Skid Steer Conversion for JD 145 Loader

[Shopwright]

Here is the skid-steer adaptation I built for the loader on my old John Deere 1530. It adds weight and reduces lift capacity somewhat due to the increased pivot distance, but it sure beats trying to line up four holes at the same time on a 50-year-old loader. And it is so convenient to interchange attachments with different tractors.

 

[beenthere]

Fabrication looks great.
Would you share the procedure and tools you used to make the build? In your own shop?

 

[Shopwright]

Fabrication looks great.
Would you share the procedure and tools you used to make the build? In your own shop?

Yes, I made this in my shop. The burnouts were done on my shop-built plasma table, picture attached. I cheated on the adapter frame in the second picture as I bought it on Ebay, Chinese of course, for about the cost of material to make it. The John Deere mounting bars were cut off and the import frame welded in their place. The latching mechanisms were also fabricated and machined here--essentially copies of the design used on my Massey-Ferguson.