Branson 4220 Hydraulic Problem

[defranks]

I was using my Branson 4220 in the woods last week, and ran over a root ball. The ball rotated and the stump (only a couple inches across!) rotated up and hit my hydraulic oil filter. The result was a broken filter housing and a ruptured filter. I'd guess five gallons of oil poured out, and of course I lost all hydraulic pressure. I'm trying to order a new filter housing (Branson calls it a cover) but my local dealer isn't very responsive, but be that as it may.....

The tractor is dead in its tracks because the steeriing is hydraulic. It runs and goes fore-and-aft, but I can't steer it or lift the loader bucket, so it's stuck. I crawled under the tractor, in the mud of course, and pulled out the damaged components. It seems I should be able to just replace the filter with a short length of hose as a temporary fix to get the tractor out of the woods. So I did that and refilled the hydraulic reservoir, but I still have no hydraulic pressure. The hose I added takes some bends, and it's kinked in two places, but I would think there would still be enough flow to lift the bucket and steer the tractor, even if very slowly. It COULD be, I guess, that the hose is collapsing, but I crawled under the tractor when it was running and it doesn't seem to be collapsed beyond the kinks that I mentioned. I ran the tractor for several minutes after installing the hose and refilling the reservoir, but there was no movement at all when I tried to lift the bucket.

So I have a couple of questions for the experienced hydraulic gurus:

1.) Is the hose a reasonable stop-gap to bypass the damaged filter? Of should I fabricate a hard line? I have some 1" copper water pipe that I could solder up and attach to the existing hoses on the tractor.

2.) Would dumping the hydraulic fluid like that be likely to damage the pump? The tractor lost pressure pretty darn quck as I noticed when the bucket wouldn't lift. I know the pump must have had residual oil in it. I doubt that I ran the engine for more than two minutes after the oil was lost. And it was still pouring out pretty steadily when I crawled under to see what had happened.

3.) Any words of advice?

Thanks!

Darrell

 

[oldnslo]

Darrell,
Depending on where the filter is in your circuit a hose could be used as a temporary bypass for the filter. I suspect you lost prime to the main hydraulic pump when all of the oil was lost. Is the inlet line to the pump exposed and not damaged? Can you remove the outlet line from the pump and jog the starter to see if any fluid comes out? I.e. is the pump primed.

Possible pump was damaged depending on style and location in relation to the sump. On my 2400H the pump is direct mounted to the upper right of the bell housing. This is roughly one foot above and two to three feet in front of the tranny sump. Low oil would drain the inlet line and possible cause some priming problems.

good luck

 

[Tx Jim]

I suggest not to operate tractor without the proper hyd filter installed.

 

[defranks]

Thanks Gents,

TX Jim, I just want to be able to drive the tractor back to the barn, not any distance to speak of. I don't intend to run it for any length of time without a filter.

Oldnslo, that name could describe me pretty well. I'll not have a chance before Saturday, but I'll try to figure out if I have a priming problem. That's a possibility. My dealer finally called back, and will order my part for me, and it's pretty reasonable, $45.00 for the filter housing and another $20 for the filter. I was expecting to spend more than that, and happy not to be.

I don't have a service manual for the tractor, I guess I need to find one. But maybe I can find a high-point above the pump and put some hydraulic oil in to the pump from there.

Thanks,

Darrell

 

[defranks]

One more bit of information. When one changes the hydraulic oil on the tractor, you drain it completely, then change out the filter, refill it, and start the engine. The owner's manual says that the oil circulates and purges air, so I would think that prime would not be a problem. But again, I don't know a while lot about hydraulics or hydraulic pumps.

 

[oldnslo]

Darrell,
A lot depends on where the filter is in your system. If it is in the suction side of the pump they can occasionally cause a vacuum lock preventing the pump from priming. In looking at the Branson parts breakdown the 4220 does have a suction filter so you would have to use a vacuum rated hose with NO kinks to replace the filter.

 

[defranks]

Thanks oldnslo, I appreciate your time and help.

I have the new filter housing on-order, and should have it in hand mid-week, so rather than drain the oil twice to put in a hard bypass, I'll just wait and do it once where it sits.

What you say makes perfect sense, and the existing 90-degree hose fittings have internal springs to keep them from collapsing.

Darrell

 

[defranks]

My parts arrived yesterday, and I installed the new filter and housing this morning. The three-point lifted as soon as the tractor started running, so no damage to the pump, thank goodness!

I ran the left-rear tire up on a ramp before disconnecting my bypass hose, and that kept oil leakage to a minimum. I probably only lost a pint or so.

Thanks for the help.

Darrell

 

[oldnslo]

Have to love a happy ending to a potential Oh Sh*t.. Now can you make some form of guard or shield to reduce the chances of this happening again.

 

[Gblevins1]

I bought a new hydraulic pump. The issue is an air lock or just can't prim the pump. I've tried bleeding with the hoses by just loosing and moving the joy stick to the front end. At first nothing but after many tries I get an inch or two in movement at a time. Any suggestions would help me out. Thanks. 4220I Branson