Loader FL7 Loader on CT2025 Doesn’t Seem to Meet Spec

[woolyAcres]

Mine is certainly more noticeable at low RPMs. I understand why increasing the RPMs is useful/necessary when lifting something but my complaint is that this mostly happens when dumping/un-curling the bucket. A time when there's very little need for any pressure or flow; gravity is/can do most of the work.

I've used got/used several other tractors and none of those have this issue on dump/uncurl.

 

[Redleafmaple]

Even when dumping the hydraulic system is being used because it's keeping pressure there to slow the dump or curl to whatever degree you allow. Otherwise if it was all gravity and no resistance from the hydraulic system it would dump quick and slam down

 

[woolyAcres]

@Redleafmaple, does your CT2025 not make the bypass sound when dumping? I'm curious because I think there's something not quite right and I'm curious if this is on all machines or just perhaps something simple (plugged?) on mine.

I realize there's flow even when dumping. Fluid needs to move from one side of those cylinders to the other side. But what I don't understand I hear what sounds like the relief valve when dumping. That's normally a sound associated with too much pressure and usually associated with attempting to do something the loader isn't capable of like lift/curl too much weight or once the cylinders have reached the end of their stroke.

I can dump/uncurl this loader more smoothly and (without any by-pass noise obviously) when the machine is totally off. I can control the rate of uncurl/descent by how much I open the valve/work the loader control stick. This is the only loader I've ever used that seems to by-pass when dumping/uncurling. Granted my sample size for different loaders I've spent any notable amount of time running is probably a dozen or fewer.

 

[Bull-NCR]

I am a bit late to this discussion but this may help someone else:

My 2022 Bobcat CT 2025H (347 hours) is currently at the dealer for a FL7 hydraulic cylinder issue. They were asked to check the lift, curl pressure and to look into a "drift down" issue that I was having. The bucket or forks would uncurl, and the arms would drift down at a fairly significant rate whether on or off or running at full power or low RPM's. The pressure/force also seemed low.

The same day I dropped it off, they called me and said that they diagnosed it as a cylinder bypass problem and that they were seeking a full replacement of all four cylinders under my extended warranty. After a couple weeks they got the approval but then found that the cylinders were on back-order and there was no idea when they would be available. The service manager just called me an hour ago and said they would like to like to use the cylinders from a brand-new machine on the lot and that would get me back in action. I agreed.

I pick it up tomorrow, but it does make me wonder if there is/was a bad or inferior batch of cylinders and the shortage and lack of new cylinders is due to a lot of FL7 tractor loader cylinders needing replacement. The dealer says this is a first for them. My brother, a hydraulic/diesel mechanic for 30 years says that the normal procedure is to rebuild the cylinders and only replace if damaged or undersized by the factory.

 

[fasttruck860]

If you find more information on the bypass problem let us know. I still don't get the proper curl on my machine but I almost always have the grapple and that's pretty heavy. I feel like the lift capacity is not up to snuff, but it's still pretty good.

 

[Bull-NCR]

Update: @fasttruck860

I picked up my CT2025 from the warranty repairs and after a week of long overdue hurricane clean-up it seems to be back to perfect working condition.

The information I got from the dealer was that they replaced the four cylinders on the loader with hydraulic cylinders they got from a new CT2025 from another dealer. (probably to make me go away)

I think I need to be clearer on what I meant by "cylinder bypass problem". The hydraulic system was tested and was within factory specs. The actual bypass valve was working as it was supposed to, and there were no leaks in the system. With this, they concluded that at least two of the cylinders were allowing hydraulic fluid to "bypass" the piston inside the cylinder when it was under pressure. This caused the bucket to uncurl and the arms to slowly drop.

They couldn't, or wouldn't, say if it was a bad batch of cylinders but with absolutely no cylinders available at dealers or online, no date on when they would come in, and a complete replacement of all four hydraulic cylinders under warranty, I have my suspicions.

I did question what would happen if the same issue occurred in a year since the cylinders were removed from another tractor of the same make, model and year tractor. They advised that everything was replaced with OEM parts, tractor history was updated online and the other tractor was 9 months newer. Their statement to me was that everything would still be covered for the length of the full warranty.

Other than the length of time to get everything done, the dealer was great and seemed to follow the path that made sense to diagnose the issue and get the repairs done correctly. The warranty approval seemed to take a couple weeks.

My final statement is to carefully consider the extended warranty when you make a large purchase such as this. Very seldom do I get an extended warranty on any purchase, but the finance manager was good at explaining it and I went for it to the tune of $2800.00 and change. At this point I have had a beast of a tractor for 18 months and am extremely happy with my purchase. Having said that, The repairs I just needed (new radiator, 4 FEL cylinders and the front CV boots) would NOT have been covered on the standard warranty. Total bill, if I had the dealer do exactly what they did, and it wasn't covered would have been over $6300.00. So far I am out of pocket for the gas to and from the dealer, twice, and my time. I'm way ahead. YRMV

I hope this helps someone.