Help! NH 3 point won't go down

Soundguy · Aug 28, 2008

Check the oil canister.. if it meets the M2C134D.. I'd use it. Right now I'm using walmart supertech oil in my larger fords.. been fine for a few years now.

soundguy

tallyho8 · Sep 9, 2008

Drat! After using it a couple of times the 3 point hitch went up again and won't come back down. I repeated all the procedures I did the first time with no positive results plus I changed the oil and filter.

It looks like I am going to have to remove the lift cover assembly and start looking for the defect. In my manual it looks like most parts and valves are fairly easy to check except for the unloading valve which requires special tools for removal. I wonder if there is any way to see if the problem is in the unloading valve without removing it. Or if there is a way to backflush the valve in case it has some gunk in it.

Does anyone have a Ford manual that lists reasons why a hitch might not come down? Mine only lists reasons why it might not go up.

JC-jetro · Sep 10, 2008

tallyho8 said:
Drat! After using it a couple of times the 3 point hitch went up again and won't come back down. I repeated all the procedures I did the first time with no positive results plus I changed the oil and filter.

It looks like I am going to have to remove the lift cover assembly and start looking for the defect. In my manual it looks like most parts and valves are fairly easy to check except for the unloading valve which requires special tools for removal. I wonder if there is any way to see if the problem is in the unloading valve without removing it. Or if there is a way to backflush the valve in case it has some gunk in it.

Does anyone have a Ford manual that lists reasons why a hitch might not come down? Mine only lists reasons why it might not go up.

Hey Dudley,

Sorry to see you back in a pickle again

unfortunately I don't have shop manual for your tractor. The scaned pages that you sent me does not cover details well, I'll go ahead and read them again.. may be I can see something that I missed. After all the stuff yo have done it looks more and more that unloading valve may be the culprit. From the pics you sent me it does not appear that taking the top cover is difficult and at the least you'll need a come along and a tout tree branch or better an engine hoist to lift it. It'll be heavy and a finger pincher

if you don't have a right setup.

JC,

tallyho8 · Sep 10, 2008

I wish I had put this thread under New Holland or under Hydraulics and maybe I could get more responses.

Hi JC,
I just removed the lift cover using my Yanmar fel. Removing the cover was pretty easy. The worst problem I see so far is that it is too clean. This makes me suspect that it was removed and worked on recently before I bought the tractor. I would have preferred it to be dirty and full of gunk so I could at least know that everything was in factory installed condition.

I just came in to eat lunch after having a quick look inside so I am typing this up while my hands are clean before I take anymore apart. After studying up on it as much as possible I suspect the control valve or the unloading valve as Soundguy suggested. The control valve appears to close by gravity only and not by direct linkage and I have to inspect that more to see if it could be sticking open. Most likely it is the unloading valve and this is the most difficult one to get to and check. I do not have the recommended slide hammer and adaptor to remove the end plugs and do not know if I can rig a wheel puller to do this task.

I was hoping I could get by with just cleaning something and not needing to buy parts which will probably take some time to get and I want to get my tractor back together before it storms tomorrow.

As I said before it is very clean inside so it may not be something stuck with crud but I do not believe that any part is broken since it works sometimes and stops working other times as if something was sticking.

I'm going back to work on it now.........

tallyho8 · Sep 10, 2008

It's fixed.

My control valve was sticking open. The spring could not even push it closed. I removed the spool from the bushing and rubbed the tight part with some 1500 grit sandpaper and cleaned out the bushing well, oiled it up and put the spool back in. It has just the right amount of drag now that I am sure it will work correctly and it slides open and closed very easily.

Since I had never worked on hydraulics before I was very leery about taking it apart even though my manual had basic instructions. But I found that the hydraulics in this tractor are pretty basic and anyone with a little mechanical aptitude can figure most of it out. Now I feel like I know a lot more about hydraulics and maybe I can even give someone some pointers in the future. If JC hadn't given me the incentive to start on it I probably would have spent a fortune at the shop getting it repaired.

Other than oil and a filter and some permatex I didn't have to buy any parts but I did get some clothes pretty greasy.

Now maybe I can cut the weeds in my back pasture and see if the bermuda has time to grow back before the first cold front hits.

JC-jetro · Sep 10, 2008

tallyho8 said:
It's fixed. My control valve was stickilng open. The spring could not even push it closed. I removed the spool from the bushing and rubbed the tight part with some 1500 grit sandpaper and cleaned out the bushing well, oiled it up and put the spool back in. It has just the right amount of drag now that I am sure it will work correctly and it slides open and closed very easily.

Since I had never worked on hydraulics before I was very leery about taking it apart even though my manual had basic instructions. But I found that the hydraulics in this tractor are pretty basic and anyone with a little mechanical aptitude can figure most of it out. Now I feel like I know a lot more about hydraulics and maybe I can even give someone some pointers in the future. If JC hadn't given me the incentive to start on it I probably would have spent a fortune at the shop getting it repaired.

Other than oil and a filter and some permatex I didn't have to buy any parts but I did get some clothes pretty greasy.

Now maybe I can cut the weeds in my back pasture and see if the bermuda has time to grow back before the first cold front hits.

Dudley,

That's great .. good news... I was kind of upset that original effort did not come to full fruition. No matter still all good effort. you just got to break it down to smaller components to analyze and fix. As they say, it's better to learn how to fish rather than getting a fish, I just turned the saying a bit to match the situation

I was planning to read your diagrams tonight for bed time reading but you beat me to it.

JC,

tallyho8 · Sep 10, 2008

One of the things I was happiest about was that I did not drain my 12 gallons of hydraulic fluid. There is no way I could drain it and keep it clean enough to reuse and it was brand new.

To remove the parts I removed, my manual says step 1: drain oil. I couldn't figure out why I should drain the oil as I was taking the top off the rear hydraulics and the oil level is a foot below where I was working. Glad I didn't follow that part of the instructions.