Sinking three point hitch

First thing is to be sure that the PTO is engaged!

The most common places to leak on the lift is the piston rings and the pressure relief valve.
In order to determine where the lift is leaking you should remove the right hand inspection plate that holds the dip stick for the lift oil.If oil runs out when this cover is removed it has too much oil in it and letting it run out is ok.

Start the tractor with a load on the lift arms such as a rotary cutter etc. raise the lift and observe inside the lift to see where the oil is leaking down.If the piston rings are leaking their will be a pretty good stream of oil coming out the end of the ram cylinder. If just a few drops this is ok.
If you should decide to replace the piston rings and you find that the cylinder is scored badly, you should hone the cylinder and instead of replacing the steel piston rings and the original piston you might want to consider replacing the piston and rings with the Ford model NAA piston and the Neoprene Rubber rings. The NAA piston and rings is the same size and the rubber rings will seal much better than the steel rings.

Observe the oil in the resorvoir and if you see the oil swirling around the relief valve is probably leaking.It is the gadget that is screwed into the back of the hydralic pump just under the pto shaft.It will be under the oil and feels something like a spark plug.

If before starting the tractor you will put your hand into the oil and locate the relief valve you can reach in and put one finger over the end of the relief valve and determine if it is leaking after the tractor has again been started. DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF PUTING A FINGER IN THE PUMP MECHANISM!!!!

If however you don't see a signifacant leak from the top you can assume that the relief valve is leaking and simply replace it with a new one and thereby prvent the possible loss of a finger or two.

I;ve never tried itm,but I’ve read that you can drain enough oil from the lift reservoir to uncover the relief valve and see if it is leaking instead of using the obviously dangerous finger feel thing I described.

There could also be a blown gasket somewhere in the upper portion of the lift but if so you will see a lot of oil coming down from the top and then it’s just a case of taking the cover off and finding the culprit.

Be sure to release the control rods from the control valve T on the pump before trying to remove the lift cover. To fail to do so will result in a broken lift control valve stem.
Also be sure that the control linkage is attached at the “T” at the control valve connection.
Zane in Alabama.

If you should be having trouble with the lift not going down when the lever is moved to the down position I would suggest that while the inspection plate is off on the side of the lift housing you reach in and manually push the two levers that go into the oil in the reservoir and are connected to the control valve. The control valve sometimes sticks in the up position. If you should find that you can make it go down by pushing toward the front of the tractor internally on the control rods then you should drain the lift and pour about 5 gallons of clean kerosene through the lift with the drain open. It is best to pour it directly into the inspection hole. Let the kerosene that drains out sit for about 15 minutes and pour it through again leaving the portion that is in the bottom of the container to be discarded. This should have the residue in it that may have been causing the control valve to stick when it was carried into the control valve.

You should also inspect the spring that is connected between the front end of the ram cylinder of the lift to the knee portion of the control rods that go from the linkage at the top to the control valve in the bottom of the pump. This spring sometimes looses it tension from age and usage and must have enough tension on it to pull the control valve out when the lever is moved to the down position.