How do you get into the engine, around loader and hood?

[SmallChange]

I think I gotta find some safety prop to hold the loader up. Funnels and hoses would certainly make it easy to fill the oil, but I still can't reach the filler cap to take it off or put it on.

Loader safety prop rods: a business opportunity!

Or, just possibly, they designed the loader frame with some kind of feature to take care of this, such as holes you can shove a pin through that blocks the descent motion.

 

[Texasmark]

That's the neat thing about newer tractor loaders...they don't have all that support structure in your way.....just do as others have said and raise the bucket to full up.

 

[KennyG]

I just take the loader off whenever I'm doing service on the tractor. It only takes about 2 minutes to remove it and I only change oil once a year (and have never added oil between changes) so it's not a big deal. A lot simpler than than worrying about blocking the loader up or snaking around the arms.

 

[SmallChange]

I just take the loader off whenever I'm doing service on the tractor. It only takes about 2 minutes to remove it and I only change oil once a year (and have never added oil between changes) so it's not a big deal. A lot simpler than than worrying about blocking the loader up or snaking around the arms.

That sounds like a smart habit to get into. And you get as good access as it's possible to get.

 

[TomIre]

My Branson ships to the dealer with two pieces of angle iron fitted around the cylinders that keeps the loader up. I just asked my dealer for a pair. I spray painted them white (for visibility). I sometimes have to store with the loader raised and use them for that as well as maintenance

 

[SmallChange]

I figured that the manual probably said not to work under the raised loader. But no, it's more than that. There's a big sticker on the side saying "Do not walk or work under raised loader."

Only, we're not done. It also says, in larger bold type, "Failure to comply will result in death or serious injury." And it has a picture of an operator and a helper, and the operator is lowering the loader onto the helper.

Now, how do they know for sure the helper is going to get killed or seriously hurt? Isn't at least *possible* somebody could step under the thing, and not get killed or hurt?

And then it hit me. No, the sticker didn't come from the manufacturer. It's from the operator. This operator knows for sure he's gonna nail that poor, trusting helper. He must have lured him in, or worse yet, ordered him under the thing. You can also just tell the odds are stacked against the helper, because there's an illustration, in which this operator has a canopy, too, and he's hanging out in the shade or staying dry or whatever, while the helper is stuck out there braving the elements.

And now he's pinned there, and injured, too. I feel really bad for him.

It is my feeling that this paints us operators in an unduly harsh light.

 

[Maxify]

There l,ots of this sold to keep the FEL from falling on your noggin.
I prefer a long 4X4 post up under one arm.
But you're welcome to spend your money any way you want.

 

[Jstpssng]

I can easily get at anything I need to work on, or I would take the loader off before doing anything. If I had to get to the battery on my old 275 I would raise the bucket up all of the way, then drive forward and rest it against a tree.