pallet of wood. I guess it's less then 1K pounds, even the half pallet should be no problem.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Was ready to buy the stuff to reseal the cylinder, but may be a valve problem. The oil in it is the "corect" stuff, the last owner put in, it's not hydro oil but thicker like gear oil, so I do not suspect someone put light hydro oil in the gearcase.

Gotta hurry and get this fixed, I have trees down all over the place, and had dreams of only handling it once, put on the pallet, then back up by my front door to burn rather then stacking and hailing.

 

[TomSeller]

I would try to rule out the draft control. Is the draft lever all the way towards disable (up I think)? if so and you still have a problem, take a chain and use it as your top link, but do not hook it into the standard place the top link goes. Hook it somehow to the three holes in the differential just below there. If the 3pt arms now lift normally you have a draft control problem. You can use it this way for the time being if you are just hauling with your 3pt forks.

The draft sensing is behind a spring at the standard top link location. Avoiding connecting there should rule that in or out. Draft lowers the 3pt arms if the top link is pulled too hard. The top link is pulled when you load up the forks. It thinks the "plow" needs to be lower, so it drops the arms.

 

[TomSeller]

Anyone know the answer to this? Thank you.

 

[Last Chance]

Going to bypass the top link this weekend. Will post my results.

 

[The kid]

How can you bypass the top link and still pickup anything. The top link stabilizes the three point hitch. The spring in the draft control act as a shock if the implement kicks back. The draft senses pull on the top link and drops or raises the lifting arms to maintain level while moving. One sometimes moves the speed rate lever on the right side behind your foot to slow. Make sure it's set to fast. Make sure the draft control is pulled up but not all the way up. Then if alls well the lift lever will pickup the 3PH.

The draft control is used when plowing so that the plow stays at a certain level. That's about all it"s good for. I just refurbished mine.

 

[TomSeller]

How can you bypass the top link and still pickup anything. The top link stabilizes the three point hitch. The spring in the draft control act as a shock if the implement kicks back. The draft senses pull on the top link and drops or raises the lifting arms to maintain level while moving. One sometimes moves the speed rate lever on the right side behind your foot to slow. Make sure it's set to fast. Make sure the draft control is pulled up but not all the way up. Then if alls well the lift lever will pickup the 3PH.

The draft control is used when plowing so that the plow stays at a certain level. That's about all it"s good for. I just refurbished mine.

I suggested he bypass the toplink to see if the draft is the problem. See my post above. I have a Massey that has an internal problem with the draft and it will not disable I don't plow with it and run brush hogs off of a chain as the top link. Works great. It is not worth fixing the draft control in my case.

 

[The kid]

Last Chance, you say the oil is correct and thicker. It should be M1129 or equivalent. If too heavy an oil in put in will effect the hydraulics. Is the hydro oil clear or coffee colored? Was the hydro filter changed? You said you've looked inside. Put a glove on or put your hand and touch the bottom to sample the color of the oil. Are all your lift, draft and speed controls in the right position? I have lifted my cutter without the top link connected. You should be able to lift with or without the center point attached. If the lift seems weak, something is out of adjustment, clogged, dirty. For the lift to partially work indicates a possible fluid restriction due to wrong lever settings, bad hydro oil, linkage out or adjustment. IMHO.

 

[swampbuggy]

Hello, I am interested in this thread as I have purchased an old 2135 and also added pallet forks to the 3PH. It doesn't want to lift any weight now. Not knowing too much about tractors I moved both the lift and draft levers up and down to see if I could figure how they worked. The Kids rebuild of his draft spring helped me to understand more. I will see what happens if I bypass the top link. I have changed the oil in the trans case with TSC Universal oil. Where is the hydraulic filter located? It doesn't show one in my shop manual. Also, with the draft lever and the lift levers in the up/rear/back position The engine loses RPM and I believe the hydraulics are going over relief. Is there any way to check Hydraulic pressure? What should it read? When I purchased the tractor the 3PH would stay up over night. Now it doesn't. Hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Thank you, Dan

 

[Mike476]

As the Kid said, proper fluid is important. To answer your filter location question for the 135, a pic is worth a thousand words. The other thing to check are the seals on the standpipe. With the tractor running look through the filler port when operating your 3PH, if there is a waterfall of fluid cascading from the top of it as there was from mine when I was having problems, replace the seals.

I apologize for the quatity of the images.

 

[swampbuggy]

How can you bypass the top link and still pickup anything. The top link stabilizes the three point hitch. The spring in the draft control act as a shock if the implement kicks back. The draft senses pull on the top link and drops or raises the lifting arms to maintain level while moving. One sometimes moves the speed rate lever on the right side behind your foot to slow. Make sure it's set to fast. Make sure the draft control is pulled up but not all the way up. Then if alls well the lift lever will pickup the 3PH.

The draft control is used when plowing so that the plow stays at a certain level. That's about all it"s good for. I just refurbished mine.

Well I disconnected the top link. I placed a chain around the housing and used it as a top link to bypass the draft control. My forks lifted with enough force to lift the front of the tractor up. I must have some problem in the draft control to make it do that. Now what?there seems to be about a half an inch of play in the draft spring. Don't know if there's something I need to fix with that or not. I have heard some rattling in the gearcase and need to look to see if the PTO Drive / hydraulic drive is loose. Now what!?...lol. Dan