Mf 1260 3 point

[robbor]

I have a mf 1260 from auction . Was never used as a tractor. Nothing on the 3pt was ever hooked up or used. The lift arms are all the way up. Fo I need to put something on the 3pt to get them to lower????. What are the 2 3pt levers rt of driver seat for?
One or left and right lift arm?
I'm going to try and put my scraper on it and see if it will lower.

 

[EdGooding]

I have a mf 1260 from auction . Was never used as a tractor. Nothing on the 3pt was ever hooked up or used. The lift arms are all the way up. Fo I need to put something on the 3pt to get them to lower????. What are the 2 3pt levers rt of driver seat for?
One or left and right lift arm?
I'm going to try and put my scraper on it and see if it will lower.

Make sure that the lift lever is all the way down and then push down on the lift arms with your hands. Can you post a photo of the two levers?

 

[JWR]

First off, those are super useful little tractors with 40hp, 4WD, very universally useful. I HOPE what you got at auction is in good shape...

Geeze -- let's start with finding an Operators Manual. I am serious -- find one and use it. You can get them on-line. Just touching the surface, the 3pt hitch hydraulics on your tractor are classic, typical and ordinary. That means they will LIFT ONLY and gravity or weight of your foot or the implements brings them downward. The two levers you mentioned are Position and Draft Control. You must (read the manual) figure out which one is the Draft lever and put it in the "out of the picture" or not in use position. That is either all the way up as on some tractors or all the way down as on others. Draft control is a little complex to describe and best left till later. Forget it for now. It is there in your manual when/if needed. The MAIN one is the Position Control lever and pushing it forward lowers your implement (lets it lower) while backward (upwards, toward the rear) RAISES the 3pt hitch by hydraulic pressure and thus the implement.

By "scraper" I assume you mean a grader blade that fits the 3 pt hitch. YES, when mounted the weight of it will lower your "lift arms" of the 3pt hitch. As Mr Gooding said above you can/should just lower the two lift arms (by hand) to the point where they easily attach to the pins on each end of your scraper blade. You have to push the Position Control lever forward to allow lowering of the lift arms. So you need to read the manual and figure out which is the position control first and then proceed. Then the top link gets attached of course. That gets you to where you can play with the 3pt lift and attached scraper blade and get comfortable and used to it.

I see that the Owner's Manual is on Amazon for $46.98 or other sources as cheap as $20. Also available in PDF which means you can get it in front of you on the PC in a few minutes in a PDF file, etc.

Good luck and please narrate the details as you learn to use your new machine.

 

[robbor]

Tractor seems in good shape. Did an oil change on engine today and got a new hydraulic filter and checked what I could. I put the box blade on blocks up high and got it attached. Didn't play with the controls. Yes I need a manual. I'll post pics tomorrow. She purrs like a kitten

 

[JWR]

Tractor seems in good shape. Did an oil change on engine today and got a new hydraulic filter and checked what I could. I put the box blade on blocks up high and got it attached. Didn't play with the controls. Yes I need a manual. I'll post pics tomorrow. She purrs like a kitten

OK, not to nit-pick your efforts, but there was no need to put the box blade up on blocks. You could have just lowered the lift arms to attach it. I hope you found or realized that hydraulic filters are a lot different than plain "oil filters" and about 3X as expensive.

 

[robbor]

Controls

 

[robbor]

Rear

 

[robbor]

3pt
I'm wondering if something wasn't removed to disable the 3pt controls since they were never used?

 

[JWR]

Well, you still need the owner's manual instead of this forum but... The photo in post # 6 shows that your Position Control lever is the one on the left and is labeled. However you are looking rearward in this picture so the Position Control is actually on your RIGHT when seated on the tractor. That is standard for discussion to speak of left and right assuming one is seated in the driver's seat.

In your first post [I just reread it 3 times...] you asked if one of the two levers was for the left lift arm and the other for the right lift arm and the answer is GOOD GRIEF NO ! Now you know one is for Position and the other is for Draft Control ... and in fact they are LABELED.

In post #8 you are wondering if something was removed to disable the 3 pt hitch and rear hydraulics. Why do you wonder that? What makes you think the 3pt lift does not work ???? Have you tried it ?

I suggest you try this: 1) Move the Position Control Lever forward. Does the box blade implement lower to the ground? It should 2) Raise the Position Control Lever full aft Does that raise the box blade back up off the ground? If 1) and 2) work as I said then your 3pt hydraulics is working as it is supposed to. Especially if 1) or 2) failed, move the Draft Control (interestingly labeled "Draught Control") to the opposite extreme position and see if the lift and lowering then work properly. That Draft Control needs to stay in whichever position disables Draft Control and I cannot tell which it is. The Manual will tell you.

Have you checked the level of hydraulic fluid in the tractor? So far we do not know whether the hydraulics are working or not, BUT, if it is not working it MIGHT be because of very low hydraulic fluid...
SURELY when you changed the hydraulic filter you found out if it had plenty of fluid ?? How are you going to check the hydraulic fluid? Read the manual and see.

 

[robbor]

I'll check more tomorrow, didn't get a chance today. Hyd fluid shows high / full on dip stick. Haven't replaced filter. Filter is factory orig painted with massey chassis paint. Metered shows 800. Haven't moved hydraulics with it running yet.

 

[robbor]

Position controls have always been full forward when running tractor and lift arms are full up

 

[JWR]

Position controls have always been full forward when running tractor and lift arms are full up

Reading both posts 10 and 11 it seems likely to me that your Draft control is dorking up the norml operation of your 3pt lift. Move the hydraulic controls with the engine running -- you are not going to hurt anything... it won't bite. Play with the two levers up and down and see if you get some movement (no matter what movement.) Assuming you do get some movement, move the position control forward to where it should be lowering the implement. If it doesn't then leave the Position lever full forward and move the Draft lever to each extreme (full forward, full back.) Probably one of those Draft lever positions is the equivalent of "disable draft control" and will remove the Draft control from the picture and your Position control will give you up/down response as it should ... but I am just speculating that the Draft mechanism is dorking up the simple normal operation of the 3pt lift. My best guess. Don't be afraid to experiment. Can't hurt a thing. And for the 6th time ... see what the manual says. Sorry, I feel like a preacher...

 

[robbor]

Ran it, and tried the draft and 3pt lever. It did nothing. Changed the hydro filter. Fluid was red like tranny fluid. I checked all the levers under the seat fender, nothing seems missing. There is a , like speedo/vac cable hanging there but it doesn't seem like it has anything do do with the hydraulics. It runs and drives.
Does the hydraulic pump also run through hydrostatic transmission?
Where do I check the pressure on the hydraulic pump?

 

[Dman1981]

Do those have a shut off valve on front of top cover maybe it is screwed in

 

[robbor]

Do those have a shut off valve on front of top cover maybe it is screwed in

I'm guessing that is the issue. Seems like all that is under the seat. Would the info on that be in owners manual or service manual???
I'm 9 hours from home and no mailing address here. . May have to wait till next trip.

 

[Dman1981]

It's usually right under seat sticking out unless it does not have one rod connected to a knob of some
Kind usually can see it on

 

[robbor]

AWESOME! I have that knob, lol. I'll check it out tomorrow if it quits raining. I may just have a running tractor. My poor spine will be very happy.

 

[robbor]

My knob

 

[robbor]

The knob worked guys. Up and down like a champ.

 

[jeepcj7]

There is a know between your feet that adjusts the rate of drop on the 3 point. If turned all the way in I believe it will actually prevent the 3 point from lowering. The more you turn it out the faster it will lower.