Dargo
Super Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2004
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- 5,981
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- S. IN
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- Jinma, Foton, TYM, Belarus, Yanmar, Branson, Montana, Mahindra and maybe some green and orange too.
What is a \"normal\" amount of FEL leak down?
I've owned about a dozen tractors over the years and no two were the same. On all but the first two, I always had a FEL. I'm well aware that it is a "must" to always lower any implement and the FEL when leaving the tractor for safety reasons. However, when I have left the FEL up overnight on my tractors, there has been a large difference in what they do. Some appeared to not have dropped any, and some have gone to the ground. I've asked dealers what is considered "normal", and they almost always say anything (any amount of leak down) is normal.
I recently had a flat on my 18' utility trailer I use to haul my tractor. I had a spare, but not a jack. No problem I thought; I'd just use my FEL to pick up the trailer and change the tire. No deal. By the time I could get out of the cab and get the lug wrench on the tire, it would be on the ground. I called my dealer about this and was told to not use my tractor FEL as a jack, and that leak down was normal. I just can't see it being normal for a FEL to not be able to hold 500 to 600 pounds up for more than a couple of minutes.
Now, after about 40 hours of moving snow, the FEL got to where it would go from 4' in the air to the ground in about 15 seconds if I have a load of snow in the bucket. It has obviously gotten worse, so I'm sure something has gone wrong with it. I just can't imagine that such a large amount of leak down is normal.
I've noticed the same thing with 3 pt. implements. Some tractors seem to not leak down any, and others leak down rather quickly. Anybody know what is really considered "normal"? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Obviously I would like a tractor that doesn't leak down much at all, but am I being unreasonable? Did I make a mistake by selling past tractors I've had that didn't leak down? In my mind, I'm thinking that an empty bucket on a FEL would be okay if it only leaked down 3 or 4 inches overnight. The same with the 3 pt. hitch. I'm wanting to know what I should reasonably expect when I get my tractor back from being repaired under warranty. What would you expect as a normal amount of leak down on a FEL? Thanks.
I've owned about a dozen tractors over the years and no two were the same. On all but the first two, I always had a FEL. I'm well aware that it is a "must" to always lower any implement and the FEL when leaving the tractor for safety reasons. However, when I have left the FEL up overnight on my tractors, there has been a large difference in what they do. Some appeared to not have dropped any, and some have gone to the ground. I've asked dealers what is considered "normal", and they almost always say anything (any amount of leak down) is normal.
I recently had a flat on my 18' utility trailer I use to haul my tractor. I had a spare, but not a jack. No problem I thought; I'd just use my FEL to pick up the trailer and change the tire. No deal. By the time I could get out of the cab and get the lug wrench on the tire, it would be on the ground. I called my dealer about this and was told to not use my tractor FEL as a jack, and that leak down was normal. I just can't see it being normal for a FEL to not be able to hold 500 to 600 pounds up for more than a couple of minutes.
Now, after about 40 hours of moving snow, the FEL got to where it would go from 4' in the air to the ground in about 15 seconds if I have a load of snow in the bucket. It has obviously gotten worse, so I'm sure something has gone wrong with it. I just can't imagine that such a large amount of leak down is normal.
I've noticed the same thing with 3 pt. implements. Some tractors seem to not leak down any, and others leak down rather quickly. Anybody know what is really considered "normal"? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Obviously I would like a tractor that doesn't leak down much at all, but am I being unreasonable? Did I make a mistake by selling past tractors I've had that didn't leak down? In my mind, I'm thinking that an empty bucket on a FEL would be okay if it only leaked down 3 or 4 inches overnight. The same with the 3 pt. hitch. I'm wanting to know what I should reasonably expect when I get my tractor back from being repaired under warranty. What would you expect as a normal amount of leak down on a FEL? Thanks.
