MF 135 Auxillary Hydraulics

[mspencer2]

Hello

I am having some troubles figuring out the proper operation of of the hydraulic controls on my 1965 MF 135 (Continental Gas). I have the two levers (between the drivers legs) and the draft and position control of to the right. The left lever (red one) between your legs raises and lowers the 3-point links. The right lever (black one) between your legs runs my hydraulic service ports on the back of the tractor. The position and draft control levers don"t really do anything. If I lock the left (red) lever between my legs back I can get the draft control to move the links up and down but it is pretty jerky and if you set the lever lock for the draft control the links don"t really return to the same spot when you move the lever up and down. The position control doesn"t do anything when you move it up and down. I have the hydraulics manual for the tractor but it doesn"t seem to pretain to my system. The reason I am trying to get the position control to work is because when I control the 3-point links with the left (red) lever it settles when you have something heavy on it. I was told this might be because I am using the auxillary lever to control the 3-point links. Could just be a seal too. Is it posiible to use the standard postion control for the 3-point with the auxillary hydraulics installed? I included some pics so you can see what my system looks like.

Thanks

Mark

 

[adern]

Mark,

I have a '72 135, with a similar setup, although my valves look a bit different than the set you have (the ones under the seat). On mine, the left lever (red knob on yours) is a diverter, and detents in the forward and rearward positions. in the rear position, i have control over the 3-point using the standard draft or position controls. in the center position, it allows the right lever to control its cylinder.

http://lisalizard.orconhosting.net.nz/fergie/pdf/mf130-180aux-hydraulics.pdf is a manual for that valve, but it is not very clear, and the pictures are less than useful.

 

[mspencer2]

I know, my pictures in the manual are not usable. It would be lots of help if they were. It talks about turning the selector switches in or out and I don't think I even have those on my control. My left lever does have the detents and if you lock it back (toward the seat), it does allow the draft control to move the 3-point up and down but the position control doesn't do anything.

 

[Anonymous-0]

The draft control has to be all the way up and the position control has to be up even further into constant pumping position for the aux. hyd's to work. Push the postion lever over to clear the normal stop and then pull it even further up into constant pumping. (Don't use constant pumping position for 3 pt. operation) The red lever has to be in neutral as well. The 3 pt. and aux. can't be used at the same time. To use the 3 pt., put the black lever in neutral and pull the red lever back, then use the draft and position controls to operate the 3 pt. hitch. Pushing the red lever to the forward position will make the 3 pt. drop. With the red lever in neutral/middle position the 3 pt. will creep down. That's normal. If the red lever is in the back position, the 3 pt. won't creep down because the hyd. pump will be supplying oil to keep it the level the position control is set at. The draft control has to be all the way up though or the 3 pt. will go to the ground. There is a manual explaining how the the valve you have works on Puddingsworld MF site. The valve you have can also be adjusted for single or double acting hyd's. It seems complicated but once you figure out how it works, it's actually quite simple. I have the same set up as you have. There's also a draft response control by your right foot.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I can see one of the selector switches for the aux. hyd's in your very first picture(at the back of the valve) and also the larger one on the side of the valve in the 2nd picture. The one on the side has to be in or out. I can't remember which but it's easy to figure out. Nothing will work if it's in the wrong position.

 

[mspencer2]

So you are saying those round things are the selector switches? Do you turn them or pull and push them?

 

[Laurence Lombard]

On a different note - I have not seen such an old tractor with so little wear on the pedals. Where can I get one of those!?

 

[mspencer2]

Actually it only has 1488 what i assume are original hours on it. I used to mow hay with it when I was in high school back in the 1990's. My cousin owned it at that time and last year i asked him if he wanted to sell it. They used it a few times a year to run an auger and that was about it. It's an original MF tach and the hour meter works so that leads me to believe the hours are accurate. Unfortunately it was stored outside it's whole life so cosmetically it's not that great but mechanically it's like new. It's also the deluxe model so it has all the bells and whistles. If you are curious, I paid $3250 for it so i don't think I got hurt on the deal. New plugs and wires and fluid changes and it was running like new. We use it to run a 6' JD 616 rotary mower, a 6' rotary tiller and a blade. It handles all of them very well. This year I am using it to pull a 500 gallon sprayer with a 30' boom to spray pastures. The sprayer has a hydraulic pump on it so I am glad the MF has the auxillary hydraulics on it. I am lucky enough to have a father-in-law that is a big farmer. He is loaning me his Outback GPS system to spray with. Anyone ever see an MF 135 with GPS?

 

[mspencer2]

I went out and messed with the tractor a little this afternoon. I normally have the draft control all the way up and the position control all the way up but not in constant pumping. I use the left (red) lever to control the 3-point and the right (black) lever to control the hydraulic ports. Funny thing is my hydraulic ports work just fine without the position lever in constant pumping. A few weeks ago i was testing an ACE hydraulic sprayer pump and the hydraulics work fine without moving the position lever to constant pumping. Do I have something set up wrong? Today I messed with the knob on the side of the auxillary hydraulics on the left side of the left (red) lever and with the knob behind the left lever and the operation of the hydraulics didn't change at all. I am starting to think either I have it set up wrong or the position control linkage inside the rear end housing is disconnected/broke. Any ideas?

 

[Anonymous-0]

The aux. hyd's can work when the position control isn't all the way back in constant pumping but it's doubtful you're getting maximum flow. The aux. hyd's don't have a lot of flow anyway, IE/ less than 5 GPM at full throttle. You should pull the left lever back and use the side controls to operate the 3 pt., especially if you're carrying an implement as the 3 pt. will creep down. Having the left lever back and using the position control it won't creep and stay exactly where it's set and also allows the draft control to work properly. If you looked at the aux, hyd's manual it will explain it better. Don't worry that the pictures are blurry, the text isn't. It doesn't sound like there is anything wrong with your tractor. You just haven't figured out how everything works yet. You got a very good deal on the tractor and since your cousin used to own it, why don't ask if knows how everything works? If the aux. works and the 3 pt. works with the left lever back and the side controls don't worry about it. It's kind of like learning how to drive a stick shift for the first time.

 

[mspencer2]

I guess I'm not sure where to go from here. I have the manual and it says basically what you have told me. All I know is when I lock the left lever back the 3-point goes all the way up and the position control won't do anything to bring it back down or move it at all. The draft level will make it go up and down but it's raelly jerky and not consistent. Any more ideas on what to try next?

 

[Anonymous-0]

There could be something wrong with the position control or linkage. The draft control can be jerky if you only move it a little bit to lower an implement. Playing with the adjuster on the side of the valve or at the rear of the left lever might make it work properly. It's been several years since I was playing with mine and can't remember where I have them adjusted. I know they are turned all the way and not somewhere in the middle. David P or Masseynut probably have some other ideas.

 

[mspencer2]

I'm kind of thinking the adjusters might have something to do with it but I have no idea what to do with them. I messed with them some but it seemed like they unscrewed all the way and didn't have a solid stop for the outer position. Maybe I am messing with the wrong thing. Are they the knurled knobs on the side and back of the hydraulic control housing? According to the manual they are either in or out and i can't figure out what "out" is. For what I am trying to do the manual says they either need to be in or out so I guess it really doesn't matter. Maybe someone will chime in that has had this problem or knows exactly what my particular system should do. I will keep messing with it and thanks for all your help!

 

[adern]

With the 2 quadrant levers as you describe here, it could seem like the left lever controls the 3-point because when you move it to the rear the 3-point will rise, and when you move it forward the 3-point will fall.

For controlling the AUX ports, both quadrant levers should be all the way back (“constant Pumping” position on the Position lever), the left lever should be in the center position, and the right (Red) lever should control the AUX port normally.

For Position control, the Draft quadrant lever should be all the way back, the Left lever of the Aux valve set should be in the rear detent position, and the Position quadrant lever SHOULD control the 3-point. Have you tried the Position control with the Draft lever all the way rear?

(reply to post at 17:04:00 04/03/11) I'm kind of thinking the adjusters might have something to do with it but I have no idea what to do with them. I messed with them some but it seemed like they unscrewed all the way and didn't have a solid stop for the outer position. Maybe I am messing with the wrong thing.

On the Aux valve set, the thing that the manual refers to as a “switch valve” should be turned all the way in fro a double-acting cylinder, and all the way out for a single-acting cylinder. These valves are a small screw just under the handles for the valves. I am not sure exactly what they do; perhaps someone else could explain them better.

 

[Anonymous-0]

His valve is slightly different and has the switch valves on the back of the valve block under the seat.

 

[mspencer2]

If I understand the manual right, for what i want to do (control the 3-point with the position control lever) it doesn't matter if the switch valves are all the way in or all the way out (as long as they aren't in the middle somewhere I assume). I will play with it some more tomorrow and see if I can figure it out. I really apreciate the help from all of you!

 

[mspencer2]

I added some more pics of the auxillary valve so you can see it better. Today I messed with the switches or whatever you call them. I put them in every configuration I could think of and not only did it not do what I wanted it to, it didn"t change the operation of the hydraulics at all. Does anyone have any idea who may have manufactured this particular auxillary valve? I tried to find a name or something on it but there isn"t much.