Hyd. question.

[C. Oliver Teitz]

I have a loader on a 460 Farmall. When I drop my loader and it hits ground it always takes 2-3 seconds to get down pressure. I've had other hydraulics issues that I think I have resolved so I always assumed it was just air in the cylinders. But what if a vacuum is created on the down pressure side of the cylinders because the fluid doesn't flow to them fast enough on the free fall down and the 2-3 seconds is just the time it takes to fill that side of the cylinders with fluid that takes the place of the vacuum? Is that the case? If it is the case with our old obsolete tractors how do they prevent this on modern equipment?

 

[Rusty wheel]

U could put a flow control valve on the down side of the cylinder so it can't drop so fast.

 

[mkirsch]

Does the loader just drop like a stone or is it a controlled descent? Putting a flow limiter in the line to the boom that limits the flow to the tractor's capability would help that in theory.

It does take a second or two normally to develop down pressure on the older tractors. That's due to a combination of factors, including the open center hydraulic system, lower flow rates, lower pressures, and larger cylinders to compensate for lower pressures.

Newer tractors have much flow rates, higher pressures and closed center hydraulic systems that react more quickly to pressure demands.