7308 FEL mods reqd to fit TC30,1320,1520,1620,1715 kit to TC29

[scram98400jm]

I bought a new FEL. The tractor attachment kit that came w/ this old (but new in the crate) 7308 FEL was designed for the boxy, square type of economy style of NewHolland tractors like the TC30, 1320, 1520, 1620 & 1715. Unfortunatly, I have a 1999 4wd diesel NewHolland TC29, that's the more modern looking, rounded style where the joystick should be mounted on the right fender, but these ecomomy versions of tractors, the joystick mounts on a pedistal on the right side, so the joystick is up by the steering wheel. To make matters worst, I had no instructions! Anyway, you need the cut off the front bumper edges that stick out from the frame so the front attachment posts can bolt up to the bumper frame. You next have to cut off a nice, neat radius cut in the plastic panel that the ignition keys goes into, down on the bottom right corner. I made it look like a factory cut, a nice clean fit, exactly around the large round tube that the joystick valve fit onto. The steel plate the joystick valve fits on, also needs to be slightly cut on the right front corner or the loader will hit it. Apparently my tractor body is fatter then the economy style. An extra mounting hole needs to be drilled in this plate since the valve hits the side of the tractor so you need to move it outward a little. None of the long solid lines will fit, only the short ones will work, so you need to buy 3 flexible lines WITH 90* solid angled fittings on the bottom ends, that screw into the hydraulic manifold block because if it was all flexible, it would surely hit the loader with the big radius the hydraulic lines bend at. In 2 days I already did 3 big projects, moving about 40 buckets of dirt, gravel etc. I quickly learned you MUST BE IN 4WD or you have NO brakes going down hill. I was used my big Case580 w/ the heavy backhoe on the rear, I never have to worry about that. I almost killed myself w/ the 1st bucket of dirt!! Scarry. Anyway (knock on wood) everything seems to be working great. A big THANK YOU to Jinman & others for their helpfull words of wisdom. The only problem I had was w/ the stupid design of the ball & socket at the bottom of the joystick, becuse the ball kept popping out of the socket when I moved the joystick to the far, far right, but I seemed to fix that by welding on 2 thick washers, onto the mechanism, centered on the ball. Sorry for the long post but just incase some one else is ever faced w/ this, hopefully they'll find this & it may help them. By the way the 14LA FEL DOES NOT fit a 1999 TC29 which is where this whole thing started, by Jinman pointing this out to me, just in time before the wrong loader was shipped, whew, that was REALLY close & if I did get stuck w/ the 14LA, I don't even want to think about all the fabrication that it would have taken to get that loader to fit. Come spring, I'll now have to paint my tractor to make it match the new darker color of New Holland blue which I like much better than mine. Just my luck, in 1999, they used a different blue color. I'll do the mower deck, rear blade, white rims & the roof I made for it, all at the same time. Working at night, I also see the loader blocks the headlights, so I'll be installing lights under the roof.
:thumbsup:
Jim
TC29 7308 FEL, MMD, 6' rear blade
John Deere 400
Case 580CK