The tractor has been deadlined due to vermin chewing the wiring harness for the ignition switch.  I cannot get the tractor started.  It is parked in the pole barn with the bucket down to reduce pressure on the hydraulic seals.  I have found a technician that can repair the wiring harness, however I need to get it down to the gate so it can be winched onto a trailer.

My problem is how to lift the bucket, keep it up while we tow the tractor down to the gate.  I tried tying the control to the up position and used my floor jack to raise the bucket.  It went up, but wont stay up.  

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.  Thanks

UPDATE - I played hooky this morning and stayed home to see what  I could do to get the tractor ready to go to the shop.  I did a careful examination of the wiring harness behind the instrument panel and ignition switch area.  It looked to be 6 or 7 wires that were either chewed in two or the insulation was chewed off.   I decided to try repairing the wiring my self.  

I added some short sections of wire that allowed me to solder the splices.  I never really trusted the crimp splices.  After soldering the splices I wrapped them in tape.  I had already charged up the battery so it was ready to go. I made one final look to make sure I had taken care of all the "loose ends."  I switched on the ignition key and wonder of all wonders the tractor started.  That diesel sure sounded nice.

I drove it around our property and tested out the front end loader, all the lights and everything was back to normal.  There is a significant leak on the steering ram.  I'm not sure if it is the seal on the ram, or one of the O-rings on a hose.  But, that should be an easier fix than a chewed up wiring harness.

UPDATE 2 - Late last night I was thinking about the leak and what the source could be.  I remembered taking of the oil fill cap that is on the lower right part of the engine (maybe the hydraulic pump.)  So this morning I went out to the pole barn to check the cap.  BINGO!!!!  Like a dummy I had just set the cap back on and not screwed it on completely.  There is the source for my leak.  If I fill the oil reservoir and put the cap on properly my tractor wont lose the oil.

Unsure what valve type it is, but if it's a closed center valve you should be able to jack it up as you did, then return the control to the neutral position and it will stay up..

Try raising it way beyond the distance needed to simply move the bucket, like 4-5 feet. This will allow enough fluid to enter the piston to hold the bucket up.

How about cutting a length of 2x4, the amount the piston is sticking out of the cylinder. Once lifted, put the 2x4 between the cylinder and arm bar (on both sides, of course). Wrap a strap or something around the 2x4 and piston, to keep it there.


ETA: I looked at a pic. How about cutting a 2x4, the length between the cylinder pivot and the mast (when raised). Should jam in there nicely.

This is my suggestion. Same concept as a mechanical lockout on hyd/pnu equipment.

ETA. Cut 2 per side and use a cargo strap to keep in place.

Tractor that old doesn't need ignition.
Make sure the fuel shutoff solenoid is pulled in. (Bungee cord)
Jump starter with jumper cables to battery.
After engine starts raise bucket and drive it onto the trailer.
If your mechanic is any good? He'd know how to make this happen.

I had a tractor with blow hyd cylinder seals and it let the loader drift down and drag the ground if I wasn't staying on top of raising it up every 10 seconds.  The temporary fix was to raise the bucket up then I ran a chain from the bucket back to the vertical post at the rear of the FEL to keep it up.

But yeah, an old school diesel should be easy enough to start.

This except with a piece of angle iron, much less likely to slip out.
I use this on the 3 pt lift arms of an older tractor, works like a champ.

Yeah a piece of angle iron and a couple of 2 1/2" hose clamps. Or take the loader off. It would be much easier to work on with the loader off.

I agree, it would be easier to work on with the loader removed.  Luckily this model is able to disconnect from the loader.  So my plan is to try the jump start and get the tractor to raise the bucket.  If that is successful I will move the tractor out of the pole barn to an area I can disconnect the loader.  Then it should be easy to get it down to the gate so it can be loaded on a trailer.

I have the battery charger on the tractor battery.  It will be next Sunday before I can try the jump start.  I will let yall know how things go.

Thanks

Can you take the bucket off the loader arms?  I am not familiar with that tractor, but if the loader arm assembly doesn't touch the ground, you can move it if you remove the bucket.

Excellent idea. I had a why didn’t I think of that moment

Congrats on fixing it!  

Nice work!