Loader joystick cable break

[LouNY]

Can you reinstall the allen screws in the flange so that it holds the sleeve from turning untill the lock nut is broken loose.

 

[mechtheist]

That I can do though it might take a while and lots of pain. I think one of those open-end wrenches with a 90 deg angle at the end would work, just thought of that, don't have one.

 

[LouNY]

Harbor freight trip for a set of crow foot wrenches

 

[mechtheist]

The one near me only has the $52 set and the closest reasonably priced set is over 130 miles away. HomeDepot, Lowes, Oreilly have none locally. So it's Amazon for Saturday or Sunday. I managed to get a wrench on the top cable nut and it turned with the sleeve also so I made sure the allen bolts were tight and it still turned with the nut. I don't think the flange is meant to keep the sleeve from turning, just not pulling out.

How robust are those hydraulic cables? How much can I 'manhandle' them? I'm a lot more familiar with electric/electronic gear, most wire attachments can withstand quite a bit of force without a problem.

That weird brown crap seeming to come off the big hydraulic connector wasn't some basic plant material, except maybe cotton, which would not be around here though there are some seed pods that do a cottony kind of thing.

 

[LouNY]

Vise grips?
maybe back the flange of and wrap some emery cloth on it and then snug it back down

 

[ericm979]

There are seven hoses to the valve. The four hoses to the loader are quick detaches so that's easy. None of the other three should drain or siphon the tank unless the tank line comes in low on the transmission. I'm pretty sure it doesn't. I think it goes into the top of the trans case. The tank line will be the other line that goes to the back that isn't PB. It crosses over to the left side and goes into the trans part way back. The PB line goes all the way back to the BH loop (or 3pt if you don't have a BH, and that's on the top very back of the trans). Of course there will be oil in those lines which will drain out.

Besides being ready with a container, I'd be prepared to cover the end of the lines to keep dirt out and stuff them up into the chassis until their end is higher than the level in the trans. Just in case.

You can contact your dealer and ask about this. If they're not up to it, you can ask the folks at Dave's Tractor in Red Bluff CA. Dave's also ships parts, in case you need cables....

 

[mechtheist]

A

Vise grips?
maybe back the flange of and wrap some emery cloth on it and then snug it back down

I keep reading your name as 'loony' but that is not a loony suggestion, it's something I was going to try. It really is the case that those big hydraulic line almost seem to be positioned with the intention of making it impossible to get to those cable attachments. I can get to the top cable well enough to get it off and that would give me more space, I was trying everything including going through the hole where the reverse pedal comes through the deck. Branson has some sadistic engineers I think. To get to most of it you need to be lying on the ground but your head has to be as high as possible to see anything and some of it you need to be looking from about knee height and every way to reach in is constrained in clever ways to kill any leverage or give a wrench or whatever more than about 5 degrees of rotation. I'm hoping the crowsfoot wrench thing will work but they ain't coming in until Sunday.

I know I suck at this kind of stuff, maybe I'd do something completely differently if I knew what I was doing, probably just remove the hydraulic hoses without a thought [I'm hoping not to have to go there though], I don't think anyone could do much better with the mechanics of getting to those cable connections.

 

[mechtheist]

There are seven hoses to the valve. The four hoses to the loader are quick detaches so that's easy. None of the other three should drain or siphon the tank unless the tank line comes in low on the transmission. I'm pretty sure it doesn't. I think it goes into the top of the trans case. The tank line will be the other line that goes to the back that isn't PB. It crosses over to the left side and goes into the trans part way back. The PB line goes all the way back to the BH loop (or 3pt if you don't have a BH, and that's on the top very back of the trans). Of course there will be oil in those lines which will drain out.

Besides being ready with a container, I'd be prepared to cover the end of the lines to keep dirt out and stuff them up into the chassis until their end is higher than the level in the trans. Just in case.

You can contact your dealer and ask about this. If they're not up to it, you can ask the folks at Dave's Tractor in Red Bluff CA. Dave's also ships parts, in case you need cables....

Thanks, that's all good advice and info. My dealer I think is gone, I didn't actually try to call but can't find him online. There is a Branson dealer not to far, actually closer than my dealer was so I can always try them. I'm going to wait for the crowsfoot wrench and give it a try. I'd prefer not to disconnect those lines but then I shouldn't be worried, it's a very normal thing to do, the kind of thing you'd have to be a klutz to screw up. On the other hand, I think Klutz is my middle name. In the end, I'll likely buy a new cable, assuming there's not something wrong with the valve. With that collar off, I could move the cable in and out and it made the joystick move but the bucket never moved and I'm not sure what to make of that, it was at an angle that gravity should have rotated it out if the valve opened up at all.

This all seems like a VERY long road to a tiny little house. I'm learning stuff I need to know but the lessons have been too painful.

 

[ericm979]

It might take some force to make the spool move directly. The joystick gives you leverage that you won't have when moving the spool in and out by hand.

 

[mechtheist]

I hope that's the case. I could just say screw the cables and get a new direct-connect valve, mount it where the current joystick is and either extend the hoses or come up with a long very funky looking joystick. That could be fun.

 

[mechtheist]

The saga continues. Saturday I decided it was pathetic that I didn't just disconnect the hydraulic lines in the way, especially since I'm getting ready to add rear remotes which will involve a lot of hydraulic lines getting messed with [see my other thread], so didn't wait for the crowfoot wrenches. That made it almost easy. A close up of the broken cable, the right one is shortly after I started all of this, the left one is yesterday, Sunday.

You can see, there are a lot less cable strands, I had to keep cutting them off because they kept bending from getting jammed up the sleeve/sheath. Below is looking in the end of it, that first step in the diameter must be the coiled sleeve that you can see uncoiling in the above photo. Maybe, if I knew then what I know now, it would have been possible to get the cable strands all back inside that narrowed opening and then apply some fix, epoxy or weld or solder, but I had a really hard time just getting them in the wider opening. It's not worth trying to fix and I've ordered a new cable. It's about 1416mm, that's pretty close but I wasn't super careful dealing with the curves/bends and 1500mm is a standard so that's what I ordered. Those Polish guys had a great price but shipping was a killer. You can't pull the actual control 'rod' out, it's too large to get past that white plastic inner sleeve, which I'm assuming is teflon for lubrication, there was no other that I could see or feel.

A comparison of the two. The end piece looks like it has flats for a wrench to unscrew it but I think it's crimping.

Finally, the way the cables were routed under the tractor. I'm not sure but I think the way one goes over and the other under that part of the frame was me from trying to pull the cable through from above. I'm not sure what all those parts that obviously move are so I don't know how much they move but presumably it's not a risk to the cables, or maybe I moved both of them from where they're supposed to be? I don't see anything that would leave to think the cable got pinched or anything untoward happened to it, it just broke, probably the coiled metal sleeve ripped at first. The problem first started with it being hard to uncurl the bucket, it felt like it was 'stuck', the first time or two I kinda had to use a lot of force with a sorta shove, the next couple of times I had to kinda slap it, with my hand only, it would then be fine the rest of the day. Then, the last time it didn't do anything even though the stick was hard over to the right. I was probably ripping it more and more every time. Kinda like, if you ever tore a meniscus cartilage in your knee, a little rip can do some real funny things to how your knee can move, or not move.

One thing I should have done is take pictures of the way it was configged on the valve end to possibly help getting it put back together without requiring a lot of adjusting, and also I should have tried switching the good cable over to the other spool and tested if it worked to eliminate the possibility it's the valve at the root of the problem.

Anyhow, it's now 'just reverse everything you did taking it apart' time and we all know how it ain't ever that simple. I'm hoping I won't need to ask any more questions. I will report back on the replacement, especially if anything weird/unexpected pops up. A lot of this was FYI in case it happens to someone else, lots of me speculating on what might be happening, so if I got anything wrong, please correct and inform.

Thanks to all for the help, it's been hugely appreciated. Happy Holidays.

 

[Cougsfan]

Where were you able to order the cable?

 

[mechtheist]

I didn't do a huge amount of price checking but a fair amount, and Summit was in the low end at $70, which is a bit of an 'ouch' but hopefully I'll never have to do it again. I found this I think Belgian company for 30 something but then shipping was also 30 something.

 

[mechtheist]

Update: I used the boom control cable on the bucket spool to ensure it was OK and it was, so I'm waiting on cable which should be in tomorrow.

I managed to do one of my signature moves which is to be in one place without moving and lose something that is almost almost impossible to find. Half lying on the ground with my head close to the valve I was attaching the flange that holds the control cable sheathing to the valve, the bolts were on the deck under the pedals and I grabbed the damn joystick stationary ball retaining screw and when I put it back it fell through the holes where the pedals come through. I could hear it fall, thought I knew right about where it was. There's a protective plate under that area that has a lot of hoses and the gas tank behind it. It collected a lot of debris that I kept having to feel through, finally blew it out with air, still couldn't find. Went over the ground with a magnet in case I missed it falling out from the tractor. It's really hard ot get your hand in there, tried one of those telescoping magnets, nothing, it just kept getting stuck to all the metal parts everywhere. You really can't see in there. finally, after wasting about 30 minutes, I realized there's an area rearward of the gas tank, it shouldn't have been able to get back there but it did. Everyones is thinking about how much time they wasted reading this long paragraph, sorry, I needed to vent.

 

[LouNY]

Been there, done that.
It's not real bad till you start cussing yourself out.