3-Point Hitch Help Lift quit working

[John Franklin]

I just bought a MF 235, 2 weeks ago and it runs good. I was using the tiller for about ｽ hours with no problems then lift stopped working. It will not go up at all. Have the lift control up and the draft up all the way, still no lift. Took the tiller off and still won稚 lift. I checked the fluid level and it痴 full. I don稚 know where to start. Any help would be great. thanks, John

 

[MoDeer43]

check the PTO clutch. Friend just had a similar issue and had to have the clutch replaced.

 

[John Franklin]

check the PTO clutch. Friend just had a similar issue and had to have the clutch replaced.

question if the PTO shaft is working would not the PTO clutch work also? I know if I push the clutch all the way in I loose the lift pump so if the PTO turns would it not also drive the pump? I don't know how they are hooked together. Just a thought.
thanks, John

 

[MoDeer43]

John,
I just took my tractor in for end of season service, and I left my owners manual there for them to reference, so I can only go by memory about what I read.
I know on the right side, where the little dip stick is for the hydraulic fluid, is a slider that controls the "rate" that your 3 pt hitch raises and lowers.
I dont have the manual here, but is it possible that you have bumped that to the extreme where it wont lift ? Just guessing.
I know that the MF240 has a two stage clutch, where letting it up a little engaged the hyd pump, and then fully letting it out engauges the transmission.
Mybe the pump or the part of the clutch that engauges the pump is out ? That would let the PTO still operate, and the transmission, but not the pump.
I know when I have my tiller down, and I have the clutch depressed, if I try to raise the tiller with the 3 pt lift , I have to let the clutch out some to get the lift to raise. I will look and see if some of the paperwork I have up stairs my help.
Mark

 

[shona13]

G'day John Franklin.
Can i ask ,does the tractor have a selector valve under the seat,(front right hand side) usually it is a push pull arrangement with a knob on the end or a rotating lever with three positions, ie. rear ,straight up, and forward if it has try playing with the valve ,you may have knocked it when getting of/on the tractor .
The lever MoDeer43 has mentioned controls the rate at which the lift arms drop it does not control the rate of lift , the RESPONSE Lever it slides from slow to fast ,sometimes if the hydraulics have not been properly adjusted the response lever can if the SLOW position is selected STOP the hydraulics from going down simply move the lever towards FAST till you get the rate of drop you are happy with,it is a handy thing when you dont want the three point hitch to drop to fast and damage equipment so if you are as said using the tiller adjust the rate of drop till it goes down gently being mindfull that if you are using the DRAFT lever to control the depth ,if set to Slow the Tiller will be slow to respond .

If you are tilling land with different soil types and wet or dry I would suggest you use position control initially and say after two passes if you want to, use draft that will then work better it is just that the Draft control will not respond to different soil conditions and you will find that you are constantly messing with the Draft lever .
The more information you can give will make it easier to diagnose, like did you hit a tree root or a hidden rock anything that may have Shock loaded the linkage.
Happy Days.
Hutch.

 

[John Franklin]

Thanks Guys, I’ve played with the slow/ fast slide knob with no effect.

Yes, while I was tilling several pieces of wood did get stuck in the tines and made the slip clutch on the end of the PTO go to work and spin and smoke a little. Right after the last time it locked, I pulled the lift handle up real fast that’s when it stopped lifting but the PTO still turns after it was cleared but, the lift doesn’t work now. The lift is all the way down, it has no load on it, the draft is all the way up, slide knob set on fast, lift control all the way up, clutch pedal not pushed down, in neutral, engine running and the lift has no response at all. Tried moving the lift up down several times but not even a flinch out of it. Up that point the lift worked very well and was strong, it quit all at once.

I’ll look for a push pull knob tonight when I get home. I’ve only had this tractor for 2 weeks now so I don’t know where everything is yet, but working on it.
Please ask a many questions as you need.

thanks,
John Franklin

 

[John Franklin]

G'day John Franklin.
Can i ask ,does the tractor have a selector valve under the seat,(front right hand side) usually it is a push pull arrangement with a knob on the end or a rotating lever with three positions, ie. rear ,straight up, and forward if it has try playing with the valve ,you may have knocked it when getting of/on the tractor .
The lever MoDeer43 has mentioned controls the rate at which the lift arms drop it does not control the rate of lift , the RESPONSE Lever it slides from slow to fast ,sometimes if the hydraulics have not been properly adjusted the response lever can if the SLOW position is selected STOP the hydraulics from going down simply move the lever towards FAST till you get the rate of drop you are happy with,it is a handy thing when you dont want the three point hitch to drop to fast and damage equipment so if you are as said using the tiller adjust the rate of drop till it goes down gently being mindfull that if you are using the DRAFT lever to control the depth ,if set to Slow the Tiller will be slow to respond .

If you are tilling land with different soil types and wet or dry I would suggest you use position control initially and say after two passes if you want to, use draft that will then work better it is just that the Draft control will not respond to different soil conditions and you will find that you are constantly messing with the Draft lever .
The more information you can give will make it easier to diagnose, like did you hit a tree root or a hidden rock anything that may have Shock loaded the linkage.
Happy Days.
Hutch.

Hutch,
Yes, while I was tilling several pieces of wood did get stuck in the tines and made the slip clutch on the end of the PTO go to work and spin and smoke a little. Right after the last time it locked, I pulled the lift handle up real fast that’s when it stopped lifting but the PTO still turns after it was cleared but, the lift doesn’t work now. The lift is all the way down, it has no load on it, the draft is all the way up, slide knob set on fast, lift control all the way up, clutch pedal not pushed down, in neutral, engine running and the lift has no response at all. Tried moving the lift up down several times but not even a flinch out of it. Up that point the lift worked very well and was strong, it quit all at once.

I’ll look for a push pull knob tonight when I get home. I’ve only had this tractor for 2 weeks now so I don’t know where everything is yet, but working on it.
Please ask a many questions as you need.

thanks,
John Franklin

 

[namyessam]

On my 135, I have a dual handle hydraulic control valve with two handles mounted on the top lift cover just in front of the seat. The left handle has to be pulled and held toward the seat to operate the three point system. The right hand lever controls the hydraulic hookups on the right rear of the tractor. I'm not sure a 235 is the same but I think this is what Hutch is describing. I have never understood why it is built this way but if the lever is in the middle position the three point wil not operate.

 

[PBettis]

Was just scrolling and thought my info might help. Few years ago my dad's 135 had the same symptom. Not sure about similarity between models but on his a cam action type piece under seat and inside the machine connected to hitch raise/lower control lever and draft lever had over jumped it's place. I studied the pic of same assembly in the manual and compared to what i was seeing and it was obvious the lever had been jerked up quickly causing the piece to overshoot and bind up rendering 3 pt. Hitch useless. The lever could still be moved but hitch would not raise/lower. Hope this info helps. It sure fixed our issue. Not sure how it jumped out of place or overshot it's limits but it did. Seems like this is what you're describing.

 

[John Franklin]

Howdy Hutch,

It’s been a while:
This is what happened the 4 bolts snapped and dropped down and the roller is missing. I had a machine shop remove the bolts and put in new ones he seen where someone worked on it before and had striped 2 of them out he retapped it deeper on all 4 and put in longer bolts. He thinks some other parts are missing but has never worked on tractor he usually works on big heavy equipment.
What do you think caused the bolts to snap? I know I was using a tiller when it happened. And it may have already had some broke. Normally do these bolts break?

Thanks for your help,
John Franklin

 

[John Franklin]

How is the up down lever control the pump as far as the linkage? He doesn’t see that anything connecter to the up down lever going down to the roller (that is missing) I can’t find any pictures of how this connects to the pump. The manual talks about adjusting the diaphragm but it’s not there and the valve pressure control is not there either. He put it together and the arms went up to the top and stay there is whatever touches the roller pin control the up down? What does the up down and draft control lever connect to inside because there is nothing there? It looks like the person I bought the tractor from rigged it up to work for a while to sell I don’t know. Any help is greatly appreciated, much thanks in advanced.

Thanks,
John Franklin

 

[shona13]

G'day John franklin .
The four bolts I think you mean the four bolts that secure the lift cylinder to the lift cover ,These studs are known to snap or break under certain conditions like as said shock loading and yes they could have been Injured in the past ,before you bought the tractor.
Do you have the lift cover of! if so take a bunch of photographs and let me have a look at what you have ,I am sure we can fix this fairly easily .
Regards.
Hutch .All the very best to all in the New Year.

 

[jefftagert]

Pbettis can you tell me how you fixed the control lever?

 

[PBettis]

Jefftagert, it's been a long time since I repaired the hitch/draft lever on dad's MF 135 but best I remember one day it quit activating the lower lift arms of the 3pt hitch. The lever would move full range of motion but nothing happened. As if some linkage came loose inside. We pulled the seat off and then removed the entire top section which included the lever and 2 upper lift arms. I studied the manual and from a picture I noticed the cam shaped piece that the lever uses to move against was out of place as if it jumped track or something. Maybe someone jerked up on the lever too quick/hard and it jumped off track. Can't remember but I just knew it was out of place according to the picture. I somehow forced it back in place and never could understand how it happened and I couldn't re-create the action that caused it in the first place. I also couldn't see anything that may have hit it and forced it out of place. I just know it fixed it and it never happened again. My advice is to tear into it and study a good manual and compare what you see. It'll probably be obvious what's wrong when you get the top section off and upside down. Good luck. Sorry I couldn't be more discriptive. I do know when the lifts on these type tractors quit working or the lifting action slows way down, it's usually because the hydraulic filters and internal screen is clogged. I have had to remove some gear clusters and components (Ford 3000) to get to the steel internal hydro screen down in the sump. But after it was cleaned the lift worked like a champ! Before it was cleaned the lift would move at a snails pace! Good luck!