460 hydraulic fast hitch problem

Hey guys. I'm new here. I've been looking around the forums but I can't seem to get my feeble mind around this one.
My 460 tel-e-depth hydraulic spool valve (the one on the left when you pull the tin under the steering wheel) has gave up the ghost! The gears are all jammed and broken. Man, what a mess! Replacing it would mean taking half the tractor apart and rebuilding it in place would be much like rebuilding you wristwatch! I like tractors because everything is BIG.
Anyway, my question is, with the other two valves and the appropriate handles can I just bypass the tel-a-depth valve and use one of the others to raise my 2-point? Can't I do this by just switching the hoses around behind the seat? anyone know which hose would go where?
Thanks in advance. Im not ready to scrap out the old girl yet...keith

Kieth,

I just went through that headache a few months ago with my 460. Reportedly those differential type gears were a common failure. Mine had been replaced at least once before by some other owner. Those gears are "retired" by Case/IH; meaning you can't get new ones. I got lucky and was able to get a good used set from All State Ag Parts of Wisconsin. There ph. # is 877-530-2110, ask for John. If they have any be ready to shell out about $200.00. You really need to buy a shop manual for your tractor. The I & T manuals are OK but not nearly as good for something like you're dealing with. I got mine form Yesterdays Tractors. I wish I had been smart enough to get one sooner than I did.

It looks intimidating at first but it's really not all that difficult to remove the spool valves. The book says that they are made to slide out individually from beneath the steering pedestal. I was doubtful, but sure enough, they do, but not without quite a bit of prep work. I found it much easier to work on with the seat pedestal removed. No sense fighting it, take it off. It's really too long of a process to describe here. If you would like send me you E-mail address and I'll scan the section on the Tele-A-Depth spool valves in my book and send it to you. That way I can't make a mistake and leave something out.

Good luck!

Geoff W.
Independent AMSOIL Dealer

Wow! So I'm not the first eh? Kinda had that sinking feeling. Thanks Geoff. Is this the best and cheapest way for me to get my hitch to move up and down? I have a shop manual on the way so I'm good there, I was just looking for a shortcut. Thanks for the scanning offer, though...keith

I was wondering the same thing about by-passing the Tel-A-Depth spool valve. Disclaimer: I'm by no means a mechanic or tractor expert. You might be able to use one of the other valves by running a long hydraulic hose back to the quick hitch ram. Maybe one of the pros on here can answer that question better than I. The only thing is that that diff. gear set up is a self adjustment device. IH had a problem with their Tel-A-Depth system loosing pressure and lowering on its own. Not real good if you're plowing, disking, etc. I suppose the front end of the tractor could come up off the ground if it wasn't heavy enough.

You'll be very happy you got that shop manual. I bought mine when I was going through this issue as well. The I & T manual just wasn't making sense and at times seemed to contradict itself. The picture even showed the gears in the wrong final position. Man, I had one heck of a time with those things. The day after I got that manual I opened it up, looked at the picture, spent about 2 minutes changing the gears and spool position and WHALLA!

Make sure you read through that section of the book a couple of times before you do anything. Important: This is key--You have to be sure all the gears and levers are indexed before you take anything apart on that valve. Take pictures for reference with your phone or digital camera. You'll be glad you did.

Let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Geoff W.
Independent AMSOIL Dealer

Some of the smaller tractors like the Super C/200 did not have any type of "feed-back loop" system to the valves like the bigger and later tractors, so it no doubt could be done with one of the other valves. It certainly would not be as good for pulling a tillage implement, but something like a mower it wouldn't matter.

You don't have to fix the tel-a-depth system.

It's very common to replace the tel-a-depth valve with a common standard valve so it operates more like the earlier 300 and 350 tractors.

If you don't want to go there, you can hook it up to one of the other two valves. It's just the two hoses on the cylinder. Hook them to the ports on one of the other two valves.

The other two valves come out under the gas tank, so you will have to run hoses from there to the rear if there aren't any already.