Harbor Freight Trencher Broken? Check your Relief Valve First!

There is a 90% chance that this is your problem. This is a VERY common problem with the Harbor freight towable backhoe trencher. Do not over-tighten your relief valve when you reassemble it. That will cause more problems and issues. I hope this video helps.

[@leeholton4870]

I watched your video and took it apart, cleaned with WD40. Put it back together and working great
Thanks

[@JoshuaRTV1]

I’m glad it helped

[@watchman6104]

Worked for me!

[@danny6247]

Thanks. It was good info. I wish you had started it and showed it working again but this is good

[@rickjey]

Thanks. I never have good luck with Harbor Freight 🤔🙃

[@JoshuaRTV1]

😂 it’s been a good machine so far. We had a water line bust and it was extremely helpful with that. But right on the last scoop it completely quit working. That wound up being the issue but I realized there isn’t any videos showing the internals of those relief valves. So I figured I’d make one myself

[@DoubleMFarmHomestead]

Good job.

[@craigsmith5447]

Good video for starting the work but after I reassembled, it seems to leak heavily. It would be nice to see how to proper tension and /or set the unit up so it's not to loose or tight. Couldn't find first video you did on this. Is it still up?

[@JoshuaRTV1]

This is the only video I have made on this topic. I plan on doing another one in more detail eventually. If you have a leak I would take it back apart and make sure all of your gaskets are in place and also make sure the whole pressure relief valve itself is sitting flush and tight. You may have accidentally installed it upside down. Tighten it in a crisscross pattern. You can use the pictures at the 1:55 mark in the video to help determine if all of your pieces and gaskets are in the correct spot. I hope this helps

[@josborne1591]

What was going on with your machine that determined you needed to check and take apart the relief valve?

[@JoshuaRTV1]

My trencher was working fine and then it just completely stopped functioning. For example, you could try to curl the bucket and it would barely move and then stop curling if it had any amount of resistance at all. And the boom would not raise up at all. It had no power at all. But another sign that your pressure relief valve needs to either be cleaned or replaced would be the machine still moving, but really weak. I have had that happen also. When people buy these machines brand new it’s honestly a really good idea to clean out the hydraulic tank. There are metal bits in there that they do not clean out from the factory. But once you get all of it out you won’t have much issues with this machine.

[@kieranregan4345]

Do you know what the part number for the relief valve replacement is?

[@JoshuaRTV1]

Sorry for the late response. But I do not know. I would probably call harbor freight for that question.

[@LygerTheCLaw]

while i appreciate this video to a small degree it shows almost nothing regarding the pressure relief valve, there's about 4 very important components inside the valve assembly that aren't shown in this video at all.

[@michaelbaker8287]

Do you have a picture of what all the parts in the relief valve. Or is a site I can find it?