BayouMan
Silver Member
OK folks, I have been meaning to present my problem here for several months, but I kept thinking , we got it fixed this time.
Bear with me as I give you the background info.
I have a 1978 JD-2640 tractor. I have owned this tractor for about 16 years now and I love the tractor! I've had my share of repairs to get it back in great shape. All of my repairs over the years, have been done by the same local shop. Got to be friends with the owner and told him I was thinking of adding a loader to my tractor. Several months went by and he gives me a call and says he has a used loader at his shop that will fit on my tractor. I decided to go ahead with the install. The loader is a Bush Hog brand and was on another John Deere tractor. That tractor had supposedly been vandalized. Someone poured Round-Up into the hydraulics and it turned his fluid into a jello like mix, almost like a grease.
Needless to say, this concoction was in the loader system as well. The left curl cylinder rod was bent by the previous owner and the shop was taking care of getting that fixed. I was helping with the install to save on labor costs, so I went to pick the cylinder up from the repair shop. They were just starting the repair and the tech came into the office with one of the 90 degree fittings from the cylinder. He showed his boss and me that there was this yellowish grease looking substance plugging the fitting. It came out easily.
Getting bored yet? Told you to bear with me.
Got the loader installed and was excited about my new toy! Then I started with the issues!
From day one, whenever I would get a full bucket of dirt, I noticed that the curl seemed weak. Even more frustrating, after I would raise the bucket up to dump height and begin to dump, the bucket would go about 2/3 of the dump cycle and then all of a sudden stop dumping. This is with me holding the lever in the dump position. (By the way, I have a 3 lever bank, bought new. the third lever is for a future grapple.) I then have to jiggle the lever back and forth and it will finally finish the dump cycle.
Took the tractor back to the shop. I just drove the tractor there since the shop is only about 4 miles up the road. Had my pallet forks on, running in 8th gear, and got to wondering where the tips of my forks were. Pulled back on the lever and to my astonishment, the tips came back into view! I had been into enjoying the scenery and not watching or expecting the forks to leak down. The tips had to be within inches of the pavement! I shudder to think what would have happened if those tips had caught the pavement!
The shop had the other curl cyl repaired. Still had leakdown issues. He then had a brain f**t and had a machine shop make him two new pistons. He had them cut an additional groove to accept another packing ring. Sounded good to me.
I just recently had the 2 lift cylinders redone, since they started leaking badly. Those still work fine.
I still, after nearly 1 1/2 years, still have the original 2 issues described above. Got the shop guy over the other day and had him witness me getting about 4 full buckets of dirt. Same issue of not completing the dump cycle.
Here is where I am beginning to question his hydraulic knowledge. He said that since this is an Ag tractor and not a commercial machine, that when I am dumping, the weight of the dirt is forcing hyd fluid out of the cylinders quicker than my system can catch up. I just sat there and said really!
This is where you guys come in. I have had the obvious things fixed or worked on. My hydraulic pump has been repaired. I think he even raised the pressure setting on my bypass valve. The stroker valve had to be replaced.
My thoughts about the leak down and weak curl function make me want to look at the valve. I'm thinking maybe some of the grease looking stuff has gotten up to the valve and is affecting the flow. I think some of this stuff may have damaged an o-ring or something and is the reason that I have the leak down issue. No visible leaks anywhere.
Sorry for the long story, but I wanted to give as much information as possible.
Any solutions, short of buying a new loader are welcome.
Thanks for your help.
Mike
Bear with me as I give you the background info.
I have a 1978 JD-2640 tractor. I have owned this tractor for about 16 years now and I love the tractor! I've had my share of repairs to get it back in great shape. All of my repairs over the years, have been done by the same local shop. Got to be friends with the owner and told him I was thinking of adding a loader to my tractor. Several months went by and he gives me a call and says he has a used loader at his shop that will fit on my tractor. I decided to go ahead with the install. The loader is a Bush Hog brand and was on another John Deere tractor. That tractor had supposedly been vandalized. Someone poured Round-Up into the hydraulics and it turned his fluid into a jello like mix, almost like a grease.
Needless to say, this concoction was in the loader system as well. The left curl cylinder rod was bent by the previous owner and the shop was taking care of getting that fixed. I was helping with the install to save on labor costs, so I went to pick the cylinder up from the repair shop. They were just starting the repair and the tech came into the office with one of the 90 degree fittings from the cylinder. He showed his boss and me that there was this yellowish grease looking substance plugging the fitting. It came out easily.
Getting bored yet? Told you to bear with me.
Got the loader installed and was excited about my new toy! Then I started with the issues!
From day one, whenever I would get a full bucket of dirt, I noticed that the curl seemed weak. Even more frustrating, after I would raise the bucket up to dump height and begin to dump, the bucket would go about 2/3 of the dump cycle and then all of a sudden stop dumping. This is with me holding the lever in the dump position. (By the way, I have a 3 lever bank, bought new. the third lever is for a future grapple.) I then have to jiggle the lever back and forth and it will finally finish the dump cycle.
Took the tractor back to the shop. I just drove the tractor there since the shop is only about 4 miles up the road. Had my pallet forks on, running in 8th gear, and got to wondering where the tips of my forks were. Pulled back on the lever and to my astonishment, the tips came back into view! I had been into enjoying the scenery and not watching or expecting the forks to leak down. The tips had to be within inches of the pavement! I shudder to think what would have happened if those tips had caught the pavement!
The shop had the other curl cyl repaired. Still had leakdown issues. He then had a brain f**t and had a machine shop make him two new pistons. He had them cut an additional groove to accept another packing ring. Sounded good to me.
I just recently had the 2 lift cylinders redone, since they started leaking badly. Those still work fine.
I still, after nearly 1 1/2 years, still have the original 2 issues described above. Got the shop guy over the other day and had him witness me getting about 4 full buckets of dirt. Same issue of not completing the dump cycle.
Here is where I am beginning to question his hydraulic knowledge. He said that since this is an Ag tractor and not a commercial machine, that when I am dumping, the weight of the dirt is forcing hyd fluid out of the cylinders quicker than my system can catch up. I just sat there and said really!
This is where you guys come in. I have had the obvious things fixed or worked on. My hydraulic pump has been repaired. I think he even raised the pressure setting on my bypass valve. The stroker valve had to be replaced.
My thoughts about the leak down and weak curl function make me want to look at the valve. I'm thinking maybe some of the grease looking stuff has gotten up to the valve and is affecting the flow. I think some of this stuff may have damaged an o-ring or something and is the reason that I have the leak down issue. No visible leaks anywhere.
Sorry for the long story, but I wanted to give as much information as possible.
Any solutions, short of buying a new loader are welcome.
Thanks for your help.
Mike
