Mess with the bull, sometimes gets the horns.

[Smokeydog]

Been nice spring like weather for several days and really catching up on some outdoor projects including some that included clearing trees. Rain expected to start in a few hours so time to deal with a big stump from a large oak that fell last spring beside an animal shed. Have worked off and on clearing tree, sold saw logs, digging stump and whittling it down to size. Much too big for the M59 to lift. 8-9’ diameter with a 40”+ butt cut. 5-7ton wood muffin. Plan was to roll it about a 100 yards into the tree line for a final resting place. Got to 10 yard line and had it roll back.

Crunched the hood even with the bonnet protection.

Tried again for the last push. Hydraulic oil squirted from right lift cylinder. Rod looked bent.

Sux when your best player is injured. Have to evaluate for repairs.

Cylinder rod has about 1/2” bow. No leak with no load. No chrome damaged. Might be able to straighten in press? First experience for straightening a cylinder rod.

Can beat the bonnet straight. Going to look again after sleeping on it. Like to learn new things just not this way.
Whole brush guard is pushed back some. I’ll start there.

 

[Carl_NH]

Ouch that's not good and sorry to see all this damage. The cylinder should be able to be straightened but you need to watch closely as you over bend it slightly - might be worthwhile to order a seal kit now and take it to a Hyd shop as they likely do this often and have the know how.

Not clear on how this happened tho, as I read your post you were rolling this 9' x 40" round log on the ground with your bucket I presume and the log rolled back up your loader on to the hood?

 

[Smokeydog]

Stump muffin. Flopping it over and over.

 

[Carl_NH]

ahh one of these !

 

[2manyrocks]

If you didn't have that very sturdy grill guard, would have been even more expensive.

 

[Smokeydog]

Had the tree cutter not the backhoe on the back. Hindsight and last push will be with the backhoe.

 

[dfkrug]

Cylinder rod has about 1/2” bow. No leak with no load. No chrome damaged. Might be able to straighten in press? First experience for straightening a cylinder rod.

Ouch. If you have a decent press, then it is not a hard fix at all. I have done several bent loader bkt rods on JD 420 loaders (ex-rentals). 20T HF press. Carl is correct; you have to over-bend it slightly to work. Be cautious. Just try a little bit and increase pressure as needed.

 

[drizler]

Just be careful straightening those things with a press. I had something similar done years back and one guy wouldn’t touch it while another guy did. The reasoning was with the first shop he had had a couple of bad experiences. Apparently those things can slide out from under the press and try to kill you and rather unpredictable fashion. When I asked the old guy that was the retired machinist who fixed it about this happening he did agree they sometimes go flying. He said over the years he seen a couple go through walls and things like that.

 

[dfkrug]

Apparently those things can slide out from under the press and try to kill you and rather unpredictable fashion.

There are some really springy forces involved, so some caution IS recommended. Also, a 1/2" bend in a 30mm rod is gonna be less risky than say, an inch bend in a 50mm rod.

For additional safety, the operator might consider using a large visegrips with jaw guards to keep the rod from rotating.

 

[5030]

I'd take it to a hydraulic shop and have them straighten it, they know how much to tweak it and allow for spring back and you don't. Easier on you that way and most aren't that expensive anyway.

Far as the hood, The M9 OS I bought 2 years ago used from a JD dealer up north had a mangled hood and the brush guard was tweaked as well. Rebuilt the brush guard in the shop but had the hood fixed in a local body shop and it cost me 250 bucks and I cannot tell it was ever dented, they even replaced the Kubota decals. I'd say from the looks of it and the bucket, the previous owner rolled a round bale back off the bucket and it landed on the hood. One thing I suck at is body work of any kind and I admit it. You don't want to know what a new hood (bonnet) cost and they don't come painted anyway. I know, I priced it for the tractor. Wowzer.

I quit digging out tree muffins long ago. I stump grind everything now and call it good. Tree muffins never burn well anyway. Come to think about it, I have a whopper on one of my rentals that needs converted to wood chips, maybe when the weather warms up, maybe.