Loader Joystick Hydraulics question

[yoderjac]

Made a little bit of progress today. I cut off the wrong sized bolt from the old handle and welded a new one on at the farm. I also collected up some metal I had there and brought it back to begin working on the front support for the bracket. When I got back, I threaded the old handle on to the new valve and check the position. It is perfect for operating the loader.

Here it is:

 

[yoderjac]

Well, it was a couple steps forward and a few backwards today. It was cold and I wasn't feeling great, so I didn't get started until after lunch. I began to play around with designing a front support for a bit. Then, I decided to hook up everything and see if everything operates correctly. The first issue was the old quick connects that I had reused. They were in pretty bad shape. I had cleaned the up with break cleaner, but needed to do that again to get stuff moving. I quickly noticed that they were hard enough to connect that I could not have gripped them enough to connect them had I put the front support in the way I had intended to. Next, I noticed how much force it takes to operate those quick connects. The bracket needs to be designed to withstand that force, not just support the weight of he bracket.

I had the loader hoses backwards on my first try and I noticed a leak at one of the quick connects. Reversing the hoses was not an issue, but one quick connect refused to mate properly. When the male was fully seated, the female would not close. When I got the female to close, it pushed the male back slightly and caused a leak. I'll need to replace that one set of quick connects, but that should be easy.

So, @Jerry-B-WI is right, that 6" full threaded hex bolt is not going to cut it. It is great for taking measurements, but is not going to handle it in the long run. The good news is now that I can operate the loader, I should be able to trailer the tractor and take it to the farm where the welder is. This will make building a new bracket much easier.

I need to pay more attention to accessing connections and stuff on the valve. I'll need to be sure the front support does not block access to the quick connects or the pressure relief valve.

 

[yoderjac]

A day of more backwards steps than forward steps. I headed to the farm in the Honda with Vy. The plan was for her to help me hook up the big mower to the DK45 and then for her to take a hike. I planned to load it on the trailer and then take it back to the Meadow and offload it. That would give me room in the barn and on Monday I would get the final fittings for the loader valve and install them and then load the B2400 on the trailer so I could take it to the farm on Tuesday to begin welding up the final bracket.

The follies begin! First, the Kioti would not start. There was power to the trickle charger, but it was not maintaining the battery. It failed. I hooked the big charger to it and Vy and I head to lunch to let it charge. After lunch, I was able to get it started. Next, I went to start the Chevy and the batteries were both dead in it too. This time the trickle charger was working, but the GFI outlet had failed. I'll need to diagnose that later. I hooked the big charger to the Chevy and then Vy helped me hook up the big mower. She headed for a hike. I decided to mow a small field behind my trailer so the battery would be fully charged when I turned it off.

I tried but was unable to start the Chevy diesel. I left the charger connected to it over night. I then checked the camera network and found the computer had gone down. Probable a power outage longer than the battery backup could support. I got it back up and running while I was waiting for Vy to finish her hike.

We headed home to the meadow from there. Tomorrow I hope to take meters over and decide if I need new batteries in the Chevy or not. I also hope to fix the electrical problem. If I can accomplish that, I'll still be on track for getting the B2400 to the farm by next Tuesday.

 

[yoderjac]

After taking a rest when we returned from the farm, I decided to scratch my head some more with the bracket design. While the current position of the bracket is fine with respect to using the control from the seat, there is a lot of flexibility in terms of what is easily reached and used. When I look at the picture In post #61, the bracket seems a bit high and a bit far back.

I'm also thinking about how to better secure it to the support tube. Right now, there is a 6" full thread 3/8" bolt going through one of the existing holes in the support tube on the 45 degree part with jam nuts to hold it in place. This is fine for temporary mock up but won't work for the long run. I'm now thinking about welding a piece of 1" x 1/8" tubing to the 45 degree part of the support tubing. I would make it the exact length as the separation between the vertical flat bars. I would weld it to the support tubing offset to the same amount as the current bolt and jam nuts have it. This centers it in the space between the cowling and the loader support.

I'm currently thinking of placing it about 4" forward and 4" down on the 45 degree part of the support tubing. This would move the handle about 4" down and 4" forward of the current location. I would weld the vertical flat bar to the ends of the 1" x 1/8" tubing. This means the vertical flat bar would not be removable from the support bar. I'd keep the bolt on approach that I currently have at the top, so the valve and horizontal supports could easily be removed.

With the current 6" bolt and jam nuts approach, the unit wants to rotate forward if the jam nuts loosen even a little (which is fine for the mock-up). I wont have that issue when they are welded in place, but with so much weight forward I was thinking I'd need some kind of front support. The issue with this is that it becomes difficult to access the quick connects, pressure relief valve and other connections if I add a front support.

Since I plan to move the unit about 4" forward and down on the support tubing, it frees up the two holes near the top of the 45 degree part where the current 6" full thread bolt is. I'm now thinking I can use these to fashion a back support brace that won't interfere with the valve in any way. Tying the flat bar together in the middle also helps stiffen it.

Well, those are my design thoughts for now. I removed the bad quick-connect from the setup. I hope to get a new one on Monday from my hydraulic guy. He is also going to make me a pressure gauge connection (not sure how yet, inline or with a male quick connect).

 

[yoderjac]

I made a half-step forward today. I headed back to the farm this afternoon. The pickup started right up after a night on the charger. I loaded up the Kioti and replaced the GFI outlet then headed back to the retirement property with the Kioti and did some mowing. I now have the truck and trailer here, so I plan to load up the B2400 on Monday after I replace the bad quick connects.

 

[yoderjac]

I made some more progress today. On the way back from PT, I stopped at the little hydraulic shop. I got a pair of quick connects to replace the bad ones. They are a different type, but that will only help me make sure I don't get connections wrong if I ever have to disconnect the loader hydraulics. I also borrowed a hydraulic pressure gauge kit from the shop. He had the right adapters so I could use the quick connect male that I just got.

When I got home, I put the new female quick-coupler on the tractor valve. I then hooked the male end through the adapter to he pressure gauge hose. I hooked a 6K pressure gauge from the kit to the other end. I started up the B2400 and put it on full throttle. I operated the loader control and the pressure gauge reading was at the factory setting, way high for this 3rd party loader. I loosened the nut on the pressure release valve and used a hex wrench to turn it counter clockwise. I kept adjusting and turning until I got it down to the 1600 psi which is what the loader is supposed to handle. I tightened the nut to keep it in place. Next, I removed the male quick connect from the pressure gauge hose and connected it to the hose on the tractor. I inserted it in the female coupler and it locked in place as it should. It was easy to remove and insert.

I then started the tractor up again. The loader controls work as expected including float! With the valve held by the temporary mock-up bracket, I was able to load the tractor on to my trailer. Tomorrow, I plan to take it to the farm and begin working on a permanent bracket.

 

[yoderjac]

I headed to the farm with the B2400 in tow this morning. I found issues with my most recent design for the bracket, so I'm building it on the fly. The new bracket will be about 4" more forward and 2" lower than the mock-up. I really liked the idea of being able to disassemble it with bolts, but It looks like I'm going to weld more of it than I wanted into a permanent position.

It was very slow going. I had to remove and reinstall the vertical support tube multiple times, each step along the way. I welded a piece of the 1" square tubing to it vertically in the place I want to position the left side of the bracket. Once I got them welded, I found some black paint and put a coat on the modified support post. I left it to dry and called it a day about 4pm. I plan to head back to continue work on it tomorrow. I'll try to remember to take some more pics.

 

[yoderjac]

Well, I finally finished the permanent bracket for the valve today. I did make some compromises. I wanted it to be easily removable with bolts, but I just could not figure out how to make it stout enough. So, I ended up welding it so the bracket is permanent. Only the valve is removable with bolts and lock nuts.

Here is the bracket by itself about 90$ complete:

Here it is complete. The valve is installed and I finished the top to hold the ammo can:

Thanks for all the help and ideas!

 

[yoderjac]

You can see in the picture in the previous post, I welded L-brackets out of angle iron to the top and drilled 5/16" holes in them. I placed them a bit winder than the ammo box. My initial thought was to use bungee cords hooked into these to hold the ammo box in place. I've been thing about hat. I'm now thinking about welding 5/16" nuts to each of those holes and using thumb screws to grip the ammo box. I can always add the bungees if these are not tight enough to hold the ammo box in place.

 

[yoderjac]

I tried to finish up today, but it still needs a few more tweaks. My original thought was to use the holes in the L brackets I welded on to hook bungee cords to going over the ammo can to hold it in place. I started thinking about it and decided to weld nuts to the inside of the L brackets at the hole and use thumb screws.

The thumb screw idea worked, but I quickly found out I don't really need thumb screws as it would be rare to remove it and I can always keep a 1/2" wrench inside. The problem with the thumb screws was that they were too long and the head would contact when raising the loader arm. I abandon that idea in favor of short hex bolts that you can see in the picture:

The hex bolts hold it firmly in place. I could always add bungees and hook them to the hex bolts if I felt it was necessary.

I noticed some other problems as well. The bracket is the slightest bit too close to the loader arm. The pump hose presses against the loader arm when it is raised. Not good. I also noticed the bucket controls are backwards. That is an easy solution simply swapping the cables in the quick connects. I hope to re-route the pump cable to avoid and interference with the loader arm.

The final issue, I'm not sure how to resolve. When I put the bucket in float, the tractor does not have enough power to push it. It almost seems like the hydraulic pressure is not being release but instead, the bucket is pushed to the ground and locked in place. I'm not sure how to resolve this one.

 

[yoderjac]

I've been thinking about the final issue described above, and now I'm not sure there is an issue. I'm used to the float on my DK45. It has a tooth bar on it. I'm used to being able to put it in float and push in forward. I removed the tooth bar from the B2400 a while back. I'm guessing the issue is that with the bucket edge down with no tooth bar, it is just easier for the tractor to raise the front wheels than to push the bucket. Tomorrow, I'll try back dragging and see if that works as expected.

 

[yoderjac]

I think I finished up today. I reversed the bucket hoses and the bucket operates normally. I rerouted the pump hose so there is no more interference. The float is a non-issue. I had a mud hole starting to develop in the driveway. I back dragged stone over it and the float worked exactly as it should. There is just too much resistance to go forward with the bucket edge down with it in float. It should not be an issue when I angle the bucket to move snow, which is the reason I got a valve with float.

This has been a great first time learning project for hydraulics and a great recovery project. Thanks again for the help along the way!