IslandTractor
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2005
- Messages
- 17,101
- Location
- Prudence Island, RI
- Tractor
- 2007 Kioti DK40se HST, Woods BH
No one is making excuses for the loader but the design flaw is just with the torque tube. The design otherwise is pretty much standard as is the construction quality.
As you point out, loaders do normally twist a bit with asymmetric loads but then they straighten out when the load is released. Yours appears to have become permanently out of balance. Do the cracks still have flush edges or is the loader so twisted that the torque tube itself is now unable to come back to it's normal unloaded level state? If the crack edges still are closely approximated to each other when not loaded doesn't that argue that the lack of level is due to something other than the torque tube flexibility? If the torque tube can return to normal after loading why don't the FEL arms?
You are correct that the weight difference with the CK25/CK30 could be a factor but the loader is not really that much undersized for that tractor. There are not many tractors at 25hp-30hp that are as heavy as the CK25 but some close matchs like the Kubota L2800 (2600lbs vs 3000lbs for the CK25) with the LA463 loader has almost exactly the same lift capacity as the KL130.
One would think that modest lift capacity would actually be protective as you are less able to exert extreme forces. Where the heavy tractor weight could have a bigger impact is if you have the bucket down "bulldozing' and hit an obstruction with one side of the bucket. The greater mass of the CK25 could be a factor with that sort of stress.
Another reason I don't buy the "undersized loader" argument is that cracks also seem to occur with about equal frequency with the CK20/KL120 which weighs about 1000lbs less than the CK25 (maybe that is a slight exaggeration I haven't checked). The CK20 loader is almost as powerful by lift capacity as the KL130 and is pretty close to the top of the heap in comparing 20hp tractor/FEL combos. If you consider a ratio of lift capacity to tractor weight, the CK25/KL130 would be relatively lower and the CK20/KL120 higher than "average" yet the incidence of cracking seems to be about the same.
I appreciate your point that the level problem occurred about the same time that you saw the cracking get worse but I still wonder if they are directly related. Has a dealer looked at it?
As you point out, loaders do normally twist a bit with asymmetric loads but then they straighten out when the load is released. Yours appears to have become permanently out of balance. Do the cracks still have flush edges or is the loader so twisted that the torque tube itself is now unable to come back to it's normal unloaded level state? If the crack edges still are closely approximated to each other when not loaded doesn't that argue that the lack of level is due to something other than the torque tube flexibility? If the torque tube can return to normal after loading why don't the FEL arms?
You are correct that the weight difference with the CK25/CK30 could be a factor but the loader is not really that much undersized for that tractor. There are not many tractors at 25hp-30hp that are as heavy as the CK25 but some close matchs like the Kubota L2800 (2600lbs vs 3000lbs for the CK25) with the LA463 loader has almost exactly the same lift capacity as the KL130.
One would think that modest lift capacity would actually be protective as you are less able to exert extreme forces. Where the heavy tractor weight could have a bigger impact is if you have the bucket down "bulldozing' and hit an obstruction with one side of the bucket. The greater mass of the CK25 could be a factor with that sort of stress.
Another reason I don't buy the "undersized loader" argument is that cracks also seem to occur with about equal frequency with the CK20/KL120 which weighs about 1000lbs less than the CK25 (maybe that is a slight exaggeration I haven't checked). The CK20 loader is almost as powerful by lift capacity as the KL130 and is pretty close to the top of the heap in comparing 20hp tractor/FEL combos. If you consider a ratio of lift capacity to tractor weight, the CK25/KL130 would be relatively lower and the CK20/KL120 higher than "average" yet the incidence of cracking seems to be about the same.
I appreciate your point that the level problem occurred about the same time that you saw the cracking get worse but I still wonder if they are directly related. Has a dealer looked at it?
He had the Mother of all Repairs done to his by some amateur bridge builder which is how we all started learning about this issue almost a couple of years ago.
