Loader problem

[docjupa24]

My grandfather, who has adopted my 3520, called me yesterday and stated that the front bucket would only lift up to about 4 feet and then its like it hits the wall, won't go any higher. the backhoe works perfectly, no issue. could this be low hydraulic fluid, im not where the tractor is so i can't run by and check it, thought someone here might be able to point me in the right direction. any help would be great.

 

[RogerH]

Yes, low hydraulic fluid could cause the symptoms you describe. That would be the first thing to check.

 

[docjupa24]

last year i had a problem with the backhoe, i took it in and they said it had too much fluid, they took some out and its worked fine for around a year, it had only been serviced by a jd shop before that, but who knows. i'll be back home tommorrow and maybe i can check it then. thanks

 

[zr2blz]

My 2520 did about the same at around 70 hours. It also did not have any down force ( couldn't pick the front tires off the ground ). Took it in to JD and they found power steering control ( under hood ) was getting top usage ( better to be able to steer unit and lift anything ). They replaced that part and lift worked ok but trans make noise and steering kept drifting.

So, put another 50 hours on machine ( had too ) and then took back to JD. They had it for 5 weeks and still not fixed, so I upgraded to 3320 and I love it.

So, test if you have down force on bucket ( my 46 bh worked fine with the bad part ) and PS is working and sounding ok.

 

[docjupa24]

mine doesn't have downforce either, i love the tractor, gonna check the fluids this pm and see. what kind of job is it and how expensive a part is it to change the power steering control. thanks for the heads up

 

[jimgerken]

You've probably thought of this already, and checked it, but if the loader has been off and on recently, and the hydraulic lines are connected improperly, the loader will have very weird symptoms. I had this problem, and looked at the couplers several times before I noticed two were interchanged.

 

[docjupa24]

it hasn't been off that i know of, my uncle borrowed it last week to do some landscaping, he said it ran flawlessly, then my grandad had it and scooped several buckets of creek gravel to fill in a driveway and then he noticed it "wasn't working". it had to work up till that point, cause he couldn't have gotten the creek stuff without it. i hope its something simple, i've got a fair amount of mowing i need to get done............thanks

 

[kennyd]

Start with the simple stuff...Unhook then re-seat all 4 QD's. The power steering is totally separate from the loader hydraulic except for the common oil sump-it even has it's own dedicated pump.

 

[docjupa24]

sorry for the silly question, what are qd's

 

[mfreund]

Quick Disconnects for the hydraulic lines.

Not silly at all.

 

[docjupa24]

i did checked those, but i will disconnect and reattach them. i actually looked at it last night, nothing disconnected, fluid is full. the bucket works fine up to about 4 feet, then it just hits a wall, won't go anyfarther, tractor bogs down like its trying to. also it hisses when it goes down, it doesn't go down with force, just drops with its own weight. it didn't make this sound it didn't make before. the backhoe works without any issue.

 

[jimgerken]

I am betting the hoses are connected incorrectly. Your symptoms sound familiar.

 

[docjupa24]

they haven't been disconnected as far as i know, i'll check it tonight and post up

 

[gogreen]

Could this be similar to a problem i'm having. My loader works fine but I lose power steering occasionally. I picked up hydraulic oil and filter for the tranny but haven't changed it yet to see if that fixes it. 350 hours on tractor.

 

[docjupa24]

update
i was finally able to get some time with my tractor today, checked the quick disconnects and found one to be out. reattached it and problem solved, thanks so much to everyone for the ideas and help. what a great site........jp

 

[kennyd]

update
i was finally able to get some time with my tractor today, checked the quick disconnects and found one to be out. reattached it and problem solved, thanks so much to everyone for the ideas and help. what a great site........jp

Great news... I just knew that was the problem