Super M hydraulics problems

I have been working on a stage 2 super m adding a loader and Saginaw 3pt hitch. I have a 2 part problem that I cannot figure out. When engaging the hydraulic valve (resevoir under the tank) the engine seems to bog down much more than I think it should. The pump gets hot - again more than I think is right. It is pumping fluid because the loader, 4 cylinders and 3pt, 2 cylinders all extend and retract. That" problem #1. When I retract the loader arms I get hydraulic fluid blowing out of the fill cap along with a generous amount of air. I have been cycling the cylinders in and out hoping I was getting the air out of the lines however it has not stopped. I refill the resevoir as needed. Do I just keep doing this? All of my connections are tight and I"m not losing fluid anywhere else. Is it normal to have that much pressure through the return into the resevoir? I have 3 Gresen valves set up. They all seem to be OK but at this point anything could be wrong. Any ideas what my steps should be to track down these problems? Thanks.

If the Valves are not open center (free to return all pump output to the reservoir when the valves are in the neutral position, it will cause that effect.
The system is continuously bypassing due to the closed center valves. (just a guess) The loader cylinders are leaking fluid past the piston seals (I bet it would slowly go down if left up in the air. As oil fills the place where there should be air, it comes out past the wipers. Pictures would help us be sure we are giving you good info. Jim

Here are the valves. I do not know if they are not open center. I thought they were. There is 1 Gresen 400 series 2-way, 1 Gresen (don't know) 2 way, and 1 Gresen 300 series 1-way. The plugs are removed and lines plumbed to respective cylinders. I will get pictures of the lines and cylinders and repost.

They look to be open center. If when they are off you can blow through the input port, and have air at the return port (to reservoir, or other valve input as shown), they are open center. If a hose from the IH system to the Gresen system is collapsed internally, it will act as though it is lifting a massive load. Check that by hooking the input hose to the output hose with a coupling, It should be full flow, no engine stress, no pressure. If there is, the pressure hose may be bad. The one way cylinders should not be leaking down as I stated in my first response. We will get it right! Jim

Yea,here again,I am with Jim on this.

Be sure to check those valves.They MIGHT not be open center??? What loos like a "power beyond"port what you got going from valve to valve here might just be an "out" port.(meaning the only time oil is coming out of it is when you are running a function on the valves.Example:when you activate the"A" work port on the valve,the oil is returning thru the "B" side and thru the "out" port. )

If that IS the case,then any time the hydraulics is on,and NO function is selected,the oil will be going over relief ALL THE TIME inside of the "Lift All"tank causing it to WAY overheat !!!!

Just me looking at the photo of those valves,I am THINKING that is how they are built??? (IDK,I am not there where I can check???)

Thanks Mike, the valves are 2 Gresen 575 and 2-way and 1 Gresen 300 1 way, just checked them again. What is the proper way to set these valves up? The valves are connected to each other from "out" port to "in" port so I was under the idea that an open center would push oil directly through the valve bodies until a function is selected.

I am familiar with the newer Gresen valves,but I am not sure about the ones you have?

If they are an OPEN center valve with the "out" port on the valve being an actual Power Beyond port,they should work fine.Like Jim was saying,you can "air check" them to make sure they are OPEN thru the center.(But that deosnt proove them to be "power beyond" capable,that just means he center is OPEN.
If they were a CLOSED center valve,you wouldnt get any oil passing thru the valves(going on to the next valve in series)unless the first valve was actuall being "worked" and the "exiting" oil out of that first valve would THEN be going to the second valve in series.Does that make sense?It can be a little confusing to explain sometimes.

The one question I didnt ask was where is the LAST valve in the series "out" port hose going too????? Is it plugged off?Is it maybe "dead heading" somewhere???Is it feeding another function somewhere else???

Thanks Mike. The OUT of the last valve in the series is returning to the filler tube of resevoir. These are older valves and I do not think they are power beyond capable valves. I am adding a return line filter. I do not understand why I am getting hydraulic oil out of the fill cap. Have I over filled the resevoir or am I pressurizing the resevoir? I have isolated the valves from the pump and resevoir. Engine was still bogging down when hydraulics on. I have since removed and inspected the pump. I have no reasonable way to remove the pressed aluminum gear cover within the pump body itself to inspect for blockage, which I believe is the problem. The pump does indeed still pump. The supply and pressure lines look ok and are not collapsed. Since replacing the pump the engine has not yet bogged but I have not run it a lot, waiting for hydraulic filter before running. I will replace the hydraulic oil again.

I would plumb the return line into the bottom of the reservoir, ( tee at the drain plug) that would eliminate some of the air on the return side. The reservoir should be full when all the air is bled from the system and all four cylinders are in the retracted position, this would be the "at rest" full level of the reservoir. The present reservoir MAY not have enough capacity to fill all four cylinders, this would cause the pump to suck air once it has used all the fluid present in the reservoir to lift the attachments, an auxillary reservoir ( tank) may be necessary to keep the pump supplied with enough fluid.
Since you state this is a Stage II Super, I assume it came equipped with the pump & lines plumbed from the factory. If not I would check the pump operating direction to be sure the supply (big hose) & pressure (small hose) lines are not crossed at the pump.
Do not mean to offend, ( been there done that), it's hard for me to tell from the pics but it looks like yours are plumbed correctly, so no problems there.
Try to plumb the return line from the valves from a lot lower point to the reservoir, try a more direct route, air will be trapped at the highest point you have you lines plumbed, fashion an air bleeder at the highest point of your hoses, then install a plug when you have all the air bled from the system.
You have a lot of pipe & plumbing there to get all the air out of, I beleive the reservoir is going dry before the pump can fill all the routing of valves hoses & pipe and expel the air.

The OTHER issue I DID NOT answer was the oil coming out the top of the fill tube.Since the Lift ALL box tube is small and ONLY vented thru the cap,and the fact your return hose from the valve is plumbed into it.You will probably ALWAYS get oil rushing out of the top of it.I had a return line on my Super M hooked there for awhile.due to the angle of the tee it was hooked into and how close it was to the vent on the tank,it would "fountain" oil out of it

Ideally,it would be nice to have your return hose somewhere in the top of the opposite side of the hydraulic reservoir,AND put a large vented cap on your fill tube.I can give you a bigger,better vented cap,if you want it?It is brand new.Just give me some shipping $ You CAN drill and tap the top of the tank to put a return fitting in it.(hate doing it to it.)