Montana 4340 Front End Loader Bucket Stuck in Down Position

jonathandnielsen · Oct 27, 2020

I was shredding with my Montana 4340 and had my loader and bucket raised. As I was shredding the bucket suddenly fell all the way down like the cylinders were pressurized. My first thought was that something broke on the joystick but I found no issues there. I checked the quick couplers and they were all seated fine. I swapped them around the loader would lift no matter what coupler I used. But the bucket couplers would not work no matter what coupler I used. I took the couplers off and fluid comes out of all of them. If I take the pressure out of the system I can get the bucket to go up but it always falls if nothing is holding it up. If the bucket is flat on the ground, I can lift the front end of the tractor off the ground and lower it back down. I'm at a loss at what could be the issue. Could it still be the valve/spool even though the loader works on both couplers? Bad cylinders? Let me know if there is any information that I missed. Thanks!

K5lwq · Oct 27, 2020

The only time I have ever seen a bucket or loader boom fall quickly it was because a hose burst. I would think that is something you would notice right away.

I do not think you have a valve problem based on your troubleshooting procedures. Are you positive there is not a external leak of fluid somewhere?