Slowzuki, failure started over a year ago. At that time, I was hauling a tank of water on a 3-point fork lift over somewhat rough surfaces (since the front axle was "floating" on the ground, an acquaintance said if I was relying on skid-steering I was overloading). I noticed a crack starting, on the top of the hydraulic cylinder case, above the lift arms' shaft, and parallel to the shaft. After consulting several knowledgeable welders/etc., I put a metal strap "bridge" across the fault line. To anchor the bridge I used two original bolt locations - and went on happily for a year not even thinking about the repair; and, ceased hauling "overloads". Then, two days ago, I was using the post hole digger. Although the auger was turning, in other words, it had not screwed itself into something, the Kubota wasn't pulling it out of the hole - as deep as the auger is long. Since the loader bucket was not attached, I assumed that's why the front end was up in the air! Soooooooo, I pushed down on the front (I weigh-in around 190 pounds.) and heard the awful CRACK. (My "bridge" ripped into two, along with the case). My point/wish is: when an operator, as MyJoBota points out, is capable of (over-)loading machinery, it would be nice if the weakest link in the chain was not an integral part of the machinery! Slowzuki, thanks for the heads-up ... I'll cancel any plans to buy a back-hoe attachment.
