Mahindra 2545 on sand

[thekkfan]

Valve and fittings come in today, I've been thinking about ways to fund a grapple purchase since I literally don't have a reason to buy one other than to clean up a bunch of dead trees at my mom's property. Come to find out, she was just quoted $5500 dollars to clear 15 dead trees, not including stump grinding. My buddy offered to spend a weekend helping me out and it looks like she is going to reimburse me the cost of the grapple if I get rid of the 15 trees for her. In this case I would actually get a good grapple (some of the trees are rather large).

I went ahead and told her it would be between $1500 and $2500 for a grapple after referencing everythingattachments. Anyone have any input on which grapple would be best for the 2545? It comes with a 66" bucket, I'm not sure if it makes sense to match the OEM bucket width or go more narrow. Also, I'm not sure if it would make more sense to get the wicked root grapple V2.0 or the wicked root rake. ]

pripyat,

See posts in this thread. Best general use for the $ is MTL... $999 to your door. You will find all sorts of posts on here on widths. I chose 60" with dual lid.

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/century-branson/409032-best-reasonably-priced-grapple-2.html

 

[pripyat]

I didn't realize that these things came without the quick attach. The 1526 has it too. I just wish the bucket didn't make so much racket when I hit bumps in high range.

It really is insane what the price difference is between the MTL and EA. I did some reading on the MTL's but I was turned off on how little information is out there regarding exact unit weight and quality of materials. I'm on the upper end of the HP range of those units. Also, I really don't care to have separate closing clamps. Doesn't seem like it would be useful for what I'm using it for. My worry is that if I go up to a small tree and try to pull it up while engaging only two tines, will it bend the grapple? I feel it would be a lot less likely to bend the EA considering the type of steel used. IDK though. If it were all my money I'd likely just get the MTL. Since I've got someone picking up most or all of the tab, I may splurge and get the EA.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Maybe QA is standard these days? Where is the bucket noise coming from? Is it loosely held? Pin adjustment?

I hope its not a dimensional problem with the QA. That would affect all correctly made implements. If its the bucket at fault you may need to weld in some shims on the bucket lower flange. . . . altho that could be a Mahindra responsibility.

The assembly must be secure or the loader can be damaged.​

.

 

[thekkfan]

I have more HP and loader than you and mine is fine. I believe there are others on here that use it with the 45-55hp range.

Each has there own opinion on the single/dual lid option though. I can tell you when I grab into a group of trees/branches its nice to have ability for it to close on a large piece while continuing on something smaller right beside it.

Granted, if I were using YOUR money instead of mine, I might step up to a unit with AR400 steel. :laughing:

 

[pripyat]

Wait, so when i'm back dragging the loader shouldnt have any play? I've never messed with the quick attach stuff. When I hit a big bump or dip the loader rotates and makes one heck of a racket from the jostle.

To clarify, if I start back dragging with the loader pointed down at 45 degrees, it will tilt up maybe 15 degrees or so before it catches.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Wait, so when i'm back dragging the loader shouldnt have any play? I've never messed with the quick attach stuff. When I hit a big bump or dip the loader rotates and makes one heck of a racket from the jostle.

To clarify, if I start back dragging with the loader pointed down at 45 degrees, it will tilt up maybe 15 degrees or so before it catches.

Oops. Sorry - lost track of all that was happening.

Check ALL structural bolting on your tractor. Do the loader and wheel lugs right away - before doing anything else. My loader arrived "loose". I noticed some motion but figured it was flex in the long elements of the large to me loader as well as slop in the pins. I got to checking the bolts in a few hrs and found 50 or 100 ftlb on bolts that should have had 250+. Some joints werent even fully seated to the chassis. I found one bolt position in the chassis "soft" because it was partially stripped to the depth the bolt went. All of the holes were much deeper and I got Mahindra to give me longer bolts to use near the whole hole depth at every position. - Lurking porosity in the casting makes ample thread engagement prudent. - After getting everything tight the loader was much stiffer.

. . . Find out what size and class of bolt is used on yours and observe that thread engagement is at least the bolt diameter. 1.5 bolt dia would be wonderful.​

Check back with the size, class and pitch of the threads and we can determine the torque they will sustain.

The above is probably not the cause of your bucket action. That is probably air in the lines. Be sure your hyd oil is full. Cycle your loader to its extremes. That should help - and should be repeated periodically on the curl circuit to assure both sides of the cyls remain full.​

 

[pripyat]

I dont have much confidence that the loader was installed properly. They did it at the dealership I picked the tractor up from. There are marks on one of the nuts at the loader valve where someone used pliers instead of a wrench. One of my pet peeves..

 

[SPYDERLK]

I wonder if the dealer made up the hyd fluid that went into the loader cylinders and loader plumbing. Pls cycle your loader and then check fluid with it elevated to 1/2 height, level bucket. It should be at, or a little above full.

 

[heavy hammer]

Call and talk with everything attachments and see what they recommend for your tractor and your uses. I have the 72" double lid but I move a lot of trees and firewood in the woods, etc. This is what they recommended for my use and tractor size. Our tractors are about the same you have a little more power here and there from the improvements they did from one year to the next. I'm very happy with mine and the cost was not that bad, but I saved for years for mine and It is the one attachment I wanted more than anything. I was a fan of how light the grapple was for the strength, I didn't want a big heavy grapple which would take away from my lift capacity.

 

[CincyFlyer]

I didn't have the $$ for the EA, so I got the MTL. They didn't have the smaller one in stock, sold me a 72" for same price. Double lid. Works just fine (on my 2540 with the huge valve!) and the extra weight compared to EA hasn't yet been an issue.
The MTL is mild steel, the EA is a much better structural steel, and likely better designed. But I just don't bang it into stuff, and it's been fine.

 

[pripyat]

I wonder if the dealer made up the hyd fluid that went into the loader cylinders and loader plumbing. Pls cycle your loader and then check fluid with it elevated to 1/2 height, level bucket. It should be at, or a little above full.

WHYYYYY

I did what you said, and there is no hydraulic fluid in the sight glass. That may explain the issue with the curl. I just hope I haven't torn anything up or prematurely worn something due to the low fluid level. When I was checking fluids the other day I couldn't tell if the sight glass was overly filled or empty. I haven't had the tractor on level ground since I bought it, I contributed the fact that it wasn't half-way in the sight glass due to it being unlevel. I mean, I did just pick the thing up from the dealer and I'm 100% sure there are no hydraulic leaks - I go under the tractor every time I run it to grease the axles.

I'm really kicking myself for being so neglectful to the machine. Sigh.

I guess I'll top it off with whatever they sell at the local store and swap it all out to the correct level in another 20 hours of use. I'm interested to see how much it takes.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Make sure it is universal tractor transmission/hydraulic fluid. Standard hydraulic fluid does not contain the extreme pressure additives needed for gears. 5 Gal is about $40 at TSC . . . I doubt theres any damage. "Air" in the lines is not the same as running dry by a long shot. If I found it to be significantly low tho Id be pissed at the dealer. He definitely owes you a top up at minimum.

 

[3gunr]

My 2538 willhave a floppy bucket if i dont jiggle the loader control a little as soon as i do it stiffens up. You really should be back dragging with the bottom of the bucket flat on the ground. Also a 2500 dollar ztr is a toy meant for very small acreages. Look at agri supplys finish mowers.

 

[pripyat]

GL4 80W-90 would work, correct?

 

[SPYDERLK]

GL4 80W-90 would work, correct?

Yes. I dont know the advisability of mixing with UTF tho.

 

[pripyat]

I sourced some hydraulic fluid. The tractor was on a slight decline, where I usually park it. Can't be more than 1 or 2 degrees. It took three quarts to fill to the fill mark in the center of the sight glass, with the loader level and on the ground. I drove it 5 minutes, cycled the cylinders several times, and checked again but on level ground. I didn't pay any attention to where the loader was positioned. Oil was over the sight glass and cloudy with bubbles.

I ran the tractor for another hour and kept cycling all the cylinders every 5 or 10 minutes. Put the tractor back in its parking spot, loader level on ground, and checked again. Fluid was barely to the sight glass and wasn't cloudy like it was previously.

My take on all that is that it was low and there was definitely air in cylinders. I was freaking out thinking that I had destroyed my hyd pump but I don't think it was actually that low. Tomorrow I plan to find some level ground, cycle cylinders, lift bucket half way, and report back where the level is. I suspect it will be low still.

[edit] I found out why the bucket rattles so much. It appears to be in the pins. There seems to be several degrees of slop in the linkage near the bucket. Makes me wonder if they installed the wrong pins or something, I would have expected it to be tight with it basically being brand new. I made a (poor) video, it was dark, but you guys may be able to see what is going on and advise.

 

[pripyat]

Wait, now i'm confused.. the chart in the manual states:
Transmission Case: 9.25gal gear oil 80W.
Final Drive Case: 2.17gal UTF.

Where is the final drive case? In the section on changing fluids it only mentions the transmission. And on the fluids pictorial diagram final drive case isnt shown, either.

I actually thought transmission fluid was shared with the hydraulics from skimming the manual.

[Edit] For clarification I added gl4 80w90 to the transmission as per the manual describes (at rear of tractor). I planned on ordering the 80W in bulk and doing the 50hr swap for transmission fluid early since I added some and potentially mixed fluids which I know is not recommended.

 

[pripyat]

To add to the trainwreck this thread has become, here are the items in question out the manual. I wonder why you use the dipstick to check tranny fluid level if there is a sight glass?

 

[SPYDERLK]

I dont know which part of your manual to tell you to either ignore or interpret in some non intuitive fashion. That sight window looks way too low. Does it agree with the dipstick??

Final drives may refer to front. Does yours have planetary gear reduction out at the hubs? Those and the center differential fill separately.

Have you checked structural bolting yet?

 

[pripyat]

I did, structurally the loader is secured well.

I am beyond confused. The manual clearly states 80w in transmission. I just watched a guy do his 50hr service on youtube and he pumped it full of hydraulic fluid which is basically 10w-30.

Is there a separate sump for the hydraulic fluid? I'm about to go look at the tractor shortly. The manual doesnt seem to mention it..