46 backhoe ram bent?

hunter70 · May 26, 2009

Just my luck,rented a 2520 w/46 hoe to do my neighbors a favor was only grubbing to loosen the soil ,been about 15mins or so had a coffee in one hand runnin levers in the other at about half throttle when the dipper ram bent in the middle! I calld them right up and they said it was my fault and I needed to pay $1000 for a new ram! This sound right? I've run every type of const equip there is and never broke anything so I don't know how I couldve bent the ram just grubbin. I'm thinkn someone bent it b4 me and straitened it or the ram they said they "just replaced "had too long of a thro and bent from that pressure. Any ideas b appreciated.

kennyd · May 26, 2009

Welcome to TBN

Pretty unfortunate indecent...Plenty around here have that same setup and I've never heard of one bending before, and I've seen pictures of some serious work that's been done with it.

I can't offer any advice, but can assure you it's not a common problem with that hoe.

FastPauly · May 26, 2009

That is strange....for that to physically happen (and apparently the second time on that particular cylinder), I would be suspicious that one of the pins on either end of the cylinder is somhow becoming jammed in the cylinder eye not allowing rotation as the cylinder is going through its stroke. Could the ball from a failed grease zerk somehow get down in there and intermittenly catching.....don't know if that is possible or not but just throwing out thoughts.

I have a 2520/46 hoe....have worked it hard with zero problems.

WilsonOutdoors · May 26, 2009

Sorry to hear of your problems - hopefully you are able to get things resolved with the rental place. We have a JD 2320 with the model 46 backhoe and we have removed several stumps and rocks over the last several months. We have not had any issues with the cylinder rods bending but the teeth on the backhoe bucket haven't held up very well. We have some videos posted on a couple different places on the internet which shows some of the ways we have been using it - below is one example.

Wilson Outdoors

Example - JD 2320 with 46 Backhoe

hunter70 · May 27, 2009

I think something was/is wrong with the machine. i spoke to a couple local deere shops and they said they have never heard of this happening in just light soils. also told me that i could get the whole ram for 731 bucks or the rod for $160, bushing kit for 61. so why is he telling me its 950 for the cylinder and 48 bucks shipping? im thinkin they maybe tryin to make up for the bad economy as ive spent tens of thousands with this rental company and never had any issues.

ChuckinNH · May 27, 2009

Sounds like the rental company is trying to get you to pay for their maintenance. I would shift the burden of proof to them, and ask for a partial refund of my rental, and delivery costs. If they have no proof of misuse.. I.E. evidence left where you have been digging, etc. and the unit has no history of failure (per local dealers you have spoken too) I would be pretty reluctant to pay them for something they didn't have fixed, or serviced correctly, and I would pay a dealer I trusted to fix it for them if it came to that in the end. Times are tough, but business is business.

mfreund · May 27, 2009

I would tell them to pick it up and ask for a refund and tell them to sue me!!!

hunter70 · May 27, 2009

i spoke to the rental co. apparently he gets his parts from the some place i do but for some reason we got two different prices. his price is 950 for the ram but for me bein a joe off the street is 730. for me to buy the rod is 155 or for him its 600. go figure. he told me i could buy the ram myself but i dont have the money. i guess ur suppose to have 20k in the bank before u rent anything in case a wire shorts out and it burns to the ground in ur driveway. kinda defeats the reason for renting junk. anyway he still says its my fault and im payin because he looked at it today and didnt see any damage other than a bend.

hunter70 · May 27, 2009

ur braver than me Wilsonoutdoors, if im pullin stumps i get somethin a little bigger but seems to work for you, guessin u own it.

rcrcomputing · May 27, 2009

If you'll search the threads, I believe it was 3rll that showed how he "straighten" a rod without even removing it and letting the tractor do the work of straighting it. Just a thought.

Rob-D · May 28, 2009

hunter70 said:
ur braver than me Wilsonoutdoors, if im pullin stumps i get somethin a little bigger but seems to work for you, guessin u own it.

I've been pulling stumps for years with the 46 backhoe. I'm so bad that I hook the stump with the hoe and drive forward!

The trick to pulling stumps is to work about two feet out from the stump. The roots are weaker the further you go out and it makes the job easier.

In any case I've never bent anything excepting the teeth! I have some hard face wire for my MIG and someday I'll hard face them when they get bad enough. Although they are pretty bent now!

One more thing, I use a 13" bucket for the hard pan in the Catskills. This is a 'two rocks for every dirt' place as Nancy likes to say!

Being an engineer my guess is that the arm was bent slightly when you got it or the sleeve was worn and out of line, the force of working did it in. Think about bending a steel bar. If it is 100% true then it's just about impossible but put a little bend in it and you multiply the chances of it bending 10 fold.

Before you rent anything again check for play in the BH and check the hours on the machine. Also check for worn pins. If a pin is worn it's possible it is worn on an angle and the force on the ram is to one side which will bend it under load. The Deere BHs are pretty rugged and this shouldn't happen with a properly maintained and lubed machine. Check the other parts on the one you just bent, they will give you the general condition of the BH.

Rob

Gizmo2 · May 28, 2009

Rob-D said:
One more thing, I use a 13" bucket for the hard pan in the Catskills. This is a 'two rocks for every dirt' place as Nancy likes to say!
Rob

I'll vouch for that, I think we grow rocks in Sullivan County.

milkie62 · May 31, 2009

I bent the ram on my neighbors 650 TLB .What happened to me was I moved the tractor with the hoe extended and went over a pile of dirt with the hoe in that position.Cylinder for that hoe was $548.00 back a couple of years.If it was my machine I would have bought the new cylinder from northern and painted it green and bought whatever fittings I needed to make it work.But being my neighbors I had to return it in the condition I got it in.

STEFF4110 · May 16, 2011

THE RAM FOR THE BUCKET WILL EASILY BEND WHEN A ROCK GETS BETWEEN THE RAMSHAFT AND BACKHOE ARM, AND YOU MOVE THE BUCKET. I DID IT YESTERDAY.

Gizmo2 · May 16, 2011

STEFF4110 said:
THE RAM FOR THE BUCKET WILL EASILY BEND WHEN A ROCK GETS BETWEEN THE RAMSHAFT AND BACKHOE ARM, AND YOU MOVE THE BUCKET. I DID IT YESTERDAY.

Good one! LOL!

smalltown · May 16, 2011

STEFF4110 said:
THE RAM FOR THE BUCKET WILL EASILY BEND WHEN A ROCK GETS BETWEEN THE RAMSHAFT AND BACKHOE ARM, AND YOU MOVE THE BUCKET. I DID IT YESTERDAY.

I'm trying to figure out where these parts are so I hopefully don't do the same thing.

Egon · May 17, 2011

Bent the stabilizer cylinder Ram on my JD #7 backhoe.

New cylinder was about seven hundred dollars. Local shop straightened it and also fixed up the bent support and pins for $135. dollars. No problems with it.

Cidertom · May 17, 2011

Several people have bent rods. See the thread I started
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...rating/102027-448-bh-woops-whine-whimper.html

Rob-D · May 19, 2011

Guys,
There is only one way that can happen. The rod has to be already bent at least slightly. A rock got between the cylinder and the boom or something similar. You might have missed it. Pulling and pushing forces on a straight rod are in the magnitude of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
here's the physics of it.
Stand on top of a beam that is 5 feet long times one inch in diameter in the vertical position and then put it horizontally and stand on it. You could put a car on it in the vertical position.

So my advice is to watch your boom at all times because it only takes one curl of the bucket with a rock wedged between the boom and the cylinder to do real damage.

Rob

smalltown · May 19, 2011

Rob-D Please excuse my ignorance with backhoe operation. I am more than interested as I await my new 2520 and my installation of a used #46 backhoe.

I have been following this tread with hightened interest after reading about members bending rams. Hopefully I will not bend the ram as I "slowly" get used to operating the backhoe.

I assume the section I must be aware of is highlighted with arrows. Looking at that section is it that as the bucket curls the position of the ram is also moving in an almost horizontal direction toward the boom? So it traps what ever is between the two and bends the ram over it?