LD1
Epic Contributor
I totally agree that the numbers on the manufacturers spec sheets are conservative estimates, but some manufacturers fall short in providing accurate comparisons on some things like the loaders and 3PH (which should measured at 24" behind the lift points).
However, what gets people confused is that some manufactures' loader spec sheets only point out the pivot pins measurement and not the 500mm forward measurement which makes people think their loader is a lot more powerful than it is. It would be nice if the manufacturers followed some kind of standard which included all measurements for their loaders. Then you would have a more accurate comparison and less confusion. I just want people to realize that if you only see a pivot pin measurement for a loader and not the 500mm (19.6 inch) forward measurement, take the pivot pin measurement, reduce by 20% to 25% (23% might be the safe zone number) and that should give you the approximate 500mm forward measurement which is a truer number for the lift capacity of the loader.
I am done and beat this one to death...
I understand your frustration, and yes it would be "nice" if they gave more detailed specs, sometimes.
But I also kinda like the "just one spec" approach. Because (even though it is not really a real world number) if ALL manufactures ONLY listed that one spec, it would make things easy to compare. For example, JD is one of the only ones I know that give a lift spec @ 59". Due to the fact that the loader travels in an arc, and the angle of the cylinder gets more severe the higher it goes, loaders have more power down low. A max-lift to 59" is usually a few hundred pounds more than to MAX height. So by publishing that, it further complicates things. As it is now, we as customers have to do our due-diligence and make sure we are indeed comparing apples to apples. Cause manufactures will ALWAYS play with the numbers to try to make them look like the king-of-the-hill.