Lift too stiff

[jinman]

My hydraulic lift control arm operation (TC45D) is too stiff to be able to do fine feathering of the position control. When I exert enough force to move the control arm, often I overshoot my intended position because the control does not have a smooth easy movement. I've checked my repair manual and there is absolutely nothing about any adjustment, but where the control shaft goes into the hydraulic lift housing, there is a castellated nut that I think could be adjusted to reduce the tension. It's a little hard to get to, but I have sprayed chain-lub on all the rotating points and pivots and it just isn't much better. The lift handle/arm itself is not binding against anything. Has anyone else noticed the lift having too much tension or being too stiff to operate? If it was a little less tight, I think it would be much easier to operate, but I also think there is supposed to be some amount of stiffness so if you hit a bump it doesn't move. My old Ford Jubilee actually has a rub-disk type washer which does this. I'm going to adjust that castle nut, but I just wondered if anyone else has a similar "stiff lift"?

JimI

 

[lblair]

Not I. Moves with little effort. and feathering is not a problem. allthough me over shooting is! Larry

 

[jinman]

Thanks for the info, Larry. I suspect your geometry is slightly different than my larger Boomer, but they were both probably designed by the same engineering team, so if your lift control works easily, I'll just assume mine should too. I loosened the castle nut and that helped some, but I really think the mechanism will always be a little stiff. Maybe with age it will loosen up.

I'm still interested in anyone who has a TC35, TC40, or TC45 and may have some direct feedback on the same models.

JimI

 

[DVerbarg]

Jinman,

My TC40D lift control arm is a little stiff also. I end up "bumping" the control with the heel of my hand when trying to feather. I've also noticed that the control arm seems to push towards the operator creating friction against the side of the slot. If you come up with anything that helps please post it as a follow-up here.

DaveV


DaveV

 

[mikim]

I have a TC45 and ditto DaveV's remarks exactly - I'm doing all rough work right now so it hasn't been a problem or priority - seems I'm always all up or all down -
mike

 

[jinman]

Thanks for the info, Dave and Mike. I have figured all along that this was just the "way it is," but I do think they could have made it a little smoother in operation. I guess the only thing we can do is to make the control arm longer, but then it would be in the way. As it is, it's workable, just not optimal.

DaveV, just for my info, did you get the illustrations I emailed to you on the remote hydraulic valves. If you didn't get them, I'll need to resend them.

JimI

 

[brian]

I have a TC29D which had the exact same problem. At first I tried spraying the top of the actuator valve which to my mind made the action easier, I was talking to the salesrep and the next day he drove the 1 1/2 hours to my house and examined the problem. He told me they (dealer) had seen a couple like this so far and it was caused by a lack of lubrication on the BOTTOM of the actuator valve for the FEL. He then took the plastic valve guard/cover off and sprayed chain lube on the bottom of the valve assembly. The action is almost too smooth now since I can't blame a rough job on the tractor anymore. Hopes this helps.

 

[jinman]

Thanks Brian, I think your problem is different because you mentioned the FEL valve. I've experienced a slight problem there, but lube took care of it. My problem is with the 3pt hitch lift control arm. After having experience with old Fergusons and Fords, I was a little surprised at how stiff the control was and found that it made the implement a little "jumpy" at times when I wanted to lift it. Perhaps yours is the same. I just don't have any experience with the smaller Boomers. Thanks for the info. I'm sure many of the readers of this forum will experience similar problems to both issues.

JimI

 

[DVerbarg]

Jinman,

Thanks for the illustrations on the remote valves! I hope to add a couple valves later this fall(after I find a money tree /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif).

Since this summer's big project is landscaping the area around the new house I will probably need to find some way to make the control arm action smoother. I'll let you know if I find anything.

DaveV


DaveV

 

[djradz]

Jim, my 40D is the same way. I'll have to look at the castle nut your talking about. Seems to me that the linkage is not the case either. I had a 1720 before the 40D and it worked flawlessly for very fine feathering. Like the rest of the posts, I find myself lightly bumping the lever arm to try to get some fine movement. ... castle nut, eh - we'll see what happens. Duane

 

[jinman]

Before you try it Duane, let me tell you that the castellated nut is V-E-R-Y hard to get at. The cotter key is almost impossible to remove without taking the right rear wheel off. My recommendation is, don't bother. I don't think I gained very much by loosening it 1/4 turn. As a matter of fact, I doubt it is any different after repeated use. Save yourself some trouble and don't bother would be my recommendation. I really think that there are so many pivot points in the control arm that you will only gain leverage by lengthening the control arm. Then, it will be in the way. On this one, I've just decided to live with it.

JimI

 

[JATO_RaT]

What puzzles me Jim is that you are trying to do such fine adjustments with the position control. I assume you must be refering to a box scraper. The way I do all my fine control is via the top cylinder on a box scraper. Getting the position control to a correct position is to me, far less important then getting the blade angle correct. This is primarily due to the fact that the ground is always changing and what was once a perfect ground position is now incorrect. Rat...

 

[jinman]

Well RAT, this time you guessed wrong. The most irritating thing I have experienced is using a boom pole. With it, any movement of the 3pth is magnified by the length of the pole. Instead of a smooth lift to a feathered position, I ended up jerking and cussin' because I felt like a teenager trying to learn to drive a standard shift tranny. I didn't have the FEL on the tractor (another story entirely) and was unloading a new rotary cutter from a trailer for a neighbor. We got it done just fine, but it would have been much nicer to feather the load down to the ground instread of dropping it the last couple of inches because of the sticky lift. I know what you mean about the boxblade, very true. In this case and I suspect in some other future applications, I wished for much smoother action. I don't think that I'm "too far out there" to feel like I should have better control./w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

JimI

 

[dieselpwr]

JimI - I'd have to say the handle on my 45D is a little on the snug side too. I am hoping it loosens up a little with more use. When I do fine 3pt work I usually grab the lever with my fingers & put the heel of my hand on the console & sort of roll my hand back or forward. It sort of turns the hand & arm into a more easily controlable lever with the heel of the hand being a fulcrum. Another trick is to again plant the heal of your hand on the console & then squeeze the lever back to your hand. That also seems to work well. I use these methods pretty regularly because even if the lever was easy to move, it is still easy to accidentally overcompensate as your bouncing along if you don't have an anchor point.

Troy

 

[JATO_RaT]

Jim, my International is very stiff as well. My mower weighs about 1500lbs and when I drop it, its pretty jerky as I ease it down. I can loosen the nut and make it smoother, I can also control the rate of decent and lift via a hydraulic valve, can't you? I know the 2120 had a knurled knob that allowed for this. Granted it still isn't a position adjustment. Rat...

P.S. whats this boom pole thing your using?

 

[jinman]

Troy, your post sounds just like what I would say if I was describing what I do with my lift control. Your point about using this tecnique even on an easily adjustable control is well taken. I always support my hand by gripping something other than the movable control. It's just good technique./w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif

JimI

 

[jinman]

Rat, this is a boom pole:

It's a handy way to lift and move objects up to about 750lb or slightly less. Also, yes my tractor does have a needle valve that adjusts the drop rate of the 3 point hitch, but that's not the issue. The problem is a sticky, tight, control. I just don't know how to describe it to you, so the next time you are around your NH dealer, check out a TC35, TC40, or TC45 if you really want to see what I'm talking about./w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

JimI

 

[JATO_RaT]

Interesting. I take it you don't have a loader. I do know what you mean about the stiff position control lever vs needle flow valve. Rat...

 

[jinman]

In a previous post I stated:

<font color=blue>I didn't have the FEL on the tractor (another story entirely) and was unloading a new rotary cutter from a trailer for a neighbor.</font color=blue>

I have a loader...wasn't on the tractor...wouldn't have made any difference to the 3pth control if I had.

JimI

 

[Kerry]

jinman,I was talking to my local N/H dealer about this and he said no it shouldn't be that stiff,after looking at the workshop manual the only conclusion we could come to was lack of lube on the control arm where it goes into the housing or adjustment inside the hydraulic lift cover which means removing the cover and fixing the problem. He said this is a workshop job,which means taking your tractor to your dealer. I asked if contacting N/H North America could help as this problem has been experienced by other people as well as yourself and he said yes it would so as they can hopefully fix the problem. I would like to know N/H's answer Kerry.