John Deere Boom Flail mower Model 90. Hydraulics OEM Supplier question.

[Trevj]

I bought a pretty rough JD 90 Boom Flail a while back. It has been Project 42 or so since.

Parts support for this rig is non existent from John Deere, other than the online parts manual being available.

My problem, is that I have one broken spool in one of the hydraulic valves. This unit was stored outside for several years, and the process of freeing things up and removing the seized push-pull cables, resulted in a visit from the FUBAR Fairy. Ouch!

Not a useful mark on the hydraulic valve to be able to ID the Original supplier. The Flex cables are Morse-Teleflex and are common enough. But finding a valve that will fit into the position has been...unsuccessful.
This unit was only sold by JD for a couple years, carries a Made In England sticker, so I am unsure if it was made in a JD Plant there or was bought in with a coat of green paint added to it.
In any case, I am curious to know if anyone out there has used one of these, and what they have been doing for parts.

Anyone out there with one in the dead equipment row that will part out a valve? Or anyone that has grafted in a different one? Pretty certain from memory, that the valve is the one for the side swing or pivot action, of the mower head.

I figure I have enough parts here to be able to say I am happy with the price I paid, but it sure would be handy for cleaning up along the roads around the pond.

Cheers
Trev

 

[leonz]

Hello and good morning Trevor,

No worries, its an easy fix, I want to welcome you as the newest Canadian Member of the "Flail Mower Nations".

Belated Happy Canada Day greetings to you from the lower 48. I love Ben Guyatt by the way, he is a laugh riot every Sunday night for sure.

If you want to save the BSP fittings and piping its easy to do and the complete valve assembly s can be purchased from a hydraulic repair shop.

NOW please understand that there is no and I mean rebuilding/honing of these control valves to accept new spools etc. its an over the shoulder item that goes in the scrap bin.

The complete valve assembly should have an ID plate that is riveted to either the inlet port for the control valve or the return line to the tank.

The valve is a simple open center control valve bank and easily replaced with a new one with the 7 sections that include the inlet section, the relief valve cartridge section, the five control valves and the return to tank port section so its not a big fight to deal with.

You have to decide where you want to buy the valve that is the major issue for you and purchasing replacement BSP blue dot o-rings as well as the o ring seal for the pressure/inlet port.


I would contact Montage enterprises and ask about purchasing a replacement control valve for your mower with BSP fitting ports.

Once you have the new valve in hand you will be able to mount it with little to no modification and the BSP fittings allow easier installation of the hoses from the cylinders and the hydraulic motor used for the flail mower rotor.

 

[Trevj]

Yeah, I went to the better of the local Hydraulic shops, some folks I have dealt with a bit in the past, and they were unable to even make a good guess as to the source for the valve I have.

I was looking, if possible, to avoid having to replace the entire valve stack with new. This is a hobby thing, not a money maker, and I would like to do as little spending as I have to, if you know what I mean.

Either I track down someone that has a valve stack they pulled of a stripped wrecker unit, or I figure a way to graft in a single spool valve and play that way.

My JD Dealer has been pretty much unable to find any info about the mower other than the stuff I have ready access to, the parts manual online info. While that is nice and all, it doesn't solve my particular problem.

BSP, you say? I was under the impression that the fittings were supposed to be Metric. Well. Must measure and confirm, I suppose.

Hmmm....should take a look and see if making an adapter to fit a mismatched stackable valve body into the stack would be an option...

Cheers
Trev

 

[leonz]

Hello Trevor,


It may just be simpler to call surplus center and order a valve stack with relief cartridge from them insert(choke, wheeze, cough, gurgle) and bypass the need to invest in a valve stack to BSP mating surfaces.


Please understand that you have JIC Joint Industrial Council 37 degree fittings on the hose ends and you will need new hose fittings for the SAE valves that do not have BSP mating surfaces.

SO all in all you would be better off purchasing a simple valve stack with a relief cartridge in the stack with inlet and outlet ports identical to the ones on the valve stack and the corresponding fittings for each valve identical to the fittings on the valve stack.

Ideally what you want are short ninety degree fittings and very tall ninety degree fittings to allow you to avoid having problems connecting the hoses and replacing them as needed. there is no skimping when it comes to these things Trevor.

The side slicer knives are a common knife and available from flailmaster, montage enterprises, clean cutter, hard hitter and other suppliers of flail mower parts

From memory you have either no. 12 or 16 2 wire braid hydraulic hoses for the inlet and outlet ports on the valve stack.

I would call Commercial Intertek to see who is the local representative in B.C. and take the old stack there and they could build a stack for you as you wait.

If you buy an old stack from a vehicle scrapper you will not know if it works and you still have to by 5 pairs of hydraulic fittings for it so going to a commercial intertek reseller is the better option for you.