The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

I have a 1957 Major ( from the period where the switch to the Power Major was happening). It has a Horndraulic trip-loader fitted, but I was wondering if it's possible to modify anything so that I could fit a power loader and pallet forks. I bought a J**n D***e some years ago with forks but it has succumbed to the inevitable hydraulic problems that these tractors suffer and I'd rather modify my beloved Major than fix/replace the JD. I'm not expecting positive responses from the experts on this forum, to be honest, but I thought I'd ask anyway.
Thanks in advance, Max.

Should be perfectly possible, but it won't be easy.
Sandy

It is easy enough to set up, all you need to do is fit a pair of double acting spool valves supplied with oil under pressure from the hydraulic trailer take off point on the lift cover, and a return pipe for the low pressure return oil plumbed into the oil filler cap on the lift cover. The lift lever on the hydraulic cover is then wedged in the lift position to supply oil under pressure to the spools, one spool would be used for the lift rams on your power loader and the other would be used for the crowd rams. Many set ups like this have been created in years gone by.

The problem that you would run into would be the peculiar pressure relief valve that the Major and Power Major used. When this valve opens to relieve excess pressure in the system it stays open until the hydraulic lift lever is pushed into the drop position, which allows it to re-set. It would be a bit of a performance juggling between the spool valves and then having to re-set the relief valve when it discharges by putting the lift lever into the drop position and then re-wedging it in the lift position again! You have to be a bit careful and sensitive when operating the spools to avoid discharging the relief valve. The only way round this would be to fit a specialised supply valve which attaches as an extra slice onto the front of the lift control valve block on the lift cover, in a fashion similar to the optional spool valve kit that Ford supplied. The difference to the spool valve kit is that the special supply valve takes oil directly from the pump via the drillings in the valve block and by-passes the Fordson relief valve, and is fitted with it's own conventional relief valve that automatically re-sets after it has discharged.

The problem is finding one! McConnell made one for Fordson Majors that were used with one of their hedge cutters or Power Arm ditch cutting and cleaning backhoes. My 1952 Major is fitted with one of these McConnell valves.

Hi,

A separate pto driven pump with valve block and oil tank might be a solution. That might be easier then finding the right valves.

Rgds emiel

Hmm, thanks for the responses. Sounds as tricky as I'd feared! Does the Super Major come with the necessary gubbins?

Separate oil pump and valves may be a possibility, but powered from front of crankshaft.
The box-section Horndraulic loader was available with power bucket, but that is something of a rarity.

The Super Major is better suited to this sort of set up with it's auxiliary service valve, this isolates the lift cylinder completely from the equation and allows the pump to supply just the trailer pipe tapping, and the relief valve will re-set automatically after discharge. The New Performance Super Major is better again as the relief valve has less of a tendency to discharge when the system is subjected to a shock load.

Thanks for the replies, chaps. NPSM coming up, perhaps!

There is a modification that is quite easy to do , to prevent Fordson Major and early Power major hydraulic unloader valve ( another name for pressure relief valve) from staying open, after popping open at set pressure value ( Approx. 2200 PSI) , thus requiring the hydraulic control lever to be placed in the neutral position in order to re-set unloader valve. Do a Google search using the words " Modification of Fordson Major Unloader Valve. " A British guy will be shown on a You Tube video explaining and showing exactly how you can do this modification in your own shop with simple tools. I followed his instructions and up-dated my 1956 Fordson Major. The loss of hydraulic pressure upon unloader valve opening is completely gone. No need to re-set the hydraulic control lever to neutral to close unloader valve. Gives your tractor constant pressure at your pressure setting.. I set mine at 2200 PSI and tested the performance with a gauge connected to the valve bank tipping port. Take note in the video ,,that the guy will advise you this modification will increase hydraulic pressure slightly. Mine went to 2500 PSI ,, so I removed a shim to bring it back down to 2200 PSI. A friend of mine also did this mod. and is happily using a backhoe on his 1956 Fordson Major. He simply connected a pressure hose from the tipping port & a return hose to the fill plug from the valve bank on the backhoe & with tractor hydraulic control lever secured in the lift position. Works like a charm. He too gained hydraulic pressure after the mod. which he adjusted back down to 2300 PSI. Hope this helps. Completely gets rid of the unloader valve pop off issue.

This modification is the same as what Ford did for the Power Major. For loaders it's well worth getting the auxiliary valve chest, although they're rare and hellish expensive now.
Sandy

For installing a separate hydraulic pump in front of the crankshaft, can anyone provide a picture of the connections between the pump and crank shaft?

JCB 3C with super major engine had a hydraulic pump driven from the front of the crankshaft, but i think it would mean lifting the radiator to allow for the shaft
John

The shaft will fit through, but the front casting will need a bit of machining in the starting handle hole.
Sandy

John that’s quite a unit. I can see that it should bolt to the face of the crank pulley, must be a different one than what my FSM came with. Mine has a hand-starting style retainer bolt and a pulley with no threaded holes in it, from what I can tell.

It is a different crank pulley, if i remember rightly its a double pulley that drives the power steering pump too. It is a big lump, maybe a bit excessive for your needs, but i just thought i'd show you what can be bolted to the Major engine if you can find one with the bottom pulley
John

Don't shout me down if i'm wrong, and it would be a 2 handed job, but would it not be possible to use a diverter valve between the loader and bucket rams with a spool lever with open neutral flow for tip and crowd? Not ideal i know and it would take a bit of getting used to, but it may be the cheapest option
John

I have been looking for a pulley for the last five years or so and nothing like that has come up. Doing the math, the torque requirement for a 20 gpm pump at 2500 psi is around 80 ft-lb, and I know the crank ought to be way more than that. So as an experiment I’m going to try driving the pump from the crankshaft bolt. I’ll press on a big socket with a bit of rubber in between and use a square shaft from there to the pump coupling, should be a piece of cake.

I’m thinking you mean to have a third valve after the lift and dump control valves, and the answer is yes. With open center you can add as many additional open center valves as necessary for how ever many cylinders you want to control.

I assume you want a separate pump completey to control all the loader functions, it would certainly be easier to use. Have you looked at modifying the bottom pulley and bolting a pump drive mount through it? That way if (god forbid) something did go wrong you would just have to replace the pulley rather than havind a snapped or stripped centre bolt in the crank

That’s an idea that has rolled around in my head for quite some time. Trouble is clearing the crank bolt with whatever flange I use. What seems easiest would be to use the existing pulley, thread two holes into the face, and bolt my socket to it using tabs welded to the rim of the socket... all this to allow me to leave the existing crank bolt, which would remain in full contact with the socket anyway. Bolting to the face would surely take the stress off the crank bolt.

That sounds like a good plan. We always put an extra fan belt on the JCB and clip it out the way when refitting the pump to the crank, that way if the belt snaps there is another to go straight on without having to remove the pump to fit it

I like your idea of keeping a spare belt on there!

Its not too bad to change one in the workshop but you can guarantee if the belt is going to snap it will happen when you are axle deep in s**t!

Lol ain’t that the truth! And the moment you leave your tools and spare parts behind for whatever reason that’s when things are impossible to get working again!

The engine provides some 140+ lb ft of torque, the std. pulley bolt will come off if you use a socket as it's designed for a starting handle, there are three holes in the pulley for the removing puller you could use for attaching something, although I very much doubt they will do this job.
Sandy