Loader dolly

   / Loader dolly #1  

Bud

Silver Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2000
Messages
130
Location
Near Pittsburgh, Pa.
Tractor
Kubota B2400 & 1972 Economy Power King
I would appreciate a little help in finding the thread about the dolly for a loader. There was also pictures of the dolly with a loader on it. I don't think it was posted too long ago, but there is no way I can find it.
Thanks Bud
 
   / Loader dolly
  • Thread Starter
#3  
hartsic Thanks for posting the thread on the loaders. That is exactly what I was trying to find. Last week I bought a loader for my B2400 and put it on Wednesday & part of Thursday. Now I want to make a dolly so it can be moved to a corner out of the way when it's not in use.
Bud
 
   / Loader dolly #4  
Before you build the dolly check how fast the cylinders of your loader bleed down. Some hold position for long periods, others (like mine) leak down rapidly.

When I remove the loader from my 2400 for more than a couple hours I need a hoist to lift it up high enough to get the hood of the tractor under the cross bar. The support feet holding up the cross bar start vertical, as the loader sits without the tractor the crossbar creeps closer to the ground and the support feet creep toward the bucket.

If my loader was on a dolly I am afraid it would fall off as the cylinders leak down unless the dolly was designed to allow this motion.

When I build a dolly I will add brackets to hold the loader in position even with the loader cylinders leaking down. This is not an issue until I build my workshop/barn/storage shed with more concrete floor space. I am now limited to leaving the loader outside when its not on the tractor.



My alternative to using the chain hoist to lift the loader up to get it on is to use the loader hydraulics. The hoses are short so I position the tractor next to the loader facing backwards and hook up the hydraulics just long enough to lift the loader attach brackets with the hydraulics, disconnect the hydraulics. After I have done this I can turn the tractor around, than drive the tractor under the cross bar and finish mounting the loader.

I have been tempted to have a set of extension hydraulic hoses made up so I can park the loader away from the hoist where I don't have room to maneuver the tractor around the loader.


One additional warning. When you are reattaching the loader for the first time you will use the loader hydraulics to position the fixed pin in the half socket on each side and then line up the sockets for the removable pin. Don't allow yourself to focus only on the pins and sockets. Watch where the cross bar is at all times until you have installed the pins. My hood developed an ugly dent from the crossbar the first time I reinstalled the loader.
 
   / Loader dolly
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Ed, Glad you mentioned the valves leaking on the loader. Being I just got the loader last week I sure know anything about it. I never had it out of the garage to try it out. I was going to put it on a dolly and push it in a corner out of the way. Guess I better take it off and put it on a couple of times to find out what's going on, and leave it set for a while when it's off to check for leak-down.
Is it the cylinders on the bucket that leak? The fluid must leak by the leather in the cylinder if it dosen't leak from the quick connect.
Do you have the flat bars that drop from the front of the loader arms for the support?
Bud
 
   / Loader dolly #6  
Ed, wouldn't a better solution be to just fix the leak so it doesn't leak down like that?
 
   / Loader dolly #7  
Bud
If you have not had it out of the garage yet, bet if you put it on the tractor and use it, you will not want to take it off the tractor, for everytime you need the loader, you don't have the loader on. I wonder how many people just leave their loaders on all the time, I do for one.

Dan L
 
   / Loader dolly #8  
Dan, I use the loader quite a lot, but probably leave it off and out of the way half the time or more. I don't want it in the way when I'm mowing, plowing, or tilling.
 
   / Loader dolly #9  
Bird,
This is my first tractor and I am still learning.

When the tractor was new I asked the dealer. The tractor dealer said it was normal for the cylinders to not hold position with the engine off either on or off the tractor. When I found TractorByNet I found disscussions of leak down and that it was common for the bucket position for a loader to creep down with the engine off. Messages here indicated that there is an element of luck, some leak down quickly some hold position for long periods. This seamed to confirm what the dealer had said, so I never thought to ask here about the leakdown when the loader is off the tractor.

There is no fluid loss during this leak down, it is internal to the cylinders.

Is this not within the bounds of normal for the loader?
 
   / Loader dolly #10  
Ed, I know there are rates of fall of the front end loader that are considered "within specs", but I don't remember the numbers (I think someone posted them on the forum, but don't know whether I could find them or not). However, when you said the problem occurred if you left it off for more than a couple of hours; that definitely seems excessive to me. And if you're not losing any hydraulic fluid, then it seems obvious that it's the seals in the cylinders. I have not measured mine, but leaving the loader off for a couple of months wouldn't be any problem.

In other words, I may have spoken too soon; maybe yours is within specs, but I sure doubt it. If it were me, I'd have to try putting new seals in the cylinders.
 
 
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