# John Deere 300CX Loader Problem



## Mark460 (6 mo ago)

I have a John Deere 3520 with a 300CX front loader. Problem I’m having is just out of the blue, the lift will not curl up or down. The hydraulic cylinder will move about .125 inch and then it will deadhead the pump and I guess the relief valve flows oil back to the pump. It’s been working great for years, the only thing that happened lately is the 1 inch diameter rod which connects the sides of the lift and is a pivot point had been broken and one half slipped out. In the meantime, I didn’t have any attachments on front, I spent a 4-6 hours over a couple days mowing with a brush hog on the back and the lift attachment fitting on the front. The ground was very rough, but I don’t think that would matter. Anyways, after mowing, in the meantime until I get a new pivot rod, I found some extra round stock and put it thru the loose side and attached some collars so it wouldn’t slip out. This is when I noticed it wouldn’t curl. I first thought is, maybe it is jammed for some reason, so disconnected the attachment on one end of the hydraulic cylinder so it could be move freely. Still the same thing. Does anyone have any ideas on what could have happened?


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Hello Mark, welcome to the tractor forum. 

With half of that pin missing, the bucket tilt connections were probably put under significant stress. My GUESS is that parts of the tilt system have been bent and are in a bind. 

First thing I would do is to disconnect the rod ends of the tilt cylinders and function check them. Be watchful for bent cylinder rods.


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## Mark460 (6 mo ago)

Thanks. Well, I found the problem. Somehow one of the quick disconnects came loose. Not sure how, but when I connected it back it works good now. I'm feeling a little dumb for not finding that earlier, but I'm just glad it was something simple. Like I had mentioned, I was running the brush hog over some rough ground and the hose must have vibrated off.


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