300cx bucket not level

[jba3520]

What is the prescribed method for adjusting the level of the bucket, or is there a way to adjust it? I can't seem to find anywhere in the service manuals or the tech manuals how you adjust the level of the bucket. My bucket is 2 inches lower on the left than on the right.

I have adjusted the quick park bolts so that the loader is not sloppy and one side is adjusted out quite a bit further than the other side. Is this what is causing my bucket to not be level or is there another adjustment?

Or is my loader just tweaked?

Thanks

 

[WH401]

It sounds like you loader is bent.

 

[jba3520]

Okay, so I went out and adjusted the QuickPark bolts so that they were even on both sides and this leveled up the bucket some, but now my right side mast is really wobbly when I have any load on the bucket. It seems like the QuickPark bolt on the left side is adjusted so that there is no slop on the mast index on the post at the bottom of the mast. I hope that makes sense... When I adjust the right side to make the bucket level the Quick park bolt is tight against the mast until I put a load on it and then the mast moves backward until it stops against the mast index on the post creating a gap at the QuickPark bolt of 3/8 of an inch.

Could it be that the right post is twisted? Do the posts somehow lock into the frame or is the the post flange flat against the frame and maybe the slop in the bolt holes would allow me to rotate the index forward a bit?

Has anyone tried this?

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

Although it might seem obvious, I have to ask. Has the FEL been taken off lately and then reinstalled? One time I took mine off and on the reinstall one side did not reseat properly on the frame mounted bracket, although it initially looked OK from the tractor seat.

 

[jd110]

Another thing to check that gets overlooked. Make sure tire pressure is even, especially the rear tires. Also be sure the tires are the same brand. If that all checkes out, then you probably have a twisted loader frame. Good Luck!

 

[jba3520]

The loader has been off and on quite a bit trying to resolve this issue. I know what you are talking about when it doesn't seat properly and I can see this and remedy it quickly when I'm putting it back on. Also I have checked the tire pressure and I'm within 2-3 psi from side to side.

After spending some time on this problem I'm pretty sure the right hand post is rotated relative to the left hand post. This causes the index on the left side to be tight and the right side to be loose when the quick park bolts are adjusted the same.

I'm hoping I can loosen the bolts on the posts and the slop from the bolt holes will be enough to rotate them back to a position to fix the problem.

Does this sound reasonable or am I wasting my time?

 

[AKfish]

The loader has been off and on quite a bit trying to resolve this issue. I know what you are talking about when it doesn't seat properly and I can see this and remedy it quickly when I'm putting it back on. Also I have checked the tire pressure and I'm within 2-3 psi from side to side.

After spending some time on this problem I'm pretty sure the right hand post is rotated relative to the left hand post. This causes the index on the left side to be tight and the right side to be loose when the quick park bolts are adjusted the same.

I'm hoping I can loosen the bolts on the posts and the slop from the bolt holes will be enough to rotate them back to a position to fix the problem.

Does this sound reasonable or am I wasting my time?

Pictures... pictures and more pictures! It's a great help when we can see what it is you're describing --

But.. some questions: parking surface basically level? Bucket OK? Nothing bent on the bucket?

And if I understand your ideas regarding the mounting brackets - is there a possibility that one side has come loose and changed position since the original install? (That's why they mark every nut and bolt from the factory with those white stripes!)

If so; it can't hurt to loosen and adjust and re-tork the mounts.

One suggestion to check the "square" of the loader. With the bucket down; measure the distance on the loader arms at the junction of the arm and the curl cylinders and between the arms at the rear mast. Also measure the distance in an "X" pattern between the front and rear of the arms.
You can do this - before and after - adjusting the quick park bolts.

The measurements should help you both to "quantify as well as identify" the nature of the problem.

Keep us posted.

AKfish

 

[jba3520]

AKfish,

Thanks for your suggestions. The surface is as level and flat as I can get, a concrete slab shop floor. The bucket is straight and square. I will measure like you suggested and see what I come up with.

I have the loader off at the moment and I'm pretty sure the posts have moved. While sitting on the tractor with my head centered above the steering wheel. I can see both the left and right posts. If I move my head forward until I see the edge of the left post lining up with the edge of the index, then I look at the right post, the index on the right post is not lined up with the edge of the post. To me this makes it pretty clear that the post are not set the same and is probably the problem.

I didn't have time to loosen them up tonight, so I'll try it out the next chance I get.

Thanks

JBA

 

[jba3520]

OK, so I was able to loosen both sides and there was a small amount of slop on the bolt holes. I rotated them opposite of each other to try and bring the mast indexes more in line with each other.

Before I made the adjustments the bucket had about two and a half inch difference in height from the left side to the right side. Measuring the top of the masts, the left one was more than an inch further forward than the right one. After adjusting them the bucket is still more than an inch out of level and the masts are about three quarters of an inch out of alignment. So, there was some improvement but not a total fix.

I have noticed while trying to fix this problem that the bigger problem than the bucket being level is the right mast moves on the post no matter what I do. The left post doesn't move. Because of this, the left mast takes far more of the load than it should, the right mast moves on the post before it "engages the load"

I've thought of several different ways that I could fix this and I'm not sure which would be best. Drilling out the holes on one of the posts so that I could rotate it more is one option or buy a new post for $150. I also talked with my dealer and explained the situation. He agrees that the index on the post is defective but neither of us know which one is bad. I would need to compare them to a new one to see which is defective.

The dealer is going to talk to John Deere to see if they can suggest a fix. I am well past the one year warranty on the loader but he agrees that the problem has been there since it was new. He's out of town all next week so I won't here any thing from him for at least a week or so.

I'm not very confident that Deere is going to do anything. Even though the tractor only has 165 hours, I bought it over three years ago. So the question is should I just try and fix it on my own or wait to see what they say?

I guess it would be nice to know if any one else has had this issue and what was done to solve it.

 

[jenkinsph]

jba, I would wait and give the dealer a chance to talk with John Deere, I had a problem last year with mine and JD paid for half of the repairs. While my 110 was three years old with a one year warranty I only had 250 hours. Sounds very similar to your situation.
My MFWD axle failed and required a complete rebuild.


Steve

 

[AKfish]

Before I made the adjustments the bucket had about two and a half inch difference in height from the left side to the right side. Measuring the top of the masts, the left one was more than an inch further forward than the right one. After adjusting them the bucket is still more than an inch out of level and the masts are about three quarters of an inch out of alignment.

I have noticed while trying to fix this problem that the bigger problem than the bucket being level is the right mast moves on the post no matter what I do. The left post doesn't move. Because of this, the left mast takes far more of the load than it should, the right mast moves on the post before it "engages the load"

I've thought of several different ways that I could fix this and I'm not sure which would be best. Drilling out the holes on one of the posts so that I could rotate it more is one option or buy a new post for $150. He agrees that the index on the post is defective but neither of us know which one is bad. I would need to compare them to a new one to see which is defective.

Even though the tractor only has 165 hours, I bought it over three years ago. I guess it would be nice to know if any one else has had this issue and what was done to solve it.

Well.. there's progress here! You've got the problem narrowed down and you're dealer is engaged and he recognizes that the issue has been something that was present when the tractor was new.

That's very good!! At the very least - he's likely gonna go to bat for you with Deere and you should get new replacement horizontal mounts. (Or one new one..)

Is it possible that you have 2 right side base (horizontal) mounts installed? There have been a few posts here on TBN regarding this problem and it came down to mismatched mounts (wrongly installed) at the dealerships.

If that's the case; you should not have to "do anything on your own" to fix the problem. The onus is on the dealer and mother Deere.

Best of luck.

AKfish

 

[cowboy_79_1999]

jba3520... Can you please tell me if you got your problem resolved? I just got my brand new 3520 with the 300cx and I have the EXACT same problem. I took off my mounting posts and compared them side by side and the stop on the left one is definitely indexed farther forward than the left. The dealer setup man says he's not seen this before and he's not sure that deere will do anything to resolve it, I'm waiting for a reply. It's driving me nuts that this brand new machine is not straight. At first mine was about 3 inches out, I've managed to get mine within an inch by adjusting the bolts as well, but I'm not satisfied that a new machine should be that far off in the first place. I know I can fix it myself with a bit of weld and grind on the right hand post stop, but I shouldn't have to do that to a new machine, plus I am sure that will void the warranty.... Anyone have some info???

 

[cowboy_79_1999]

Got new mounting posts on the tractor and it fixed the problem!!

 

[dieselram]

Does anybody have pics of what was tweaked?

 

[dieselram]

HELP!!! I adjusted the quick park bolts, left side (on tractor) nice and snug closing and the right side has about a 3/8" gap to make the bucket somewhat level and now the whole loader is shifted 1 1/4 to the left! What the **** is going on? My dealer is no help even though he sold it to my dad new and it's totally out of warranty. Who knows how to adjust these things? I didn't have these problems with my 430 loader. Probably didn't help the posts were on the wrong sides to begin with.