Not a dumb question at all. Important to know and understand.
From the Carver Equipment Co.:
"Loader breakaway or breakout force
When using a loader -- it all starts at the front cutting edge of the bucket. The more power and force it has equals the more work you can expect to perform. The cutting edge on the bucket exerts a tremendous force as it lifts and pushes against the soil, rock, payload material you are handling. More breakway/breakout force is achieved with the combined power of the loader lift and bucket (crowd-dump-fill) cylinders. The combination of a tractor's weight, hydraulic lift capacity, loader design, and traction all are important ingredients to determine how much "breakout" force the equipment may develop.
The breakout force is important to know, because it gives the shopper insight as to how well the equipment will "load or fill" the bucket.
The loader lift capacity is important to know, because it gives the shopper insight as to how well the equipment will "lift" the filled bucket or payload.
The loader lift capacity is usually directly related to design and lift cylinder specs, tractor weight and hydraulic pump features.
Loader "cycle time" is very import as well. This is one of the main reasons the Kubota loaders are so good and "outshine" other brands. Cycle is the number of seconds it takes to raise a filled bucket to max, lift height, dump the bucket, lower the bucket back to a level position at ground level (ready to load again).
Many feel that a Kubota tractor with Kubota loader is the fastest in the marketplace. Faster cycle time equals more work performed in a given period of time. Most of the "will fit--off brand loaders" and the other brand tractors/loader are much much slower than the Kubotas."
Hope this helps.
BobT.
A Indiana Boy
