3ph arms bending?

[Diesel_Boy]

a recent post said he bent his 3ph arms while dragging trees attached to his t-bar on the 3ph. this kind of concerns me, as i plan on doing the same type of work. has anyone else experienced the same problem? if so, why or under what circumstances does it happen, and what can i do to avoid the same problem. thanks.

 

[GaryE]

You should be “dragging” from your draw bar, not your 3PH unless it is from a logging winch designed to do so.

 

[Diesel_Boy]

the winch is also attached to the 3ph, so why wouldn't it bend in this case?

 

[JoeR]

I bent my lower stabilizer arm while lifting the three point. It got hooked on the BH subframe, and the stabilizer bent. A good 20 Ton press straightened it out. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I would expect the stabilizer to bend first since it seems to be the weakest point.

Here is a picture of my old 4330 with BH-90 3 point.

 

[GaryE]

Most winches I have seen ( hope to own one soon) seemed to be designed to prevent logs from “over running” the tractor and by keeping the load close to the 3PH minimizing the stresses on the 3PH.

I may be way off base here, but I have yet to hear of a 3PH being “bent” from a Log Winch when it is being used in a proper manor.

I still think the draw bar is the proper way to “drag” the load.

Gary

 

[john_bud]

Well, not to sound like and "expert" or anything, but it was my tractor that bent the 3pt arm....

First off, this is the second time that arm (lower right) has bent. First time I snagged a root with the scar bar of my Gannon Boxblade. Didn't realize it was a root and thought it hit a rock. So, I lifted the box up. Yup, the root was on the outside scarifier and it torqued the assembly enough to bend the arm to the inside. Heated it and pounded it back into place. It didn't bend again for 3-4 years, until I pulled a log. Well, most of a tree really. I ferget how big exactly, 25 feet and in the 40's on the stump end and 30's on the small end. Hard Maple. A couple pounds. It wouldn't go very easily if at all dragging the stump end into the ground, so I picked it up and it went really pretty easy. The extra weight on the tires was very helpful. The butt end of the log was bouncing off of the draw bar, so it was in close.

Is it "better" to pull from the draw bar? Well, that is what it is there for, so I guess so. The draw bar is under the axle centerline, so the tractor is much less likely to flip over and crush you to death. But, that log would still be at the bottom of the hill or would have had to be cut into 100" lengths, before dragging if only the draw bar was used. Lifting the butt end off the ground makes dragging much easier. A logging arch would have been the hot ticket.

I think that the log swayed a lick and put some lateral force on the arm. And that arm was weakened to begin with. It probably wouldn't have bent if the arm was fresh and it certainly wouldn't have bent if it was cut to 100" lengths. Also, the lift arms were still in the back holes, giving the most lift height. (was using the post hole digger and needed the clearance, forgot to put it back, my bad.)

So seriously, don't worry about it. If you use the 3pt, use the holes that give the least amount of lift and don't get crazy with the size of the log.


jb

 

[Youare]

I have a Farmi winch that has been on the back of a Ford 8N and is now on ther ear of a Kubota L3000DT. There is an attcahment point on the winch down low to which you can attach a chain to pull logs with.

I have pulled a good size hitch with the Ford and never had a problem or thought I was going to break something. However, I did break one of the lifting arms with the winch one day when pulling too much off to one side which allowed the winch to twist the 3PH arms.

I would imagine that if the same conditions were set up pulling logs along a trail the same thing could happen. This would be when making a sharp turn with the tractor and the logs rubbing against a stump, stone, or tree.

The 3PH winch is designed to have the logs right up close so that when the winch is raised it picks up one end of the log. This puts weight on the rear tires and reduces the ground resistance of the draging log.

If you use your head and watch what is going on behind you should not have a problem, but it is possible to break anything.

Randy

 

[billycalexander]

On my 3430 my 3ph stopped working/was stuck. When I took it to the dealer it turns out that I had backed into a pile of dirt or maybe a tree or something and that force got transmitted to the left hydraulic cylinder and bent it's shaft. $400 later it worked fine. The dealer said they see it from time to time usually with homebuilders who do dirt work a good bit.

 

[slowzuki]

Pulling heavy 3 point loads with the three point sway linkage pins in will bend lower links on any tractor. You are supposed to let them sway if there is gonna be a serious side load on them.

Even plowing with the pins pulled you are supposed to lift the plow clear before turning.