3pt hitch lever hard to move

[meridien]

The 3pt hitch control lever on my L3301 seems harder to move than it needs to be. When you're trying to raise or lower a box blade I inevitably overshoot and have to try and nudge it into the position I wanted.

Looking from the back of the tractor, the lever runs down to a shaft running right to left (from the lever through the transmission and out the other side.

I searched the manuals (unsuccessfully) looking for any sort of lubrication or adjustment of the preload on the lever and didn't find it.

The 3pt hitch raises and lowers fine and holds position properly, so I'm fairly sure it's just a linkage issue - either lubrication or adjustment of preload, but maybe both.

Can anyone help?

Thanks in advance.

 

[mikester]

WD40 or other lubricant on the linkage will help release accumulated dirt and corrosion. Joys of outdoor tractor storage.

 

[Motion]

Follow the lever to where it enters the housing, generally there's a double nut, loosen the outer nut and back off the nut closest to the housing, there's friction washers, adjust to the point where its operation is as smooth as you like, relock the double nut.