Loader hooks void the warranty?

[funwithahoe]

If I were driving done the road to get hooks and I came to a fork in the road, and one sign said "to Get Mad" and the other sign said "to Get Hooks" and I found myself getting mad, I would assume someone swapped signs.

I would reverse course, go take to other road and have the hooks installed before sundown. It's your tractor, your life, your hooks, your decision.

Welcome to the forum! And enjoy your new hooks!!!! Use them productively, safely, and in good health.

Be sure to search the forum for other peoples installation advise. It is given freely, free of charge, but in almost all cases, is very valuable. Any advise you take becomes YOUR advise and YOUR responsibility.

I AGREE 100% - We live in a wonderful country where this is actually considered a problem!!

 

[turkish]

If I were driving done the road to get hooks and I came to a fork in the road, and one sign said "to Get Mad" and the other sign said "to Get Hooks" and I found myself getting mad, I would assume someone swapped signs.

I would reverse course, go take to other road and have the hooks installed before sundown. It's your tractor, your life, your hooks, your decision.

Welcome to the forum! And enjoy your new hooks!!!! Use them productively, safely, and in good health.

Be sure to search the forum for other peoples installation advise. It is given freely, free of charge, but in almost all cases, is very valuable. Any advise you take becomes YOUR advise and YOUR responsibility.

Frustration is much different from anger. Something like this could never make me mad, per se. Thanks for the advice and welcome, though I've been lurking here for a LONG time.

 

[crazyal]

By adding hooks to your bucket and you decide to lift an engine block so you can move it to a garage and take a corner a little fast and it was to swing out you could do damage. Because the dealer put the hooks on you could now go back and say it was his fault. You could roll your tractor on it's side, again blaming them.

Finally if you try to lift something off the ground that's too heavy the releif valve will kick in and not let you. If you try to drag something out of the back of a truck that's too heavy and your loader is high enough up so when it falls from the truck the load will be on the FEL you may lift your rear tires off the ground or either bend a hydraulic cylinder/ rod or blow a seal.

In the real world it's not likely but maybe your dealer has had a problem in the past and has told themselves "never again". Does that mean they will deny a warranty claim if you were to weld them on, who knows. Most likely if they did you could just go to a different dealer and get the work covered. But that's a risk you'll have to take if you want hooks.

 

[lilranch2001]

Actually, mounting the hooks on the outer edges of the bucket can easily twist your loader and, yes, Kubota Corporation will void your loader warranty for abuse. Call the Kubota plant in GA who makes them and ask them about attaching hooks on the outer edges of your FEL bucket vs. in line with the loader arms.

Here is what I did, easily removable with no leftover evidence

 

[Dargo]

Here is what I did, easily removable with no leftover evidence

I like creative guys. Besides, you're pretty darn close to being in line with your lift arm anyway. With your stout little tractor, you'd have to work at it pretty darn hard to do any damage. But, I think you already know that.

 

[Dargo]

Yeah - I have seen bent buckets a good bit especially when the bucket doesn't wrap the whole way around on the top (B and Bx series). The heavier buckets have a tube on the top that is a lot sturdier.

In the end most of tractor life and shape comes from the operator. If you don't try to ask the machine to do more than it was designed to do it will last WAY longer than when someone abuses it.

Hey, I can tear up a Peter Wright anvil with a rubber mallet. Whatchu talkin' about?!

On some of the smaller tractors (sorry, I don't recall the models and makes), there simply wasn't enough steel in the bucket to even make a good base for a hook. Generally I can weld a 2" wide piece of 1/4" flat stock across the top of the bucket and it holds up well. That is unless the bucket itself is made of 1/8" or thinner stock.

I just welded a 1" grade 120 hook on the bottom of the turntable of a JD 790 excavator yesterday for a guy. They managed to get it stuck a couple of times and found that there was really no good place to attach a heavy chain. Which reminds me, why is it that lately it seems that every time someone wants me to weld something, it's overhead welding?? Why can't I get some easy stuff anymore?!

 

[Gordon Gould]

I like my Kubota dealer in Northern Vt more and more every day.
He recomended that I put hooks on the outer edges of the bucket because that is the strongest point to put them other than the cutting edge. But he was willing to put them any where I wanted.

You dont need a hook to twist or wrack your loader. Just get a corner under a rock or stump. There is no difference.

I wonder if he was really worried about you tipping sideways but wouldnt say it. It just doesn't make sense.

 

[Dargo]

I like my Kubota dealer in Northern Vt more and more every day.
He recomended that I put hooks on the outer edges of the bucket because that is the strongest point to put them other than the cutting edge. But he was willing to put them any where I wanted.

You dont need a hook to twist or wrack your loader. Just get a corner under a rock or stump. There is no difference.

I wonder if he was really worried about you tipping sideways but wouldnt say it. It just doesn't make sense.

Um, I'd find a different dealer! He wants you to both tear up your loader and flip your tractor so he can sell you another. Next dealer...

 

[lmalcomb]

Just so you know sport, I owned a Honda, Nissan, Toyoto car dealership in the early 1990's in Marquette, MI, so I know how the real world works and could probably learn nothing new from you.

Some people don't get it, and never will. :laughing:

I think you can learn something from most anyone, by the way who owns them now? :laughing::laughing:

 

[SPYDERLK]

Um, I'd find a different dealer! He wants you to both tear up your loader and flip your tractor so he can sell you another. Next dealer...

Pull or lift from both hooks.
larry

 

[Firefighter Kubota]

The truth is you can get a different answer from the same dealer, depends on what day you call and who you speak to...service vs the saleman....

I have a local dealer with 3 locations....I can get a different answer from all 3 if I want to make the calls and amuse myself with thier responses:laughing::confused2:....

 

[Gordon Gould]

There is an old saying that my grandfather used to use, I hope no one takes offence but I think it has a lot lot of merrit.

" There is no fool like the one that tries to protect a fool ".

Why are we so afraid to allow somebody to rely on there own common sense.
Don't tell me, I already know - lawyers !

 

[Chilly807]

There is an old saying that my grandfather used to use, I hope no one takes offence but I think it has a lot lot of merrit.

" There is no fool like the one that tries to protect a fool ".

Why are we so afraid to allow somebody to rely on there own common sense.
Don't tell me, I already know - lawyers !

I agree with you Gordon. It's too bad to see a good thread turned into bashing, which this one has.

My hooks are out on the edges to be used when I have a two-point lift to make, with an extra one welded to the bucket heel on the centerline for heavier lifts. When used in combination with common sense they're fine.

Speaking of "common sense", I'm thinking of petitioning Webster's to get it struck from their dictionary as a conundrum in terms. It's right up there with "military intelligence" as two words that shouldn't be used in close proximity, and sometimes not even in the same sentence.

Sean

 

[Dargo]

Pull or lift from both hooks.
larry

Really, I'm sure you know it doesn't matter to me if you mount the hook to your hood ornament. Take the time to call the engineers who manufacture the loader and/or bucket and ask them about hooks on the outer edges. They will tell you that the excessive loads exerted on areas never intended to take those loads and strongly advise against it. What do I have to gain from relaying this info? Seriously. It's not like the very strong recommendation originated from me. Its akin to asking someone you don't know to wear seat belts. You personally gain nothing from it, but you have done the right thing and given good advice that can be backed up by tests and engineering. You do know that with grab hooks it's basically impossible to have equally distributed weight side to side, don't you? Why not "wear your seat belt", and mount hooks where engineers advise to mount them if you must? I sincerely do not intend to sound sarcastic, but what does it matter to me? Simply trying to help a fellow TBN member with known facts.

 

[Dargo]

" There is no fool like the one that tries to protect a fool "!

I honestly see that as a very unsavory and rude statement. With that broad brush, you are slamming nearly every manufacturer of not only tractors, auto makers but most every industry. They are not fools when they engineer something to help protect the end user. If I see someone using a torch to cut metal and warn them that there are gas cans close, I'm a fool??!! Sorry man, but that's a rude and arrogant statement that I see no merit in repeating.

 

[bstrom]

My dealer includes a top of bucket center welded hook with every new tractor. It's handy and a nice gesture considering how much money you are spending. You would have to do something really crazy to break anything or tip over with it in that location. Of course there is always somebody.

 

[DiezNutz]

Perhaps it's all in the interpretation.

If we consider an alternative definition for the word 'common':

g. Of mediocre or inferior quality; second-rate: common cloth.

Then the phrase could make perfect 'sense'.

 

[CBW1999]

Wow...I guess the flames were fanned quite a bit on this one!

So, what is the difference of having a hook present on the bucket (placement aside) and using a web sling or chain around the bucket? You have just as many possibilities to put load on an area that cannot take it either way.

Many people have made their own attachments for the FEL, would this be considered a warranty voiding issue if the arms or hydraulics are damaged? Just because you match up the mounting points/etc- doesn't mean it is balanced correctly.....

I'm curious if my warranty would have been voided when I froze the bucket into the ice a couple of years ago.......lots of stress trying to roll it out before I cooked my hamburgers in it ( yes I posted pictures) Does using your bucket as a grill void the warranty as well?!?!?!?!?

I guess if the dealer does not want to do it, fine. if there is ever an issue, work through the manufacturer first to determine warranty status.

Not much difference than one doctor choosing one procedure or method over another for the same condition. It is all based on experience- as it is for all of us.

That is the great thing about this forum. So many people willing to share their experience and knowledge. Doesn't mean everyone is right, or everyone is wrong, it is for each of us to decide based on learning as much as we can.

So, I could care less if you own an MTD stamped steel lawn exploder, or top of the line Kubota, if you have only walked into a dealership or owned a dealership- everyone is capable of providing something useful.

So- Sport....Tiger...Superman...Grand Dali-Lamma, keep adding information.

As an instructor, I always seek to learn- sometimes it is from a student that I learn something new. If I ever get to the point where I think I cannot learn anymore, then I need to rethink my involvement. Anyone who says that there is nothing they can learn from you, is missing a lot in this world.

 

[bstrom]

I would say that grilling in the bucket might void the warranty but best to call the manufacturer. :laughing:

 

[hogmaster2550]

I put two hooks from Bxpanded that clamp on the bucket wherever they are placed. If you don't want the dealer to see them they come off in about a minute.