GC2300 Hydrualic Lift Adjustment...HELP!

ciderman · May 11, 2008

I've had my GC2300 for 9 months now (110 hrs), and from day one, the lever for the hyd lift never kicks out like I think it should. At low RPMs it seems to work OK, it will kick back to center when you raise it. But at working RPM, it will not center itself, and grunts down the engine a little. The dealer I bought it from are all great people, but honestly, their service department are the Mennonite Laurel and Hardy. I had to go over the tractor myself after it was delivered to remedy such things as hyd hoses zip tied to brake rods, etc.
So anyhow, I got out the manual today, and made all the adjustments as per spec. Still have the same problem, except now it won't automaticly center the lever at all when lifting. I fiddled and fine tuned the adjustments and I'm right back to the original problem, When lifting, the lever won't center and strains the engine until you manually center the lever.

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions as to where to proceed next.

Thanks,
Dave

loulblades · May 11, 2008

I had the same problem with mine.

One issue I had was that I bent the lever when I mounted the tractor from the right side and it caught on my shorts and caused the lever to rub on the fender. I tried to bend it back but was never able to get it perfectly centered. I ended up putting a light spring on it.

Airic · May 11, 2008

I believe that this is just a linkage adjustment. Your hearing the engine strain because it is still trying to lift. I could be wrong and need to look again but, I thought that when three point arms went up to top position it pushes the control lever back to center. Near the rear arms there is a spring set adjustment. As rear arms go up the spring compresses and then pushes the control lever back to center. Follow your linkage from the control lever and you will see this spring and nuts that adjusts.

Airic · May 11, 2008

Also note your control lever should be able to move freely. If bent to where it does not, the spring push on this lever will not work correctly as loulblades issue.

ciderman · May 11, 2008

Airic said:
I believe that this is just a linkage adjustment. Your hearing the engine strain because it is still trying to lift. I could be wrong and need to look again but, I thought that when three point arms went up to top position it pushes the control lever back to center. Near the rear arms there is a spring set adjustment. As rear arms go up the spring compresses and then pushes the control lever back to center. Follow your linkage from the control lever and you will see this spring and nuts that adjusts.

Yes, this is the adjusting procedure that I tried from the manual. set the stay @ 189.2mm, the washer at 24.5mm, and the springs should compress to 42-43mm. I set everything to spec and let me tell ya fellas, it taint workin'. The lever itself moves very easily.

tx2310 · May 11, 2008

When I had that problem I just lubricated things and it helped me. But it sounds like you need to adjust the spring a little tighter to push the lever off.

Doug