bucket hydraulics slugish

Deere 317 background: last week I installed a new root grapple and almost emptied the hydraulic reservoir filling up the new hoses and cylinders. Now bucket tilt hydraulics has become sluggish and less powerful and gets worse with time. sounds like restricted flow on the right side of the machine. there is some kind of block with an adjustment valve underneath the boom on the right side that feeds the bucket hydraulics. I can't find the purpose of this block but my intuition says its for speed adjustment. boom hydraulics is just fine. could I have some sediment somewhere blocking up something from when I drained the reservoir? could this valve block need adjustment (but why did it go out?) any other ideas? thanks

Hopefully it is just air in the system.
The block may be a valve to prevent the bucket falling if a hose was to burst. Without seeing it, i can't be sure.
To bleed the system, you may need to crack hoses at the cylinders and operate the hydraulics. If it has safety valves, they don't always work well when there is air in the system and it needs bleeding to work properly.

Tazza said:

Hopefully it is just air in the system.
The block may be a valve to prevent the bucket falling if a hose was to burst. Without seeing it, i can't be sure.
To bleed the system, you may need to crack hoses at the cylinders and operate the hydraulics. If it has safety valves, they don't always work well when there is air in the system and it needs bleeding to work properly.

Click to expand...

Any issues with the bucket settling?

Bobcatdan said:

Any issues with the bucket settling?

Click to expand...

I purchased the tech manual for the unit on eBay. It had a procedure for getting air out of the hydraulic cylinders. Basically level out the cylinder, operate slowly 3/4 stroke 5 times and then full stroke 5 times. I then worked it hard pulling mesquite trees with no problems.

joeu235 said:

I purchased the tech manual for the unit on eBay. It had a procedure for getting air out of the hydraulic cylinders. Basically level out the cylinder, operate slowly 3/4 stroke 5 times and then full stroke 5 times. I then worked it hard pulling mesquite trees with no problems.

Click to expand...

I have a bobcat with a grapple bucket on it it runs fun but the hydrolocs going to the grapple bucket are messing up when I open the claws and let off the trigger they will close by their self and when I shut them they will open by them selves it's like the pump going to them never quits going does anyone know what this could be?

Jcantrell35 said:

I have a bobcat with a grapple bucket on it it runs fun but the hydrolocs going to the grapple bucket are messing up when I open the claws and let off the trigger they will close by their self and when I shut them they will open by them selves it's like the pump going to them never quits going does anyone know what this could be?

Click to expand...

Sounds like the aux hydraulics are not centering correctly. It could be bad electro-hydraulic solenoid or what it uses to operate the aux hydraulics.