my loader 20/20 hindsight

[garnet]

Sorry about the pic incident here are the enlarged versions of my previous attachments. Sorry for not noticing it earlier.

 

[garnet]

I live in Canada and I found that when I priced out my tubing, although the metal tubing was cheaper per foot, the fittings killed ya. It worked out roughly 3x the cost. My hoses with ends crimped on elbows and T's cost me 85$ at a place called "Princess Auto". Here in Winnipeg, MB. Canada. They don't sell anything to do with the metal piping and when it comes to hydraulics I haven't found anyone up here who could match their pricing. The closest price wise for the same hoses I used was 230$... go figure. I’d be interested to know where you’re from, and what pricing you have found locally. The cylinders were on a clearance sale for 35$ each, normally 120$ Canadian. By far the cheapest part of my loader! Lol steal was outrageous! I’ve used Princess Auto’s hoses for years on large equipment and I’ve never had any issues. If their hoses blew, they would not only replace the hose, but check the quantity of oil that your machine uses and replace that as well. I would not hesitate to recommend Princess Auto to anyone!

 

[garnet]

Nice work. 86" height is excellent for a small tractor. Just be careful with it.

The pics are small but it looks like you don't have a support running between the posts and the chassis. On mine they run from the post to the front grille guard (which in turn is bolted to the chassis). I think you'll see something like this on most loaders.


Hmmm, just looking at more pics of loaders, and it seems like the support bar from the towers to the chassis is not as common as I thought. But its quite common on older loaders, especially the heavier duty ones. But the newer loaders that dont have the bar sure do have heavy duty tower brackets bolted to the chassis. And most of them appear to have the ram mounted lower on the tower, which would also help to reduce stress on the tower brackets.

Read your message... your dead on. I wish I talked to you prior to building my loader, this is why I can appreciate a good critic, and learning from others is what it's all about.

 

[dodge man]

All I can say is WOW! Looks pretty good to me. I have a BX2350, and mine is mounted in a very similar manner. I don't think mine has any more braces between the loader and tractor, but maybe I'm missing something. It sounds like the lifting performance is similar to a factory unit, but I'm guessing here, you have a higher lift. Maybe between 6 and 12 inches. As you have learned, they get pretty tippy with the bucket up high.

I built a ballast box for mine out of lumber. It's pretty poor compared to what I'm sure you could fabricate. Mine is mounted to the 3 point. Look at some pictures of factory units and I'm sure you could fab one pretty easy. Make it so you can add or take weight out. 300 pounds might be a good place to start.

 

[alchemysa]

Read your message... your dead on. I wish I talked to you prior to building my loader, this is why I can appreciate a good critic, and learning from others is what it's all about.

The support braces seems to be a bit of an option - although not a bad one considering that your posts are pretty tall and your home fabrication is probably a bit lighter than the factory stuff. You are probably treating the loader gently at the moment but as time goes by you may find yourself (or someone else) giving it a bit of a pounding... then you'll be glad of every extra bit of strength.

You obviously know how to build stuff so adding a support brace should be a piece of cake.

Incidently, on mine the support braces are bolted between the loader posts and the grill guard. The grille guard is then bolted to the front chassis with a couple of large bolts than can be undone by hand. The whole arrangement comes off with the loader. A grille guard is an excellent idea for a tractor with a loader.

As dodgeman suggested you will probably want some ballast on the back end pretty soon. Thats a fairly big bucket and its 'out there' quite a bit so you may find you have no traction, or even worse your back wheels will be off the ground, when you least expect it.

(Hey its fun critiquing other peoples stuff.)

If I'm not mistaken, your back wheel is already off the ground in this shot...

 

[bobzap]

Really nice job. It never ceases to amaze me at the creativity of people on this forum. I wish I could tackle such complex projects.

 

[joes_427_vette]

I decided to go with steel lines and hoses. The steel tube was 60 cents a foot, caps and sleeves for flares are one dollar each, T fittings are 3 dollars each. They said 37 degree flares will be more than adequate for my application. I bent up one line and although I follows several angles, it looks like it belongs. Next step is to fab the hangers to attach the steel lines. Although there are alot of minor details to work out there is alot of satisfaction as it nears completion. The second one would take less time.

 

[garnet]

Dodge man
When my beautiful wife seen her suggestion was move the seat back and this would give me ample balest. My response was, but honey what happens when you sit on it. Do you have a spare room Ha Ha Seriously I was looking at wheal weights or fluid I as well got a hold of some led weights.[ the ones you get from a tire shop] not shier what or if I will do just yet I know I need something. I have ordered the auxiliary hydraulic kit from Kubota. When I install it maybe I there will be a spot to put that added weight I wont led. Will keep you in the loop.

 

[garnet]

Alchemysa
All though I met or exceeded kubotas steel requirements I am and was worried about it from the start .You are right! I am in the process making a grill guard forks with quick spade attachment this weekend, the frame support will be part of the work as well. Your word criticize is not being taken with discomfort at all. I am enjoying our discussions. As time goes on and I get to the rest of my projects [cab, quick hitch, ripper] I would encourage and welcome your critique.

 

[garnet]

I decided to go with steel lines and hoses. The steel tube was 60 cents a foot, caps and sleeves for flares are one dollar each, T fittings are 3 dollars each. They said 37 degree flares will be more than adequate for my application. I bent up one line and although I follows several angles, it looks like it belongs. Next step is to fab the hangers to attach the steel lines. Although there are alot of minor details to work out there is alot of satisfaction as it nears completion. The second one would take less time.

We pay to much up hear. I think I will try to give you a cost of all the materials steel bolts hoses ET the works [no gas no labor] just so we can compare Canada to USA pricing I suspect you will win

 

[David Devuono]

Trust me, you will need a brace. There will be way too much leverage at the frame. I had a brace going forward and although my Kubota does not have a frame like yours, I still managed to crack the bell housing. You can see in the picture I run a brace forward, and backward now.

 

[scarlo101]

Garnet,
Thanks for all the info. I am the proud owner of a BX1850 like yours. I am currently also building a FEL (about 1/4 completed). All the topics and concerns that you talk about I have had to deal with. I live in Ontario Canada and shop regularly at Princess Auto and agree with your comments about them.
I will be building a brace to the front and would strongly recomend it. I bought a new bucket from a dealer (was traded in for a quick attach) so I will not need to construct one. My height will be about 10" less and that is mostly due to the bucket only being 20" from the front. I will also be contructing a quick attach but not sure which type as yet. My plumbing will be steel lines and hoses. In addition to this loader I have a 60" kubota front blade, a front mount sweeper, a 3 pt hitch sprayer and of course the 54" deck. The broom, the blade and the hydraulic valve were all picked up in the US used last fall. My cylinders were also surplus.
What inside diameter are your cylinders? Also when your boom is fully raised and your bucket fully tilted what angle is your bucket relative to the ground? I am trying to get it to be 45 degrees. I have fully drawn this project in AutoCad and I find it is a great help.

Pics can be seen from the link below. I have not posted any recent pics but will in the near future.

 

[joes_427_vette]

Garnet;
I'm not going hoses and steel lines to cut costs. I would be less expensive to go all rubber hoses with Ts. I want it to look like a factory install only a little more on the heavy duty side. I like the light high strength steel JD uses but once you bend it... junk remains. The engineering is quite interesting also as the entire plan is in my head. I have compared others measurements to keep in a certain percentage of an engineered production model. I am already dreaming up a cab design for a later project. Cost savings is great but pride in design, performance, and durability remain much longer.
That is why this site is so great. So many interesting slants on the same idea. Also remember..... reengineering is part of the engineering, I spent a week there one nite !

 

[joes_427_vette]

I hand bent these lines. As long as they stayed on one side of the loader arm I was satisfied. Still waiting for a couple fittings from hose to the Ts. It should be ready for a test run when they arrive.