7308 FEL adjustment on front bracket

[Mosey]

I loosened up the 4 bolts that hold the bracket on (they were not very tight) and moved the top of it forward until the posts hit the hooks again, then tightened the bolts as much as I dared without twisting them off (125 ft lbs). I was going to check the tightness of the big bolts on the hooks, but I don't have the right size socket for them, it's between 1 1/16" and 1 1/8". I put a big adjustable wrench on one and turned it fairly easy, so they're not real tight right now.

 

[thcri]

Danny,

The 4 big bolts on the loader itself for me no matter how tight I got them, they would move. I even put a 36" bar on my socket and they still moved for me. Then to get them loose again it was a pain in the A$$. Anyway I told me dealer to just weld them in place and since then I have had no trouble with them moving or the loader jumping up and over the front mount bracket.

Another thing I think a guy could do, the manual says not to but I don't understand why not, but it would be to flip the front mounting bracket around and you would move the post forward some. I seriously am thinking of doing that so that I have a tigh fit. But maybe before anyone doing that you should check with your dealer or if any dealer mechanics here could tell us if we could or not.

murph

 

[Mosey]

Anybody know what size socket I need for the big bolts that hold the hooks on? I tried 1 1/16" and it was too small so I tried 1 1/8" and it was too big. I went to Sears to get a 1 3/32" socket, but they don't have that size. Is it metric?

 

[DavidJ]

I don't know about yours but I just went out and double checked mine and there english. I even looked in the manual and it says that they're 3/4" bolts and to torque them to 270-324 ft lbs. I slipped a 1-1/8" socket on one and it fits perfectly.

Look at the head of the bolt and see if it has radial marks like follows or letters and numbers stamped on the head. If marks it's english, if numbers and letters it's metric. If it is metric it'll take a 28 mm socket.

 

[KrisHansen]

Rotating the posts looks like it would change the angle on the arms, wich would affect the angle of the rear vertical posts, which would be bad, as that would limit how far down the loader could go, and it doesn't go far enough as it is.

I think the best solution is to get the gaps as tight as possible, and weld the hook plates to the horizontal arms.

along these lines, I have batted around the idea of welding on some guides that would keep the front mount from moving side to side, which on my tractor, they do about 1/2" each direction.