Loader LA 495 Quick Attach loader fell off

[Surgeon]

So the good news is that no one got hurt. The bad news is that the loader is racked and the cause is a mystery. I mowed before I went on vacation. I am too lazy to take the loader off so I just drop the bucket. Came back 10 days later and the yard looks like a jungle and the driveway is washed out so I need to get busy. Put the bucket on, filled the driveway washed out area which took about 20 minutes and about 4 buckets full of gravel and fines. Topped of the tank to go mow. I was in the process of taking the fuel tanks back up the hill to the shed with the bucket raised about 2/3rds of the way before I started mowing and the loader just dropped off the mounts

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Surprised the crap out of me. Having participated in accident investigations I immediately grabbed my phone and took pictures. I called my son who is a solid mechanic and we started to deconstruct what happened. We can’t figure it out. The loader latches were in the Locked position. I have taken the loader off before but not in the last 5 hrs of use. (My B2601 only has just over 50 hrs.)
Anyone have any thoughts? Insurance should cover the cost of replacing the loader but I am really concerned that this could happen again and without knowing the cause I don’t know how to prevent it. I checked with Kubota dealer and they have heard of this happening once before. My son thinks we can put some pins in as an additional safety. I am really un settled as this could have been a lot worse. What does anyone think?

 

[JWR]

There is NO WAY that that loader should have come off if the pins were all in place and the loader properly seated on the mounts. It is not like there are only 3 or 4 of these things out there... Surely you did not have it securely in place (which is hard for you to accept as no doubt you feel you did.) With thousands in the field I cannot believe a design flaw. Unfortunately you have sheet metal damage too. With 50 hrs on it you really gotta lay this squarely in the lap of the dealer and demand an explanation. If they have "heard of it once before" insist on the details of that prior incident. Get your regional service rep involved not maybe, not next month, NOW.

I am assuming you checked more than thoroughly for bent metal and broken welds.
As you stated it you removed the bucket but NOT the loader frame, right?

I have never been through the process, but this needs reported to OSHA. Unless you satisfy yourself that you failed to have it on correctly, report it to OSHA with formal copy to Kubota of America and your dealer. Not a minor issue.

 

[Surgeon]

I did not remove the loader frame. In all honesty I would be happy if I could convince myself that I did something moronic then I could trust the replacement. The LA 495 does not use pins. My old Massey Ferguson had pins as did my B2150 which are a tried and true method but not an option on this tractor. I absolutely love my B2601. It is a real workhorse. If the jaws on the loader quick attach mounts were not seated I don’t believe that I could have carried four buckets of gravel. And then to have it fall off with 3 tanks and maybe 5 gallons of diesel and gasoline split between three tanks. The potential for someone really getting hurt was very real to the point I am considering an aftermarket loader or trading this in. I honestly thought this might be the last tractor I own as I like to hold onto equipment but now I just don’t know. Part of the reason I a posting here…

 

[CalG]

No Help on your issue, but....

sometimes these "make it easy" systems are just too much complication/

Inserting the pins on the L434 on my B2601 is not that much trouble, And I know when they are pushed home and the retainers dropped!

 

[plastikosmd]

Scary for sure

 

[Surgeon]

KTAC now says they will pay for 65% of my 53 hr loader because the price has gone up from $3000 to $4900 and they only insure at the original price.

 

[CaptPat]

KTAC now says they will pay for 65% of my 53 hr loader because the price has gone up from $3000 to $4900 and they only insure at the original price.

Could be worse, at least they didn't depreciate it. At any rate a weird failure mode it seems to me, the only way my previous Kubota loader was coming off if the pins were installed was if the loader bracket failed. Hopefully, the dealer can explain the root cause. Good luck.

 

[Surgeon]

That’s the crazy thing and the point of failure is that there are no pins just a collar. If I keep this tractor I will figure out how to pin the loader because this failure was too dangerous.

 

[JWR]

That’s the crazy thing and the point of failure is that there are no pins just a collar. If I keep this tractor I will figure out how to pin the loader because this failure was too dangerous.

Agree for sure BUT I think it important to get to the bottom of how it happened. For many reasons. Without knowing exactly how it happened you are so vulnerable to the unknowns when you try to preclude future issues.

 

[garry1p]

I had this happen to me on an LS tractor.
I had swapped out a stump bucket and put the loader back on and used the loader several times.
The next day I don't remember what I was doing, but the loader just fell off, I had no load in the bucket at the time.

I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what happened or how could it happen since the loader had no problems when I was using it the day before.
After putting the bucket on and off several times and trying to duplicate the problem I finally chocked it up to operator error.