Gehl CTL 60 (Takeuchi) Loss of Hydraulic Power

[bremery]

A friend of mine has a Gehl CTL60 (Takeuchi TL130) with 1200 hours, that is experiencing loss of boom and bucket power. The track drives seem to be fine, but the aux, lift and bucket controls are very slow or do not work.

The problem started today after snow blowing for 4 hours. Towards the end of the day the blower did not seem to throw the snow that great. The machine then started to shake and make a constant noise similar to when you run your aux with nothing connected but worse. The noise would go away when the lift arm float valve was opened. The owner parked it and a few hours later I was able to come by and look at it.

When I got there and started it up, the lift arms wanted to go up all by themselves, but only a few inches. They would not go down until the float was activated which allowed the arms to drop and made the noise go away. Once we moved the machine to make sure the track drives were still working, the arms stopped lifting themselves, but the noise and shuddering was still happening.

We disconnected the snow blower to see if that was the problem, but it did not help. The only function that barely works is when you curl the bucket to dump, BUT rather than lifting the machine it raises the boom like the float is enabled. This did not make sense to me, as it should lift the machine up. I also had disconnected the float solenoid to see if that would help and it did not.

We plan on checking the pump pressure at the aux connection once we get the right fittings for the pressure gauge. I did check for leaks, and anything that may be out of order. The hydraulic fluid level was fine. The filter was changed in the fall and he has put very little hours on it since. The machine was run for many hours during a recent snow storm with no signs of problems. We are looking for suggestions on where to start looking. I unfortunately do not have a service manual for this machine.

 

[sandhills-elect]

I would check the filter under cab to see how many fillings there are. Those filter are to be changed i think every 500 hrs and i change mine once a year which is less than that so not 100% sure on hours. Sounds like you have some controls that are not working properly. Sounds like you supply pump at the front of main drive pump is going bad to me, but not sure. Good luck Brent.

 

[bremery]

I would check the filter under cab to see how many fillings there are. Those filter are to be changed i think every 500 hrs and i change mine once a year which is less than that so not 100% sure on hours. Sounds like you have some controls that are not working properly. Sounds like you supply pump at the front of main drive pump is going bad to me, but not sure. Good luck Brent.

Update: I was able to check the pump pressure where it enters the control block for the aux, lift and curl circuits. The hose from the pump goes into a tee at the control block and has a plug at the end of it. This is where I connected my gauge.

At engine idle I got 700 psi and at full throttle I measured 900 psi. I believe the full systems pressure is a little less than 3000 psi for this machine.

We are going to pull the main hydraulic filter and check for shavings. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Could it be the pump or should we look elsewhere?

 

[sandhills-elect]

Update: I was able to check the pump pressure where it enters the control block for the aux, lift and curl circuits. The hose from the pump goes into a tee at the control block and has a plug at the end of it. This is where I connected my gauge.

At engine idle I got 700 psi and at full throttle I measured 900 psi. I believe the full systems pressure is a little less than 3000 psi for this machine.

We are going to pull the main hydraulic filter and check for shavings. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Could it be the pump or should we look elsewhere?

I thought of another thing to is, that if you are running snow blower or something that runs all the time, you want it on one way flow or it is a closed circuit and will burn the pump out, that may have happen, i would check and see. Both lights on the push buttons should be lite when doing this, the green one and the yellow-orange one. Good luck Brent.

 

[bremery]

I thought of another thing to is, that if you are running snow blower or something that runs all the time, you want it on one way flow or it is a closed circuit and will burn the pump out, that may have happen, i would check and see. Both lights on the push buttons should be lite when doing this, the green one and the yellow-orange one. Good luck Brent.

The owner is moving the machine close to home tomorrow so it can be worked on. I will repost on our findings once we split open the filter.

 

[Tazza]

The owner is moving the machine close to home tomorrow so it can be worked on. I will repost on our findings once we split open the filter.

Did you dead end a ram when you did the test? With the gauge on and the engine running it will not generate pressure till there is a restriction. Curl the bucket right back or operate the aux hydraulics without anything attached, see what it reads.
If you did that already, it does sound like the pump has failed.
If there was no load, that seems like excessive back pressure to me.

 

[bremery]

Did you dead end a ram when you did the test? With the gauge on and the engine running it will not generate pressure till there is a restriction. Curl the bucket right back or operate the aux hydraulics without anything attached, see what it reads.
If you did that already, it does sound like the pump has failed.
If there was no load, that seems like excessive back pressure to me.

I did put a load on a cylinder as much as I could. The problem now is that we cannot get the machine to move, and we are getting no hydraulic pressure at the control block. We are not experiancing the "shuddering" that we were seeing the day before. I am guessing that the pilots are supplied oil from the same pump that runs the lift, aux, and curl system.
If we can get it back "home" we can start tearing into it. Any ideas will be appreciated.

 

[sandhills-elect]

I did put a load on a cylinder as much as I could. The problem now is that we cannot get the machine to move, and we are getting no hydraulic pressure at the control block. We are not experiancing the "shuddering" that we were seeing the day before. I am guessing that the pilots are supplied oil from the same pump that runs the lift, aux, and curl system.
If we can get it back "home" we can start tearing into it. Any ideas will be appreciated.

I would get it on a piece of heavy plywood or boards under each side and slid it on a tilt deck trailer. You could bit the bullet and hire a tilt deck truck hauler and have them transport it. Might be cheaper in the long run. Good luck Brent.

 

[gtstang462002]

I would get it on a piece of heavy plywood or boards under each side and slid it on a tilt deck trailer. You could bit the bullet and hire a tilt deck truck hauler and have them transport it. Might be cheaper in the long run. Good luck Brent.

Is it an ACS machine or old fashioned lever machine? It sounds like a spool valve is stuck in the control block.
AJAX, sheet metal and a good winch will get it on the trailer.

 

[bremery]

Is it an ACS machine or old fashioned lever machine? It sounds like a spool valve is stuck in the control block.
AJAX, sheet metal and a good winch will get it on the trailer.

Update: We ended up moving the machine with a ramp truck. I drained the hydraulic tank and the fluid smelled burnt. It also had small metal particles in it. When I pulled the pump I notice the spline shaft snapped in half. It appears to have fractured where the shaft would enter the splined coupler. We have a new pump and I have it partially in. I still need to pull the control block to check for larger particles that may be stuck in the lift spool.