Frozen John Deere Loader Cables
 

I know there are more than a few farmers on here so I'm sure somebody else has run into this problem before.

I have a 7600 Deere MFWD tractor with a 740 self leveling loader/grapple.

In this frigid weather I have had grief with the loader control cables freezing up, particularly the boom control one (raise lower) while the curl/dump one has stayed working.

Anybody have a great trick of thawing these things and getting them working again besides building a heated shop?

I used plug in heat trace/pipe wrap on my skidder

I have a 7410 and had to replace both cables they get moisture inside and will finally freeze up and not move at all you will have a ****ty job ahead I hope you have a heated shop to work in it

I would undo the cables at the valve and let them hang straight down from the joy stick and try and warm them up so if there is any moisture in them it will run out. Then disconnect the cable at the top end and try and spray some WD40 or cable lube in them until you get it running out the bottom end of the cable. Hook the cables back on to the joystick and try and spray lube in the bottom end before hooking back to the valve body.

I was having the same issues every winter until I did this.

That's a great idea CDMC, I'd have to look closer but unfortunately I don't think there is room for heat tape along these cables the way they are routed. I'll definitely keep that sugestion in mind though.

Are you talking about wiring cables??? Is it a 'fly by wire' system?

I can't for the life of me figure out what cables you are are talking about.

Are you trying to say hydraulic hoses??

No not at all, they are push/pull mechanical cables. Like a thin flexible rod inside of a steel and plastic wound sheath that operate the hydraulic valves for the loader.

The remote outlets use a similar setup as does the throttle linkage.

Until you unplug the heat and go move snow and they freeze then.

Bottom line you either replace the cables or get the water out and lube the existing cables.

That is wild, I had no idea. The only place I have ever anything similar is on boats.
I had to do some hydraulic hose work on my payloader, there are hoses from the joystick to the bottom of the floor then down to the blocks. They are a REAL PITA to work on, very small access hole and no possible way to get hands in.
Sorry for the derail.

Thanks for the info, interesting stuff.

What year is the tractor?

Once they were freed and working again, I've never had them refreeze while you were using it. It seems to only happen when it's extremely cold. Usually I have been able to thaw them by just leaving it running for a couple hours, but not this time...

:(

Yeah they are kind of similar to the control cables on boats, that's right. Generally each end of the cable has a yoke or clevis that threads on and has a jam nut so you can adjust the stroke of the cable to allow for proper detent operation etc.

That particular tractor would be a mid 90's unit, but basically all of the mechanical joystick operated farm loaders work the same way for the last 40 years or so. Now a lot of tractors also offer the option of an electronic joystick. Some guys like them, some don't. You get away from the freezing issue and they are effortless to run, less fatigue but they don't have the same positive feedback when you are feathering the valve, the newer ones are much better than the older ones in that regard.

check out an arctic blaster. Never used one but have spoken to many that have and they claim to work real slick.

http://www.arcticblaster.com/

Local company based outta Sundre

If it’s the cable it self. Not much to do but replace the cables
Have tried most things for customers and nothing was reliable
One other thing that is often overlooked is the valve

If you take the cable off on bottom of the valve. See how it moves.
Very common for the top of the valve to get water and rust into it adding to the problems.

And I have worked for Deere for a long time so I do have experience with this stuff first hand.

You can shoot me a pm if you want
Thanks

Priced new cables today, $364/each and not sounding like a fun winter outdoor job.

Oh well, what else is new I guess...

Used to work under parachutes a lot.

I've really wondered about the parachute thing a lot lately, especially after I went through hell with a frozen fuel system on the same machine in this extended cold snap.

I'm going to check out youtube and see if I can learn a little about that. Where does a guy find a parachute?

Got mine in the 70s, so no idea. But they are worth the money when you have to get er done.

northern metallic Rocky Mountain House 100 to 350 depending on the size you need

Used parachutes in the arctic a lot. Even down south a time or two. Work fantastic. Can't remember where we used to get them though. An army surplus?

A friend of mine had a similar problem on his New Holland tractor. He got them thawed and then used a syringe to push some antifreeze in to the cable shielding. Been working so far.

the one I have now will fit my service truck and a D7R size equipment the best thing for work in the cold

And then a Kerosene Bullet Heater or something inside it to warm the air and lift the chute?

you bet I use a 125000 btu diesel heater

I've used insulated construction tarps to keep the tractors warm. In your case, I'd wrap the tractor in the insulated tarps, then run the tractor till the cables thawed.

As for the fuel system, methyl hydrate can work, as the water will tend to sit in the bottom of the tank, if the methyl hydrate separates, it's going down as well. You can also use a produce called 'Diesel Melt'. I this last cold snap, I didn't have fuel problems. I had battery problems. One battery was dead. Replace the battery that was dead, and add battery blankets, and no more problems.

Yeah the frozen fuel system issue I used Power Service 911, it seems to work fairly well.

Remove and replace the filter, fill it half way with 911 and the rest of the way with fuel and then start from there bleeding the pig. Never fun trying to get them going after a filter change when it's this cold. Finally did, runs good now.

I used diesel melt in a completely frozen truck without using the filter. I poured a can into the fuel tank, went and had lunch, came back about 40 minutes later, and the truck started, sputtered for a few minutes, and then ran like nothing was wrong. No removing filters, etc.

It was below -35, and we still had summer fuel in the truck.

Even surplus parachutes (cargo) are in the $1500 to $2000 range. You may have luck checking out some of the reseller sites like Kijiji to find cheaper ones.

Northern metallic has them in stock. $300.00 for 20 ft. Diameter
Are there any side effects of running that diesel melt through the pump and injectors?