Hydrostatic quirk or total nonsense?

[CADplans]

It shouldn't, but yet it does, at least on mine. Most noticeable on the backhoe, lifting up a big log with the thumb.

That is my experience too with my BX22. At idle I get no movement with either the loader or backhoe. I believe the newer than my BXs were much better in that regard.

This is absolutely true on open center hydraulics.
The relief valve is the key reason for this.

Equate this to a two lane tunnel handling traffic,, at 2am, the traffic is light, cars go right through the tunnel.
(low engine speed, low oil flow, low force required)

Then, have all of the rush hour traffic come at the tunnel, the tunnel can no longer handle the traffic,,
(high engine speed, high oil flow, high force required)

At high engine speed, the high oil flow causes a "backup" at the relief valve.
The functional pressure the loader cylinders will experience will be based on a combination of the relief valve PLUS the restriction at the relief valve due to the high flow that is being restricted by the valve, hoses, and who knows what else.

This would be the same as clogging the return line,, at some point the pressure would go up high enough to break the gear pump supplying the pressure. (assuming a line did not burst first)

The relief valve would have to be infinite in size for this not to happen.

So,, rev up the engine when you want to lift the maximum load,, take advantage of that restriction caused by the high speed oil.

 

[crashz]

Sunandsand - you have some good questions here and have demonstrated a willingness to learn. I think you'll do well with you tractor. The Handyman author on the other hand should not the be writing an advice column about operating tractors. Maybe he's knowledgeable about other things, but not HST tractors. I won't repeat the advice given, all good stuff. I will contradict the FEL bending though. If Handy runs his BX in High gear and rams a pile, he will bend that FEL.

 

[sunandsand]

"Sunandsand - you have some good questions here and have demonstrated a willingness to learn."

Thank you. The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of ignorance. (Not original, I don't remember who said it.) I am constantly learning new things but my theory is learn about it first before you hit the switch/press the button/turn the throttle/pull the pin, not "hold my beer and watch this!"

Handyman isn't a bad magazine, but I do notice that their solution to everything seems be to advise their readers to spend as much money as possible. Same article advised buying a shiny, new $20K UTV to move a couple of bags of mulch. They did miss the part about buying a $75K Mercedes Sprinter extended van to pick up those bags at Lowes/Home Depot/Menards etc. (Or maybe just have them delivered in a chartered G650 Gulfstream jet, the butler will move them.)

Here on TBN, I get to listen to the knowledge and experience of people who know FAR more about this stuff than I ever will. I know I'm an amateur at this, and I'm not about to say "well, I've got 200 whole hours on my tractor and I know everything there is to know about tractors!" I'm reputed to be an expert in other things (or at least some people hold this delusion), so if I'm going to advise on something, I'm going to make darn sure I know what I'm talking about first.

My goal with "tractors" is to learn enough about them to operate mine safely, efficiently, and reasonably competently. Reading TBN and paying attention to the answers I get to my questions (and questions other people ask, too) has helped me greatly, and I appreciate it.

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

 

[Tony H]

When pushing into a pile, you should be in low range. No, low range does not give you more lift capacity.
Your issue is the way they rate their lift capacity and the fact that your weight was 2-3' forward of their rating point.

 

[kwbobwi]

I was unloading freight on pallets out of a tractor-trailer, and the FEL wouldn't lift, but it would curl, and that gave me enough clearance to get the pallet out of the trailer, back away, and lower the pallet to the ground. The truck bed is 4' off the ground, maybe a little more.

It is much safer in max lift unloading situations to raise the load an inch, then have the someone drive the truck out from under the load, then lower the load with the tractor stationary.

That initial 60" of tractor movement at max lift is the most dangerous time, when tractor rollovers occur.

kind of hard to do if working from a dock, even if using a pallet puller I wouldn't move the truck, the receiver needs to have the right equipment or order the load palletized by your equipment's max capacity.

 

[Gord Baker]

It’s operator error. The HST pedal works differently from a car accelerator. You want more throttle and less pedal when the going gets tough. The tractor should have already been in low range which it sounds like it wasn’t.

Correct. Ease up on the forward pedal to get more force to the wheels. Takes some getting used to.
Hydraulic Pressure is a function of engine/pump RPM. If it won't lift it, It is too heavy or you are low on Hydraulic Fluid.

 

[JWR]

This is incorrect. Increasing engine RPMs increases speed of FEL movement in feet-per-second but does not increase lift capacity in pounds.

I disagree. Try lifting a heavy load at idle...

 

[robertm]

Clearly the Handyman operator is ignorant. The BX is a single hydraulic pump, which only develops power through RPM. The loader we’ll stall every time if the RPM is not up. The B-Series is a dual pump, and is not affected as nearly. You can idle the B and make the bucket lift and curl. On the BX, you’ll grow old before seeing any movement.

 

[robertm]

The pallet forks weigh about 100 pounds - they're from Everything Attachments. The pallets are "euro" pallets, which are slightly smaller than standard US pallets.

You might check this weight. EA offers no pallet fork setup at 100#. The forks themselves, maybe, but add the frame, and 240# is the lightest setup they offer. In fact, 220# by another brand is possible, and #165 the lighted I’ve found for my SSQA on my BX2380.

 

[dcarman]

Lift capacity rating is at the pins that attach the bucket or forks on the front. The farther the load moves forward of that point the less you can lift. Its simply a matter of leverage.