Lower Lift Arms Bent

[ym2610]

HI everybody. its been awhile since I have posted, been awhile since I had any problems. miss posting, but long days means longer time in the tractor seat. love it, till last night and today. last night got stuck in the mud, deep mud,and yes it was right before dark when it got stuck,took till a little after midnight to get it out. then today I was useing my box blade pushing over saplings no bigger than 3" to 4" round, maybe a little bigger, but you get the idea. but I caught a big root with the left side of the box blade and the left lower lift arm bent. I think my sway chain was loose, I forgot to check them before I started. this is a heavy and thick piece of metal, is it common to bend one of this. well maybe not common but has this happend to anyone eles. Thanks Robert

 

[ym2610]

HI everybody. its been awhile since I have posted, been awhile since I had any problems. miss posting, but long days means longer time in the tractor seat. love it, till last night and today. last night got stuck in the mud, deep mud,and yes it was right before dark when it got stuck,took till a little after midnight to get it out. then today I was useing my box blade pushing over saplings no bigger than 3" to 4" round, maybe a little bigger, but you get the idea. but I caught a big root with the left side of the box blade and the left lower lift arm bent. I think my sway chain was loose, I forgot to check them before I started. this is a heavy and thick piece of metal, is it common to bend one of this. well maybe not common but has this happend to anyone eles. Thanks Robert

 

[beenthere]

All too common if you are pushing in reverse. Lift arms were not designed to be used as push bars. Likely they would be made out of round stock for max. column strength. As a bar, they don't have the flatwise bending strength needed, the way I see it.

Some will say they push with them all the time and haven't bent them yet. I believe that is true, but they haven't over-loaded them as you apparently have with yours.

Some say they heat them and bend them back straight. That should work for normal use, but won't be as strong in 'push' mode. I don't think.

 

[beenthere]

All too common if you are pushing in reverse. Lift arms were not designed to be used as push bars. Likely they would be made out of round stock for max. column strength. As a bar, they don't have the flatwise bending strength needed, the way I see it.

Some will say they push with them all the time and haven't bent them yet. I believe that is true, but they haven't over-loaded them as you apparently have with yours.

Some say they heat them and bend them back straight. That should work for normal use, but won't be as strong in 'push' mode. I don't think.

 

[ym2610]

Thanks, thats about what I was thinking. they are made to pull and not push. I think then if this is a kind of common problem, my luck just ran out and I caught that right spot and right time thing. if I had caught the root with the middle like every time before, it would just spins the tires.but it was as far left on the blade as it could have been, half inch and it would have missed it. I'm going to buy new ones, but I'm also going to straighten the bent one out and keep then for spares. Thanks again Robert

 

[ym2610]

Thanks, thats about what I was thinking. they are made to pull and not push. I think then if this is a kind of common problem, my luck just ran out and I caught that right spot and right time thing. if I had caught the root with the middle like every time before, it would just spins the tires.but it was as far left on the blade as it could have been, half inch and it would have missed it. I'm going to buy new ones, but I'm also going to straighten the bent one out and keep then for spares. Thanks again Robert

 

[Dick_Jermyn]

I did the same thing. I removed the semi bent arm, heated the bent spot with my ox/ac torch, aligned the arm over some wood supports, wacked it with a sledge several times till straight. I cooled it with a bucket of waters to try and keep the temper. I remounted the arm and it has worked great since. I still need to paint it. Well, it's a reminder of my dumbness (not to back push).

 

[Dick_Jermyn]

I did the same thing. I removed the semi bent arm, heated the bent spot with my ox/ac torch, aligned the arm over some wood supports, wacked it with a sledge several times till straight. I cooled it with a bucket of waters to try and keep the temper. I remounted the arm and it has worked great since. I still need to paint it. Well, it's a reminder of my dumbness (not to back push).