FEL Bottom Bucket Pins

[htiek126]

Should the bottom pins on the FEL bucket be loose? I just bought a Hinomoto with a quick detach FEL, and I can see where the holes have been opened up from use, but they appear to originally have been larger than the pins. I took a look at a John Deere FEL with a quick detach bucket, and those pins were also loose. Perhaps it is built loose to allow the FEL arms to flex without binding the bucket joints?

 

[beenthere]

"loose" is not a very helpful or descriptive term to describe what you are asking us to respond to. Could you venture a guess as to what the hole diameter is compared to the pin diameter?

I have a Deere 430 FEL, and I don't think of the lower pins as being loose. There is just enough room for a good layer of grease but the pin is not sloppy in the hole. I estimate there is not a 1/32" difference in the hole diameter and the pin diameter. (Now, to clarify, I am not talking about the fixed tapered pin on the bucket that slips into the 'receiver hole' in the loader arm).

 

[htiek126]

I am not at home to measure, and the holes are elongated. I would guess that the pin diameter was probably 1/8" smaller than the bucket holes, and probably 1/32" smaller than the FEL arm holes. These are the pinned joints on the bottom of the bucket that require the insertion of a pin, and not the tapered receiver hole on the top of the bucket.