.....pull cable... The bucket itself does not have any hydraulics on it. To actually dump the bucket, you have to pull a cable that connects to a mechanical catch with a lever that opens the catch. If you are lucky you can pull on another cable that is attached to the bucket itself and snap it back into the catch while it swings/rocks back and forth empty....if not, you have to lower the bucket/loader to the ground to snap it back in place ...or get off the tractor and do it by hand... so, this is the primary incentive to get the darn thing to lower quicker than it does.... about as basic of a loader as you can get...absolutely no markings on it any were except for the controller being a Gresen 550 and possible made 8/12/68....do not think it is factory, but has lasted some 45 years and appears to have taken some serious abuse.
Gresen 550
- Thread starter VAFarmer6
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Hopefully the previous reply answers the question as to why I would like it to go down faster..... The I put the QD on about a year or so ago, when I blew a hose fitting at the bottom of the left cylinder....had to cut old hose off as it had no swivel in the hose line, which I found interesting...not sure how they got the hose on originally. Have since taken the QD out and put in a swivel as my friend why thinks it need to be replumbed with a T fitting thought that might be slowing it down...seems a bit faster maybe, but still seems to take forever to lower to the ground without turning tractor off. Appreciate the history on Gresen...found it curious that I had a Gresen 550 valve on my Oliver 550... They made a bunch of Oliver 550's, so maybe Gresen made this valve for whoever made these loaders???? As I said, the loader lifts what I consider huge loads quickly and perfectly balanced...absolutely no twisting or binding anywhere...so I am hesitant to change plumbing around...would seem introducing a T fitting would add some restrictions to the current flow pattern.
oldnslo
Super Member
VA,
without physically looking at your loader and valve I am 99% sure it is plumbed correctly or it wouldn't work at all. What there may be is some form of restriction in tank line on your valve limiting down speed. With your tractor running your valve is directing the pump flow and return flow from the loader cylinders to tank. With the engine off there is no pump flow and the loader could drop quicker. Since this loader is gravity down a slight restriction could affect your speed. I.e. spool travel limited from junk build up in centering spring retainer, piece of trash stuck in fitting, old return hose delaminating and the inner tube is blocking the oil flow, etc.
Do you have any way of installing a gauge in one of the loader lift circuits. Be curious to see what the lowering pressure is.
Does the rate of drop change with a loaded bucket Vs empty?
I put a lot of hours on a similar style loader on a "B" John Deere and hated the cable dump when loading soupy manure. It seemed like there was always a splash back when dumping the darn things..
J_J
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VAFarmer6 has not answered the question, what is connected to the QD hose.
He said there is no tee, so how are both cyl lifting?
If someone is using a DA valve with a set of SA cyl, both cyl are connected to a tee and connect to the B work port, and the A work port is either sent to tank or plugged.
The A work port is usually close to the handle.
Is the A work flow going to tank.
How about some pictures of the hoses connected to the lift arms.
Are the two lifting cyl connected together?
He said there is no tee, so how are both cyl lifting?
If someone is using a DA valve with a set of SA cyl, both cyl are connected to a tee and connect to the B work port, and the A work port is either sent to tank or plugged.
The A work port is usually close to the handle.
Is the A work flow going to tank.
How about some pictures of the hoses connected to the lift arms.
Are the two lifting cyl connected together?
There is absolutely no doubt that the more weight in the bucket; the faster the loader drops......
The Oliver 550's concept of power steering is all the power you have...so by the time you get done driving it around with a full bucket and then pull the cables to dump and reset the bucket, you get a full upper body workout....fortunately no longer dealing with feeder lots and all that "splash back" that I did when growing up on the farm... should probably just part it out, but grew up on one of these things and working with and on it brings back a lot of good memories. Found/bought it in 1999 and except for this loader thing and the power steering, the rest of it (engine,transmission, PTO, 3 Point Hitch, etc.,) make it a great/powerful little tractor.
I am thinking that the rubber fittings may have degenerated and perhaps the springs have rusted enough over the years and there is too much junk in the end of the port to allow the valve to open up far enough to shut off all pressure and allow the oil to drain back to the sump... would make sense why it works so well going up and drops so nicely with the tractor off... just hate to tear into something like this not having any idea what I am going to find without a diagram...or anyway to order a rebuild kit for a Geson 550 that no one seems to have ever heard of......
The Oliver 550's concept of power steering is all the power you have...so by the time you get done driving it around with a full bucket and then pull the cables to dump and reset the bucket, you get a full upper body workout....fortunately no longer dealing with feeder lots and all that "splash back" that I did when growing up on the farm... should probably just part it out, but grew up on one of these things and working with and on it brings back a lot of good memories. Found/bought it in 1999 and except for this loader thing and the power steering, the rest of it (engine,transmission, PTO, 3 Point Hitch, etc.,) make it a great/powerful little tractor.
I am thinking that the rubber fittings may have degenerated and perhaps the springs have rusted enough over the years and there is too much junk in the end of the port to allow the valve to open up far enough to shut off all pressure and allow the oil to drain back to the sump... would make sense why it works so well going up and drops so nicely with the tractor off... just hate to tear into something like this not having any idea what I am going to find without a diagram...or anyway to order a rebuild kit for a Geson 550 that no one seems to have ever heard of......
J_J
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Can you answer some of our questions so we can help you figure this out?
With the engine running, and the valve in neutral, the flow is passing through the valve to the return hose and to tank.
When you lower the lift arms, with engine running, the flow from the cyl is mixing with the pump flow and flows to tank.
If the loader is raised, and engine off, and you then lower the lift arms, you only have the fluid flowing from the cyl flowing to the tank. Less restriction.
With the engine running, and the valve in neutral, the flow is passing through the valve to the return hose and to tank.
When you lower the lift arms, with engine running, the flow from the cyl is mixing with the pump flow and flows to tank.
If the loader is raised, and engine off, and you then lower the lift arms, you only have the fluid flowing from the cyl flowing to the tank. Less restriction.
Thread is getting too long to keep track.... I have since taken of the QD and replaced it with a swivel...didn't speed things up preceivably. The QD was on the hose that led to the bottom of the left loader cylinder...the other hose coming out of the top leads to the bottom of the right loader cylinder. It lifts fine and what I think is quickly with no binding/twisting, etc.... One of the bottom hoses goes into a port labeled IN and the other bottom hose is connected to a port labeled OUT. Both of those hoses go to what appears to be the tractor's hydraulic sump. The two lifting cylinders have one hose connected to the bottom of each cylinder. The other end of the left cylinder's hose is attached to the top port closest to the controller's handle and the other end of the right cylinder is connected to the top port furthest from the controller's handle, The cylinders are not cross connected in any way other than the hose from them lead to the same controller.
In looking at all the feed back, is it possible that this Gresen 550 was specfically designed for a loader on an Oliver 550 and is some sort of hybred cross between a DA/SA controller. Would love to order a rebuild kit..hopefully that had some sort of schematic/diagram and rebuild it. Reading the comments, am starting to suspect it has 45 years of junk in there that is keeping the piston from sliding far enough to shut off all the pump's pressure and slowing the gravity feed down to a trickle...would that be a possibility???
In looking at all the feed back, is it possible that this Gresen 550 was specfically designed for a loader on an Oliver 550 and is some sort of hybred cross between a DA/SA controller. Would love to order a rebuild kit..hopefully that had some sort of schematic/diagram and rebuild it. Reading the comments, am starting to suspect it has 45 years of junk in there that is keeping the piston from sliding far enough to shut off all the pump's pressure and slowing the gravity feed down to a trickle...would that be a possibility???
J_J
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What would happen to a cyl that was connected to tank and the one SA cyl was forced to extend the lift arms by the other cyl.
It might not twist at all as there is flow to fill the other cyl by drawing from the tank.
That is a DA valve and I have never heard of connecting a SA cyl to A work port and the other cyl to the B work port.
That is not how it is done.
Why not remove both hoses from the cyl and place in a bucket and verify that when the lever is pushed one way, there is flow from one port, and when the lever is pushed the other way, there is flow from the other port.
That will verify whether it is a DA valve.
If there is flow from both work ports at the same time, I will have to relearn some things.
It might not twist at all as there is flow to fill the other cyl by drawing from the tank.
That is a DA valve and I have never heard of connecting a SA cyl to A work port and the other cyl to the B work port.
That is not how it is done.
Why not remove both hoses from the cyl and place in a bucket and verify that when the lever is pushed one way, there is flow from one port, and when the lever is pushed the other way, there is flow from the other port.
That will verify whether it is a DA valve.
If there is flow from both work ports at the same time, I will have to relearn some things.
oldnslo
Super Member
VA,
Which way do you move the lever to raise? Pull it towards you or push it towards the fender?
Which way do you move the lever to raise? Pull it towards you or push it towards the fender?
oldnslo
Super Member
JJ,
Think about this for a minute. If this is a double acting valve then when I pull the lever port "A" would be to pressure and port "B" would connect to tank and the loader would try and lift with one cylinder. Push on the lever and now port "B" would connect to pressure and port "A" would connect to tank and now the other cylinder would be trying to raise the loader.
I suspect this is an old custom built valve for single acting loaders or it would not work at all. Since Gresen was purchased by Parker many years ago getting any technical support will be difficult.