itsmatt
Member
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2005
- Messages
- 30
- Location
- Spotsylvania, VA
- Tractor
- New Holland TC 45, John Deere 420W
Hi all,
I'm getting ready to do my (overdue) 300 hour service on my TC45 Tuesday morning and I have some questions that might be dumb, but I'm a bit unfamiliar with much of the maintenance I'll be doing and I don't want to mess anything up.
First question: I've never taken the loader off the TC45. I understand that you can do this but I don't know if this is necessary to do during the maintenance or wise for me to attempt by myself. Is there any reason I'd need to do this?
Second question: I'm a newbie about hydraulics. Don't the loader cylinders have fluid in them when they are extended? Would that matter during a hydraulic change? I got the specifications for the number of gallons I need to use for the change and was concerned that those cylinders might throw things off a bit.
Third question: Other than the emergency brake (I guess it is called that) being sometimes difficult to lock into place - sometimes I have to really push it down to feel that little pop that I think tells me it is actually set, I am not sure if there is anything else to be concerned with on this tractor. Are there any tips/hints that folks do at the 300 hour mark that aren't mentioned in the maintenance manual?
Last question (I hope): I've tried to keep up with the greasing of the tractor and its implements religiously as my wife's dad seemed to constantly be greasing something here on the farm (he died just about a year ago and that is how this desk-driving newbie got dropped into the seat of a tractor). I tend to just walk around the tractor ever so often and use the grease gun to put some grease on/in those little fittings and then wipe off the excess that sometimes oozes out around the joints and off the fitting itself. Is there any real harm in keeping it greased up pretty regularly or any hints anyone has about this? As much as these things cost, I'm hoping to not have to replace it anytime soon. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Okay, one last question that is maybe not exactly related to my particular tractor: I have a top link (think that is what it is called) on the three point hitch that is a threaded thing that you can manually change the length of it and I also have one that is a hydraulic cylinder that (of course) I can change the length of remotely from the lever. I like the hydraulic one for making tiny adjustments when doing some mowing on my less that flat yard. But I seem to do a lot of running back and forth from the cab of the tractor to the back of the tractor to make minor adjustments to get it long/short enough to hook up to an implement. That part is frustrating sometimes. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif My lower two three point arms have these cool adjustable-length pieces on them that make it really fairly easy to hook them up - assuming they are at the right height. Does anyone know if someone makes such a connector for the top one? Something that would allow me to make adjustments manually while still getting the advantages of the hydraulic cylinder?
Thanks for your time and in advance for you responses,
Matt
I'm getting ready to do my (overdue) 300 hour service on my TC45 Tuesday morning and I have some questions that might be dumb, but I'm a bit unfamiliar with much of the maintenance I'll be doing and I don't want to mess anything up.
First question: I've never taken the loader off the TC45. I understand that you can do this but I don't know if this is necessary to do during the maintenance or wise for me to attempt by myself. Is there any reason I'd need to do this?
Second question: I'm a newbie about hydraulics. Don't the loader cylinders have fluid in them when they are extended? Would that matter during a hydraulic change? I got the specifications for the number of gallons I need to use for the change and was concerned that those cylinders might throw things off a bit.
Third question: Other than the emergency brake (I guess it is called that) being sometimes difficult to lock into place - sometimes I have to really push it down to feel that little pop that I think tells me it is actually set, I am not sure if there is anything else to be concerned with on this tractor. Are there any tips/hints that folks do at the 300 hour mark that aren't mentioned in the maintenance manual?
Last question (I hope): I've tried to keep up with the greasing of the tractor and its implements religiously as my wife's dad seemed to constantly be greasing something here on the farm (he died just about a year ago and that is how this desk-driving newbie got dropped into the seat of a tractor). I tend to just walk around the tractor ever so often and use the grease gun to put some grease on/in those little fittings and then wipe off the excess that sometimes oozes out around the joints and off the fitting itself. Is there any real harm in keeping it greased up pretty regularly or any hints anyone has about this? As much as these things cost, I'm hoping to not have to replace it anytime soon. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Okay, one last question that is maybe not exactly related to my particular tractor: I have a top link (think that is what it is called) on the three point hitch that is a threaded thing that you can manually change the length of it and I also have one that is a hydraulic cylinder that (of course) I can change the length of remotely from the lever. I like the hydraulic one for making tiny adjustments when doing some mowing on my less that flat yard. But I seem to do a lot of running back and forth from the cab of the tractor to the back of the tractor to make minor adjustments to get it long/short enough to hook up to an implement. That part is frustrating sometimes. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif My lower two three point arms have these cool adjustable-length pieces on them that make it really fairly easy to hook them up - assuming they are at the right height. Does anyone know if someone makes such a connector for the top one? Something that would allow me to make adjustments manually while still getting the advantages of the hydraulic cylinder?
Thanks for your time and in advance for you responses,
Matt