Mowing Mowing with FEL on?

[Anonymous Poster]

How do you unhook the lines? Will a lot of oil come out? Will there be pressure in the lines? Does the tractor need to be off? If I am using the tractor without the loader and I bump the handle will a thousand pounds of pressurized oil come spraying out? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I lost my initial manuals, I don't think it covered these questions anyway. Thanks

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>How do you unhook the lines?</font color=blue>

You pull back the ring on the female end of the hose and hold it back while you pull the hose off.

<font color=blue>Will a lot of oil come out?</font color=blue>

Just a few drops.

<font color=blue>Will there be pressure in the lines? Does the tractor need to be off?</font color=blue>


If there's no pressure in the lines, theoretically at least, the tractor does not need to be off, but I always turn the tractor off and move the joystick around in all directions to release all pressure before unhooking the lines.

<font color=blue>If I am using the tractor without the loader and I bump the handle will a thousand pounds of pressurized oil come spraying out?</font color=blue>

No, the quick couplers are closed, sealed, or whatever you want to call it, so the oil can't come out; you would just be opening the relief valve.

And if you lost your manual, you need to get another one. It really does outline the proper procedure for removing and replacing the FEL and it's pretty simple. You have to roll the bucket forward a bit, lower it to the ground and continue downward pressure to take the weight off the front wheels, then you can easily pull the pins that hold the loader frame in the uprights (and you can swing down the supports or braces that hold it while it's off), then you curl the bucket until the loader frame is free from the uprights before shutting off the tractor, relieving the pressure in the lines, and unhooking them. Putting it back on is just the reverse.

And you can do it a lot quicker than I can type this./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[rbargeron]

Carefully, no, no, yes, no. But first things first - the loader uses its own hydraulic force to lift itself off the mountings - so you don't actually disconnect the hydraulic quick-couplers until the loader is self-supporting and not resting on the tractor. Raising the loader off the mounts needs to be done with some care to make sure nothing binds and no hoses get stretched - best to proceed very carefully the first time (and every other time) you take it off.

Then, with the tractor shut down, the quick-couplers are disconnected (and one plugs into the other on the tractor so it bypasses the loader completely.)

Do you have a dealer nearby where you might be able to get a demonstration? If your loader has never been off, it could stick a little and it would be nice to know where a little prybar force could be applied if needed.

Good luck and be safe. I hope somebody with more accurate knowledge of your tractor model reads this and hollers if I'm wrong about something. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Von]

Robert, Here is a photo of the weights I put on the front of mine to help hold it down on the hills. They only weigh about 110lbs but it helps.

 

[TresCrows]

You actually lost your manuals. I have no response to that. Yes, it was covered in them.
The quick disconnects are just that, they disconnect quickly, a spring forced ball will snap against the seat internally and stop flow when removed etc. Yes, you are supposed to place the provided caps on the disconnects to protect them. No, bumping the lever will not cause oil to spray out--of course not and no, other than a few drops when disconnected they should not leak unless defective.
You best call your dealer and ask for a new manual or at least photocopy his. I would also read them as it is often helpful information.
J

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color=blue>...the tractor does not need to be off...</font color=blue>

<font color=red>I would never hookup/disconnect while the hydraulics are live... {you're talking upwards of 3000 psi...}</font color=red>

Most of those "Quick Disconnects" are not that quick...

I'd highly recommend hydraulic hookups and disconnects with the tractor in the off position with no pressure in the lines...

 

[Bird]

John, I'd certainly agree with you that it's the safest thing to do, and I said that I kill the engine on my tractor and release any pressure in the hoses before unhooking, but probably wasn't emphatic enough. And I always do that before unhooking, but admit that I usually don't kill the engine to hook them up. There's no problem unless there was a defective loader valve allowing pressure to get through, and while that's a possibility, my FEL valve has the male connections on the valve and the female on the loader hoses, so in the first place if there were pressure in the connector, I probably couldn't push it on, and in the second place, if any pressure escaped, it would not hit me directly but would be deflected and have to bounce back to get on me.

But the bottom line is that I agree with your recommendation./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hi Bird...

Don't misunderstand me... I wasn't whacking you over the head... But a lot of "newbies" may read into things wrong...

And you're right... you'd have to be a superman to connect under pressure... {and crazy /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif...}

/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>I wasn't whacking you over the head</font color=blue>

Hey, just whack away if I goof, and I probably did with my initial response./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[RobertN]

Von,
That's a cool idea! I'll have to look at something like that, since the Kubota weights wont hang on to the loader frame now
Thanx!