re-plumbing the FEL to free up a remote.

[SensibleNick]

Hi there

My Foton came with 2 rear remotes, and I opted to have a FEL fitted before delivery. I was a little surprised to find that the way it was installed took up a remote.


The pressure-side of the hydraulics feeds directly to (through) the steering assembly, and then to the remotes at the rear.

My question probably has a very simple answer. Is it acceptable to simplt "T" into the pressure line and connect the FEL hydraulics there, and feed the return back into the reservoir?

Hopefully this photo will help a little...
Picasa webbalbum - Nick - The Foton - U...

I think maybe I should have asked this before I drained, flushed and re-filled the entire hyd system.... but then again, who cares. It's all fun

And I promise... no more jokes about using petrol to flush the system

All the best,

/Nick

 

[dfkrug]

Greetings, Nick.....that's a shiny new tractor.

There are a lot of ways to set up the hyd sytem on these tractors, and
you CAN use a work circuit on your AUX valve to connect a FEL if you can
put the lever into detent. It is not usually done that way, however.

On these single-pump open-center hydraulics, you would not "T" into
one of the IN lines of any valve. You CAN run a new valve BETWEEN
the IN port of the valve and the POWER BEYOND OUT port of the previous
valve. Your new valve must have PB out to supply the IN of the next
valve in series. Thousands of posts on TBN about this.

What do you want add? Or are you considering relocating the FEL valve
between the PS and the AUX? They may have put your FEL valve in that
way cuz it has no PB out.

 

[Diamondpilot]

You can not "T" in. In a open center system like the one your tractor has the fluid will take the path of least resistance and because of that you would have no power on the FEL.

Best thing to do is ask this question in the Chinese Tractors section. This will get you answers from the dealers who sell them and know the way around this issue.

Chris

 

[beenthere]

Nice pics and nice farm you have there.

See what you mean by the "joy stick in your face" and expect you will like it better when you are through modifying it. I wondered why the push button on the joy stick handle?

 

[J_J]

I think I would route those hyd hose to the joystick better, and tuck them out of the way.

 

[Brad_Blazer]

Nick - look at the plumbing for your rear remotes. In addition to the work ports, there should be an inlet, a low pressure outlet that returns to the tank, and a power beyond outlet that goes to the 3-point hitch valve. The tank and 3ph valve are both built into the cast iron box under the seat. The power beyond outlet of the remotes can be connected to the inlet of the loader valve.

Your loader valve then needs a power beyond adapter to separate the return flow that leaves the valve when you are operating the loader from the power beyond flow that is always passing through the valve when you are not operating it. The return flow can be Tee'd into the return flow from the remote valve set. The power beyond flow from the loader valve needs to be routed back to the 3ph valve.

You can put quick-connects on the loader valve connections in case you want to remove the loader for field work. With the loader removed, the loader supply hose needs to be connected to power beyond hose leading to the 3ph valve. The loader exhaust hose can be left disconnected. Since the rear remote valves come before the loader valve, their relief valve will protect your pump from dead-heading if you forget to reconnect those hoses.

Your Foton should be similar to my Kama, it just has more sheetmetal. The picture on the left is the inlet to my 3ph valve. Its taken facing back from about where my right knee is when I'm sitting on the tractor. I added the quick-connect (and forgot to remove that nut when I welded on the new fitting). The second picture is the return at the right rear corner of the tank. I added the return filter and the extra quick-connect for return flow when I am using my backhoe attachment.




How was that for a simple answer?
Brad

 

[SensibleNick]

Thanks guys!

I'll take more photos tonight.

To answer a few questions though...
- I have now re-bracketed the FEL control, and I can now get on to the tractor from both sides.
- Button on the Joystick: 3rd function on FEL re-routes the curl function to another set of quick connectors near the bucket.
- The FEL already has quick connectors, and I've got a few ideas. I'll post more pictures and babble in a few hours

Thanks for bearing with me....

 

[SensibleNick]

Here we go...

More photos. I'll have a play with it all tomorrow and see if I can understand it a little better. But if I understand correctly, I could couple the FEL in-line en route to the rear remotes, and it'd all be happy and free up a remote.

To be honest, I wondered why the line I thought of as "zero pressure" side twitched as I fed pressure into the system via the remote... all makes sense now

Picasa webbalbum - Nick - TBN questions

 

[TTTTTT]

I have a Chineese DF 354 with rear remotes similar to yours. My FEL was plumbed off one of the rear remotes by the dealer I got it from. I noticed in your 1st pic what looked like a QD under the right floor board that goes from the hydraulic pump to the rear remotes and then to the 3pt. If like mine, that QD is meant to hook the FEL through. If the same , you should be able to dissconect the QD and hook directly to the inlet side of your FEL valve and then the return to tank out fronm the FEL valve goes into the part of the QD that you separated completeing the circut and freeing up the remote. Your FEL is just plumbed in line between your pump, remotes and then on to your 3pt. Works withoout any issues for me. As with any setup like that you can't use your 3pt or remotes at exactly the same time as your FEL. Of course you would need 2 extra arms for that so it is never an issue.. I added another valve inline to control front QD's for other uses right off the FEL valve (CHINESE TRACTOR OWNERS CLUB FORUM - Front QD Install/ Plow Mod- VIDEO) which works perfect as well.

Added a few pics


Check it out with your setup, it may be a simple fix with some extra fittings etc.

Good luck Dave

 

[Brad_Blazer]

Nick - the new bracket looks great!

It looks like none of your valves have a separate low-pressure return line, just in and out ports in addition to the work ports. That puts the reliefs in series so if you did grow an extra arm or inadvertently leave a bungee on a valve you could damage the pump. I would recommend at least an inexpensive relief valve Tee'd into the pressure line coming from the pump and returning to an unrestricted inlet in the tank. That would offer pump and overpressure protection for the whole system. Maybe something like that is already there or part of the power steering valve?

Better yet would be if a power beyond adapter is available for each of your control valves.