Loader L2950 FEL TOO QUICK

[Jeff Lary]

Hi all I have a 1995 L2950 with fel. The problem is that (I think anyway) the fel lever is long and gives you a lot of leverage too much to be delicate. I should say also I am very proficient with equipment i.e. loaders, backhoes ect.
The lever is about 16" bty. The loader bucket will move up / down very fast if you are not very careful with it. In front of my seat down between your heels there is a adjustment wheel that says slow / fast. This wheel was stuck and I freed it up. The use of it though is not covered in the manual very well as I remember. I asked my dealer what its purpose is ... the way he explained it to me it is used for the 3 pt hitch. He said it closes or opens a passage to allow hydraulic fluid to move fast or slow thus the implement will move up or down faster or slower If I recall correctly.
For some reason I want to say he also told me to never close it completely because when using the land plow it may not back feed fast enough and not rise up over a ledge outcrop of rock or something and break something nasty inside the housing. I admit I may have misunderstood him too so there's that. I am wondering if it would or should also affect the loader movement ? Thanks Jeff

 

[s219]

The 3-pt rate valve won't have any effect on the front loader.

And I think you definitely don't want to shorten the loader stick either -- think about how it would work -- the farther you are from the pivot point, the larger motions are required. Let's say the stick has a range of +/- 10 degrees. At 2" from the pivot that is +/- 0.35". It would be awful hard to control your hand motions to work within that small of a range with a stick that short -- you'd peg it with just a jiggle. But lets say the stick ls 16" long -- at the end of the stick, the range of motion is +/- 2.8". That gives you a lot more range to work with for adjustment.

Yes, you get more leverage at the end of a longer stick, but leverage (=advantage over the effort required) doesn't open the valves -- displacement or raw movement does.

What you might want to consider is seeing if the loader valve would benefit from new springs. It's possible on a 20 year old tractor that maybe the springs have gotten weak, and don't provide enough resistance.

Good luck!

 

[rbargeron]

Has it always been too fast? Or is there a new job that the loader's up-down is too fast for? Is the curl ok? Have any of the hoses been recently replaced with bigger ones?

Hose size can have a lot of effect. An easy experiment for slowing hydraulic flow is to install a section of smaller hose after the valve as a partial restriction. Even 3 feet of smaller hose will make a difference. My chute turner moved too fast with 3/8" hoses - but with 1/4" it's more controllable. The pump works a little harder but not enough to cause a heat issue.

 

[TomSeller]

When I think my 50 series Kubota is too fast on the FEL, I find I am too impatient. If I slow down and increment very slightly, I get much finer control.

 

[alchemysa]

Theoretically a longer lever will give you more control but in practice a long lever can be so slow to respond that you tend to overcompensate. A shorter lever that reacts quicker is sometimes less frustrating.

Years ago I bent my lever, about half way along, so it pointed upwards, instead of straight backwards at about 45 degrees. I found this was easier to control because I now push the lever forwards and backwards instead of lifting up or pushing down. It gave smoother control and was more intuitive in my opinion.

And in effect it kinda shortens the lever by a couple of inches too.

 

[k0ua]

Hi all I have a 1995 L2950 with fel. The problem is that (I think anyway) the fel lever is long and gives you a lot of leverage too much to be delicate. I should say also I am very proficient with equipment i.e. loaders, backhoes ect.
The lever is about 16" bty. The loader bucket will move up / down very fast if you are not very careful with it. In front of my seat down between your heels there is a adjustment wheel that says slow / fast. This wheel was stuck and I freed it up. The use of it though is not covered in the manual very well as I remember. I asked my dealer what its purpose is ... the way he explained it to me it is used for the 3 pt hitch. He said it closes or opens a passage to allow hydraulic fluid to move fast or slow thus the implement will move up or down faster or slower If I recall correctly.
For some reason I want to say he also told me to never close it completely because when using the land plow it may not back feed fast enough and not rise up over a ledge outcrop of rock or something and break something nasty inside the housing. I admit I may have misunderstood him too so there's that. I am wondering if it would or should also affect the loader movement ? Thanks Jeff

A few thoughts: The 3pt drop rate valve only controls the drop rate of the 3pt. This drop rate will vary by the weight of the implement you have on the 3pt. Heavy implement will drop faster so to slow it down, close the valve some more. A lighter implement will drop slowly, so to speed it up, open up the valve. It has nothing to do with how fast it rises, this is a function of the flow rate of the pump and the size of the cylinder. If closed off completely it has nothing to do with whether the 3pt will float over an obstruction. If closed off completely it will not drop at all. It has no effect on the FEL loader in any way.

Most people complain that their FEL moves too slowly. If you believe your FEL moves too fast, the easiest thing you could do to slow it down a bit is to reduce the RPM's of the engine, which will reduce the flow rate of the pump and will slow down the loader response somewhat.

Prove it to yourself by timing your FEL rise from ground level at idle and them time it at 2000 RPM. I suspect you will see at least a 2:1 difference in rise times.

 

[k0ua]

Hi all I have a 1995 L2950 with fel. The problem is that (I think anyway) the fel lever is long and gives you a lot of leverage too much to be delicate. I should say also I am very proficient with equipment i.e. loaders, backhoes ect.
The lever is about 16" bty. The loader bucket will move up / down very fast if you are not very careful with it. In front of my seat down between your heels there is a adjustment wheel that says slow / fast. This wheel was stuck and I freed it up. The use of it though is not covered in the manual very well as I remember. I asked my dealer what its purpose is ... the way he explained it to me it is used for the 3 pt hitch. He said it closes or opens a passage to allow hydraulic fluid to move fast or slow thus the implement will move up or down faster or slower If I recall correctly.
For some reason I want to say he also told me to never close it completely because when using the land plow it may not back feed fast enough and not rise up over a ledge outcrop of rock or something and break something nasty inside the housing. I admit I may have misunderstood him too so there's that. I am wondering if it would or should also affect the loader movement ? Thanks Jeff

A few thoughts: The 3pt drop rate valve only controls the drop rate of the 3pt. This drop rate will vary by the weight of the implement you have on the 3pt. Heavy implement will drop faster so to slow it down, close the valve some more. A lighter implement will drop slowly, so to speed it up, open up the valve. It has nothing to do with how fast it rises, this is a function of the flow rate of the pump and the size of the cylinder. If closed off completely it has nothing to do with whether the 3pt will float over an obstruction. If closed off completely it will not drop at all. It has no effect on the FEL loader in any way.

Most people complain that their FEL moves too slowly. If you believe your FEL moves too fast, the easiest thing you could do to slow it down a bit is to reduce the RPM's of the engine, which will reduce the flow rate of the pump and will slow down the loader response somewhat.

Prove it to yourself by timing your FEL rise from ground level at idle and them time it at 2000 RPM. I suspect you will see at least a 2:1 difference in rise times.

 

[Jeff Lary]

yes maybe springs I will look into that. As for shorting the lever,.. no that was never in my mind.

 

[Jeff Lary]

Has it always been too fast? Or is there a new job that the loader's up-down is too fast for? Is the curl ok? Have any of the hoses been recently replaced with bigger ones?

Hose size can have a lot of effect. An easy experiment for slowing hydraulic flow is to install a section of smaller hose after the valve as a partial restriction. Even 3 feet of smaller hose will make a difference. My chute turner moved too fast with 3/8" hoses - but with 1/4" it's more controllable. The pump works a little harder but not enough to cause a heat issue.

Yes it has always been way to fast but I did not buy it from new. The curl / dump is fine up / down would break your back if you just happened to be standing in the bucket, don't ask..

 

[Jeff Lary]

A few thoughts: The 3pt drop rate valve only controls the drop rate of the 3pt. This drop rate will vary by the weight of the implement you have on the 3pt. Heavy implement will drop faster so to slow it down, close the valve some more. A lighter implement will drop slowly, so to speed it up, open up the valve. It has nothing to do with how fast it rises, this is a function of the flow rate of the pump and the size of the cylinder. If closed off completely it has nothing to do with whether the 3pt will float over an obstruction. If closed off completely it will not drop at all. It has no effect on the FEL loader in any way.

Most people complain that their FEL moves too slowly. If you believe your FEL moves too fast, the easiest thing you could do to slow it down a bit is to reduce the RPM's of the engine, which will reduce the flow rate of the pump and will slow down the loader response somewhat.

Prove it to yourself by timing your FEL rise from ground level at idle and them time it at 2000 RPM. I suspect you will see at least a 2:1 difference in rise times.

Thanks for the explanation I appreciate it so it only effects drop speed I honestly don't see where dropping fast or slow would any difference to me I have a bush hog, land plow, farmi winch , cord wood saw I don't see an issue whit any of these falling fast or slow ?? or am I missing something obvious? I do raise and lower at idle doing a certain function that would undoubtedly get me screamed at here if explained though.
Just trust me when I say that if I lift you up to trim off a tree limb and make a slight and I mean slight miscalculation on the way down.... you are still 7 feet up in the air and the bucket in already on the ground. I could try a section of smaller line I suppose...
Also the original question was entered into because this happened, I was plowing the back field Dearborn 116 2 bottom plow and every few minutes the plow would work it's way up out of a previously good looking furrow. So when I was at the dealership next I asked them why the plow would hit a rock or something and bump up but never return to the correct depth? That is when he told me about the pto drop valve he said if it was too open there was no resistance to the fluid returning through the valve ,thus the plow raising easily . But then he said if I closed the valve too much and the plow hit a ledge or something and needed to raise up out of furrow it may not move up quickly enough? The man that told me this is very clever and worked at the Kubota dealership since 1978.