Well, I bought my new 2310 TLB last week. Was using the backhoe quite a bit last Saturday to dig out some small stumps and underbrush.
When at one point, I happen to notice on the backhoe that the thru-pin at the end of the main boom where it joins the stick arm was about to fall out.
Upon closer inspection, I found that the pinch bolt that holds the pin in was gone. I assumed that the nut had come off and the bolt had fallen out, allowing the pin to work itself loose.
So, I hammered the pin back in, put in another pinch bolt with a locking nut and went back to work. After a while, I noticed the thru-pin about to fall out again. Yep, pinch bolt was gone again.
I couldn't figure out why the pinch bolt kept coming loose and falling out. I just assumed it was because I was working in a lot of large vines which were wrapping around the boom quite a bit and that maybe they were unscrewing the nut on the pinch bolt.
SO, I installed a new bolt again, this time with TWO locknuts on it.
Went back to work. After a little while, I noticed the pin coming out for a THIRD time as the pinch bolt was gone AGAIN.
After inspecting it some more, I FINALLY realized what was happening. The pinch bolts weren't coming loose, they were BREAKING and falling out.
I figured out that this pin had NO grease on it, so whenever the boom was in a bind, instead of the boom rotating around the pin, it was ROTATING the pin itself which was shearing off the pinch bolt.
So, I tried to grease it only to find out that the grease wouldn't go into the pin. I unscrewed the grease fitting and found a tiny piece of metal in it which was blocking grease from going into it. I cleaned it out, reinstalled it, greased the pin without a problem, put in another pinch bolt and tried the backhoe some more which is working fine now.
SO, my question is; who's at fault here for a pin on a brand new tractor not getting ANY grease? The manufacturer? The assembler? The dealer?
There are obviously two types of grease on all of the other pins as one grease is black and the other is light blue. One that I assume was used at the factory when it was assembled and the other at the dealer during the pre-delivery inspection.
As soon as I put my grease gun on the fitting and tried to pump grease into it, it was VERY obvious that it wouldn't accept any grease. This should have been VERY obvious to the assembler and/or dealer too yet they ignored it.
This certainly wasn't a major problem but it was VERY frustrating to me to chase down the cause of such a minor issue.
However, I still LOVE my tractor and I'm very happy with it. I just thought that I would post this to see if anyone else has run into a similar problem and to let others know what to look for if they keep losing pinch bolts.
When at one point, I happen to notice on the backhoe that the thru-pin at the end of the main boom where it joins the stick arm was about to fall out.
Upon closer inspection, I found that the pinch bolt that holds the pin in was gone. I assumed that the nut had come off and the bolt had fallen out, allowing the pin to work itself loose.So, I hammered the pin back in, put in another pinch bolt with a locking nut and went back to work. After a while, I noticed the thru-pin about to fall out again. Yep, pinch bolt was gone again.
I couldn't figure out why the pinch bolt kept coming loose and falling out.
I just assumed it was because I was working in a lot of large vines which were wrapping around the boom quite a bit and that maybe they were unscrewing the nut on the pinch bolt. SO, I installed a new bolt again, this time with TWO locknuts on it.
Went back to work. After a little while, I noticed the pin coming out for a THIRD time as the pinch bolt was gone AGAIN.
After inspecting it some more, I FINALLY realized what was happening. The pinch bolts weren't coming loose, they were BREAKING and falling out.
I figured out that this pin had NO grease on it, so whenever the boom was in a bind, instead of the boom rotating around the pin, it was ROTATING the pin itself which was shearing off the pinch bolt.
So, I tried to grease it only to find out that the grease wouldn't go into the pin. I unscrewed the grease fitting and found a tiny piece of metal in it which was blocking grease from going into it. I cleaned it out, reinstalled it, greased the pin without a problem, put in another pinch bolt and tried the backhoe some more which is working fine now.
SO, my question is; who's at fault here for a pin on a brand new tractor not getting ANY grease? The manufacturer? The assembler? The dealer?
There are obviously two types of grease on all of the other pins as one grease is black and the other is light blue. One that I assume was used at the factory when it was assembled and the other at the dealer during the pre-delivery inspection.
As soon as I put my grease gun on the fitting and tried to pump grease into it, it was VERY obvious that it wouldn't accept any grease. This should have been VERY obvious to the assembler and/or dealer too yet they ignored it.
This certainly wasn't a major problem but it was VERY frustrating to me to chase down the cause of such a minor issue.
However, I still LOVE my tractor and I'm very happy with it. I just thought that I would post this to see if anyone else has run into a similar problem and to let others know what to look for if they keep losing pinch bolts.
