PT1445 20 hrs, Lost steering!

[PT1445Farmer]

Ponytug,
You are probably correct about my not toasting the pump, but it will be next week before I can figure it out. Have no idea what I could have run over and I did not hit a tree or anything. I treat this PT as though it is tough enough for harsh duty. That appears to be a mistake. The tires were spinning and then poof...the steering wheel went loose. Seems a tractor should be able to handle that.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Must see pix. Must see pix. Not sure where this break is at.

I broke my PT in the steering area. The Hydraulic cylinder pulled the entire wall off the front of the PT. It was due to a bad weld.

I am also not sure if you toasted the pumps, although it miight make sense now that you said the engine started bogging, it might be a pump seizing...

This will be miserable, and expensive proposition if the pumps are cooked.

As for cooling. You have two hydraulic systems. If you are adding another / larger fan to the top, you are cooling the wrong system for the engine. The cooler for the engine is on the top of the engine, not the big radiator in the hood.

Give us some more info on what you are thinking for the pressurized air.

Carl

 

[J_J]

PT1445Farmer

How much fluid was in you hyd tank when you shut it off. If it was at least half full, I doubt if you ruined anything. In earlier post, you said you saw no fluid . There should have been fluid all over the place if you were trying to steer with the broke cylinder.

 

[SnowRidge]

I don't like coincidences. I think the engine bogging probably is related to the hydraulic failure.

I suspect the engine may have bogged when something gave out in a steering cylinder and momentarily blocked the flow of hydraulic fluid. Perhaps the steering relief itself also failed. It sounds like there are lots of things to look into. It should all be done carefully, just in case there is residual damage not yet discovered.

Where in Middle Tennessee? There are several of us in East TN.

 

[ponytug]

Always good to look for unexpected and hidden damage. Rule one of triage; do a complete check.

Could it be that the engine bogged down because the tractor snagged on something, something that might have ripped the steering hose/fitting off?

Again, this probably wasn't your issue, but I have my steering hoses wrapped in spiral wrap, and then both hoses fastened together with a broad ziptie to keep them tied to the top of the cylinder and out of trouble.

We're all guessing, but it will be interesting to learn more.

Hope that it isn't too bad.

All the best,

Peter

I don't like coincidences. I think the engine bogging probably is related to the hydraulic failure.

I suspect the engine may have bogged when something gave out in a steering cylinder and momentarily blocked the flow of hydraulic fluid. Perhaps the steering relief itself also failed. It sounds like there are lots of things to look into. It should all be done carefully, just in case there is residual damage not yet discovered.

Where in Middle Tennessee? There are several of us in East TN.

 

[PT1445Farmer]

Back into town and able to load up the photos of the PT1445 in ICU.

Loaded 4 images showing the crack location, the metal scraped by the cylinder or whatever caused the crack, the hoses, and an overview of my PT1445 with attached screens - snazy huh?

No point in turning the air blue and hurling specially made "throwing wrenches" if this thing needs new components down the line. Talked with Terry and he said - like all of you have recommended - to check how much oil remains in the tank first. If it still has some left, then the pump and valves are more than likely still functional. If the reservoir is empty, then get out the checkbook, the credit card, and sell the family jewels, because everything might be burnt and need to be replaced.

All I was doing was ramming the multi-bucket into a hill to pick-up dirt. There are some rocks in the hill of dirt. Nothing unusual with that. Cracking the cylinder means that the hydraulic system can load the components beyond their compression, tension, or shear maximum strength. This begs for either a pressure relief valve, or a servo bypass. Better still, stronger components.

Going to attack this project probably on Monday morning. Expecting to
1. Have another hose made up.
2. Check the reservoir.
3. Determine if the system is worth testing or to go for full replacement.
4. Install new cylinders.
5. Install new hose.
6. Replenish the hydro oil, assuming #3 leads to a test.
7. Blead the system using the tool I bought from PT. Now where the h--l did I put that thing..
8. Triple check the other items mentioned in this thread: other leaks, the joints, wire tying the hoses out of the way, etc.
9. Start the PT...and test.

Any other suggestions?

 

[toy]

pt1445farmer from what the pictures looks to me it is the end of the cylinder that broke, you may be able to get a new eye to match the one that broke and have the rest of the old one ground off of the cylinder and have a new one welded back on providing that the cylinder rod isn't bent. It appears that the one hose fitting was ripped out when the cylinder was extending or contracting after the eye was broke. When you replace the bad hoses you can hook them up to the old cylinder and check and see if it will extend and contract without binding, make sure that the ends of the cylinder has freedom of movement since the end of the cylinder that is broke is the stationary end. If you take both hoses off of the cylinder you might be able to manually pull the rod out and push it back in to check the rod out. If you take any of my advice be careful as you are working at your own risk. To get the broke end of the fitting out if you can't get a good hold of it and have to use an easy out to get it out I like to use a left hand drill bit first because often times they will spin out the broken part as you drill and you don't have to even use the easy out. also try to get all the metal shavings out with a magnet. Hope some of this might help and you get it going without much trouble. If you have a bad steering jack[cylinder] if you block the hoses off that goes to the bad cylinder then that will make the good one steer the machine somewhat inorder to get it loaded and out to where you can work on it, but go slow, and have the bad cylinder disconnected. In any case be careful as you work at your own risk. wish you good luck at getting it going.

 

[SpringHollow]

I cringe at the thought of ramming the bucket into the pile. I am surprised the tractor takes the beating i give it when using the bucket that way widening out my ditches and from using the minihoe digging holes through my shale.

I would recommend using the minihoe to loosen what you want to bucket out. That's what i started doing with the ditches and it was a lot easier on the tractor. The only problem then was lifting over a yard of shale, clay, and water in my large bucket. I would have to drain some of the water first and play with the bucket geometry to get it to lift.

Ken

 

[PT1445Farmer]

Toy - Not sure I follow what you are referring to with a left hand drill bit, easy out, etc. My plan includes removing and replacing both cylinders. While I might be able to repair the snapped one, it is not a priority at all. That puppy will never be on my PT again, though I might find another light duty project for it.
Going to perform the repair in the field, sticking a tarp around me to find the inevitable dropped parts.

Ksimolo - Ramming the dirt pile is how I thought I was supposed to use the bucket. That is precisely how I loaded my 60 hp Duetz tractor - no problems.
Your idea is better with using the mini-hoe, but if the PT can't handle a standard operation like scooping dirt, I misjudged it. Nothing too dramatic or fast, just setting the bucket lip into the dirt and pushing forward.

Monday will be the big test. I expect this repair to take 3 hours.

 

[J_J]

Just some small advice. Sometimes it is hard to pull or push the cylinder rods to get it to align with the mounting holes. Therefore, hook up the cylinder body end only. Then hook up the hoses. Start the engine. So now all you have to do is turn the steering wheel to push or pull the cylinder to fit the mounting holes. Then hook up the rod end to the mount. When complete, you will have to turn the steering wheel from lock to lock several times to get all the air out. Recheck your fluid level. This might save all the cussing, moaning and groaning on the project.