Laser grading hydraulic valve issue.

Complete Turf Care · Apr 22, 2014

Got the rig on the job site yesterday, but I couldn't use it with the laser control yet, because I busted a connection while loading the blade on the trailer. Called yesterday to have one sent to the job site overnight, but it got sent by regular UPS instead. So they sent another one 'overnight' today, and I should get it tomorrow.

I did get to use it manually today though. I checked the temps a few times and it never got to 200*, but again, it was not working hard, because I was using it manually, which means the blade was not changing height very often compared to if it were on automatic. There is a little oil dripping from the dipstick and the fill cap, but I can live with that. It does make a mess with all the dust.

The good thing is that there is no oil leaking from the solenoid area. This is probably because we have eliminated the back pressure.

This pic is of the rear of the tractor at the oil fill cap. You can see the red dot where the thermometer is pointed.

This pic is the filter

And this last pic is of the engine oil pan, just to compare temps.

jenkinsph · Apr 23, 2014

Thanks for the update, let us know how it works out today. I would continue to check the temperatures when in the auto mode.

Complete Turf Care · Apr 23, 2014

Things aren't going good this morning. My receiver isn't communicating with my control box. Looks like the will have to "overnight" a new receiver to me. So I'm somewhat down for another day. This sucks.

jenkinsph · Apr 23, 2014

With the broken connector I would check continuity between the pins on either side of the sockets. I suspect there is an open control wire. Are you any good with electrical theory?

Looking at your picture above the broken cable connector appears to be for the valve not the receiver, so I spoke to soon.

Complete Turf Care · Apr 23, 2014

It has nothing to do with that broken connector. I was attempting to bypass that completely. And the receiver was working fine a few days ago when I tried it at home. Pretty sure it's the receiver. Lucky it's in warranty because they are about $1700.

jenkinsph · Apr 23, 2014

No kidding. I think the best price I have found on the Topcon lsb 110w is about $2150 and the remote is another $600. Modern day electronics don't allow for repairs so warranty is a key factor. The Topcon RL 200 2/s laser is $3850 and has a 5 year warranty, and I hope that within the warranty period it will pay for itself. All this stuff is crazy expensive because of low production numbers. When you compare these gadgets to tv sets and cell phones today they look like a pencil by comparison but everyone has a couple of tvs and cell phones making the cost more competitive.

Complete Turf Care · Apr 23, 2014

It's working. Must have been the cable. I'll report more later.

Complete Turf Care · Apr 23, 2014

Well....things went pretty good today. When I hooked up the new wire, things worked as they should.

I checked the oil temp several times today, and it did get up to 200* one time, but most of the time it was about 195.

After working the blade all day, I added about 2 gallons of hydraulic oil. It's leaking at the fill cap, and/or the dipstick.

And, there was no oil leaking from the solenoid, so we must have solved the back pressure problem

So, overall, I'm happy with the way things went today.

jenkinsph · Apr 24, 2014

Glad to hear you had a chance to try it out but 2 gals of hydro oil a day would be a deal breaker for me.

J_J · Apr 24, 2014

You should not be blowing oil out the breather/vent.

Is the hyd tank at the correct level?

Is the return line from the grader deep inside the fill space.

You might need to find another port to return the fluid from the grader.

Where is the port for the main return?

Complete Turf Care · Apr 24, 2014

J_J said:
Y
Is the hyd tank at the correct level? Yes, the level is correct

Is the return line from the grader deep inside the fill space. No. It is dumping into the fill cap through the fitting I had made as shown in picture #3 in post #77 http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...-grading-hydraulic-valve-issue-img_3707-1-jpg

You might need to find another port to return the fluid from the grader. I have asked one Kubota service manager if there is such a port on my tractor and he said NO

Where is the port for the main return?The only 'main return' that I know of is the remote valve, which is what was causing the back pressure.

I got one football field graded today. Temps stayed about 195-200* today. And, very little oil leaked out today. I tightened the fill cap better today, and I think that helped stop the oil leaking. The cap didn't screw into the pipe fitting very well, so I had to put a wrench on it to get it tighter. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...-grading-hydraulic-valve-issue-img_3707-1-jpg

Kyle_in_Tex · Apr 24, 2014

This is all interesting reading. Would love to have my own....but not til they come down in price.

jenkinsph · Apr 25, 2014

Jow did the grading go? Interested in how well your system works and what kind of tolerances you can grade to. How was the field prepared for the grading work to start with.

J_J · Apr 25, 2014

Glad you got things working right.

Is there a rule of thumb for the amount of grade for water run off, say on a playing field?

Where do you put the laser, at the highest point when striking a grade.

I would suppose the laser could go anywhere if trying for level at that particular location.

Complete Turf Care · Apr 25, 2014

jenkinsph said:
Jow did the grading go? Interested in how well your system works and what kind of tolerances you can grade to. How was the field prepared for the grading work to start with.

The grading went well. I had to take down a hill of about 10". My system is a fairly simple one, but it works well for the work I do. On this field, I set my control box to 3/10ths of an inch tolerance. But, I don't think it's really that close out on the field. If it were capped with pure sand, I think I could get it that close, and I've seen that done before.

I had sprayed this field 3 times with Roundup before I started, so there was almost no grass residue when I started. I tilled it first, then graded it roughly to get most of the hill down, then tilled it again before putting the final grade on it.

J_J said:
Glad you got things working right.

Is there a rule of thumb for the amount of grade for water run off, say on a playing field?

Where do you put the laser, at the highest point when striking a grade.

I would suppose the laser could go anywhere if trying for level at that particular location.

We try to get at least 1% slope on a game field. This first field I did is a band practice field, so I graded it to the existing slope, which was about 0.25% from goal line to goal line, and 0.20% from the center line of the field to the left sideline, and 0.40% to the right.

Today I started on the game field, which will be perfectly level from endzone to endzone, but will slope 1.4% to each sideline.

I could put the laser transmitter anywhere, but I always put it somewhere on the center line of the field. That way, I don't have to move it, if I go from one side of the center line to the other. I can just change the angle of the laser. (on the game field, I can go from +1.4% to -1.4%)

Complete Turf Care · May 2, 2014

jenkinsph said:
Thanks for posting the pics, how well do you like it other than the solenoid problems. How fast can you operate this with accuracy?

Both fields are graded. My travel speed while grading is about 3-4 mph. Any faster than that and things start bouncing around too much.

I have not added any hydraulic oil since the first day. And my temps stayed around 190-200 even with the heaviest use. So, it seems to all be working just fine now.

Thanks to everyone who posted in this thread. I appreciate all the advise and I know that it helped save me some big money.

Thanks,
Nick

RDrancher · May 2, 2014

I'm glad you got it figured out. It sounds like a good money making unit.

You should post pics of your work...I'm sure we all would enjoy them.

jenkinsph · May 2, 2014

Glad it is working for you Nick,
More pics and information would be great to see.

Complete Turf Care · May 2, 2014

I set up a camera that takes a picture every 1 minute. I will convert those pics into a time lapse video and post it here, but that takes some time, so I'll do it later.

Here is a pic showing the entire rig as I was working yesterday. You can see that the blade is 'on grade' with the green light showing on the receiver.