New to me 70's 154

[findmeoutside]

Hello all, I have been reading a lot of posts and taking notes.

Just got my first real tractor, lo boy 154, 1970's.

It has a 3 point and hydraulic deck lift. I have two questions, if anyone cares to chime in;

1: Do all 154's with a 3pt and mower lift have a hydraulic selector valve? I cant see one, and the manuals don't say where to look. The 3pt cylinder is just wired up so not sure if it is supposed to moved at the same time as the deck and is just broken, or if there is a selector i can't find.

2: the PTO lever is pretty sloppy, I can get it work but seems like the rubber band it turns is loose. I dont see that part in any diagrams.

Thanks for any input, so far its a fun machine, got a plow and tire chains and weights with it. Needs some love but that will keep me out of trouble

[seahaul]

Not all 154's came with a hydraulic selector valve, it was an option. If you have one, there will be a knob located on the cover between your feet that covers the drive shaft and pto shaft. The knob will be towards the front left area of the cover. Lift up to select the 3-pt and push down to select the mid cylinder.
Both of the cylinders retract (lower the implement) by gravity only due to weight of the implement. If the rockshaft or 3-pt arms are not free to move, the implement may not go down by itself.
If you do not have a selector valve, the lighter implement will rise first, then the heavier one will rise.
The PTO lever should lock into the upper (engaged) position with a positive locking feel. Once engaged, the lever will flop around a bit. Not sure what the "rubber band it turns" refers to.

[Bob McCarty]

Welcome to the Forum.

[findmeoutside]

Well this is why im here, thank you. I was following hoses wondering where they could have hidden that valve. I will unwire that 3pt later and hopefully it will work like its supposed to! The guy had the draw bar on, but gave me all the 3 pt parts, looking forward to getting that put together. Any idea what the lift capacity is on these?

As for the pto lever, there looks to be a wide black rubber band that the lever turns to engage the pto, like an oil filter wrench... I will take a pic....

Thanks for the help

[MikeEyre74]

I just did that operation, taking a draw bar off and hooking up a three point a couple days ago. I was a little disappointed that you could only have one or the other, which seems a little silly... I guess they want you to buy that three point drawbar that goes between the two lower links if you're going to run that setup? I'll keep an eye out here in case I can help ya with anything along the way..

[outdoors4evr]

I didn't know there was a unique drawbar to use with the 3-point hitch. I have a factory drawbar mounted with the 3-point hitch, so they did make one.

Here's a pic of the hydraulic selector valve.


As for lifting capacity, it is somewhere between 300-450lbs. (This depends greatly upon the distance from the cylinder being lifted) With this bucket load of dirt, I could stand on the back edge of the bucket and lean back to get the front tires off the ground.

I have recently been moving rocks and gravel and did get the bucket full enough that it wouldn't lift it at an idle, but would lift the bucket at wide open throttle. Front wheels were on the ground, but needed to help steer with the split brakes.

[findmeoutside]

Wow, cool scoop bucket! Might need one of those. So I do not have the selector valve. Thanks for all the info. As for the "rubber band " I saw, it wraps around 2 parts of the pto clutch. I thought it was part of the lever but doesn't look so.

I will unwire the 3 pt cylinder tonight and see if it works. Good to know that they descend by gravity, maybe it isn't broken! Thanks for the help so far.

I will take some pics tonight. I am impressed by the heavy duty construction of these 3pt components, definitely better than the hobby grade i was expecting.

Thanks again

[MikeEyre74]

You should be able to lower the three point by hand, by putting pressure on it when the lever is pushed to the "down" position. Just left to its own devices it won't go down, but if you put some effort into it, it will. My three point will lower with the 3 PT arms attached to it, for instance, but needs a hand if they are not on there to put some weight on. It doesn't take much, but it does take some.