Loader Problem with two month old LA 524 FEL

[dentvilleflash]

I was moving dirt this morning with my L3400. I had a LA 524 FEL installed by the dealer two months ago. After working for a couple hours , moving loader buckets of dirt out of existing piles to fill in some ditches on the back of my farm, I noticed the right side bucket quick connect latch was in the unlatch position and the bucket was disconnected. When I removed the bucket, I found that I could not reinstall the bucket because the quick connect feet where not in the same position. The right side foot was three inches further back than the left side foot. Nothing is physically bent or damaged, the left cylinder is extended two to three inches further out than the right side cylinder. I curled the bucket to both extremes and still have a cylinder extension difference. The manual does not address how to synchronize the two cylinders. Any ideas what to do and why this happened?

 

[hodge]

The cylinders aren't syncronized. The same fluid volume and pressure goes to both cylinders- one is extended more than the other because there was less resistance. You will need to force that cylinder into position with the other. What happened when you extended it out, or pulled the cylinder all the way in? They should be at the same position at that time. Then, you can reattach.

 

[dentvilleflash]

When I extended out or pulled in, there was approximently a two to three inch difference in cylinders. The left cylinder was extended out further than the one that came loose. Any suggestions on how to force the left cylinder in two inches?

 

[texasjohn]

who installed the bucket...if dealer and you didn't touch it, then this is dealer's problem
if you, then it's your problem

It is possible to put bucket on and push both levers down...and one of the points may catch properly and the other not. If not, then I could see how things might get twisted somehow and not line up again. With one point only caught, there will be uneven pressure on the cylinders as the FEL is filled with dirt, etc...

If it were me, and my problem, I guess I'd find a tree, put the extended plate against it and curl and see if it would reposition in line with the loose plate. Not having had the problem, have no actual experience. Good luck, let us know how you get it fixed. Make us all smarter.

 

[dentvilleflash]

The local Kubota dealer installed the FEL. I am going to give them a visit on Monday morning. This may be a simple problem that they are faniliar with.

 

[KYDan]

This can happen with QA or you can have a more extreme load on one side than the other that may cause this. It is more likely to happen with pallet forks by catching one and not the other and it will create a misalignment situation. You can often remedy this by the method that Texas John mentioned. Just use caution and do it incrementally and check it. Somehow the pin may have come out on the one side. Occasionally, this will happen when a limb in a brush pile or whatever will catch it and pull the lever up and release that side of the QA and you can bend something pretty quickly by not catching it in time. Speak with your dealer about it.

 

[rbminmn]

KYDan is correct. This happened to my 854 loader on a L5740 when using pallet forks on a not well centered heavy load and one latch became disconnected. Pushing against a tree did no good. The torsion tube that connects the LH and RH "feet" on the QA bent (in torsion) and produced the misalignment. I believe it is the design intent of this torsion tube to "fail" in this manner under heavy misaligned loads to prevent more serious failures (loader frame bending, for example). The fix was to replace the QA "foot" assembly. It is possible that a shop with a large hydraulic press and some ingenuity might be able to bend the tube back and realign the feet but I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with that fix on such a critical assembly.

 

[DK35vince]

The torqe tube for the QA is twisted.
It needs twisted back or cut the tube re-align the QA and reweld the tube.

 

[kuboman]

The torqe tube for the QA is twisted.
It needs twisted back or cut the tube re-align the QA and reweld the tube.

Thats problem and thats the fix.:thumbsup:

 

[dentvilleflash]

I went back to the farm after church and played with the loader. Nothing seems to be bent or twisted. I did make some curious finds. Sitting on the tractor with the Fel fully curled the two QA shoes are aligned within approximately a sixteenth. If I uncurl, thrn left cylinder moves two inches before the right cylinder starts to move. If I am in the fully extended position and curl, the right cylinder moves two inches before the left cylinder starts to move. The left and right feet are parallel and even at fully curled and fully extended, however since they start at different times they are never even in between, and they do not reach the fully curled and fully extended position at the same time. With the tractor off in the fully extended position, if I move the joy stick to the left, the left cylinder moves two inches. In the extended position , tractor off, if I move the joy stick to the right the right cylinder moves two inches.