Mystang's Homesteading Circus

[mystang89]

Here's the steering cylinder. As far as I can tell its not leaking near the way it was though there still is some fluid that drips. If it's anything like a mustang that is normal.

Another problem I'm trying to troubleshoot with my tractor is that I seem to lose Hydraulic pressure. I'll be mowing the pasture for example, and every 10 minutes or so I'll have to tilt my bucket back towards me and lift it up. Same for if I leave the bucket up overnight. When I come back the bucket will have tilted downwards and if something is in it, it'll have fallen out. It's a slow gradual thing but it's still a thing. I checked to make sure I have hydraulic fluid and it's filled up to where it needs to be. I don't have a leak that I've noticed....that's not really saying much though. I'm guessing I may have air in the line but haven't figured out how to flush the lines yet plus I'm not sure I have the money to buy another 5 gal of hydraulic fluid.

Started work today on the back pasture fence. Well, I say we started work but really I just mean I placed the poles out near where they are going to be put in the ground and then just looked at the spring/creek crossing for a long time as I tried to figure out how I was going to work this one. lol. Here are some pictures of the spring/creek crossing area.

As you can tell there is bedrock right next to it but the hill grade isn't that steep which means that I won't be able to dig down very deep before I hit the bedrock. I can almost guarantee that I'll the separation between the poles on either side of the spring would be in access of 20+ feet before I was able to even get the pole 2 feet in the ground. I have the same problem on the other side of my property with the same creek line. It's bedrock through and through. I'm not sure how I'll get poles or T-posts in the ground. Even with a foot of concrete trying to hold it down that's not going to create enough of a hold for the fence plus any water which flows through there. It may be dry now but during the rainy season it floods hard.

I think I'll take my thinking chair out there and sit down for a long time. Maybe something will come to me.....other than my wife wondering what I'm doing.

 

[Latestarter]

Cattle panels are 16'... I know you said 20' but that's as close as I can get... Can you center a cattle panel over the creek bed and post either end with concrete bases? You could then attach "cut to fit" woven wire to the bottom to drape out on the down stream side. The pull of fencing on either side of the cattle panel should also help to keep it upright and semi "tight"...

If your bucket is dropping overnight,and there's no visible Hyd fluid to indicate leakage, I'd suspect a leaking seal within the hyd cylinder.

 

[Bruce]

I think I'll take my thinking chair out there and sit down for a long time. Maybe something will come to me.....other than my wife wondering what I'm doing.

And mosquitos and biting flies!

 

[greybeard]

If your bucket is dropping overnight,and there's no visible Hyd fluid to indicate leakage, I'd suspect a leaking seal within the hyd cylinder.

Or a maybe bad control valve. They're spring loaded to neutral, which is ported back to return. In the neutral position, if a spool within the valve is leaking, it will simply drain back into the reservoir and whatever ram that spool held in position will drop.

Generally, the way air is bled from a cylinder after a repair is simply to start the tractor, then using the control lever, work the ram back and forth from full extended to fully closed---IOW, from fully tilting of the bucket to down to fully tilting it back....cycle it back and forth.

As far as the plug goes, I'm not familiar with that particular cylinder. If you think it's just a set screw to hold the end cap from unscrewing I'll take your word for it, but I've never seen a cylinder that did it that way. I suggest some teflon tape on the threads tho.

 

[mystang89]

Would the control valve be what moves the lift?

I'll get it there today and measure plus I may try to poke around with a rid to see how far down I can possibly dig.

 

[greybeard]

Would the control valve be what moves the lift?

yes.

 

[mystang89]

Thanks GB. I'll pull it apart sometime.... before I die preferably..... And see what I can find.

 

[greybeard]

I would not 'pull it apart'. The machined tolerances in those control valves are extremely tight, and the least little nick while taking one apart or putting it back together after inspection can cause more problems than you have now. We didn't even rebuild them at the dealership..we either replaced the whole valve or sent them to a hydraulic shop.
There are ways to test the valve without disassembling it, and in most cases, without removing it from it's mount.

I'd have to see the valve and where it's hoses end up or a flow schematic of the valve, but the idea, is to raise the bucket, tilt the bucket to level, (you can 1st put some weight..like about 1/4 bucket of dirt) in it if you want, then shut the tractor off. Find and remove the hose (either end--whichever is easiest) that is the valve's return line. Put a bucket under the line or fitting or lay a piece of clean cardboard under it. If it is the valve that is leaking by, over the course of several hours or overnight, there will be a pool of hydraulic fluid in the bucket or on the cardboard. It will be a substantial amount..not just a few drops.

 

[mystang89]

Thanks again @greybeard ! I won't do anything with it especially if there is a chance I'll make it worse. Come tax time I'll try to look into having that checked out.

Onto the fence....I drove a rod down into the ground next to the spring, working my way away from the spring. On one side I went to 20' from the spring before actually getting 1' into the ground. On the other side I went 12' away before getting the rod into the ground a decent ways. That's 32' of no poles. Myself, my son, the flies, nats and mosquitoes were all out there racking or brains trying to figure something out. I even took my scythe out to clear the path so I could have a clearer picture. The grade is steeper than I thought.

That's one side.

I was doing some googling and found someone who used tires, poured 5" of concrete in, put his post inside and used a few of those. I was thinking maybe digging down 5" and putting the tire in the ground so the fence doesn't have the tire bulge to push the fence out.

 

[Baymule]

Tires work themselves out of the ground, that's why you can't toss them in a landfill. You can if you cut them in 3 pieces, but that would defeat your purpose.

3 cowpanels, overlapped and fastened securely together to make a 40' span. Then drive rebar at an angle as deep as you can to make a zig zag pattern, cris-crossed at the top and bottom, fasten them together. Then fasten to cowpanels. Run wire top and bottom, fasten to cowpanels. Make a triple H brace on each side of the spring. Maybe overkill, but that's my idea for what it's worth.