FEL removal and ride quality

[LabLuvR]

I bought a new Kabota MX 5400 last year. I really love the tractor but the ride was horrible. Every little bump seem to go through my spine.
The other day I decided to take the loader off for some tight bush hog work. Immediately I can sense a much softer and gentler ride. I still feel the bumps but not nearly as bad as before. Is it my imagination or did the FEL affect the ride quality that much? And if it did,why? Thanks

 

[sea2summit]

There are a lot of things we'd need to know for good feedback. Bottom line yes, taking weight off the front end will make it seem smoother. What you're doing is reducing the work the small front wheels are doing and transfering more work to the larger rear wheels which are better at smoothing things out. Typically if I'm brush hogging I like to take the bucket off but keep the FEL on so I run the fell into something rather than the tractor and get the material layed over better so it doesn't drag on the tractor as badly.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I bought a new Kabota MX 5400 last year. I really love the tractor but the ride was horrible. Every little bump seem to go through my spine.
The other day I decided to take the loader off for some tight bush hog work. Immediately I can sense a much softer and gentler ride. I still feel the bumps but not nearly as bad as before. Is it my imagination or did the FEL affect the ride quality that much? And if it did,why? Thanks

I just remove the bucket on mine. I have also started mowing in 4th gear low range; much improved ride and cut with the 12ft batwing.

 

[wolc123]

My JD 4120 has a heavy duty bucket and I always take that off when I am bush hogging large areas. That definitely makes for a quieter, smoother ride. It takes me under a minute to drop the bucket, and the ride is nearly as good as when I remove the whole loader (20 minute job).

 

[LabLuvR]

Yes I was able to go up into a higher gear due to the soft ride as well.I have a heavy duty bucket as well maybe that’s the problem more than the loader itself. Thanks for the idea.

 

[npalen]

Interesting. I find, on my Mahindra 3015 (30HP) that the heavy 66" bucket tends to smooth the ride on the road or street. The industrial tires on the front are stiff as a board, even with very low psi, and the extra weight of the bucket seems to counteract that. I run very low psi in the rears also with no fluid and normally have an attachment of some weight on the 3PH.

 

[Cougsfan]

I remove the entire FEL when I mow with the bush hog for a smother ride. It takes about 5 minutes.

 

[rScotty]

With the Kubota, I just remove the bucket. With SSQA it takes less than a minute, and really improves the ride. It takes out that bounce and bang over rough roads.

On the JD, there is no SSQA. The pinned on bucket stays mounted. But it has the optional "comfort ride" which stores the bounce energy and smooths out the ride. Of course it's a couple of thou for that option...

 

[Smokeydog]

Adding the Kubota soft ride to the M59 FEL made a huge difference in ride quality but also helps in component wear from reducing the shock load. NOS from eBay $200 and about $150 in valves, gauge and hydraulic line/fittings to modify for my application. With a valve to turn on/off and gauge to monitor FEL hydraulic pressure can see and feel the damping effect. Been one of my favorite modifications.

Bush hogging is a mixture of the grapple on and off. Trees here grow like weeds so there is always trees/limbs down to clear. Some pushed back into the woods, some carried to house size tree gully composter pile.

Use a Kubota B26 with a 6’ finish mower and drop the bucket/grapple for clearance, weight on slopes and ride. Hope to add a soft ride system someday. Neither tractor has a removable FEL.

 

[aczlan]

I bought a new Kabota MX 5400 last year. I really love the tractor but the ride was horrible. Every little bump seem to go through my spine.
The other day I decided to take the loader off for some tight bush hog work. Immediately I can sense a much softer and gentler ride. I still feel the bumps but not nearly as bad as before. Is it my imagination or did the FEL affect the ride quality that much? And if it did,why? Thanks

It's because you had just the right weight front to back and had a teeter totter effect.

Aaron Z