Ford 540 Loader Hydraulics

[thirdrock]

Hey guys, had a few questions...

- I had a hard line break free from it's bracket and ended up getting krinked when it banged into something. It seems this hard line is long discontinued by new holland. Is the best option to cut out the krinked portion & replaced with hydraulic hose / clamps?

- The two cylinder attachment points. One attachment has play and can be moved around a bit & the other can't. Which is normal?

Going to be replacing some hoses shortly. Thanks!

 

[used red MN]

Hose and clamps will not hold under the pressure in these types of hydraulic systems. They make special steel compression fittings that will work for this, see link. Example fittings Any place that make hydraulic hoses probably has them. You will then need to purchase or have a longer hydraulic hose made. I would say the pivot joint that has some play is probably the correct example. However if it worn with a lot of play that is not ideal. The problem with one that seem tight it could point to lack of lubrication which can cause additional hydraulic strain due to the additional push needed to overcome it.

 

[Jim.ME]

Those fittings may have a swivel built into them as they appear to be ORB connecting in the cylinder. You should be able to pivot the hose some as the stub, going into the cylinder, has to be able to turn in the piece crimped on the end of the hose for it to be threaded out of the cylinder.

You are going to need a compression or braze on fitting to cut the tube off and make a new connection point on the cross bar, as the tube is likely silver soldered into the tee block on the other side. A hydraulic shop that makes tubes might be able to replace the section from the tee block over.

To replace with a hose, the other option would be hoses and fittings all the way from the loader valve to the cylinders.

It sounds a bit crude, and will look a bit rough, but many tubes like yours have been carefully sprung back, close to in place, anchored solidly and have lasted for years.

 

[thirdrock]

Thanks for the replies.

Jim, when you mention "carefully sprung back"...what did you mean by that?

 

[Jim.ME]

Thanks for the replies.

Jim, when you mention "carefully sprung back"...what did you mean by that?

Carefully bend it back, closer to the correct position. The little kink in the tube you have isn't going to noticeably affect the performance of the bucket cylinders.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

I agree. If it's not leaking, don't worry about it. Just bend it back as best you can. Anywhere it makes contact with metal, wrap it with a piece of rubber cut from an old inner tube (buy a cheap bicycle tube if you don't have any) and secure with zip ties.

Same goes for the "attachment points." If they are not leaking, leave them alone and stop worrying about what they are "supposed" to do. Fact of the matter is they can do either depending on the type of fitting used. Some swivel. Some are rigid.

 

[thirdrock]

Got it. The loader wouldn't tilt (with a load) suddenly yesterday so I figured this had something to do with it. Up / down still is working just fine.

 

[Jim.ME]

Got it. The loader wouldn't tilt (with a load) suddenly yesterday so I figured this had something to do with it. Up / down still is working just fine.

The tube would have to be folded double and kinked of and even then, the other side would be fighting trying to move the bucket. When you say won't tilt do you mean roll out and dump or roll back when filling? What were you doing? You could have opened the relief if trying to roll something back, if it was too heavy or too much restriction to moving.

 

[used red MN]

Got it. The loader wouldn't tilt (with a load) suddenly yesterday so I figured this had something to do with it. Up / down still is working just fine.

The two cylinder attachment points. One attachment has play and can be moved around a bit & the other can't. Which is normal?

So are these “attachment points” for the hoses or the actual cylinder pivot pins that physically connect pivoting part as I took you meaning to be? If the loader is titling suddenly you need to give us more photos and more explanation of this. Anywhere on the loader that two pieces of metal are “hinged” if these locations are very loose or breaking operating the loader could be dangerous.
Edit: I see you said “wouldn’t” so I actually read it wrong. So it responds slowly to tilting?

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

So are these “attachment points” for the hoses or the actual cylinder pivot pins that physically connect pivoting part as I took you meaning to be? If the loader is titling suddenly you need to give us more photos and more explanation of this. Anywhere on the loader that two pieces of metal are “hinged” if these locations are very loose or breaking operating the loader could be dangerous.
Edit: I see you said “wouldn’t” so I actually read it wrong. So it responds slowly to tilting?

Looks to me like the hydraulic elbow fittings are circled, not the pivot pins.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Got it. The loader wouldn't tilt (with a load) suddenly yesterday so I figured this had something to do with it. Up / down still is working just fine.

So what were you trying to lift? What exactly was happening when you tried? What did you see, hear, and/or feel? Were there noises? Did the engine change speed/tone?

 

[thirdrock]

I had forks on the bucket. I went to lift a stack of fence panels (600-1000lbs). When i tried to roll the bucket back i heard the normal noises but had no response basically. I can't recall if the engine changed tone but no strange noises.

With no load, the bucket rolled back slowly & rolling out seemed to be normal.

The loader goes up and down as normal.

I had cricled the hydraulic elbow fittings to answer usedredmn's question.

 

[Jim.ME]

I had forks on the bucket. I went to lift a stack of fence panels (600-1000lbs). When i tried to roll the bucket back i heard the normal noises but had no response basically. I can't recall if the engine changed tone but no strange noises.

With no load, the bucket rolled back slowly & rolling out seemed to be normal.

The loader goes up and down as normal.

I had cricled the hydraulic elbow fittings to answer usedredmn's question.

You could have weak packings in a bucket cylinder(s), and they bypass under heavy/full pressure. If the weight was out near the tip of the forks it could have been seen as an overload by the hydraulics and the relief valve opened, especially using forks that slip on the lip of a bucket. The further out from the loader pins the less weight capacity loaders have. The rating capacity of some loaders is right at the boom pins. If yours is a 745 loader it is rated at 2500 pounds at the pins according to Tractor Data. Move the center of a load our 4 feet from the pins and your 600 to 1000 pounds may have been too much for the bucket cylinders to roll, even if the arms lifted.