4025 broken bh subframe

[Rock Crawler]

I look at the manufacturers safety type blurbs the same on my tractor as on my Jeep wrangler. If you offroad your "trail rated" Jeep Wrangler and mark up the bottom, you stand a REALLY good chance of warranty denial from top to bottom. But, I bought it to do a job... entertain the heck out of me while I beat that thing into a pile of twisted steel! I bought the tractor to do certain things as well. If it ends up beat into a pile of twisted steel along the way, so be it. Both a tractor manufacturer and Jeep will void the heck out of your warranty if they can prove that used the machine in a way not afforded to you by the terms of the warranty. So use your junk at your own risk I beat the dog-snot out of my new Jeep, but the warranty is in the tool boxes in my garages. I do not go to Jeep for anything. I do things to it that are specifically not allowed per the words of FIAT/Chrysler/Jeep. Screw them.

Those types of warnings/statements are liability related from the manufactures point of view. Like you or another said recently within this thread, it also allows them to put limits on what would be covered by warranty. I hate warranty repairs... you die of old age waiting for some shop to diagnose, get approval, order parts and finally do the repair. This can be a week, 2 weeks or maybe more. I can fabricate, build or repair an awful lot of in just a day or two. I do not have the patience to wait in line for warranty repairs.

Luckily for me, I do my own repairs on just about everything I own and what most people I know own. I also don't trust the average mechanic to touch my stuff. Some mechanics are exceptional and I have met a few, but there are a mess of them out there that are dumber than a bag of hammers.

If I tore the outriggers off, I would weld up bigger/better/badder ones. I have a welder/lathe/plasma table/mill and I am not afraid to use them.

 

[fried1765]

As a white, male, veteran, tax paying, gun owner...the mere mention of Fauxacontas makes me sick. Just because I'm stuck in a geographical area to take care of family doesn't mean that I'm some lobotomized liberal. I'm moving BACK to NH as soon as my family situation allows!

"moving back to NH" ..... Good choice!
I was born in The Democratic Peoples Republic of Taxachusetts!
I too would be sick if "Pocahontas" was my senator.
Been a resident of Florida for many years, though I do go North (Nova Scotia) for the summers..

 

[tkevan]

So, the manufacturer puts a specific requirement in instructions, which according to some here make the unit MORE unstable. Which would mean the manufacturer would be MORE liable for any mishap using their instructions? That makes sense to some of you here? All I can do is shake my head in wonderment.

Rock crawler. Point being that if you roll that wrangler off the rocks and crush your skull, make sure your family doesn't file a lawsuit against FCA.

 

[tracydj]

Not sure how this happened, but the subframe has sheared in 2 places just above the lower mounts. Is this frame cast iron? Is this reparable, or am i looking at a new subframe. Tractor has 70 hrs on it, and very little backhoe use.

The set up on my 2538 is similar but the bracket that the backhoe seats into looks like it could be removed with 6-8 bolts. It is all mounted to the subframe. It doesn't look to be anywhere close to a $1000 part per side. Part 21 on mine, Top Plate Assembly RH or LH.

 

[rustyshakelford]

So, the manufacturer puts a specific requirement in instructions, which according to some here make the unit MORE unstable. Which would mean the manufacturer would be MORE liable for any mishap using their instructions? That makes sense to some of you here? All I can do is shake my head in wonderment.

Rock crawler. Point being that if you roll that wrangler off the rocks and crush your skull, make sure your family doesn't file a lawsuit against FCA.

They don’t want increased warranty claims because they build a product not up for use as advertised. If it’s not strong enough to work while supporting the tractors weight then I have zero use for it. It’s typical CYA by business that are reducing quality to increase revenue.

Anyone that has actually run construction equipment knows the difference between the outriggers supporting the machine vs the tires and the outrigger having ground contact. My statement all along and I’ll do it in caps for ease of reading is the following

THE MOST STABLE PLATFORM WHEN OPERATING EQUIPMENT IS WHEN THE BULDGE IS REMOVED FROM THE TIRES. How anyone can argue that is beyond me. That is a basic fact with backhoes. Lord forbid you ever get off your tractor with the PTO engaged. It’s a miracle you haven’t been sucked into the shaft and sued the manufacturer....or you have and that’s the reason your the way you are. If that’s the case, thanks for all the warning stickers on m stuff

For those that go by the owners manual as gospel....don’t think for yourself, follow your instruction booklet blindly for your own safety.

Brett

 

[rustyshakelford]

I have been doing some reading of deeres literature. On some of the units they are calling the arms that contact the ground stabilizers. They specifically said they were not outriggers. That lends me to believe they aren’t of the same build quality to be considered as a traditional outrigger. That is a shame. If I rented one of these little units, I would operate it as I always have but will concede you should follow the manufacturer recommendations to CYA. I’m genuinely disappointed that they are passing off these products while charging a ton of money for them. I will never recommend anyone buy a TLB and instead use the money and rent a track hoe when needed.

Using the tires for stability isn’t a safe practice in the world I work in. Tires can fail and leave you with an unstable situation immediately.

Brett

 

[tkevan]

Bulge off the tires and tires off the ground is not the same, again, these are not 580s, they're tractors with attachments. You're correct that the 'stabilizers' on a Bradco don't, in any way shape or form, live up to an outrigger on a 580. The idea is to keep the center of gravity as low as possible. I do plenty of things with my tractor that are not in the manual, and probably not too safe, but I assume the risk of what happens. That being said, I don't tell others to do as I do.

 

[rustyshakelford]

Bulge off the tires and tires off the ground is not the same, again, these are not 580s, they're tractors with attachments. You're correct that the 'stabilizers' on a Bradco don't, in any way shape or form, live up to an outrigger on a 580. The idea is to keep the center of gravity as low as possible. I do plenty of things with my tractor that are not in the manual, and probably not too safe, but I assume the risk of what happens. That being said, I don't tell others to do as I do.

Bulge out of the tires or to where you can slide a sheet of paper under it was what I was saying. Unnecessary to get it way in the air unless the ground is that out of level and you’re wanting a level work platform

Brett

 

[mbohuntr]

You are BOTH correct... consider this.. a few years ago, my go to chainsaw broke. In a moment of desperation, I bought a Macolloch. spelled wrong...that new saw was so lobotomized by the legal team, it would only run at half throttle to minimize kickback, and the owners manual said to keep the tip guard on.

Anyone who knows saws realize you can't use if that way, so of course I fixed it, and prevented myself from suing the manufacturer... stupid? Yes... the world we live in.. I never recommend others do what I do. But make there own informed decisions.

 

[bmohr1954]

My only comment again is the reason the frame broke is: the load exceeded the design strength . That you have to agree, the reason that happened load was transferred because of a reason. Still go back and check all the bolts attaching the mounts to the tractor if non are loose- the failure was from operating in overload.
No BS just practical science. I am not saying the design is wrong just the load exceeded the design.