How much slack in bucket linkage/pins?

[rjkobbeman]

I have a Kubota M8540 with about 35 hours on it. When I was digging out some compacted dirt around the bucket linkage, I noticed there was some slack in the linkage pins. This seemed a little odd to me. I figured they would be tighter fitting that they appear. Wouldn't excess clearance between the pins and the linkage accelerate wear?

My FEL was lowered and resting on the concrete floor with two pieces of wood under the bucket attachment points. There was no pressure on the bucket curl system so it was easy for me to step on the leading edge of the bucket to see a little movement.

I don't see this as being a big deal, but it did seem odd. I figured something this new would not have that much "looseness" in the pins. I have been doing a lot of FEL work tearing down tress and whatnot, however I have put in good Moly/EP grease every 10 hours of clock time.

 

[Arbo]

Usually about .010 on the diameter of a one inch pin.

 

[TripleR]

I am taking the day off, raining, but I can go to the other farm to check mine and let you know tomorrow. My inclination is that there should be very little to no play.

 

[rjkobbeman]

I'll have to think of a way to measure it. It's kind of hard for people to quantify "it seems loose"!

Tonight I'll check them out again. Maybe I will pull out one of the pins and check it out with the grease cleaned off.

 

[nspec]

I would personnally pump a little grease in it. I grease mine every 10 hours religiously and I can till you that I notice a little more wiggle when I get close. The grease will take that right out. Just don't overdo it.

 

[rjkobbeman]

I would personnally pump a little grease in it. I grease mine every 10 hours religiously and I can till you that I notice a little more wiggle when I get close. The grease will take that right out. Just don't overdo it.

That's the thing, it always has good grease in it. When I was looking at it, it has 5 hours on it since the last grease job... and the loader hadn't been used much for the 5 hours.

This does seem odd to me, however I have a hard time believing that there is wear from just 20 to 25 hours of FEL use.

 

[slan]

I was surprised with how much movement there was in my 3240 after only 20 hours as well but when I looked at some new ones on the lot they were also that way.
I am used to my tlb that needs to have very little slop in the bucket when cutting grade.
I think these type loaders are just that, loaders and a little play seems to be the norm?
I have almost 500 hours on mine now with a lot of loader work and they have not gotten any worse.:confused2:

 

[rjkobbeman]

I just looked at mine again.

Something I realized is that with the multiple point linkage, a little clearance here and a little clearance there adds up to a noticeable difference. I think it is fine, it just got my attention last night when I was looking at it.

The other thing I noticed is that the most looseness comes from the location where the pin(s) go through the boss that has the bolt to fasten them in place. In those cases, the pin does not rotate (they move in unison because they are pinned in place by the bolt) so any extra slop there is what it is -- it isn't going to get worse by "wear".

 

[buck12]

I don't have an answer except that when looking at used tractors I test drove a deere 4200 with 2500 hrs and there was no doubt the pins and/or bushings were worn out. There was slop in the loader in all positions. I think when there is excessive wear the operator can tell.