Custom FEL

[Stiles]

Hello,

This is my first post and I'm glad to be part of TBN. I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of these guys:

Loader Plans, CAD Plans, Build a Loader, Front End Loader - Blank Page

Are they legit? If so I'm thinking about building my own FEL. I have a CC LTX1050 (hydro) with a 22HP Kawasaki engine, a good amount of spare time, and a wife that won't let me get a bigger tractor with a FEL (or much of anything else for that matter). So my options are either to use a shovel or make something. I don't like shovels and I'm pretty good at fabricating so I didn't know if anyone could point me in the right direction of a good FEL for my CC. If there were something out there that I didn't have to make that would be nice too (I've heard of Johny Dumps but they can only hold about 200lbs).

Any help is truly appreciated and thanks in advance.

-Stiles

 

[copndoc3]

Hi Stiles,

I built a backhoe from plans I purchased from PF Engineering and it was everything I needed and then some. If your good with fabrication and welding, you won't have any problems as his drawings are very concise and accurate. Any questions were answered very fast, most times within 5-10 minutes if he's online (which he seemed to be most of the time). I paid $80 for the backhoe plans and built it in about 3 weeks of spare time. His cost estimates were off a little, but I attribute that to location, steel prices, hydraulic parts purchased, etc. All total, I probably have about $3k in my backhoe. Any commercially purchased backhoes for my Kubota B2710 were all over $8K so I saved a bunch of money and had fun doing it.

I was very pleased with the service he gave too and I would buy from him again.
If you look at all the pictures on his site, lots of people have bought his plans.

Tom

 

[Hozen]

I guess I'll play the role of the party pooper...

Your lawm mower isn't designed to be a tractor/loader. You probably already know that. Adding a heavy loader to your lawn mower and expecting to do any heavy work is probably not realistic and it'll put a lot of stress on the tractor and is sure to wear out / break things much faster. I agree that the johnney buckets are fairly worthless. However, I wouldn't expect to move a whole lot with a loader on that tractor of yours anyhow. I'm sure it weighs 1000lbs or less. So, to move 500lbs in a loader that's out front on the tractor, you'll need nearly an equal load on the rear. Without a three point hitch, you'll have to fab something up there too.

If you really plan on using the loader like most of the folks with loaders do, then you'll want to look at a larger tractor. One that is designed to handle the weight over the front axle. One that has a 3pt hitch. One that has a beefier frame for the added stress.

Your LTX1050 is a fine mower... but I think you'd be a lot happier in the long run convincing your wife to let you get a larger machine with a loader.

 

[David Devuono]

If your tractor was 20 years old, I would say go to it. You could build a loader (my 12hp diesel kubota has a 36 inch wide loader bucket and weights only about 1100lbs) but I had to loose the mid mount mower for the subframe for my loader. Not sure if your tractor has power steering, if not a rear weight is manditory as are tire chains. Add to that, a separate hydraulic tank, pump etc. Your tractor weights 550#. You should try and hook something up to your trailer hitch and see if you can push it into a pile of sand IE try and push a 45 gallon drum into the dirt and see how much you can get into it. You are not going to enjoy loading your loader bucket with a shovel. A small trailer would be better.