Caution Catastrophic FEL failure

[a4763218b]

Clarification:
1) Attempted post as safety warning to others
2) Not bad mouthing Westendorf
3) Not trolling
4) Forum rules allowed no "links" until 3 posts
5) Unaware that a post could be within a post

 

[tractorcrazy]

Re: Westendorf Loader FEL

I’ve had my forks come off my aldomi quick attach setup on my ford 1720. But darned if I didn’t forget to latch them down. First and last time for that.

What does reply with quote supposed to mean

 

[mike48130]

Moved into a new house this year. The neighbor told me the PO had a new Kubota tractor and had a helper using it. Same thing happened I guess. Lifted up the loader arms and the bucket fell on the operator and tractor. I think he said broke his leg as well and messed up the plastic tractor pretty good as well. I'm guessing while sitting in the seat with your feet down and the bucket crushes your top of the leg as your trying to duck and protect yourself. Bad loader design. You should not be able to tilt that far back or have a safety. The JDQA has the pins, so it won't slide unless you pop it out of the pins. Most skid steers have a roll cage.

 

[Alan W.]

I guess I am a little confused as to why they are coming loose. Operator error I understand. But I have never had a skid steer bucket com off no matter how much it was back dragged. Or is it a design flaw. My BIL has told me his QA on his Kubota is sprung and he has trouble getting it to latch.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I know several people who repair and build such equipment all day long. They generally have nothing nice to say about the SS style attachment, compared to others.

 

[DK35vince]

I guess I am a little confused as to why they are coming loose. But I have never had a skid steer bucket com off no matter how much it was back dragged. Or is it a design flaw.

If working correctly they are not coming off.
We had a couple worked hard skid steers at work that the buckets and QA were getting wore and trying to pop loose when back dragging. A couple new pins/springs and shim up the wore bucket and good as new (simple fix)
I Couldn't knock the bucket off my tractor once latched regardless what I'm doing or how hard I tried.

 

[1010]

Looks like a JD tractor to me, and the loader broke up by the hood and steering wheel, pin broke or something, causing the loader frame to hit the operator just above the knee breaking his leg..
The skid steer is just carrying the bucket.
The loader frame is DEF apart and a pin is missing. Very easy to see how that could come back on the operator..

 

[ruffdog]

This case and others that had issues with the ssqa makes me think about my own attachments. I always make sure the pins are sticking through as they should and the 2 ssqa plates are tight together. I just try to learn from what other's have issues with.:drink:

 

[ovrszd]

If I roll my bucket back and raise it high enough that it could slide down the FEL arms and hit me it would have long ago dumped the material onto my tractor's hood. Trying to understand why anyone would do that?

 

[RickB]

If I roll my bucket back and raise it high enough that it could slide down the FEL arms and hit me it would have long ago dumped the material onto my tractor's hood. Trying to understand why anyone would do that?

Yeah. I can now understand that the series of events described can happen. But I’m still at a loss to understand why anyone would willfully do them in the order required to produce the reported result.

 

[ovrszd]

Me too.

 

[countrybumpkin]

Looks like a JD tractor to me, and the loader broke up by the hood and steering wheel, pin broke or something, causing the loader frame to hit the operator just above the knee breaking his leg..
The skid steer is just carrying the bucket.
The loader frame is DEF apart and a pin is missing. Very easy to see how that could come back on the operator..

You need to reread the posts, he had a couple different failures over about a year i think it was, the bucket come off and slid backwards down the arms causing his injury. Later on another failure was the loader pins breaking.

 

[jmc]

I just noticed your pics/docs at the bottom of your consumer affairs report.

Time line:

07/31/18 Reported purchase date
11/23/18 Incident 1, broken femur/safety latch
11/23/18 X-ray of broken femur
12/19/18 TBN join date
07/02/19 Incident 2, broken pin
07/29/19 Incident 3, safety latch
08/02/19 Date of Westendorf loader QUOTE, not INVOICE, as reported
09/12/19 First TBN post ever

That quote makes your case look shaky.

Right or wrong, sometimes the manufacturers sue people who launch an online campaign to make them look bad.

And the other flag here is that I've never seen any implement looking that faded and rusty, that was only a year old, as the consumer affairs report says.

 

[SmallChange]

Yeah. I can now understand that the series of events described can happen. But I知 still at a loss to understand why anyone would willfully do them in the order required to produce the reported result.

Maybe back dragging, then moving on to another task that involved trying to lift something with the bucket edge as high as possible? Not a load of material in the bucket, but maybe lifting a board, propping up a tree branch, or pulling up on something on a chain hooked to the bucket edge? Lifted and curled would be the position that gets any part of the machine to the highest possible height.

Not that I'm proposing it is a good idea. A bucket in that position is a bit scary. Imagining what would happen if it came unlatched in that position is pretty unpleasant.

 

[ovrszd]

That's a stretch. Pun intended.

 

[airbiscuit]

This thread is like a car accident. I know I shouldn't look, but I can't help myself.

 

[RickB]

No doubt.