What have you done to your Branson today?

[Branson Bob]

I was scraping up some wood chips I had used to fill underneath a tree and the FEL loader notified me that it was only attached on one side. Somehow the linchpin had come out and the main pin apparently followed suit. I was lucky enough to have an extra pin and between moving the levers, driving/steering, and using a come-along I was able to re-attach it.

 

[Branson Bob]

 

[Branson Bob]

 

[K5lwq]

Wow Bob, glad you got it back on but looks like it was a pain.

 

[ericm979]

Good that you noticed that before something got damaged! I've yet to remove my loader. Maybe I should cable tie or safety wire the linch pins so they can't fall off.

 

[ning]

View attachment 707124
I was scraping up some wood chips I had used to fill underneath a tree and the FEL loader notified me that it was only attached on one side. Somehow the linchpin had come out and the main pin apparently followed suit. I was lucky enough to have an extra pin and between moving the levers, driving/steering, and using a come-along I was able to re-attach it.

Eeek!
I really need to do a better pre-flight checklist, I've definitely gotten complacent.

 

[ptsg]

Great save Bob! That could easily have been a lot worse and with a lot of damage.

 

[Branson Bob]

Wow Bob, glad you got it back on but looks like it was a pain.

Resetting it ended up not being too bad. After I got the come-along and the sling it took about 15 minutes. I used the ROPS as the pull point.

Good that you noticed that before something got damaged! I've yet to remove my loader. Maybe I should cable tie or safety wire the linch pins so they can't fall off.

Eeek!
I really need to do a better pre-flight checklist, I've definitely gotten complacent.

Great save Bob! That could easily have been a lot worse and with a lot of damage.

Thanks guys. I was lucky that there was no damage and that I was somehow alert enough to actually notice what was happening. I can't imagine how a spring-loaded linchpin could come off but it's good to know that it's possible. Thanks for the suggestions on securing the pins and inspecting each time out.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Hey Bob,

I'm just curious if you've been removing your FEL before this pin dropped out?

I have to admit I haven't given my loader pins much thought (other than greasing them of course), but I also haven't ever taken my loader off either.

Do you think this was related to maybe taking the loader on and off?

 

[Branson Bob]

Hey Bob,

I'm just curious if you've been removing your FEL before this pin dropped out?

I have to admit I haven't given my loader pins much thought (other than greasing them of course), but I also haven't ever taken my loader off either.

Do you think this was related to maybe taking the loader on and off?

Hey Slim.

I've been tempted to remove the loader when mowing but have never actually done so. As I'm sure you can tell the FEL came off when backscraping at a steep bucket angle however I don't know when the pin was lost.