Is Lifting Rear of CUTS of the Ground Bad?

[Beltzington]

Having started pulling pine trees using my FEL it dawned on me yesterday I routinely pick the rear of my tractor off the ground when pulling and lifting stuff. I do use ballast and understand about the possible safety issues but my concern is wear & tear on the tractor. I believe tools should be fully used but not abused. I'm guessing most of the stress is being felt by front axle and I am wondering if I need to be more careful about doing this. TIA

 

[Don87]

Having started pulling pine trees using my FEL it dawned on me yesterday I routinely pick the rear of my tractor off the ground when pulling and lifting stuff. I do use ballast and understand about the possible safety issues but my concern is wear & tear on the tractor. I believe tools should be fully used but not abused. I'm guessing most of the stress is being felt by front axle and I am wondering if I need to be more careful about doing this. TIA

What you are doing is going to cause major damage to your tractor.

Pulling with the FEL is not a good idea.

Raising the rear wheels off the ground, while pulling trees is even worse.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/221036-worst-things-do-front-end.html

 

[imgone52]

What you are doing is going to cause major damage to your tractor.

Pulling with the FEL is not a good idea.

Raising the rear wheels off the ground, while pulling trees is even worse.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/221036-worst-things-do-front-end.html

100% in agreement. Pulling should be from the draw bar,(not the lift arms). If it won't go, it's too big for your unit. Stay Safe!

 

[moored4]

I agree with the above and if you have a 4 wheel drive unit then you'll be putting major stress on the frount drive line. I know, years ago, I poped my L245's doing just that! Learn by our mistakes

 

[Beltzington]

Appreciate all comments and I agree a paved road is always a nicer ride but for discussion, let's take it off-road.

Assuming a tractor is properly ballasted for the FEL and the rear wheels stay on terra firma during a lift/pull is there any more stress being exerted on components then when you are lightly ballasted and the rear wheels raise off the ground while lifting/pulling the same load?

Hard to debate empirical evidence.

"I poped my L245's doing just that!"

 

[moored4]

Appreciate all comments and I agree a paved road is always a nicer ride but for discussion, let's take it off-road.

Assuming a tractor is properly ballasted for the FEL and the rear wheels stay on terra firma during a lift/pullNo Pulling is there any more stress being exerted on components then when you are lightly ballasted and the rear wheels raise off the ground while lifting/pulling the same load? YES

Hard to debate empirical evidence.

"I poped my L245's doing just that!"

Think of your tractor as a see-saw your fel is one end and you counter balance is out back would you want the legs of the see-saw to be the big heavy rear axil or the front smaller axil. If you have a OP manual there should be a page/paragraph dicussing this!

 

[Deere Dude]

I agree with all three posters. It does put a huge amount of stress on the front ends and I didn't see where anyone said paved road. But it wouldn't matter. The spindly front ends are talking all the torque doing it that way while the robust rear end is not engaging at all, or not much.

The trick is to put all the ballast on the rear and pull with the rear end engaged with the front end helping it along.

I have pulled trees doing just as you did because it's easier to see what is going on, but I knew better. Nothing happened, and I raised the rear up but I don't think it did the tractor any good. I did hear on this forum where front ends are the weak area and also the dealers.

They all say ballast the starch out of the tractor and pull correctly and all will be well.

 

[k0ua]

You need more ballast if it happens all the time..loaded tires and more ballast on the 3pt. if using the loader caused the rears to raise. Ballast on the rear 3 pt. unloads the weaker front axle. (good thing)

James K0UA

 

[Beltzington]

Pardon the poor drawing. How is there more stress on the front axle?

 

[Verticaltrx]

If you are just lifting the rear of the tractor off the ground by the force of the loader hydraulics, you're probably ok. It is a little hard on things, but within the design specs.

Now, if you are lifting the rear off the ground by using the tractor to pull backwards while lifting, you could be putting tremendous stress on the front axle. When you aren't using the hydraulics, the hydraulic circuit is basically locked with fluid and there is no relief valve. Using the loader as something to pull with is also bad. Use the hitch, 3pt hitch, or even a rear implement to hook a chain to for pulling.

The absolute worst thing to do it say you are trying to pull a tree, fence post, whatever out of the ground via a chain hooked to the bucket. You lift up on the loader, and the rear of the tractor comes off the ground (due to the object being well fastened). You drive the tractor forward in 4wd, with the rear still off the ground. This creates a tremendous amount of leverage and can often pop whatever out of the ground. Also a good way to break a front axle or blow a hyd cylinder.