I have a JD 400 1966 backhoe, the boom drifts down quickly any suggestions?
Need to repack the cylinder most likely.
I had it packed 4 years ago and it’s only used for private use not commercial. It stopped the outside leak but it’s still drifting.
Did they do the rod, or just the gland on the end? It would be weird to not do the whole thing, but anything is possible. Otherwise, IDK... Failed relief possibly? A worn spool woudn't just suddenly happen.
I would hold the boom up with the stick then cap off the cylinder, move stick and see if cylinder holds if it holds problem is in valves
I might have misspoke on my first thread as to the time it drifts down, it takes about 4 to 5 minutes to go from full up to full down. Iam not sure what they did do but it stopped the leak on the outside of the rod. I am not sure if it had a slight drift to the boom at that time. My main concern was the leaking of oil on the outside. if the gland was bad, wouldn’t that make it leak on the outside of the ram?
Catman I’m not sure exactly what you mean by cap off the cylinder do you mean loosen or remove the hydraulic line at the top of the cylinder or are you speaking of removing the spool?
remove both lines cap the side that will have the load on it if it is leaking at piston it will be forced out of the other line
I think I understand it now I may put a hydraulic jack under the boom stand and then release that if you think that’s a good idea ,at any rate, I won’t be able to get to it for several days, but I definitely will do that and I want to thank both of youse for the help that you’ve given me and I’ll get back to you on the outcome. Thanks again.
I'm not familiar at all with a 1966 Deere backhoe, but if the drift isn't caused by a faulty cylinder then the problem would have to be in the valve. Again, I don't know this backhoe, but most backhoe type control valves have port reliefs for extend and retract functions, you could have a faulty port relief valve. I don't know if yours does or not, but if it does, rest the boom/bucket on the ground to relieve load and find a way to swap the hoses going to the boom cylinder, might have to make up a hose or two to do this. Once you get the hoses swapped, raise the boom, which would now be the boom down on the control stick, see if it still drifts down.
I wouldn't think a shop would only replace the gland nut seals. When was the hyd. filter/oil last changed? If the oil was a little contaminated might have caused the internal cylinder seals to leak. That's the problem the majority of the time. If you pick up the machine using the backhoe boom does it also creep down?
Dave I did as you said I lifted the back of the backhoe up with the with the ram left it for 15 minutes and it never drifted at all that sounds like good news for the cylinder, but is there some bad news coming?
If you are referring to the filter under the tractor hydraulic filter, it hasn’t been changed in quite some time because my leak was so profuses that I thought I was constantly putting fresh oil in it every time I used it , maybe you are talking about a strainer or something else in a different part of the tractor that I don’t know about. The leak that I was referring to was coming from a faulty O-ring in the main pump in the front of the tractor. I sense fix that and it is not leaking any longer.
There should be a filter that is much finer than a strainer. If it didn't creep lifting the tractor means the cylinder seals might not be the problem. Make sure the linkage and spool for the boom lift moves freely and isn't binding and returns to neutral position. You could swap hoses as Willie suggested above to see if the cylinder creeps while lifting the back of the tractor. It's also possible the leak you have is on the boom lift side. If say the hose/hyd. flow going to the lift side of the boom cylinder is leaking would/could make the boom creep down because it isn't holding the pressure.
No. Most control valves like that have port relief valves for each function, boom up, boom down. They are independent of each other. If you confirm the cylinder is not the problem, and it's drifting down instead of holding the boom up, then the circuit that raises the boom might have a faulty port relief. To test that, assuming the boom down port relieve is not faulty as well, simply swap the hoses at the boom cylinder. You'll still be booming up/down, but the control will be backwards, up is down and down is up. This way, when you raise the boom you're doing it with the boom down circuit and the boom down circuit port relief. If it holds, the port relief for boom up is likely faulty.
I was thinking if the hyd. lines for the boom lift were leaking switching hoses might be able to rule out the cylinder.
OK I just came in from the backhoe and I reversed the boom hydraulic lines, and this is what I found first I lifted the back of the tractor with both wheels, eight or 10 inches off the ground, the drift was very light approximately 1 inch every minute with the tractor up so I then put the wheels back on the ground and extended the bucket full out and the drift was only a quarter inch every possibly 15 to 20 minutes. what are your opinions? This might sound stupid or even funny but that little bit of drift really is so much better,that it wouldn’t bother me to reprogram my brain and run the boom backwards or should I say it in reverse order?
Dangit, how can i not explain this. Swap the lines to the cylinder. DO NOT "raise the tractor off the ground". Instead, boom it up, just like you have been doing and getting drift down while supporting the boom. The lines are reversed, you're now putting pressure on what used to be the boom down circuit before you did the hose swap, that's what we want to do to see if we get a different result. Raising the tractor off the ground doesn't tell us anything.
Hi Willy, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to goof things up. I don’t think I quite understood all of that but at any rate, I did leave it with the boom up and the bucket extended so I would be able to see if it held any during the night or if it lost all the drift.
Well, what was the result when you left the boom up???
I think he described it in a previous post here. OK I just came in from the backhoe and I reversed the boom hydraulic lines , and this is what I found first I lifted the back of the tractor with both wheels, eight or 10 inches off the ground, the drift was very light approximately 1 inch every minute with the tractor up so I then put the wheels back on the ground and extended the bucket full out and the drift was only a quarter inch every possibly 15 to 20 minutes. what are your opinions? This might sound stupid or even funny but that little bit of drift really is so much better,that it wouldn’t bother me to reprogram my brain and run the boom backwards or should I say it in reverse order?
I was surprised this morning, that after 14 hours overnight with the hoses still reversed I had only lost one foot, and The The bucket was still holding 1 foot off the ground.
Model 94 backhoe ? You most likely have a circuit relief valve leaking in the control valve for the boom. It may just need cleaning.
Put the hoses back the right way and see what happens. It may not creep now. Have seen weird things like this in the past. Most recently the air leak on my dump truck that fixed itself. I don't think the cylinder seals are the problem. Clueless2 may have the solution.
If you swap the hose back to their original position and it starts drifting down again, you've got a failed port relief valve on the boom raise circuit at the control valve.
I will change the hoses back around tomorrow, but let me tell you about today. I did some extensive bucket loading work with a large pile of top dirt, and it seems so good to be able to pay attention to the loader and not have to constantly reach behind and pull the boom up all the time that I was working which is probably better than 45 minutes. The boom never moved a bit seems so when I was finished with the loader, I decided to mess around with the boom and I could tell it’s gonna get me in a lot of trouble to leave it like it is it’s like learning how to operate over again and I’ve had that machine since it was new and tight situation as I can see myself getting into trouble so tomorrow I will turn it back and see what happens. One thing I might add that when I did operate the hoe today, when I move the up and down boom lever, right before it went in the opposite direction that I had to move it, it went in the in the right direction. Maybe it was just off a pulse in the fluid or an air spot or something but if I bring the handle in a position, it would go down for a second and then continue to go up and vice versa. I don’t know if that gives anybody any ideas or not. also, I want to give my thanks to all of you who are trying to help me. I’ll be back on tomorrow.
That's likely caused by a difference in how the valve spool is made for port A and port B. After all, the boom raise circuit is pretty much all the time supporting load, except for the time you're pushing down and digging. But when you go to raise the boom it again is immediately supporting load, so the spool is probably made to accommodate that. The next problem is the port relief. I have no idea what your valve looks like or how those relieve valves are made, are they external removable? Or are they internal and would require valve disassembly? And a machine attachment of that age, likely those parts are obsolete from Deere. Best case, they can be removed externally. If so, I'd swap them.
Is this it ? https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/sidebyside/equipment/19271/referrer/navigation/pgId/1285206
I can't say, that may be the main relief valve. The port reliefs are always located on the particular section of the valve that operates the function in question. And there's two, one for port A and one for port B.
This is a cross section pic of the boom hoist valve on a Deere 410A loader/backhoe. Items D and I are the port relief valves on this particular valve. The port relief valves are always part of the individual valve section in question.
Well, I got out there this morning and changed the hoses around back to normal and thought for a while that the drift was slower so I decided to do a couple other things like grease it and look i’m on the tractor pours some possibly very small leaks. I was only able to find One not that I was able to take me more so I thought just in case that had something to do with it. I’d work the tractor a little bit. after working with her for about 45 minutes, how do you say measure the drip and came up with the bucket drifting down about 1 inch or so every minute so that is pretty much the way it was before, So took it back inside and started looking at the valves, below the operating handles, my back hoe total cab on it so it’s much harder to get at those valves. after looking at the photos of the relief valves, I’m just not sure it’s something I can handle. I hate to take the chance of making things worse than they are right now. what’s your opinion? Thanks, Ed. (EJP) .
Any way you can post a pic of your control valve?
Yes I will do it tomorrow afternoon, I have to be gone in the morning
No hurry. If you can't get some good pics maybe we can spot what you need to do. That's the thing, I've never seen one of those attachments so I have no clue what to advise.
I clicked the link you posted above, yeah, that's what we needed! There as several control valve options for that unit, open center, closed center, etc, but this is one pic of the boom hoist control valve section. Item 9 and item 20 are the port relief valves. They're different part numbers, likely they trip at different preset pressures because they don't look adjustable. But it does look like there's o-rings there, that's a prime spot for failure, especially on an aged unit. > https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/sidebyside/equipment/19271/referrer/navigation/pgId/2161742
Looks like there's some internal o-rings inside the port relief cartridges as well, items 8 and 9. Item 2 is likely an external o-ring. > https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/sidebyside/equipment/19271/referrer/navigation/pgId/1863222
Clueless 2 send those pics. they are way over my head, I’ll try to send some photos tomorrow afternoon, I’m just not sure how to them on this forum if it’s possible or not but I’ll try to do that
If you take them with your phone and go on the site from your phone hit attach files and a gallery of your pics. will show up. Pick the ones you want and it will say done at the top. Click on done and they'll attach to your post.
Thanks it sounds like I can manage that
I am going to try to send these pictures. I hope they are the ones you wanted. They are all the valves that are under the operating sticks. The two hoses on the right are for the boom.
Hard to say looking at the pic, but the port relief valve cartridges will be located when the red arrow is pointing, there will be one on each side of the valve section in question.
Looks like several hoses could be original and on borrowed time.
Yes, all hoses our original except for one, but they are holding at the time I guess I will take the housing around the valves off to get a better look and be able to put my hands in there at this point
I had more time so I took some of the covering off the valves. Hopefully these photos will be better. The second one in on the right is the boom cylinder. I cleanedthem off with a little fuel, but I will pressure wash them before I go any further.
Having just done all those hoses on a 310, I wish you luck getting to the port reliefs on the bottom... There's just not a lot of room to work on anything in there...
With todays prices where is the best place to purchase new hoses?
Maybe a farm supply that does hoses but could check local hyd. shops. Just make sure whoever makes them cleans them out after assembly with foam projectiles. If they don't you'll need to clean them. There are good places to order online if you know the length and fitting sizes. I prefer getting hoses made local to match existing hoses.
Well, most tractor repair places, some Napa's, any hydraulic shop should be able to hook you up. Best is relitive. I first went to a local guy that does them inexpensively. After over 4 weeks without hoses, I picked the old ones up, and went to a hose shop. Had them done in 15 minutes. Price points are obviously different...
Well, today I took the lower covering from the bottom of the valves off to get more room and discovered a few things And clean the area up a little better have some pictures coming. I took the machine out because I had cleaned the hoses so well I wanted to work it and see if I were able to see any leaks. I ran it for sometime. Everything stayed about the same brought it back in, I looked at it a little closer from lower point of view and discovered a dripping leak on the boom cylinder area behind where the handles might be anyway it’s on the picture. I don’t really know what it’s for. I wanna dig in to that area, but have never done that and wondering if I should disconnect the hoses or is there a possibility when I take the top nut off and can get at the inside? No experience on these valves I will send these two pictures. I have a nice 25 second video which I can’t seem to send. Maybe the forum does not accept videos. I don’t know what that egg shaped nut in the back is about. It looks like it could have an O-ring at the bottom.
Sent the wrong picture this one shows where the nut is located in relationship
That acorn nut looking thing (item #1 in the link provided) is the cap that gives access to the valve spool centering springs. And yes there's an o-ring in there that seals the valve spool, obviously that one is bad, and that can cause your boom drift it that's the side of the valve that operators boom raise. > https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/sidebyside/equipment/19271/referrer/navigation/pgId/2296263
Yes that’s on the same side as the Boom lever I’m wondering is there any other things inside? I imagine that the O-ring comes with the nut. I haven’t had a chance to look at the website. do you know of a way I can send you the 25 second video of the acorn leaking, it’s very slow lthere must be another way that the fluid is leaking from the boom as well. The way it spudders makes you think that there must be some air inside there also?
That leak you discovered is likely the cause of your boom drift. You could look if oil could be running down a hose or somewhere above the valve. If you go to take the acorn nut off put the bucket on the ground and operate the boom lever in both directions after you shut the machine off to relief any pressure in the circuit. You might be able to just change the O-ring. Would need to look closely at the acorn nut. Put a little oil on the O-ring when you install it. Make sure nothing else falls out when you take the nut off. Are you running it at higher RPM when using the hoe? The shuddering could be from too low of RPM or how you're operating the controls. Backhoes work best when 2 or more functions are operated at the same time.
Thank you for sticking with me. I am totally mind boggled at looking for parts in the HTTPS /parts catalog for the proper parts that I need to order. I have one acorn cap a U41892, number one number 10 32240 O-rings three needed number 15 R27928 O ring one needed or Number 16 a kit a AU13653. Sounds like a leakage kit of some kind. Could you please help me in regards to what actual parts I should order. (1) can I disconnect the oil lines in front of the acorn valve so I have room to remove it? (2) is it possible that my pressure washer ruined that little O-ring at the bottom of the acorn not? Thanks
Willie can probably better explain what parts you need. May only need the Acorn nut if it only comes with the O-ring attached. Pressure washer wouldn't have damaged the 0-ring.
Tried to take it apart this afternoon had to disconnect all the hoses to get to the acorn nut finally got it off doesn’t look too bad although there is a chip on the corner of the plastic. There is a picture you’ll see, but I can’t find one anywhere on the website that came on the forum said they’re not available anymore, can’t find one on eBay for a replacement so then I tried to take the rest of it out and you’ll see a picture there too. There’s a nut underneath the spring that I tightened up, but and I tried to loosen it also and can’t get the whole spool out because it hits the bottom of the back hole floor , not doing too well. I was hoping to at least replace the number 10 O-rings and the number 15 O-ring then towards the bottom of the website was a kit AU 13653. That sounded like it may have been a leakage repair kit.? But that kit may have been those O-rings mentioned above in a special group
If possible I strongly advise contacting a Deere dealer for those parts. The link that I posted may not be your exact valve as there are a number of different control valves listed for your machine. I simply posted a link to one so you could see what you're getting in to. I don't know the valve and can't tell by the parts diagram, but the spool o-ring seals is what's causing your leak, item #10. On some valves you can easily replace the o-ring. On others, the o-ring fits in a groove machined inside the valve body and requires pulling the spool back far enough to replace the o-ring. I can't tell which yours is. Edit: I see you posted while I was typing.
Did that o-ring just slip out when you pulled the spool downward? Can you get a pic of the top of the bore where the linkage hooks up?
Yes, the one O-ring came down when I started pulling the shaft out forgive the fact that it’s so dirty as I couldn’t see up there and when I took the top plate off, that’s what I saw but I was careful not to get any inside. I hope these Photos will help. Is it possible to take it out through the top, I am worried about that spring.
The best way to replace those spool seals is drop the spool out of the bottom of the valve body, slip a new bottom o-ring on the spool and gently work it down to the bottom, fit a new o-ring in the groove at the top, lube it up good, then slip the spool back into the valve body. Of course that would either involve valve body removal or take a torch and pop a hole in that plate below the valve to drop the spool through
Please be quite careful of getting **** in that valve body or we will be answering other hydraulic issues, LOL. I already see some white particles around that top seal. I know what a witch it is to work in there. Love the torch hole idea to get that spool out. Just looked at the picture again and man that spool will almost come out as it is, it looks like a slot for hoses is already there, just need a little more. Good luck, Bub.
I was quite careful and not getting any of the junk in the valve, but I did cut the plate which was a great idea and the valve came right out. Unfortunately, it came out a little quicker than I wanted it to, and when the spool came out. It only had one O-ring on it. I’m wondering if the other two are inside the channel I bent a wire Coated wire and run it through there and wasn’t able to snag anything. What have I done?
Be careful running any wires in the bore. You don't want to scratch anything. O-rings are cheap and it's never a bad idea to replace them when you have the spool apart.
The upper o-ring, where the linkage connects, is most likely fitted in a machined groove just inside the bore of the valve body, o-ring pic will pick it out.
Hi Dave, yes I was careful to use a piece of coated wire and made the coding overlap. The bend. I don’t know if you read my last thread, but my problem I think is only one O-ring came out. It could possibly be that I have lost the other two inside the valve if that’s the case what will happen and what I’ve been able to see so far, there are three number 10 rings and it appears as though one came out the others could have slipped off the spool and possibly into the valve assembly what would happen then where would they go?
Willie, so you’re saying that the upper O-ring or two that matched the grooves on the spool are inside the wall of this cylinder. How do I get them out to replace them? Hopefully they are stuck in there. I’m so afraid that maybe they’re floating around inside. how do I know if they’re inside or not? I can’t see inside the valve.?
If the O-rings deteriorated the pieces might end up in the hyd. filter hyd. or the reservoir. If there's a suction strainer would likely catch any remnants. If a spool were to get stiff or act up could be from O-ring fragments. I'd guess the O-rings are still in the valve body or fell out and you didn't see them. The O-ring you show isn't in really bad shape so I doubt the other ones would be worse.
This pic. There will be a groove for an o-ring inside that bore, no other way to do it. You can get a o-ring pick set from Northern Tool, Harbor Freight, or pretty much any auto parts store.
OK I think you guys are finally getting through my brain block. I’ve got to be in Erie Pennsylvania for most of the day tomorrow but before I go, I’ll get my dentist tools out with a little mirror and the pics and I believe that those two number 10 washers are still probably stuck in the wall of the cylinder bore and while I’m in the area I will check out there’s two John Deere dealers there and I’ll look for information on what parts they have available. because that valve is in such a place that it is it’s so hard to be able to see anything , let alone get your hands in there but now that I have the idea I’ll work harder at checking that out. hope to get back in the afternoon or in the morning for sure. thanks again to y’all.
Yep, you're getting the idea now. And keep in mind, that's what, a machine that's like 60 years old? O-rings only last so long, and there's a plenty of them on that valve, so you're just scratching the surface of what you're going to have to deal with, might as well figure it out now.
Willie, you must’ve been texting while I was texting so I missed your last text. The one with a little red arrow blowing it up. You can actually see the O-ring in there. I’m gonna sleep good tonight.
Well, I've been poking at stuff like that for about 40 yrs now, so I've figured out a little. Sweet dreams.
Consider getting a little scope camera off Amazon or another type place. The first one I got was cheap, like 20 bucks but for what I needed it for, it was priceless. I can see, even getting a mirror in there to be effective, it will be extremely hard. You may consider also getting some long little surgery pliers. I have a 10” and a 14” set and they come in handy but even then, getting the middle oring will be a challenge. On those valve blocks, if everything is cleaned well, if you lube up the spool after you seat the o rings on it, I have had good luck just sliding them up and they will seat themselves.
Today I went to two John Deere dealers one in Clymer New York and one in Waterford, Pennsylvania. Bought three O-rings at Clymer for my spool, then went to Waterford and talked to a 30 year tractor veteran. He said my spool only takes two O-rings one at the top and one at the bottom of the spool as they don’t make the acorn nut anymore, he said mine was fine to use as they are made to leak oil if something is wrong inside. He examined it and said that a little chip was no problem. Neither dealer was able to give me any info on my 400 backhoe. The second guy said the valve in front of the one that I already removed needs to be looked at, And gave me a copy that I have sent in this link it goes to a somewhat different tractor but he thinks it’s quite close. He said if that valve is messed up inside that it will cause the boom to drift. He wouldn’t sell me any parts until I looked at it first , that part is the other picture that I sent when I took it out tonight I was surprised and didn’t want to take it down any further until I posted it. He said it is a relief valve. I also took a micrometer and measured the ware places on the spool and it shows .004 of an inch where do you think new O-rings will take up that difference. The camera thing sounds interesting. I was wondering what kind of lube I should use when I put the spool back together thank you.
Yes, that's the port relief that I've been talking about, if it's faulty, or has failed o-rings it will cause the boom to drop. And yes, a worn spool and valve body bore will cause drift, and a backhoe attachment that around 60 years old will most likely have some were of those components, but they would have to be seriously worn to drift as quickly as you're reporting. I say replace those spool o-rings and the o-rings for the port relief, unless you choose to replace it. Keep in mind, if you repair your port relief cartridge, the parts diagram show and o-ring inside of it requiring disassembly of the port relief cartridge
Yes, I’ve heard you talk about the relief valve and I just got the idea that there were a lot of O-rings in there which sounds good if they replaced, but when I open that up and see those two cylinders and it just appeared to me as though there must be O-rings in there under a lot of pressure and I didn’t wanna Take the clips off not knowing what to expect . Do you know what’s in there? I was I have the spool with the two O-rings on it ready to go, but I didn’t want to put them in because I have to hook up the hydraulic lines again without doing some work on those relief valves so do you suggest that I put the spool in and start it or take the relief valves apart and where do I get the O-rings at, that guy didn’t sound all that excited about selling me any and wouldn’t it seem as though if the tractor is that old, which it is that they would certainly have wear on them . You’ve been very helpful and I appreciate it. I’ll do as you recommend. What kind of grease do I use to put all that back together?
First, don't confuse terms, like relief valve. There is most likely a main relief valve on that valve body, that's a pressure relief for all functions served by that valve body. What we're talking about is a port relief. Port relief valves only provide pressure relief for a single specific output line. All double acting valves have two output ports, typically noted as port A and port B. If your boom raise is connected to port A, the port relief valve on that side of the valve only relieves port A, has no connection to port B or any other part of the valve body. Any petroleum based lube for the o-rings, hydraulic oil, petroleum jelly, grease, whatever you have.
Don't know if I can post a PDF file, but we'll try.
Well, at least it's a link to open. Items 8 and 9 are internal o-rings, would require compressing the spring inside the port relief cartridge, removing the snap ring 12, then release everything without it flying apart to replace those two o-rings.
And just to clarify, port relief, some call it circuit relief, same thing just different terminology. Same with main relief, some call it system relief. But the two are distinct and different things.
I know on my 310 there are a variety of port reliefs, so keep track of which one comes out of where so you can get them back in the right place. Having not done one myself, I'm guessing here, but that looks like it's going to be a real stiff spring. I would be looking to take that apart in an arbor press so you've got a good bit of control once you take the snap ring out. I'm hoping not to need to work on the port reliefs on mine, but I'll be following along for the info. (I suspect I will at some point with the hoe being 50 or so)
W I took the two relief valves apart today it went pretty good except getting to the spring. The caps at the end were extremely tight. The PDF helped show me where it comes together. Surprised me I found no O-rings on the inside the two O-rings on the outside look good, went to my JD dealer and they didn’t have any that size. Tomorrow, I will try to find some and put it back together hopefully but all four O-rings look pretty good note number nine O-ring fit on the cartridge end there was no number eight O-ring inside the cartridge. also, there was no tension on the spring that I had to deal with. All I had to do was unscrew the cap at the end of the cartridge, and the threads released the inside tension. In
See red arrow in attached pic, that's item 6 inserted inside item 10, which has the threads. Item 6 slips out of item 10 and should expose o-ring 8 and washer 7. I wish I could figure out a way to post that diagram here so everyone could see what we're talking about.
Here ya go. Save it as a jpg, and it drops in nicely.
Update on the 400 backhoe, I have good news and bad news, the bad news is I have alot of tools to pick up the good news is I have learned a lot. I never expected the old backhoe like that to totally stop drifting, but I am super excited with the results. I found the last few O-rings this afternoon and got it all back together this evening. no visible leaks and the boom drift is hardly noticeable compared to before. I would say it stays up at least 10 times longer, that’s plenty workable for me so happy. All the thanks goes to you guys and my wife for tolerating me and her help. I am really appreciative of this form. Thank you so much . It feels funny, not posting any pictures.
Any further drift is likely from the valve spool itself as well as the valve body bore is worn. Again, that thing's like 60 years old, and replacing it is likely impossible.
Willie, I was wondering, do you suppose there could be some air in there? I did disconnect altogether six hoses or at least five because I had to take some of them that were in my way of getting to other getting into the other ones. I wonder if there is air in there maybe it would take time to work it’s way out at any rate I’m gonna see if I can get a chance to Work it a little bit tomorrow and that might be it for a while because deer season starts Saturday .
It's always possible to get an air pocket in a cylinder when lines are disconnected, but rarely is it a problem, if anything may get a little bounce of the boom, but nothing to really worry about.
Willie would you happen to know where I could copy a PDF repair manual for my John Deere JD 400 wheel loader?
I wouldn't have a clue about that.