Hydraulics Ferguson TE-20

Looking for some input on the hydraulics on my TE-20. During the summer I used it to disc a small field and it worked perfectly. This winter I put on a 6' back blade and started to push snow around, after the third pass down my driveway the blade stuck in the up position. Put it back in the shed and two days later it settled to the ground. I thought it might need some new hydraulic fluid, so I changed it and tried it again, this time it would not raise up under load though it looked like it was trying. I took the blade off and the arms lifted right up but would not go down unless I pushed in the clutch. Any comments would be greatly appreciated

Sounds like a linkage problem to me. You will have to inspect it, good luck.

You probably ought to ask this question in the Ferguson forum as you"s get more and quicker responses.

Was the fluid warmed up? In cold conditions it takes some time to warm up especially if ou are using the OEM recommended fluid. The colder the weather the longer the warm up. Acceptable leak down with an implement on the hitch is 15 minutes after the engine is turned off witht eh lift lever full up.

Failure to lift can becaused by a leaking lift cylinder, leaking supply tube, a sticking control valve or the control fork coming off the control valve "T" stem.

Failure to drop can becaused by a sticking control valve or a or the control fork coming off the control valve "T" stem or a misadjusted quadrant.

I would suggest you get the hydraulics warmed up and take off the right side access cover to the hydrauic compartment, engage the pto lever and start the engine(UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES PLACE YOUR HANDS INTO THE HYDRAULIC COMPARTMENT WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING!) Move the lift control lever to the full up position and observe the bottom of the control fork ("H" shaped part)moving the control valve forward. Look up at the lift cylinder to see if it"s leaking. A more than a few drops is a leak. Usng a flashlight and a mirror, look in the front right corner of the compartment for a vertical tube. Look for a leak there. Look at the pump side plates for leaks. Look at the base of the pump. Lots of turbulence and noise could men the relief valve is partially stuck open.

Now put the lever in the full down position and see if the control fork moves the valve backwards(you can"t observe the valve through the fluid but youcan see the control fork motion. Put the lever back full up and shut down the engine. Reach into the fluid and feel for the "T" stem on the control valve. It should be connected to the "legs" on control fork and the control valve stem should be full forward. See if you can push it further forward. If you can, The valve is sticking. Now pull it full back and see if there"s any sticking feeling. Do these checks systematically and report bak on what you find.

Thanks for the information Jerry, I will give it a try and post my results.

Took the side plate off today and sure enough the "T" stem on the control valve is off, worse yet was to find about 1/2" of ice in the bottom. Will my pump be shot? How do I reconnect the "T" stem to the control valve? How do I get the water out?