N80
Super Member
I found a crack in my FEL bucket. I'd been doing some really heavy duty clearing with the FEL. I successfully cleared 2-3 acres of planted pines that varied in diameter from 2-6 inches, maybe an 8 incher or two. All were young and limber but many of the bigger ones didn't come out of the ground without a fight and I often felt that I was pushing the limits of this little tractor. The result is that the whole area is now cleared down to the dirt, all trees and stumps gone. I've smoothed it out with the box blade now so it is smooth enough to run the mower over (once something comes up to mow).
I saved a lot of money vs hiring the job out to a dozer, etc. It took a long time but I had fun every second of it. The only obvious costs to the tractor were a hole in the radiator (fixed for $80) and this crack in the bucket. The first image shows the cracked welds along the angle iron support:
The second shot is a closeup showing that the crack in the corner is the metal support and not the weld that is cracking:
My B-I-L farmer thinks this came from torquing the bucket. Many times I would hook the corner of the bucket under the roots of a bigger pine and lift it out, or try to. Sometimes it wouldn't come up but the bucket would pop free violently. So he's probably right.
He says he can fix it. He says he'll grind out the crack and re-weld it. Obviously this is hardly a big deal but is evidence that pushing the limits does have its price.
I saved a lot of money vs hiring the job out to a dozer, etc. It took a long time but I had fun every second of it. The only obvious costs to the tractor were a hole in the radiator (fixed for $80) and this crack in the bucket. The first image shows the cracked welds along the angle iron support:
The second shot is a closeup showing that the crack in the corner is the metal support and not the weld that is cracking:
My B-I-L farmer thinks this came from torquing the bucket. Many times I would hook the corner of the bucket under the roots of a bigger pine and lift it out, or try to. Sometimes it wouldn't come up but the bucket would pop free violently. So he's probably right.
He says he can fix it. He says he'll grind out the crack and re-weld it. Obviously this is hardly a big deal but is evidence that pushing the limits does have its price.
