Bucket won't drop - any ideas?

[Gem99ultra]

I have a Kubota B2410. Suddenly my bucket on the FEL won't go down. It'll go down maybe an inch in 2 or 3 minutes, but that it.

I've tried purging the system with the control lever, but that didn't seem to help at all.

Any ideas as to what my problem might be, or what to do would be most appreciated.

Jim

 

[J_J]

Check your QD'S, re-seat them.

Will it go up normally?

Is the relief activating?

Can you see the spool moving whenever you push or pull on the lever?

Do you have a gage to put in the system, and check pressure? ?

 

[MikeInEburg]

If you have 1/4 inch three-point, be sure the control is centered.

 

[Gem99ultra]

The control does not go down as it should. It seems to be hitting something solid inside the control valve. The relief is not activating either.

The 3P recently started acting strange too, i.e. it would not go down with the engine running.

The entire tractor has been serviced about 20 hours ago by the local Kubota dealer.

 

[J_J]

Does your 3pt system work correctly?

Do you see the spool move when activated?

Some valves have hard detents for things like float, and soft detents for things like regen.

Do you have your 3pt lever i n the upper most position? Should not be all the way up, just lower the lever some, and see if that makes any difference with the FEL. Has something to do with back pressure back through the system.

You need a hyd gage to test some things. Setup runs about $30 plus some QD's

Test your PRV to see if it is set correctly, usually about 50 to 100 below pump max psi.

After installing the 3000 psi gage with a QD setup, in a tee at the IN port to the FEL valve, do you have full system pressure when you push the lift lever, or retract lever?

If you have pressure with the lever activated, then move the test gage to the the tee for the cyl hoses and test the cyl hose.

 

[J_J]

This brings up the question about back pressure, and how it affects the hyd system. What I know about it is that it works against the pump pressure, and will probably affect the FEL valve or any of the other valves. I am not for sure how it affects everything. . You almost need a simulator to punch in the numbers and see the results.

For instance, with the 3pt lever up and causing the system to be relieved at say 2500 psi, will the FEL valve work correctly, or will the FEL valve work if the levers are half stroked?

What if the FEL valve uses all the pump flow to operate the cyl, how much pressure will the 3pt see?

Will the FEL valve relief activate?

 

[jinman]

The control does not go down as it should. It seems to be hitting something solid inside the control valve. The relief is not activating either.

The 3P recently started acting strange too, i.e. it would not go down with the engine running.

The entire tractor has been serviced about 20 hours ago by the local Kubota dealer.

Jim, did you actually disconnect and reconnect the quick connects as JJ first suggested? I know you don't want to do this with the loader in the air, but it should be doable and you could always wedge the bucket onto a platform while you are doing this. This just sounds like the classic loose quick connect fitting.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Just got home, but will try it and post the results tonigh.

I sure appreciate the help, whether we/you hit on the solution or not. What a great bunch of guys. Better yet, let's use the word "friends"!

 

[indianaEPH]

Jim, did you actually disconnect and reconnect the quick connects as JJ first suggested? I know you don't want to do this with the loader in the air, but it should be doable and you could always wedge the bucket onto a platform while you are doing this. This just sounds like the classic loose quick connect fitting.

yup, had exactly the same thing and found one of the QD had come undone.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Unfortunately, that didn't help. Took all the lines off, cleaned them and re-secured them. It appears that something in the control box slipped, broke, jammed, or ?

I'll take the control box off and have that checked by a professional. I'll post an update when I find out exactly what the problem was.

Thanks!