Tractor Repair: case 990 3 point hitch won,t lower, spool valves, brush hog

Question
hi. arnie ,you were a great help with my last problem so i thought i,d try again.my 3 point hitch is stuck all the way up and won,t lower with engine off or on.i think the selector knob on the right side by the seat got turned and the arms went all the way up .i took the rear cover off (4 philips screws and got the knob turned back to the left )but arms still won,t go down. the implement lock has been seized since i have owned this tractor so i don,t think that is the problem.i pulled the lift and hold/lower spool valves out and they look fine .any ideas where to start. thks. neil

Answer
Hello,

  Someone else asked me about this problem, and it was the black lever on the back of the tractor that locks the hitch in the raised position.  If this is the implement lock you are referring to, double check it just to be sure.  If there's weight on the hitch, sometimes you have to jack up the implement to take the pressure off so it can be released.  If the hitch gets raised up higher than the normal fully raised position for some reason, it might lock by itself.  That's what happened to the other person when they backed their brush hog over a stump and it forced the hitch all the way up.  If that's not it, and you have taken the spools out of the valve, then it's not being held up hydraulically.  The lift piston may be stuck in the cylinder.  You can try pushing down on it with a loader on another tractor or a skidsteer, etc.

                       Arnie