# John Deere 950 3 point issue



## JohnR (Sep 9, 2018)

Hello, this is my first post here but have been lurking and picking up a lot of good info for a while. 

I have a John Deere 950 2 wheel drive that I have had for about a year. Use it for brush hogging and maintaining our drive with a land plane. Also have a carry-all that I use for hauling things around. When I first got it the hydraulics where somewhat slow and the pressure valve would squawk on occasion.

That was remedied by changing out the hydraulic filter and fluid. Things worked great after that. Parked the tractor a week ago with the carry-all on it. Tonight I went out and unhooked the carry-all and the 3 point will not lift. Not strange noises, just doesn't work. Pulled the cover off the hydraulics under the seat and the piston control is moving in and out as it should.

Can anyone give me some ideas what to check next? I've not seen a hydraulic pump just up and quite like that before so am hoping it is something simple. Thought maybe some visiting kids had moved a lever or something bu I don't see any bypass for the hydraulics on this tractor. My last one I'm pretty sure had a bypass, it was a Ford and if I remember it had about a 4 inch lever that would turn things off.

Hope I am missing something simple. Thanks in advance.

JohnR


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Welcome to the forum John! Does your power steering still function? When you did the hydraulic fluid update, did you clean the suction screen? I'd check to be sure you don't have a break in your return suction line to the pump.


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## JohnR (Sep 9, 2018)

No power steering on this one. I did the hydraulic fluid and filter last August or September. Cleaned everything I knew about at the time. Like I mentioned worked fine a week ago then yesterday it didn't. Part of the original problem was the filter was pretty dirty. It would work for a while then the filter would start to get more plugged and it would slow down but never clear quit working. Leave it sit for a while it would work better again for a short time. Since the oil change I have not experienced that issue.

Will try to check the return line not sure if it is external or internal. Have to find a diagram to look at. There are no oil leaks anywhere which is pretty amazing to me for an older tractor.

If I figure anything out I will post what I found.

JohnR


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Check to see if there is a knob under the seat. If there is, it is to control the rate of movement of the three point hitch. If it's turned all the way, one way, your hitch won't lift. You may have to turn it to see if you can sort the issue.


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## JohnR (Sep 9, 2018)

Well here is the latest update. I checked everything that was mentioned above, thanks for the pointers. Did not find anything amiss. Finally I took the cap off the high pressure side and turned the engine over. Got oil so decided that the pump must be working. I did notice the oil was not as clear as I would expect. 

Due to the oil not being totally clear I decided to dump it and take a look at the filter. The oil for sure has some water in it. It showed clear on the dipstick but was somewhat cloudy when I drained it. The filter screen in the sump was clogged with the nasty results of water and hydraulic oil. I have cleaned the screen and will be refilling with new oil, just have to pick it up this afternoon.

My guess is that it will then work again. Not sure how I am getting water in there. Any ideas? The tractor does set outside under a large awning on my shop so is protected from rain. However it is usually about 90% humidity here in the mornings and then dries out to 60% or so later in the day. Good old gulf coast weather. Could this be from condensation? It has been about a year since I changed it last time.

Also I did not flush it so I supposed some of the bad oil stayed in the system.

Will post back if this does the trick or not. Thanks to all for the advice.


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## jd110 (Nov 23, 2015)

The high humidity can definitely cause condensation accumulation. If moisture gets in by outside source, usually it is from a torn shift boot. If you can run it long enough and hard enough to get oil heated up on a regular basis, it helps to evaporate some of the condensation.


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## JohnR (Sep 9, 2018)

Well, guess all is working again. Would guess a combination of remaining oil in the system and condensation along with the sludge that was still in there is what got me. $50 worth of oil and a little time to clean the screen and we are back in business. 

Ran the brush hog for about an hour last night and the 3 point worked as expected. Now if I could just figure out how to keep the radiator from getting clogged with seeds and leaves while cutting the tall stuff.


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## dozer966 (Dec 30, 2014)

Unfortunately that's the nature of the beast. Good preventive maintenance is the key. After the day is done wash with a garden hose from the inside out .not a pressure washer or you will damage the rad.


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## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

I've seen folks put a fine mesh window screen over the front grill to filter out the seeds and crap from getting to the radiator. I didn't study it close enough to tell you how they attached it. But doing that, you still have to frequently clean the screen to allow proper air flow.


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## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

I too would echo the screen door mesh. Your JD-950 is nearly a twin to my YM2610. 

For the hydraulic oil did you use the OE J20C? Both Deere and Yanmar for our models have this as the ideal oil to use. About 14qts of it give or take one. 

Seeing you had the oil changed. It will last about a good 5+ years. Just need to clean the filter every now and then. Drain the oil into CLEAN containers to refill. J20C isn't cheap either. 

Also, as you said, there was white water foaming or water in the hydraulics, the maintenance to remove this is to drain the system out, do NOT place back in the filter, fill with clean diesel, drive the tractor around in all gears and run the 3pt and PTO. The diesel works as a cleaner. Water and the white foam will cling to the diesel. Next drain the diesel out. Install the filter or a new one, and then add in the new J20C fluid. 

Cleaning the filter screen is very easy. Brake cleaner for the thick stuff, then a rinse with diesel and a clean medium bristle tooth brush. Been doing this for years now. All works really well.


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## dutch weak (Aug 31, 2020)

Hoodoo Valley said:


> Welcome to the forum John! Does your power steering still function? When you did the hydraulic fluid update, did you clean the suction screen? I'd check to be sure you don't have a break in your return suction line to the pump.


Shal sir, where is this suction screeñ? Of its on lower end os a new pan gasket required?


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