The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

a friend has a 1963 major which i service now the hydraulics have stopped working so i drained the oil out ( oil was dirty white ) and refilled with fresh oil still hydraulics will not work all pipes can be loosened and no pressure rear arms have a concrete weight between them to counter balance front loader these arms will not go down please help what do i do next thanks pete

If the arms won't go down, sounds like the unloading valve is stuck. You need to remove the hydraulic lid, extract the unloading valve plug with a puller and then carefully remove the unloading valve and inspect valve and bore. The valve will either have an O ring or a steel ring. Just removing and reassembling should free everything - clean oil and regular use will keep things free. Whilst you have the lid off, drain the rear end, remove the basket filter and clean, and clean the floor of the rear axle before replacing the oil (oil is new, you say - filter when returning to the rear axle).
The thread below gives you a few photos. There are other threads here. Look out for the ones from Brian. They explain everything.
Best, Adrian.

http://www.fordsontractorpages.nl/phpbb ... lve#p46394