Screwed up loader arms with grapple

[jcummins]

Well, I had already slightly twisted torque tube on the M7040....actually before I had the grapple.

This time, the grapple came loose on the left side, and as I was pushing, pulling on a relative small tree. As I twisted it up, ...... you see the results.

Torque tube is history. But do I have any other issues? The loader arms just by eyeballing look ok. My repair, but I want advice, is to cut off the torque tube, leaving a stub near the attachment plate, and weld in a larger tube. Opinions?

 

[4570Man]

That is what I would do. You might have bent your cylinder rods.

 

[big bubba]

Well, I had already slightly twisted torque tube on the M7040....actually before I had the grapple.

This time, the grapple came loose on the left side, and as I was pushing, pulling on a relative small tree. As I twisted it up, ...... you see the results.

Torque tube is history. But do I have any other issues? The loader arms just by eyeballing look ok. My repair, but I want advice, is to cut off the torque tube, leaving a stub near the attachment plate, and weld in a larger tube. Opinions?

boy i can see it really twisted the torque tube. actually this has happened in my own case (8540) when one of the bucket attachment levers came undone under use but to a much lesser extent. i was able to correct this by using the hydraulics to "untwist" the problem but will not go into it. agree w/above poster that removing existing tube & replacing w/larger one will solve the problem. my suggestion before doing is to get with your dealer to get their take on correcting the problem...posting here is wise too! sorry i can't offer more. do let us know the fix though, & i'm surprised i don't see this problem come up more often in the forum. it's happened twice to me....securing down those 2 Q/R levers (bungee?) would be a good idea once the implement is attached to prevent an incident like that again.
& btw it may be possible to correct your problem using the hydraulics, although the alignment of the arms is extreme. be interesting to see what others say....... best of luck

 

[nybirdman]

I always hammer down my pins on the QA,using a long rod and two pound hammer.

 

[s219]

I'd just cut the torque tube and re-weld it if you can. DO NOT REPLACE with a larger or stronger tube. That needs to be the weak link (a fuse of sorts) otherwise you're liable to wreck something far more important. They make them small/twisty for a reason.

 

[ruffdog]

Once one side hits the stop, will the other side, under hydraulic pressure, un-twist the tube until it hits the stop? If it needs to go further, put a spacer on the stop so the second side goes further than the first.

 

[motownbrowne]

I'd just cut the torque tube and re-weld it if you can. DO NOT REPLACE with a larger or stronger tube. That needs to be the weak link (a fuse of sorts) otherwise you're liable to wreck something far more important. They make them small/twisty for a reason.

That was my thought. Make that tube stronger, and the next time, something more expensive will be the weak link.

 

[big bubba]

I always hammer down my pins on the QA,using a long rod and two pound hammer.

think this is a good idea. does K mention this in manual? they should.

I'd just cut the torque tube and re-weld it if you can. DO NOT REPLACE with a larger or stronger tube. That needs to be the weak link (a fuse of sorts) otherwise you're liable to wreck something far more important. They make them small/twisty for a reason. s219

well good point...but the torque tube shouldn't have to be the "weak link" every time something like this goes wrong. the fix is somewhat involved... somewhere in this process kubota needs to address the issue for the private consumer market (like you & me) since we are the bulk of their business.

 

[s219]

well good point...but the torque tube shouldn't have to be the "weak link" every time something like this goes wrong. the fix is somewhat involved... somewhere in this process kubota needs to address the issue for the private consumer market (like you & me) since we are the bulk of their business.

Some brands use a two-piece rod joined with a shear pin, which might be better I suppose. But I have seen plenty of posts about those loaders getting screwed up too. Or somebody doesn't know its supposed to be a shear pin and puts a grade 8 bolt in there or something crazy, and bends the rod anyhow. In fact, now that I think about it, it seems to almost always be related to using a grapple and pushing/pulling in a way that front loader arms aren't made for, or doing something with a grapple that pops a QA lever loose. Not sure what a manufacturer could do to avoid that -- it's pretty much on the owner to use the equipment sensibly and make sure the QA pins/levers are locked into place.

 

[4570Man]

I always hammer down my pins on the QA,using a long rod and two pound hammer.

What good does that do? The levers on mine have a stop on them which is easily hit with just hand pressure.

 

[big bubba]

What good does that do? The levers on mine have a stop on them which is easily hit with just hand pressure.

well be that the case or not, if you really want to prevent the problem cited by the OP, hammer the pins then maybe secure on your own, whatever it takes, after attachment. i've realized that the lever cam lock cannot always be secure.

 

[jcummins]

What good does that do? The levers on mine have a stop on them which is easily hit with just hand pressure.

If you have a little twist...the pins can be binding, and in fact you can knock them down some. The strange thing here...the pin that locks in place the proper way is the one that came loose. I'm thinking I simply put to much pressure on things, the tube started twisting, and that's what made it pop lose...then it really twisted.

The oddity...I've done a fair amount of grapple work, and put far more pressure on it than I was doing at that point. I suspect one corner of the grapple simply had a root/limb/etc that was pressuring the grapple on it's corner, creating uneven pressure.

I would like to see something a bit better than those levers to secure things.

 

[streamin]

I let my brother in law ride for a bit and he got into some brush which pushed the lever undone. He didn't see it and kept going pushing a small tree out. Bent mine "almost" as much as yours. I took it to a tree with the power of the tractor and hydraulics, come right back.

 

[jcummins]

I let my brother in law ride for a bit and he got into some brush which pushed the lever undone. He didn't see it and kept going pushing a small tree out. Bent mine "almost" as much as yours. I took it to a tree with the power of the tractor and hydraulics, come right back.

I can't imagine this would work for mine. But I'll give it a shot before doing any cutting.

 

[big bubba]

I let my brother in law ride for a bit and he got into some brush which pushed the lever undone. He didn't see it and kept going pushing a small tree out. Bent mine "almost" as much as yours. I took it to a tree with the power of the tractor and hydraulics, come right back.

this is the kind of common use problem w/fel that happens often. sometimes easily corrected using hyd as in your case, sometimes not. personally, the attachment lever needs to be more of a positive lock to secure. really, that is the "weak link" in the design, not the torque tube as one poster suggested.

 

[ovrszd]

I use the snot outta my Grapple. Very common to have the rear tires of the tractor off the ground.

I've never had a pin come loose. I built all my attachments and made them fit tight.

I am very cautious when using the Grapple. It puts stresses on the FEL frame that the manufacturer did not account for.

 

[DK35vince]

I'd just cut the torque tube and re-weld it if you can. DO NOT REPLACE with a larger or stronger tube. That needs to be the weak link (a fuse of sorts) otherwise you're liable to wreck something far more important. They make them small/twisty for a reason.

Not sure why you couldn't make the torque tube stronger ?
My QA is strong enough that I welded a chain hook to mine and can use it for lifting at full power and not bend or twist the QA.(these are older pictures, hook was added later)

 

[jcummins]

Hey streamin..........I was sure the torque tube was past binding back, and wasn't worth the trying...it was not. Thanks for posting that.

It's not back it where it needs to be , but close. I'll work on it some more, think I can make it work. Now...my tree suffered a bit of damage.

 

[s219]

View attachment 439041View attachment 439042
Not sure why you couldn't make the torque tube stronger ?
My QA is strong enough that I welded a chain hook to mine and can use it for lifting at full power and not bend or twist the QA.(these are older pictures, hook was added later)

I am just saying that these "timing rods" as they are normally called are meant to be the fuse that blows in this kind of design. Some tractors have shear pins on the rod, some just use a real small/twisty tube. The only function of that piece is to keep the cylinders in sync, but it should not be considered structural. The design has been around for decades, so I assume if there was a better idea it would have been tried by now. I can't recall seeing a factory QA setup that didn't have a thin/weak timing rod of some sort.

 

[DK35vince]

I can't recall seeing a factory QA setup that didn't have a thin/weak timing rod of some sort.

Dealer ordered mine from Kioti when I bought the tractor. I have a factory option QA on the early 2000 DK models far as I know.
I really doubt I would ever twist or bend my QA.