Kioti CK30 loader repair and reinforcement

LakeLanierBuddy · Mar 31, 2006

How are my old Kioti friends? It has been a few months since I reviewed TBN. I am happy to no longer have loader quality issues but see that they are still an active subject here! I still have a nice DK55Cab service manual, 73inch tiller, 84" box blade, rake and 84" Finish mower to play with but have not decided which color tractor to replace my ex-DK55Cab with. Any ideas? Anybody need a Dk55Cab service manual? I need a new Tractor!!

Bob_Skurka · Mar 31, 2006

( Guy's we are for getting one factor hear! Steves loader has cracks, which I would think would cause more flex??? )

Good point but did it crack because it flexed? I suspect that excessive flexing is what caused the cracking. That would be a typical way to crack metal. And now that it is cracked, I suspect it can just flex to a greater extent. Remember his 120 loader and my 12LA loader have virtually identical specs. My loader has more hours than his loader. I neither have flex nor cracks.

Don - I'm not the one who has the reputation of taking threads off topic.

JerryG · Mar 31, 2006

but I suspect that the less flex the better. 
That has always been my assumption. But, from an engineering stand point we may be missing something here. I don't know if we are or not. That is why I ask for input from an engineer or someone that has contact with a company that builds loaders. That is just to make sure that our assumption is correct. I know, I personally have had faulty assumptions before. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

MossRoad · Mar 31, 2006

Moderator's Note:
A few derogatory posts by several different users have been removed from this thread. Since this is being posted here, no PMs were sent, as it is late and I am going nighty night. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Sounds like good advice for some folks as well.

If your post was a reply to one of the posts that got pulled, it will also have gone away as well, as that is the physical setup of the board and I have no control over that. If it was a comment related to the problems with the loader, please feel free to re-post your thoughts by replying to Highbeam's post. However, if anyone feels like taking another poke at someone, please refrain. Thanks and good night. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

KiotiJohn · Apr 1, 2006

This is very interesting to consider. The only thing I really wonder about is the way of testing. Putting the tractor on a block and powering it up onto the block on one corner is not really typical of a bucket going into a pile of dirt/rock etc. Yes, I can see that it would show the loader can flex, but I doubt this particular force is going to be exerted while loading.

Maybe using the loader in a way that's not particulary within its normal functional limits would show the same. I don't know.

What I do know is that my loader performs flawlessly in so many applications, some of them some that loaders are not designed for, and so far, I have no cracks, and hope I don't get any either!
John

Steve_Miller · Apr 1, 2006

I'm not sure any of this is important either, but it has rather robbed Joe of his thread. 

I apologize, it was not my intention, so I will start another post under the heading KL120 loader flexing.

Thanks Steve

Bob_Skurka · Apr 1, 2006

John. . . I agree this is an atypical test. I simply followed the lead of Steve becasue he asked the question and posted the test. And while Dargo did the same, Dargo has a loader that is constructed in a completely different way than Steve's and my loader. Dargo's loader is also substantially heavier built that Steve's and my loader. I duplicated Steve's test simply because the 120 and the 12LA are virutal twins if you look at the spec sheets and are very similar if you look at them physically. In the real world, it is unlikely that I would use the corner of my loader to lift my tractor off the ground.

JerryG. . . I agree, we are making the assumption that less flex is better. We have both been wrong before so we may be wrong this time. Further, I speculated that the flex that Steve has is related to his stress cracks in two ways. I believe that excess flex is what caused his loader to crack. I further believe that he probably has more flexing due to the stress cracks. I'm only a hobby welder/metal worker, but I've seen plenty of stress cracks and it strikes me that they often start due to metal deflection/flex.

I am not a metalurgist, but I do know that some types of metal are stronger than others, some are more subject to flex than others, some are more brittle than others, etc. It is possible that the metal used in the Kioti loader is different than the metal used in the NH or Kubota loaders and that is the reason for the flex?

At this point it is all speculation as to what is causing cracks.

MessickFarmEqu · Apr 1, 2006

I've was at a school where a NH factory guy was talking about the design of the "torque tube". Apparently having a rigid one is important because it helps spread out the forces applied to the loader. I'm no engineer, I just repeat what I hear.

Glen_Ippolito · Apr 1, 2006

Bob,
Dargos loader had flex. It looks to me from your pic yours had little flex. I hope to find out more about this issue.
Glen

Bob_Skurka · Apr 1, 2006

Yes, my loader deflected about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. I believe I indicated that in my post that contained the photo. It had very little deflection, but it was there. I can't imagine any loader would not have some. I do know from using some older machines that these things tend to get loose with time. But I also know that some I've used are much tighter feeling than others. I've never run a test like this one before but I woud expect every loader would have some deflection.

Tight loaders would have very little, older loaders that have loosened up may have a lot. That is why I think it is informative to include the number of hours on the machine, it would give some indication of how much use the loader has been put through.