Lazy 463 FEL

[beersngars]

Over the weekend on my cabin property, I decided to do some brush mowing. All went well and mowed about 3 hours. I noticed the neighbor was working on a small shed trying to get it ready to slide it about 100 feet and reset it. Another neighbor had his 18hp Deere and CX200 FEL on the job. Of course if there is "tractor play" I wanted to be involved. The leading edge of the shed was somewhat buried so the plan was to use my L3400 to slightly lift that end while the JD tried to nudge it ahead and get the sunken end up on flat ground. This is where the trouble began.

My tractor would not lift the end. The guy on the JD came around and with both FEL's we got it up and then he went around and gave it a shove. Long story short, I was able to drag it out of the way. Next we had to move the gravel from where it sat to the new location. I was very impressed with the way that little Deere's FEL was moving as much or more in a bucket than I was.

So here is my question. My tractor has 46 hours on it and it seemed the loader was stronger when it was new than now. It used to squeal a bit when lifting alot of weight, but not now, just does nothing. This is not the first time I have questioned the loaders strength. Has anyone else noticed this? I know there is a releif valve, could it need adjusting? As a side note, I have yet to do the 50 hour service and was thinking maybe the filters may be dirty.

 

[Happyman]

It could be the filters or it could need the pressure adjusted. The FEL and backhoe on my L3940 never seemed to be as strong as I assumed they should be. The dealer sent a truck out to check everything before I went out of warranty. The technician said the pressure was in spec, but at the low end of the specs. He bumped everything up to the high end of the specifications and now it performs really well.
Have the dealer do a pressure check on the FEL hydraulics.

 

[beersngars]

Is this something that requires special tools like a pressure gauge? Taking it to the dealer would be a pain, but if I thought it would help, I'll do it. Can it get "out of spec" under normal use? Thanks

 

[Happyman]

beersngars, Yes, it does require a special pressure gauge that they put in-line with the FEL hydraulics. It's not a complicated or difficult thing to do. It takes just a few minutes to check and the pressure adjustment takes only about 5 minutes.
Mine was not out of spec from use, it just came from the factory set low on the spec range. Can the dealer send out a truck to make a service call? Most dealers will charge a fee if the tractor is out of warranty, but it may be worth the $. If the pressure is OK it may be something else.
I would not live with a tractor that doesn't seem to do what it should. These babies cost too much money not to have them operating at peak performance

 

[art]

There are times that we have to adjust the hydraulic pressures for one reason or the other. Before we do we change the hydraulic filter.

 

[john_bud]

The hydraulic pressure is adjusted by spring pressure on the main relief valve under the drivers right foot (loader hoses go to it).

There are specific shims to increase the pressure. The spring will loose tension over time.

Here are the spring shims

Kubota 31351-37960 SHIM 0.2
Kubota 31351-37950 SHIM 0.4
Kubota 31351-37970 SHIM 0.1

The pressure change is 39 psi per 0.1 mm shim.

You don't lose much fluid when you undo the plug that contains the relief. Less than a cup full.

 

[beersngars]

Thanks guys. I will do the 50 hour service and see what happens. The tractor is still less than 1 year old. It was delivered to me last Labor day weekend. Like I said, it just seems to have had more power when new.