Bobcat 863 boom arms won't raise unless bucket is tilted back at same time

[clewis]

I've recently acquired a 2000 Bobcat 863 on the cheap, but with an issue. When I heel the left pedal to raise the boom, it raises very slowly and won't raise at all with any kind of load. However, if I heel the right pedal to tilt the bucket back while simultaneously trying to raise the boom, the boom raises with full speed and power. Also, whenever I have the boom raised, if I heel only the left pedal to try to raise it more, the boom falls at a rate equal to how much I press the pedal. I would have thought blown seals in the hydraulic cylinders on the lift arms but the fact that it raises just fine if I tilt the bucket back simultaneously has thrown me for a loop. Has anyone had or known someone who has had this issue before?

 

[brdgbldr]

Could be a stuck or leaking valve.

 

[clewis]

I went ahead and swapped the lock valves for tilt and lift on the BICS to see if the problem would swap pedals but no luck. No visible leaks at either end of the spools so I doubt that's the problem but who knows. I worked with the machine on the farm all day today. Noticed by accident that the lift and tilt would still work, but barely, if I attempted to use the controls while in lockout. I figure the most cost effective route would be to order the full reseal kit for the control valve rather than order the separate kits one by one until I found the problem. The load checks were cheap enough so I ordered them too. Should all be here thursday from bobcat. Will give me a good chance to check everything out as I replace the seals. I'll report back with my findings. Thanks.

 

[brdgbldr]

The symptoms kind of sound like what happens when the auxiliary hydraulics are stuck on full time. Not sure how your machine is set up but on machines with the lever actuating the auxiliary hydraulics sometime the detent is engaged accidentally, keeping the auxiliary pumping.

Just something to look into.