Hydro lever on 782 won't move.
 

Hi all.

I'll be the first to say that my 782 has been run through the mill. It has been on the job since new and probably now has around 2500 hrs on the kt17s.

This machine has not done anything but run a tiller ( model 400 ) since 1994 and probably gets 200hrs annually. I had a mechanic that looked over this machine since it was new but he sadly passed away in 08 and virtually nothing was done since besides change oil.

I noticed this spring that the hydro lever was getting harder to use. Now I have to get it ready for jobs and it wont move hardly at all.
I took off the inspection plate and gave the mechanism a good tap and it moved into forward, but I dont want to hurt anything.

Could the linkage on the lever be wearing out or do I have another problem?

Thanks.
Mark

:Welcome2:

Try a simple fix first and spray some PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench on the moving parts to try to free up anything that might be seized from the elements. I did that to a 782 that had been staring back at the sun, moon and stars for quite a while and it really made a difference.

Cub Cadet 123

My 125 did the same thing, I had to tear the shift assembly apart to fix it..

Sounds like some lubrication is in order at the linkage.

Im hoping that lubrication is the culprit.

What baffled me was the three pt works and it does go very slow if I basically force the lever.

So Im in the mindset that the pump and drive are working, now i think I have to look at a binding issue or the aforementioned lubrication.

Do the little tie rod ends wear so much to put the whole thing out of wack?

Thanks for the lessons,

Wait, wait, wait......
Is the lever "stiff"? Or is it that you move the lever and nothing happens? If so, that is a completely different issue. :bigthink:

No, stuck..

I hust got done ripping it apart, cleaning everything, and lubed her up.

Got the charge on it as we speak..

We shall see.

I'm kinda..... um...... confused I guess.
I understand hydro linkage freezing up. BTDT. But not on a machine that I use. Only on machines that have sat outside for long periods of time. Has this thing been sitting? ....... Outside? I don't see how else everything would have rusted stuck unless it was. :Huh:

When you mentioned that the auxiliary hydraulics worked, that threw me off too. They have nothing to do with the hydrostat linkage on the dash. At least not outside of the fact that they share the charge pump. Which, again, has nothing to do with linkage. You sure that the friction adjustment didn't just tighten itself? Or perhaps got a little "rusty" and made it tight? FWIW, I lubricate the hydro and hydraulic levers at minimum annually.

Yes the linkage, and it has been outside for probably 6 months. It seemed to me at first that this problem was getting worse over the last couple years to the point where the linkage wouldnt move. My initial thought was that something in the drrveline was slowly dying.


I tore everything off, cleaed and lubed, and put it all back together. The whole thing seems to move more freely now. While I was at it I changed the fluid and filter also.

I guess I was figuring that if the 3pt arms worked then the pump was working, I also figured that if the tractor still moved a little, then the hydro was working. I was hoping that I didnt screw something up in those two while trying to manipulate the frozen linkage.

I apologise for not being more clear.

Now I got to figure out an electrical problem. All that messing around under the dash must have pulled something loose. But on the bright side , the machine is getting a thorough maintenance inspection that is about 5 years overdue.