4100 Loader wobbles

[RockinW]

Hi All,
Haven't posted in a long while, good to be back. I am having a problem with the 410 Loader on my 4100. The left tower is loose where it wedges onto the frame mounted bracket, allowing the tower to wobble when the loader is raised and lowered. The right side is still tight and does not wobble. Is there and adjustment to correct this?

 

[RalphVa]

Have you checked the bolts where the tower support is bolted to the frame?

Ralph

 

[RockinW]

All the bolts are tight. When raising or lowering the bucket, the left hand tower moves for side to side. I have studied the loader manual, but don't see any way to adjust the mount or tower.

 

[jimgerken]

If the left tower moves side to side when raising or lowering the loader arms, something is bent. I would guess it is that left cylinder rod end. the cylinder which lifts the arms themselves. I am not sure now to check this theory, without a lot of work. If it is in warrantee, and even if it is not, get it to the dealer immediately. They will want to make it right, it is a safety issue. Good luck, keep us posted.
On the other hand, or for anyone else interested,,,
If your towers rock around on their mounts in general, as mine did while I drove around, you may wish to do what I did, copyiing what my Dad always did to a new loader tractor on the farm: Cross-tie the two towers together. The loader still goes on and off the tractor easily, but the hood of the 4100 won't open without pulling one bilt out of the loader cross-tie. Here's a pic, you will have to zoom in, it is the only shot I have showing the cross-tie:

 

[RockinW]

Jim,
Last night I carefully watched the left tower and really only noticed some movement when the bucket hit the ground, at which point the tower moved inward towards the center of the tractor about 1/2". I saw your picture with the tower brace and think that might be the solution. Maybe a curved brace would allow the hood to open. Time to do a little backyard engineering!
Thanks for the help.

 

[jdgreg]

RockingW, I had a very similar problem with my 420 loader, here's the post: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/jd-owning-operating/65907-un-tweaking-420-fel.html?highlight=loader

The shims I made didnt stay or work very well, so I pulled the post off and welded some strips of metal to the face of the claws. This helped a lot, but I still dont have the right post as solid as the left. I like the cross tie idea, may give that a try this spring.

 

[minimax]

I had a 430 loader and had the wobbles fix the wobble by welding up the tubes that the loader claws mount too,there will be some wear where the loader claws sit.Just use some 7018 and build up untill the loader masts don't wobble.

minimax

 

[mlip]

I have a similar tower wobble and bucket level issue on a 4300 with 430 FEL. I'm the second owner so don't know if the loader might be somewhat racked, but did experiment with some shims at the base of the wobbly tower. Seemed to help. Plan to work a more permanent solution in the spring. Was planning to weld a 1/8" bead along the tower to horizontal post contact surfaces. The trick will be to get enough of a bead to realign the tower but not too much to compromise the grabbing feature that keeps the tower on the post. Looking at both of my towers, the wobbly one seems to be a bit worn on the mating surfaces. Makes me wonder if several years of use in an environment with sand or some other abrasive material has accelerated the wear on those little "claws" on the tower and for that matter some of the other moving surfaces.

 

[Jim_Fisher]

I have a similar tower wobble and bucket level issue on a 4300 with 430 FEL. I'm the second owner so don't know if the loader might be somewhat racked, but did experiment with some shims at the base of the wobbly tower. Seemed to help. Plan to work a more permanent solution in the spring. Was planning to weld a 1/8" bead along the tower to horizontal post contact surfaces. The trick will be to get enough of a bead to realign the tower but not too much to compromise the grabbing feature that keeps the tower on the post. Looking at both of my towers, the wobbly one seems to be a bit worn on the mating surfaces. Makes me wonder if several years of use in an environment with sand or some other abrasive material has accelerated the wear on those little "claws" on the tower and for that matter some of the other moving surfaces.

I had the same problem with my 4300/430. It was always a little bit loose on the right side. It got to be annoying so I removed the loader and measured both loader booms at the casting where it attaches to the square mounts. The right side was 3/16" larger. I made a couple of shims out of 3/16" flat iron and welded them to the mount. I would have prefered to build up the casting, but I'm not sure what effect welding would have had on the cast.

After I added the shims, I adjusted the loader per instructions in the manual. Solved the problem for me.

 

[jdgreg]

I have a similar tower wobble and bucket level issue on a 4300 with 430 FEL. I'm the second owner so don't know if the loader might be somewhat racked, but did experiment with some shims at the base of the wobbly tower. Seemed to help. Plan to work a more permanent solution in the spring. Was planning to weld a 1/8" bead along the tower to horizontal post contact surfaces. The trick will be to get enough of a bead to realign the tower but not too much to compromise the grabbing feature that keeps the tower on the post. Looking at both of my towers, the wobbly one seems to be a bit worn on the mating surfaces. Makes me wonder if several years of use in an environment with sand or some other abrasive material has accelerated the wear on those little "claws" on the tower and for that matter some of the other moving surfaces.

Mlip, check out my post above, that is basically what I did. I tried welding a bead and grinding it flat, but found it was a real PITA, and it was much easier to spot weld strips of steel on the surfaces of the claw. I regret not taking pics when I did it. Let me know if I can help.