Loader Bucket welds broken - LS won't warranty
- Thread starter LEOpilot
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aarolar
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More is better
Gary Fowler
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- Joined
- Jun 23, 2008
- Messages
- 11,917
- Location
- Bismarck Arkansas
- Tractor
- 2009 Kubota RTV 900, 2009 Kubota B26 TLB & 2010 model LS P7010
You would need to look at what you have been doing to stress the bucket and then look at reinforcing it to prevent flexing while performing that task. More ribs, thicker material and maybe even putting a doubler plate on the back of the bucket where the steel is tearing first then add more ribs. First though, you have to put that one back together by closing those gaps as much as possible before welding, otherwise you bucket might not be square and true. Nothing worse than a bucket that is lower on one side or the other when doing dirt work.
You may try to spring it back together by putting force on the bucket front edge in the right direction to close the gap. A good observer might be required to do this and then putting a good strong tack weld on each broken area while the pressure is on it. IF the tacks hold, then you could remove the bucket from the FEL and place it upside down where it is easier to weld (that is if the bucket cant be tilted enough while on the tractor)
You may try to spring it back together by putting force on the bucket front edge in the right direction to close the gap. A good observer might be required to do this and then putting a good strong tack weld on each broken area while the pressure is on it. IF the tacks hold, then you could remove the bucket from the FEL and place it upside down where it is easier to weld (that is if the bucket cant be tilted enough while on the tractor)
We just took delivery of a much smaller LS today. I took the afternoon to check fluids, hose routing, fasteners etc. Because I saw this thread earlier, I thought it best to have a closer look at the bucket. On the bucket itself, the welds look good. Granted, this is what is visible under a coating of paint. The SSQA receiver bracketry on the bucket on the other hand not so good. They run welds up the whole sides of each side of the plate which looked cold and dirty. Looked like a pigeon did it. In contrast the front cross support was run hot enough it was undercut. At the edge of this bracket the weld was so porous and that they took a grinder to it before it hit paint. No welds spec'd on the underside. Now, these buckets are outsourced and in no way did this follow suit with the rest of the tractor, loader or backhoe. It's like the crew that took the buckets and hand welded either the SSQA brackets or the pin style brackets was not the same ones who assembled the rest of the bucket. Did not appear so anyways. As mentioned before, your dealer could have build a lot of goodwill by repairing your bucket. So good luck and thanks for posting.
Tom,
I'm glad I could offer some useful information. Just keep an eye on it. This weekend I ground out all the suspicious and broken welds. I didn't think about taking pictures during the process, but several inches of cracked welds were found around the broken areas. I'm no professional welder, but it seemed they were lacking in quality similar to yours. I repaired them to the best of my ability, and I will see if I can post some pictures this week when I go up there.