Hydraulic fork and quadrant lever

[Straight Furrow]

Morning folks. Can anyone please help with a problem with my hydraulics? We have a 1950 TEA20. All good until last autumn when bits of the hydraulic linkage sleeve broke away, hydraulics stopped working, and we found the knuckle was seized onto the threaded rod which meant a slightly bigger job than just replacing the broken sleeve.
Drained the oil, took off top cover, and found all sorts of problems, so this has ended up being a full hydraulics rebuild. Everything was full of detritus, mainly flakes of rust. Threaded rod was seized onto the fork linkage. Hydraulic cylinder missing some gaskets, plus piston only had two and a half rings. Space in centre of pump full of rust. Pump brasses badly scored. Pump casting had a serious ding in it, so wasn’t seating properly on its gasket. Anyway, lots of cleaning, all new gaskets and other new parts later, there’s a problem with the hydraulic fork…
Top cover all assembled and checked that the quadrant lever will make the fork move (whilst the whole lot was hanging off an engine crane) - all good. Dropped it back onto the tractor, but now moving the quadrant lever will not move the fork. I can reach in and pull the fork backwards against the spring tension, and the fork doesn’t seem to be fouling anything. Won’t move either connected to the control valve or not connected. Valve moves OK by hand.
What’s the problem please?

[Sandy.]

Hi. Please find website address below for a Ferguson tractor manual it should load as 416 pages, you require page 297. Please check if item 26 on page 297 is attached.
Ferguson _TE_20_service_manual_bis
If you are still having problems after looking at the manual, please feel free to give me a call, my number is in the Journal.

Sandy.

[Straight Furrow]

Thanks Sandy. Can you please resend the link, then I can check your diagram against the one in my paper copy of the manual.

[Sandy.]

Morning. Ferguson _TE_20_service_manual_bis For some reason you have to enter the link manually. You can also open the manual on Queensland tractor parts website.
Sandy.

[Straight Furrow]

Hi Sandy. Thanks. The spring no. 26 is connected. My problem is that the rubbing plate at the top of part no. 25 doesn’t engage with “A”, the eccentric of the quadrant shaft most of the time. That doesn’t alter if I fix the quadrant assy as far forward as it will go, or as far back. I can pull the fork backwards against the spring so it touches on the casing like in diagram p. 297, but moving the quadrant lever gives nowhere near that amount of travel, perhaps just a couple of mm. On mine, the bottom of the fork is much closer to the hyd pump. The control valve moves freely BTW and the fork is not fouling anything when I pull it back by hand.

[Sandy.]

Hi. Sorry for the delay getting back to you,could it be that some parts of the linkage have become bent. The picture on page 307 gives a rough idea of the shape of the parts.I notice you say you had the draft spring assembly apart, are you sure that you do not have the spring over tightened. There is a YouTube video that may help you, Bundy Bears Shed. TEA 20 video number 67.
Sandy.

[Straight Furrow]

Hi Sandy. Thanks. I did wonder of it was bent, but the fork assembly looks ok. Working on the theory that it’s something to do with the new parts I fitted, I bought another new threaded rod plunger and yoke from different supplier. These new bits are much better made than the previous ones, and the plunger end with the hole in looks much more like the original one (which was seized so I had to saw through it to disassemble). The replacement plunger I had fitted has a big flange, unlike the original (even though it was sold as suitable for a te20). I wonder whether this flange is catching somewhere? Will try fitting the other plunger at the weekend and see…

[Straight Furrow]

Hydraulics now working well. The problem was all down to a poorly made replacement plunger rod not sitting where it should do.