Hydraulic issues

[BamaBranson]

Good morning everyone, I have an 08' 2400 and i'm having some issue with my hydraulics. I was discing this past weekend for about 4 hours and I noticed after running for a while my hydraulics got pretty weak. At WOT it would barely lift my bucket or my set of discs on the back. Once I got it back home to unload it after it cooled down It had no issues lifting the bucket or the 3 point. I just changed the hydraulic fluid so I know that's not it. Could it be the pump is getting worn? The machine has 664 hours on it.

Thanks for any help!

 

[AWSubie]

Did u happen to look inside the fill port to see if the fluid was getting frothy ( indicating that air was getting into the system)?

 

[BamaBranson]

I did not, I didnt even think of that honestly. I know the previous owner didnt take care of it at all. The filter i pulled off had a date of 2-12-14 and 440 hours and the fluid that came out was pretty milky.

 

[Texasmark]

Bama in your "handle" says you are a Crimson Tide guy so that leaves out cold weather as a concern. Faded paint may elude to having left the tractor outside. As young as it is, one would think that the boots did their job of keeping water out of the oil sumps. So condensation would have to be the source. Since it had so few hours it must have sat a lot. Sitting, water and oil separate back to oil floating, so water would be on the bottom of the sump and nothing is in the bottom of the sump to speak of that would rust. Hydraulic pumps last for 10k hours in some tractors. I did purchase an '88 model Ford with 900 hrs a couple of years ago and the paint was off the hyd. pump (side casting plug in location) indicating (assumption) that it had been changed, Texas tractor. Too much sitting? My 2400 and that Ford have hydraulic filters. I'd think that would go a long way in protecting the hyd pump. I have been farming 42 years and never had one go out on any color tractor nor knew of anybody having one go out.

What color is your new fluid? Still clear?
Did you burp your hydraulics after changing the fluid....cycling full up to full down, steering lock to lock, couple dozen times?
Get a 0-5000# oil filled gauge....$20 give or take and find a place to plug it in. Probably a ⅛-ｼ" NPT plug around somewhere.....like the factory folks would use for testing. Maybe on the manifold to the loader. Maybe on the remote manifold.

I guess hyd hoses are ⅜ NPT ends....may not be on Branson. Ask on here and somebody will know......get a union/adapters...male and female, and tee for plugging in the gauge and insert in one of your hyd lines and check pressures.

Maybe you used the wrong viscosity/type oil when you changed and it doesn't have adequate viscosity to hold up under higher temperatures.

Just some brainstorming. HTH.

 

[country101]

Ok, I just made a post about this on another thread about diminishing brakes...

What hydraulic fluid did you use?

While researching for a fluid change on my John Deere, I found out that hydraulic fluids have no standards. The manufacturer may put "Recommended for xxx" but that says nothing about what the oil is and is only marketing. I bought the John Deere fluid because it has the brakes submerged, works the loader, and runs the transmission, everything. With this, it needs to be able to handle the shear stress, have certain friction modifiers, antifoaming agents, etc. I have heard people's loaders squealing before when they get hot and this is typically because they used the cheap fluid. It thins out at temperature and doesnt perform the same. On the name brand stuff, you are paying for a better base oil and all the additives that give it the properties that you need.

 

[oldnslo]

Bama
Did you also change the filter when you changed oil? If yes did you get an OEM filter? Reason for asking is that the filter is on the inlet to the pump and some aftermarket filters restrict the flow and starve the pump.

Another thing to check is the 3 point lift lever. My 2400H will occasionally not completely shift the lift valve back to center and this causes the pressure to stay higher which heats the oil. Thin oil could cause the sluggish movements. This is a very occasional occurrence but does happen on mine.

 

[BamaBranson]

Texasmark, the tractor definitely spent some time outside in the weather, i haven't inspected the new fluid to see if its still clear so ill do that when i get home. I was thinking that i need to get a gauge and check the system out.

 

[BamaBranson]

Country101, i used travelers universal fluid from TSC. i was told to use that by a lot of branson guys that i spoke to. Unfortunately i dont have a dealer anywhere close to me.

 

[BamaBranson]

oldnslo i did not change the filter, it has an oem on it now, i ordered one but it hasnt come yet and i needed to change the fluid before i had that job this past weekend, i read alot about the problems using other filters burning up the pump and i didn't want to risk it.

 

[FastEddieR]

The main thing about hydraulic fluid and Branson tractors - it's been mentioned several times in earlier posts - DO NOT use 303 hydraulic fluid...it is not compatible with newer equipment - has not been recommended since the mid 1970's.