FEL raises by itself

[Anonymous Poster]

My B2710 loader has started rising very slowly by
itself.

I had a mishap where I was trying to move a small tree
trunk over a fence with the FEL, and the tree fell out
of the bucket backwards, that it towards me. As I was
busy shielding myself I didn't see exactly what
happened, but apparently the three fell into the lever
that controls the FEL. Immediately afterwards I
noticed two things: first, the FEL controller lever
has slightly different up/down points where it is
effective. That is, where I used to move it down say
two inches to lift the bucket, now I have to move it
only an inch and a half to lift the bucket, and if I
move the lever down the full two inches, the bucket
ceases to move at all.

The other effect is the one I mentioned, where the
loader lifts itself slowly without me moving the
controller lever. I took the cover off of the FEL
controller valve, and here is what I see happening.
The controller lever initially stays in place once
put in the neutral position, but before long the
vibration from the tractor and the weight of the
controller lever cause the cylinder to pull slowly
out of the valve, causing the loader to lift.

There is a screw to adjust the fore/aft position of
FEL controller lever, and I extended this all the way,
but it had no effect on the behavior I described above.

I could not find any leaks my FEL hydraulic hoses.
Might this be the problem? The valve isn't leaking
and the cylinder seems to fit perfectly.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have!

-Don

 

[MChalkley]

Don - It sounds like the impact with the tree broke the spring inside the spool that holds the valve centered in the neutral position. Now, just the weight of the handle, along with vibration, is all it takes to move the spool.

 

[JerryG]

Been there done that..........almost. I was backing up one time and hung the control lever on a cable hanging from a rafter. What I did was bend the linkage to the valve from the handle. I had to look pretty close. They were just bent ever so slightly. I rebent the offending points very slowly until they were straight. Worked like new afterward. I that isn't it, I would check futher into what Mark said.

 

[frank_f15]

don: will a gree with mark, seems like the spool is not centered so the position of the handle , has no real relation to what the valve is doing.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks for your reply. That sounds like the culprit
all right.

Now, does anyone know how to acess said spring?
There's no obvious way to disassemble the valve.

Thanks
Don

 

[MChalkley]

With most of them, there's either an internal snap ring, or some cap bolts that allow a plate to be removed. If you can't see any way to remove it, it's most likely a snap ring.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

This is fixed. In case this happens to anyone else,
here's a little bit about the problem and how to fix it.

I went to the local Kubota dealer and asked to get new
springs for the loader controller valve. The mechanic
there is an allen bolt in there, and more likely it
snapped or came loose.

I have the LA401 loader with as Husco valve, but be
aware that Kubota uses at least three different valves
for the LA401.

My Husco valve has a cap on the opposite end of the valve
from where the spool goes in. Take this off, Several
parts come out, including five ball bearings, a spring,
and a sleeve, and a gasket and the housing. It's handy
to have a big magnet around.

Mothing was broken in my case. It appears that my
valve was underlubricated in the factory, and when I
lubricated it and put it back together it worked fine.

 

[MChalkley]

Good deal, Don! Glad you got it going. Those allen bolts were the cap bolts I was talking about. Here's a little tip: It might be a good idea to put a little silicone on top of the cap you took off, at the point where the cap joins the valve body (or even better, some sealant in the joint itself). Water runs down the valve body when it rains on it, and if any gets into the cap through that joint, it'll rust the detent balls, etc. Also, when it freezes, the loader valve won't work until it thaws out.

 

[Pks]

Regarding the rusting of the dent balls and related springs:

I took the balls and springs out of the assembly. Then they were cleaned and coated with cold weather grade grease. I also coated the inside surfaces of the cap and the maiting surface of the valve.

If the parts are cleaned and coated with grease, they are protected from any water that might get past the sealing surface. I don't think this method will completely remove the possibility of freezing but it will prevent rusting of the small pieces inside the assembly.

Peter