FEL bent....

[dqdave1]

If it is at dealer, why not have them adjust/repair the FEL.

 

[bx24]

I ultimately found that one of my brackets was not torqued down properly (I noticed the frame flexing). I am ready to blame quality control at the factory. I have caught and corrected many "quality control in assembly" issues.

The list includes:

- a lot of "less than adequately torqued" bolts
- many many hydraulic couplings not tightened enough
- loose zirk fittings (to the point where they fall out when you remove the grease gun)
- I have 2 of the bolts that retain the pins in the FEL come loose and drop out

None of this is a real big deal, but it tells me that quality control could be better. I am not as fussy as the person in the other thread about the paint or the look of the welds (so long as they perform), but this nickel and dime stuff is irritating.

The problem with the zirk fittings just happened yesterday. I would recommend that you all check that those are tight. I found that using the handle and "socket" from one of those 4 way screwdrivers is the right size to fit over the zirk

My machine has about 300 hrs on it

 

[kevinj]

I ultimately found that one of my brackets was not torqued down properly (I noticed the frame flexing). I am ready to blame quality control at the factory. I have caught and corrected many "quality control in assembly" issues.

The list includes:

- a lot of "less than adequately torqued" bolts
- many many hydraulic couplings not tightened enough
- loose zirk fittings (to the point where they fall out when you remove the grease gun)
- I have 2 of the bolts that retain the pins in the FEL come loose and drop out

I do not know how old your machine is but I do believe that the loaders are dealer installed. The manuals also list a specific number of hours to retouque the bolts. This is for wheels, loaders, etc. Was this done? The pin retainers should have self locking nuts or maybe the pins got dry and they sheared rather than the nuts falling off. The zerks have loosened on mine but again these are worked every grease job and is another maintenance item. I have not had any issues with the couplings leaking except for a dealer installed item.

 

[fred98050]

Yes the BX is at the dealership for the moment and I will have them look at it and see what they can do about the FEL.

Ever since the tractor has been delivered new 2.5 years ago I have use the dealer to do the 100/300/500 hrs maintenance. All of the oil changes, greasing etc I did by myself.

Don't know if part of the inspection is to retorque the bolts (I'll have to check when I get back home) but I have to admit that I never did it on my own.

This is no big deal I am sure that it can be fixed. I was just a bit puzzled by what happen.

I guess when I get the bx back I will go trough all of bolts, zirks, hoses fittings etc... I was under the impression that the dealer would check those when the machine was down for maintenance.

Fred

 

[kevinj]

I was under the impression that the dealer would check those when the machine was down for maintenance.

Fred

If you are paying the dealer then he should service it as per the operators manual. Issues like this are why many of us perform our own service.

 

[fred98050]

Kevinj,

I hear you and from now on I will service my machine as much as I can.


Fred

 

[fred98050]

Quick update!

So the BX is back home now. The dealer looked at the FEL and determined that nothing was bent per say. The pins holding the arms of the FEL have some play (the right side more so than the left) causing the FEL to be a bit slanted to the right and therefore wearing the right side of the bucket a bit faster than the left.

This is not a warranty issue (according to the dealer).

I suspect that the bolts holding the brackets support needed to be re-torqued more often than the regular inspection interval. The play at the bolt level allowed the pins to move over time which created the problem. So IMHO if you have a BX24 and if you are using the FEL for gravel, dirt etc.. You might want to check those bolts as often as you can to avoid any premature wear.

I am going to fix the problem at my expense and keep you posted if I encountered any more issues.

I wanted to thank every body here for your suggestions and help, this forum is an extremely valuable source of knowledge for guys like me.

Fred

 

[radioman]

glad you got your baby errrrr bx back . how are you planning to fix the loose pin ?

 

[kevinj]

Quick update!

So the BX is back home now. The dealer looked at the FEL and determined that nothing was bent per say. The pins holding the arms of the FEL have some play (the right side more so than the left) causing the FEL to be a bit slanted to the right and therefore wearing the right side of the bucket a bit faster than the left.

This is not a warranty issue (according to the dealer).

I suspect that the bolts holding the brackets support needed to be re-torqued more often than the regular inspection interval. The play at the bolt level allowed the pins to move over time which created the problem. So IMHO if you have a BX24 and if you are using the FEL for gravel, dirt etc.. You might want to check those bolts as often as you can to avoid any premature wear.

I am going to fix the problem at my expense and keep you posted if I encountered any more issues.

I wanted to thank every body here for your suggestions and help, this forum is an extremely valuable source of knowledge for guys like me.

Fred

Once you have everything properly aligned, torqued and retorqued it will remain tight and not need to done every eight hours. Which pins are you refering to as loose????

Follow the procedure in the loader manual to square it to the frame and your problem will probably go away.

 

[actionaj]

After reading this post I think I will make it a point to check the torque on my loader. Never really gave it much thought before. I guess the torque specs. are in the loader manual.