Bent cracked loader arms

[daugen]

And collisions, or let's call them "very high acceleration events", at even low speeds can generate HUGE momentary forces. For example: from 3mph to dead stop in 0.01 seconds... that's over 13 g of acceleration. Now if you've got X lbs of machine behind the loader when you run into a tree, that's 13X lbs of force trying to bend or break something. If my tractor weighs about 5000 lbs, that's 65,000 lbs trying to bend or brake my loader during that 0.01 seconds. Stopping in the same amount of time from 15 mph and you've got yourself a 68 g event.

Oh dear, here come the airbags....
good explanation. I kept thinking you meant deceleration instead of acceleration, but G force is G force. It's the sudden stop that hurts...

As far as the hydraulics, I'd expect the rams or some hydraulic part to fail first assuming a straight on collision. And would the overpressure/popoff valves in the system help?
But collide from the side? I can see something bending that way for sure.

Ok, let's offer a prize for the most damaging FEL story. one of 4Shorts shirts?

And I still wonder how fast I can go into that gravel pile without excessive wear on, well, anything.

 

[DK35vince]

a suggestion:
if you have to replace your computer, don't throw the old hard drive away. It might still be ok, and could be a second drive on your new unit. And all your photos will hopefully be saved. Unless you were using your pc
when the spike hit, likely your hard drive survived. Power supplies often die, as well as anything connected to unprotected phone or cable lines. In a past life I owned an electronics business and saw plenty of this.

Thanks.
I know very little about computers. I can turn one on and off and punch the keyboard. That's about it.
I was on the computer when the power spike hit. Took out our printer also.

 

[KennyG]

I have operated a 7.5 power angle FEL (QA) snow blade for thousand of hours. It has 4 springs for trip action and a hydro relief valve. I try to operate it as a sentient being: not recklessly. I never float the blade, I ride the stick just like a cyclic, correcting for contours in the road surface. It is always gravel/dirt roads and snow/ice/rock berms.
No damage to the loader.

I've got a snowblower, but I sometimes use the loader (with bucket, not a snow blade) to scrape my concrete driveway. I always use in float position. What would be the disadvantage to floating a snow blade?

 

[xtn]

I kept thinking you meant deceleration instead of acceleration, but G force is G force. It's the sudden stop that hurts...

Acceleration is a change in velocity or direction. Acceleration can be from faster to slower, or from slower to faster. We use the word deceleration to describe a faster to slower change from our own point of view, but since all velocity is relative, it's really meaningless.

xtn

 

[Coyote machine]

Thanks.
I know very little about computers. I can turn one on and off and punch the keyboard. That's about it.
I was on the computer when the power spike hit. Took out our printer also.

DKvince,
There are numerous photo recovery software apps out there to use on a drive that will still spin up. If the drive is totally fried then forget about it. Check google.
For future prevention of similar events get an APC Backup; it has a surge/spike protection circuit AND battery backup for when the power drops out so you can safely shut down. I use them on all my equipment and have never had a spike or brown out or surge do any damage.
Printers are very prone to damage from events like what you described.

To the OP, check out one of my early threads about having bent my loaders arms and 1/2 moon shaped flatstock connectors on my first tractor: the DK-35 I had back in '09-'010. It includes pics and everything, along with discussion, etc.

 

[Katahdin]

I've been plowing the same 400 foot driveway for about 10 years with a full trip blade. I recently adapted this blade from my truck to my tractor loader. When I've hit an obstacle or heavy snow with my plow, the blade folds down flat and passes over the obstacle. The vehicle does not stop and there is no de-acceleration. Most times I don't even feel an impact. These are the only facts I can offer that are relevant to this discussion at the moment.

 

[FatTire]

This issue of possible damage to FEL arms due to plowing has come up in other threads. So far, doesn't seem like there have been actual reports of damage related to snow plowing with either full trip or edge trip plow.

 

[grsthegreat]

i was in a discussion about this same thing awhile back. a few people warned about damaging the loader arms.

Problem is...no one had actually ever seen this happen..or know of someone this has happened to (at least in a modern machine). So i place this as wives tail personally.

I now have 2 seasons with my Quick Attach brand loader mounted plow. Its a 84" wide plow with 4 quick trip springs. Works flawlessly as long as i chain up all 4 tires (otherwise it tends to drift when blade is angled)

 

[lostcause]

it may be hard to find many/any people who have experienced a failure this way, because most people won't put themselves in the position to experience it. it's basic physics really:

look at your loader arms - the width is less than the depth of them, because loaders are designed to lift vertically.

look at the floor stringers and roof rafters in your house - they are positioned vertically for strength.

go out and see if you can find someone who framed the floor of their house with 2x12's laid flat and let me know how the search went. this is a little extreme of a comparison, but it's the same principal. loader frames are designed to take vertical loads and not necessarily lateral loads. they will certainly take some lateral loads but many people will avoid doing it - particularly with smaller equipment.

my tractor is a jd770 and parts of the loader frame are 3/16" plate bent into a c-shape. i know this can take some lateral loading, because i've smacked into a few things over the years and it hasn't fallen apart yet. i would put a straight blade plow with a trip edge on if i didn't want to use the bucket but i wouldn't consider using an angled blade on something this light. stumps, rocks, and frozen banks are going to put a lot of repeated stress on that frame if i do. if i had a heavier setup i might, but i would have to look at it and evaluate whether i thought it was up to the task.

 

[daugen]

then Sasquatch it remains, but the hunt goes on....