How to Troubleshoot a Sticking Joystick Cable or Hydraulic Valve Spool

This video goes through the troubleshooting steps you can take if your cable-operated hydraulic joystick setup seems stuck. Sometimes, when the operator is using a joystick that is connected to a hydraulic valve via cables, one of the functions seems stuck. For example, on a joystick controlling a front end loader, what might happen is the joystick moves fine to raise and lower the loader, but when you try to move it to tilt or dump the bucket, the joystick won't move. There can be one of several causes of this problem.
One problem can be water frozen inside the cable. Hydraulic control cables are designed with a moveable cable which is surrounded by an outer sheath. Sometimes water can get inside the cable, and when the tractor is sitting outside in temperatures that are below freezing, the water inside the cable will freeze. When the operator starts up the tractor and starts using the joystick, in this situation what usually happens is one function, like raising and lower the loader, will work fine, but the joystick won't move when operating the bucket, or vice versa. This situation typically only happens after the joystick kit has been installed on the tractor for several years. Everything has been working fine, and then suddenly one cold morning, the joystick is stuck for one of the functions. To test if you have frozen water in your cables, move the tractor into a warm area, wait about a half hour, and see if the joystick starts moving normally again. If it does, you likely have water in your cable and the cable will need to be replaced.
There is one other fairly common reason that a joystick can seem stuck, and this has to do with a spool inside the hydraulic control valve binding. The spools are the parts of the control valve that the cables are moving back and forth inside the valve, and this is what's causing the oil to be directed in the correct directions to move the equipment that's being controlled hydraulically. Usually this is something you'll notice the first time you use a new hydraulic joystick midmount valve setup that you've just installed. However, once in awhile a binding spool can be weather related; the spool is tight but only binds when the oil gets thicker due to cold weather. You can test if this is the case by running your tractor outdoors (don't take it into a warm place) for about a half hour. This will warm up the oil and the thinner oil may cause the spool to unbind. A frozen cable, on the other hand, will not thaw out just from running the tractor outdoors, so this is a good way to determine what the root problem is in this situation.
A far more common situation causing the spool to bind, and which is not weather-related, is a sectional valve getting a little bit misaligned. A sectional hydraulic control valve is designed with multiple sections, all of which are held together tightly by tie rods. (A monoblock control valve, on the other hand, has a body that is one solid piece and does not have tie rods.) A sectional control valve can get a bit misaligned during shipping, installation, or even during the manufacturing process. To fix this, install the sectional control valve on a mounting bracket plate that you know is completely level. Loosen all tie rod nuts, then re-tighten the nuts little-by-little, moving evenly around the valve until all the nuts are tightened evenly. This will cause the valve sections to re-align correctly, in line with the bracket the valve is mounted on, and the spool should unbind.
One other thing to try, if you are sure you have a binding spool and loosening and re-tightening the tie rods did not fix the problem, is to loosen and then evenly re-tighten the bolts directly opposite the binding spool (these bolts are holding the cap on the side of the valve opposite where the cable attaches). Sometimes these bolts get tightened unevenly during the manufacturing process.

[@TheZambie1]

That was a great explanation! That gives me some idea & theory so I can better troubleshoot my Kioti loader function. The problem I'm having is that it gets stuff after using it. Summer temps. After using the loader for a little while, the joystick gets very stiff. Thanks for the video!