Screwed up loader arms with grapple

[big bubba]

What good does that do? The levers on mine have a stop on them which is easily hit with just hand pressure.

well be that the case or not, if you really want to prevent the problem cited by the OP, hammer the pins then maybe secure on your own, whatever it takes, after attachment. i've realized that the lever cam lock cannot always be secure.

 

[jcummins]

What good does that do? The levers on mine have a stop on them which is easily hit with just hand pressure.

If you have a little twist...the pins can be binding, and in fact you can knock them down some. The strange thing here...the pin that locks in place the proper way is the one that came loose. I'm thinking I simply put to much pressure on things, the tube started twisting, and that's what made it pop lose...then it really twisted.

The oddity...I've done a fair amount of grapple work, and put far more pressure on it than I was doing at that point. I suspect one corner of the grapple simply had a root/limb/etc that was pressuring the grapple on it's corner, creating uneven pressure.

I would like to see something a bit better than those levers to secure things.

 

[streamin]

I let my brother in law ride for a bit and he got into some brush which pushed the lever undone. He didn't see it and kept going pushing a small tree out. Bent mine "almost" as much as yours. I took it to a tree with the power of the tractor and hydraulics, come right back.

 

[jcummins]

I let my brother in law ride for a bit and he got into some brush which pushed the lever undone. He didn't see it and kept going pushing a small tree out. Bent mine "almost" as much as yours. I took it to a tree with the power of the tractor and hydraulics, come right back.

I can't imagine this would work for mine. But I'll give it a shot before doing any cutting.

 

[big bubba]

I let my brother in law ride for a bit and he got into some brush which pushed the lever undone. He didn't see it and kept going pushing a small tree out. Bent mine "almost" as much as yours. I took it to a tree with the power of the tractor and hydraulics, come right back.

this is the kind of common use problem w/fel that happens often. sometimes easily corrected using hyd as in your case, sometimes not. personally, the attachment lever needs to be more of a positive lock to secure. really, that is the "weak link" in the design, not the torque tube as one poster suggested.

 

[ovrszd]

I use the snot outta my Grapple. Very common to have the rear tires of the tractor off the ground.

I've never had a pin come loose. I built all my attachments and made them fit tight.

I am very cautious when using the Grapple. It puts stresses on the FEL frame that the manufacturer did not account for.

 

[DK35vince]

I'd just cut the torque tube and re-weld it if you can. DO NOT REPLACE with a larger or stronger tube. That needs to be the weak link (a fuse of sorts) otherwise you're liable to wreck something far more important. They make them small/twisty for a reason.

Not sure why you couldn't make the torque tube stronger ?
My QA is strong enough that I welded a chain hook to mine and can use it for lifting at full power and not bend or twist the QA.(these are older pictures, hook was added later)

 

[jcummins]

Hey streamin..........I was sure the torque tube was past binding back, and wasn't worth the trying...it was not. Thanks for posting that.

It's not back it where it needs to be , but close. I'll work on it some more, think I can make it work. Now...my tree suffered a bit of damage.

 

[s219]

View attachment 439041View attachment 439042
Not sure why you couldn't make the torque tube stronger ?
My QA is strong enough that I welded a chain hook to mine and can use it for lifting at full power and not bend or twist the QA.(these are older pictures, hook was added later)

I am just saying that these "timing rods" as they are normally called are meant to be the fuse that blows in this kind of design. Some tractors have shear pins on the rod, some just use a real small/twisty tube. The only function of that piece is to keep the cylinders in sync, but it should not be considered structural. The design has been around for decades, so I assume if there was a better idea it would have been tried by now. I can't recall seeing a factory QA setup that didn't have a thin/weak timing rod of some sort.

 

[DK35vince]

I can't recall seeing a factory QA setup that didn't have a thin/weak timing rod of some sort.

Dealer ordered mine from Kioti when I bought the tractor. I have a factory option QA on the early 2000 DK models far as I know.
I really doubt I would ever twist or bend my QA.