Farmall 504 3 point woes... Something is just not right.

Hello guys, it has been awhile since I asked for advice on my F504D. My 3 point is VERY slow to lower, but raises fine. Even with a heavy load (+1000 lbs) it lowers slow. My father said it worked properly then one day it was slow, like an overnight thing. Mind this was +20 years ago. Could it be as simple as a blown oring or plugged orifice? I need to tear into it to repair a leak in the quadrant. While I am in there, I'd like to rectify the slow to lower hitch. Remember, it is only lower, raises fine.

Thanks,

Charles

Charles: I don't have your answer, however I've seen a trouble shooting section of a service manual on 3 point hitch of 404, (same era). I'm not certain but it must have been Blue Ribbon Service manual or an IT manual. It was about 7-8 pages of just about everything possible that could go wrong with the hitch. They covered slow lifting, slow lowering, not lifting, not lowering, etc. Very, very detailed, and I'm sure the same is available for 504.

I agree it has to be something like an O ring that popped over night type of thing. Probably the O ring plugged somewhere that oil has to go when lowering.

I'm assuming 06 or 04 draft control is like 56 series.

How does it behave when lowering the inside/position quadrant lever only an inch or two at a time? How about lowering to the halfway point? does it adjust position quickly or is it slow in those situations too? On our 56 series tractors, lowering the inside lever all the way into the offset of the quadrant will slow the lowering significantly. And I don't recall seeing the quadrant assembly in your pictures from before. the lower inch or inch and a half of the inside lever's travel is a control zone for draft response. A misadjustment or intentional movement into the zone will slow the lowering.

Also On our 56 series tractors having the draft lever towards the rear in the "light" area will also restrict lowering speed or prevent it from lowering at all. The operator's manual says the outside/draft lever should be all the way forward unless you are digging in the dirt with an implement that requires automatic draft control. You can leave the draft lever where you have it adjusted until the job is done, however since there is no sense in readjusting every time you pick up and turn around. In Transport you probably should have the draft lever all the way forward; though i think many people don't do it that way.

some of this info might be old news to you but it might help someone else.
As long as you are gonna be in there, you should check your adjustments against the IT or service manual specs--maybe something is off?


-karl f

It responds the same in all positions of the lift quad, quick up, slow lower. I have tried the draft control in all positions. If you move it too far into the "light" zone, with a light load or no load, it raises regardless of the lift control. Full up position with a moderate load takes 20-30 seconds to lower fully.

I spoke to a guy I work with that used to be an IH mechanic. He thinks there is a valve that is activated when the lift control is lowered to the last 1"-2" in the offset of the quad cover. He seems to think it is a slow speed drop valve. He said it could be stuck...

Hugh, I have seen Blue Ribbon manuals on EBAY for the various IH including the 504. I almost bought 5 or 6 of the various sections. I need to reference my I&T as well as the op man for proper actions of the draft and lift controls and compare to how mine behaves.

I was hoping maybe some one had 04, 06 series experience with this... I am thinking there is an orfice or restrictor on the lower circuit and it has become plugged. Dad ran it for many years without filters and only the screen Sometimes my hero lets me down. But he farms cattle and produces hay on top of his construction business, so he is quite busy at times. I cannot fault him, but I suspect that is why I ended up replacing the main pump.

[b:e632c857e4]KARL[/b:e632c857e4] I have not forgot you! I wanted to take some pics of the remote valves and handles then let you choose. I ran over my camera and disked it under. I found it. The card and battery survived, not the camera. I bought another and will try to send you the pic via email tonight.

Later guys,

Charles

Charles: To some extend I should address Karl as well. First let me say I know little about the 404 and 504. I didn't keep my 504 long enough to gain much experience with it.

06 and 56 series were lower link draft sencing. I don't think the 04 series were. I think they were top link sencing. That plus seeing that 404 manual once was the reason for recomending the manual.

I guess it wouldn't be a lot different if I were dealing with lower link sencing, just been away from it too long. These little offsets I have are left hand sencing.

Top link sense.

Thanks,

Charles