FEL Lift capacity

[Geotech]

I have a question about FEL capacity - might be a dumb question....

Is the FEL lift capacity based completely on available power from the hydraulics, or does the rating including a tipping factor?

Near the beginning of a Youtube video, a tractor salesman makes the statement that the tractor could lift much more than its FEL rating if the tractor had ballast. The statement is 28 seconds into this video: Kioti CK4 & CK351 Tractor Loader w/ Snowblower Review - YouTube

I understand that track loader capacities involve tipping capacities, so I wondered if this was also true for CUTS...

 

[bdhsfz6]

I'm not sure what a tipping factor is or what that salesman is talking about.

If I try and lift something heavy without ballast on either of my Kubota tractors, the rear wheels will come off the ground before the FEL will lift it's rated capacity.

AFAIK, the published FEL lift ratings (at least for Kubota tractors) are measured with a properly ballasted tractor and the hydraulic pressure set to factory spec.

 

[Geotech]

Tipping factor is a rating of how much a machine (say, a skid steer) can lift to a given height before the machine starts tipping forward. Skid steers don't publish a maximum lifting capacity, rather a tipping factor.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Tipping factor is a rating of how much a machine (say, a skid steer) can lift to a given height before the machine starts tipping forward. Skid steers don't publish a maximum lifting capacity, rather a tipping factor.

A tipping factor rating may exist for CUT tractors but I've never seen them posted (at least for Kubota anyway).

 

[Texasmark]

I have a question about FEL capacity - might be a dumb question....

Is the FEL lift capacity based completely on available power from the hydraulics, or does the rating including a tipping factor?

Near the beginning of a Youtube video, a tractor salesman makes the statement that the tractor could lift much more than its FEL rating if the tractor had ballast. The statement is 28 seconds into this video: Kioti CK41 & CK351 Tractor Loader w/ Snowblower Review - YouTube

I understand that track loader capacities involve tipping capacities, so I wondered if this was also true for CUTS...

Example of tipping factor: My 2400 has a very fast hydraulic system and feathering a heavy load is tricky. With a bucket moderately full of something like sand or gravel, even with rear weights, I get a lifting reaction on the rear from height changes of the bucket, serious enough to jostle me in the seat. So, the normal calculations for hyd pressure x area of piston/length of lift arm thing just may be modified by weight of the tractor in determining the safe lifting capability, or may not. Dunno!

 

[Notforhire]

I had a Bobcat S130 several years ago. The 130 stood for the operating capacity of 1300 lbs. The tipping load was 2 times the operating capacity, or 2600 lbs.
The model numbers are different now but the specs haven't changed much. S45 Skid-Steer Loader Specs & Options - Bobcat Company

I believe you all are correct. The lift capacity is determined by the pressure and proper ballast. I've never heard of tipping load on a tractor.

 

[CMV]

It's rated on what the machine can do....assume if it were anchored to the ground. There will be variation from machine to machine, so just because your spec sheet says X, the actual absolute most you can lift will be +/-.

Note HOW the measurement on spec sheet was taken. Some are very vague or only give capacity at pivot pins. In center of curled bucket - or farther out with load spread over pallet forks it will be much less. There is also a huge difference in what you can just get off the ground vs what you can get more than a few feet up.

In general, any major brand modern machine is going to handle a full loader scoop of material and take that to full height. Will need rear ballast to do it w/o worry of tipping forward. It's when you need to lift to full height (like higher pallet racks for storage), or need to use pallet forks or some thing similar that gets the weight way out past the pivot pins where you start running into capacity issues most times.

Also note - what he could have been describing in video.....some machines can lift more with loader than tractor with no ballast can handle. Sitting still, some machines you can get the rear tires coming off the ground but the load not lifting. In that case, you could lift more with ballast. The loader is still capable of X lbs either way, just rest of machine won't balance it and the rear will come up vs the bucket. Regardless, you need counterbalance on the rear - can still tip forward once moving or raising load higher.

 

[mbohuntr]

I believe it is rated for the hydraulic capacity. The user configures the counterbalance with loaded tires, attachments etc. My tractor will lift the rear tires off the ground easily.
That being said, heavy loads should always be kept as near to the ground as possible because the geometry can change in an instant if you drive into a depression, rut, or create a static load by rapidly raising or lowering the load.

 

[Geotech]

CMV,

In the video, he stated the loader capacity of about 1800+ lbs, which is the capacity rating spec of the loader (1835 lbs), and then states it could be over 2000 with ballast. So, he was stating that it could lift more than its spec rating given ballast. Anyway, probably not a big deal, just got me wondering about ratings and how they are determined. For example, Kubota states 1130 lbs lift for their L2501, 033 and 039 series. But that is at the pin at full lift height. Kioti and LS advertise 1835 and 1700 lbs, respectively, but that is at pin at 1.5 meters off the ground. Sounds astronomically higher than Kubota, but if you find Kubota's rating at 1.5 meters, it is 1490 lbs. So not as big a discrepancy. THEN, I hear this guy on the Youtube video going off on something else. I have seen some of this guy's other videos and he seems like a relatively legitimate source of information, but this is the first time I've heard or read anyone say the lift capacity would be higher than the advertised rating given some ballast...

 

[oosik]

I have 1550 pounds of Rim Guard in the rear tires and a heavy 1050 pound Rhino 950 rear blade on the 3-point. Even with all that rear ballast - I still can't lift the max that the FEL is rated for. I can lift right at 3100 pounds - more than enough for anything I need. Also right at the edge of my "fear factor rating".

I've never heard of a "tipping factor". Sounds like some jargon concocted by a tractor salesman. Without something heavy on the 3-point - I can easily and dangerously lift the rear tires.