Loaders, Self Leveling

[jgh]

2000-05-15

First let me say thanks to all that have replied to my post about comparing NH & JD utility models. Still working on the decision and further comments are really welcome.

Can anyone comment on the difference between Mechanical self leveling and Hydraulic self leveling in a loader? Dealers conflict on this (what else is new).

Thanks!
Jim

 

[W5FL]

First - No designer tries to make a loader anyway other than keeping the load as level as possible. The 4 Bar linkage is the way this is done and it takes extra parts to do this. The 4 bar linkage is obviously mechanically coupled and is same on way up and down. A trick to accomplish nearly the same thing at low cost was to move a little hydraulic fluid from the lifting cylinder port to the bucket port to keep the bucket more level on the way up. This works pretty well, but does absolutely nothing on the way down - but that doesn't matter for most applications.

If my bale of hay is not perfectly level when it gets above the other bale of hay, no one cares. If I am using pallet forks and lifting a tippy load, it may make a difference. If my main goal was to lift tippy loads with pallet forks, I would buy a fork lift that does this job even better.

The other advantage of the 4 bar linkage is that the bucket can be tipped back further. Mine tips back enough to keep the dirt from falling off, so it matters very little for many agricultural uses. Can't speak to some of the construction uses, though. Don't remember from your previous post what your actual uses were.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Although I had read about the self leveling feature in the manual before use, there should have been 1" tall letters that advised the weak of heart to be ready.

The first time I had the need to have the bucket up on my L35 it scared the bejesus out of me (for a second) when I thought the loader was going to dump by itself and then promptly stopped at the appropriate point.

I think they have to do this with the 4-bar linkage to keep people from dumping the load backwards over the top of the bucket at high lift points.

I'm suprised Kubota doesn't jump and at least offer the 4-bar as an option on more of the tractors. JD puts this on a lot of units but it only goes back 30 degrees which isn't much more than the standard 25. My L35 goes back 45 which makes it easy to carry a full load of dirt or gravel at a lower level than my Ford.

 

[jgh]

Mixed uses for my loader, including mulch, gravel, snow, etc.

One dealer told me hydraulic was more versatile since you could interrupt the SL process, whereas with MSL it was automatic and unchangeable.

I wonder if it makes any difference in the capacity--lift, breakout, etc, which method is used.

Thanks for the comments so far, Wen and Del.

 

[W5FL]

No, it doesn't make any difference. It is strictly a geometry issue. Most people don't like having their vision blocked by the loader arms, so that restricts the height and mounting angles. That sets most of the loader parameters. For most usages, you would not know the difference. I now have a 6 ft bucket that holds twice as much as the previous loader's five foot bucket.

Even without HST, I can move a lot more dirt. The loader will heap to 3/4 yard and that is a lot of dirt for one trip for me. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

But, I am not a landscaper and use the loader to do a lot of things other than haul dirt. It can pick up anything that I need to carry including a 200 ft roll of no climb horse wire that is 5 ft long when fencing. My loader stays on the tractor all the time, but without the bucket attached 90% of the time.