another ...quandry?

[Tony in Mass.]

Is that how you spell it? I had someone stop in asking about a loader tractor... I'd rather not sell the Cockshutt right now, the battery was dead and then it ran out of gas, so that wasn't very impressive anyway, so we go over to the TO30 with 3 way Davis loader, started right up- of course, pto and lift were fine, he stands in the bucket- he weighs about 250- more? The loader couldn't get him off the ground. I felt two inches tall. I know this tractor picked up heavier stuff before, especially packed snow, and he needs a loader to lift atleast 2 or 300, and it couldn't at all. He'd be back if I fixed it. Then my forklift friend stopped in, he said the pump was cavitating too much, oil was too white, change it. I did, found a few gallons of nice old hytran, no dice. Just as bad a performance.
Trouble is, without power steering, no one ends up buying this sort of rig anyway, and I see bare fergies selling for as much as I want to this as is, without a loader at all.
Some sugestions please?
And yes, sending 2 loaders down to 2 tractors is an option on the table...
 

[DanP]

How much for the TO30 with the non functional loader?
 

[Tony in Mass.]

You got my number? I sent it via email about the wheel -last week? I always end up in a spam filter....
 

[jon corbett]

relief valve stuck open,cant build pressure.
 

[John(UK)]

You don't say which Pump you are using, Is it the internal tractor Pump or an external Pump.
If it is an external Pump there will usually be a Filter and it may need cleaning so it can suck the oil through. Obviously if the Transmission is milky then it needs changing but it should work. If the tractor has been standing some time and you are using the internal tractor Pump then then Non-return valves in the side chambers maybe stuck or rusted so they wont operate freely or the springs on these valves may be broken due to corrosion. Water in the oil causing it to be milky is often the cause of these problems. The Safety Valve maybe partly open although it rarely happens as when it is discharged anything in the Valve is usually flushed out, but if it cannot develop pressure then this will not happen. The leak on an internal Pump could be anywhere and you need to remove the LEFT round cover, the one with the PTO Lever, and look inside when it is supposed to be lifting (lever at top)and look for the oil squirting, you can see more from the left side. If the Pump is cavitating as suggested, then the oil will be white or very light due to air mixed in, but it will also be white if there is water in the oil and it makes an emulsion and we know that this happens frequently when water is allowed to enter the system through the bottom of the Gear Lever and the Draft Spring seal at the back of the seat....John(UK)....fergusontractors@hotmail.com
 

[Tony in Mass.]

To John and Jon, sorry, it is a front pulley drive pump, part of the Davis grill guard portion. I took the filter 'screen out yesterday, it was clean, but I cleaned it well back in April or May, the oil did get very milky thru the summer tho. Hum, if there is a safety/relief valve on the external pump? I'll have to hunt that down. It goes thru its paces as soon as it warms up, but no strength to speak of lately. I'll take some pictures today..... give it a test in warm sunshine for a change... BTW, awful foamy, comes out the vent now and then as I keep working the levers....
 

[Inno]

I think in this system the relief valve is on the loader controls not the pump. Don't take that as gospel but I think it works that way.
 

[Xwild]

Foamy would mean that it's blowing over the relief pretty much continuously, or it's dumping back into the tank in a splashing fashion..

Foamy also will ruin any of your pump efficencies, so you definitely need to figure that out.
 

[phil(va)]

I like straight weight non detergent motor oil for my front pump loader on my TO-30. No foam, enough 'shoulders' to do the job. That said, it is probably not the fluid, except maybe it isn't full? Did you put enough in? Mine doesn't have a bleed place, but maybe you have air trapped in there somehow?
 

[Inno]

I have on a couple of occasions run mine low to the point where the loader got "shaky" when lifting. I simply topped up the fluid and away I went with no air problems, after filling it just worked.