jdmitchjr@6dlam.com 5 #51 Posted March 11, 2014 I am a bit surprised that my plastic pull tab in loader reservoir event did not get more attention. For those not familiar with the Ark loader, the reservoir is the hollow rectangular vertical support. The attached image shows the dilemma. Three openings all about a half inch in diameter -- fill, supply to pump, and drain. I advise against making this mistake.... Best regards, John Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JamesBe1 82 #52 Posted March 11, 2014 John, I don't thing that plastic cap is standard issue. At least on mine, there is a hex nut with a tiny vent hole in it. My FEL is under a tarp buried under snow at the moment or I would snap a pic. Hopefully one of the other guys can chime in to confirm or deny. j Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jdmitchjr@6dlam.com 5 #53 Posted March 11, 2014 James, the plastic top came from a pre drain hydraulic additive (it helps remove water). The cap on the FEL is steel with a vent. But mine was missing the o-ring, so that is probably a source of water entry. B/R John Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pfrederi 17,893 #54 Posted March 11, 2014 (edited) John: I have thought some about your tranny problem. Since you have verified the parking paw is not dragging/interfering with you pushing the tractor then I assume your original lack of power was due to the parking brake linkage interfering with the DCL(direction Control lever) operation. Engaging the parking brake lever on the dash panel tries to move the DCL to neutral, in you case it wasn't entirely successful as the DCL could still move some. Later you will have to adjust your linkages. James is right about pulling the hydro motor first (it is easy) you can see the pawl and check for metal in the tranny and get a look at your slippers and valve plate. If they are not in bad shape and you clean out the tranny you may be good to go with new oil and filter!! (Parking brakes are over rated, real men do not use them, just put the bucket down ) Edited March 11, 2014 by pfrederi Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jdmitchjr@6dlam.com 5 #55 Posted March 11, 2014 pfrederi, Thanks for thinking on this and James, thanks for the advice on removing the hydro motor to take a look. The linkage may have very well been the culprit of the low power. When I was last probing around and exploring how things worked I lubricated the linkages and they now seem to operate more smoothly and in an way that suggest all doing what they are supposed to do. I will likely proceed as suggested, after first doing a pressure test. My sense is that while the tractor has suffered from time, good use, and some design flaws, the previous owner seemed to have taken care of the machine to a degree, so if the pawl had previously been broken, maybe he took care of it. Thanks again for all the input. B/R John Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JamesBe1 82 #56 Posted March 11, 2014 I think Paul is on to something with the parking brake/dcl theory. As for the parking brake not engaging, I think the best case scenario is that it is a linkage issue. Worst case scenario is that it is broken off inside of the transaxle. You might consider fiddling with the linkage to see if you can get it to engage. If it does engage, then it would tell you a lot without having to take things apart any further. It's a gamble to see if the effort is worth the reward. Good luck with that amigo. Hope for the best but plan for the worst. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
