Adding stiffener to FEL

[jsmk]

Just an update. I had ordered replacement part around the time of my last post. It was suppose to take 3 to 5 business days to get the parts. Checked back when they were suppose to be in. They hadn't come in yet so dealer called Kioti see check. Turns out the outer side was back ordered an eta is now Aug. 10th.
Fortunately I brought the broken ones with me and took them to steel fabricator to get them repaired. The guy had them ready the next morning. While I don't think the repair is all that pretty I don't think I could break them if I tried. I will most likely replace them when the new ones come in and just set these away just incase.

I just want to say even though I broke the boom bracket on my tractor I do not look at this as a defect with tractor just op error. This tractor is a bear. I have been able to get so many jobs done that have been on hold till I could lineup help. Now I get them done by myself.

 

[Coyote machine]

If it were me I'd leave the ugh ones on and swap out if you ever trade up or sell the unit.

 

[dfkrug]

Has anyone done this or heard of anyone doing it?

I bent mine, but not nearly as badly as you did.

It was user error in my case, too. They are plenty strong enough if
used properly.

I was changing out my forks for my 4n1 bkt in the middle of a rain storm.
I needed to clean up a mudslide on my road, and I mounted the 4
brackets wrong. They got distorted the first time I went to use the
FEL. I cut a relief notch and welded them up.

I am curious.....what does Kioti charge for these brackets? New ones
would look nicer, but I don't need them.

 

[jsmk]

I am curious.....what does Kioti charge for these brackets? New ones
would look nicer, but I don't need them.

i agree they are tough enough. The cost they quoted me was $38 and change each, so the left side just under $80.

 

[Bill McGonigle]

Just to add a datapoint: I've got the exact same failure on mine, but on the right side. I didn't notice a missing pin, but I'll have a look tomorrow as I wasn't looking for that.

I doubt I could get them welded for under $80 around here, but if I did, the local welder would beef them up for me. So, the question that remains is whether I want these to fail sacrificially or not. $38 isn't that bad for a tractor part - I'd hate to wreck something much more expensive in the interest of saving a cheap part.

I'm still wondering what I did that caused them to break. I think I was just loading firewood on the day they broke (I didn't notice until later).

 

[dfkrug]

I'd hate to wreck something much more expensive in the interest of saving a cheap part.

And you can not trace the failure to a pin coming out?

I would lean towards beefing these links up as in the photo above. If
one comes out and you do not notice right away, you can really twist
and bend other stuff quickly.

But, more important are the retaining pins, which are not so good. That
is awful close to the dirt. Someone should come up with a better
retaining method and post.

 

[Alien]

oops posted on wrong thread..

 

[Coyote machine]

Sacrifice the 1/2 moon brackets instead of something like a cylinder or loader arm. Racking the loader by pushing too hard on a rock with one corner of the bucket can do damage if you're moving too fast or don't release pressure soon enough.

 

[VictorW]

If you need a weak link anywhere, I too would sacrifice the cheapest part.

 

[rimshot]

I had my dealer go ahead and beef up the bucket along with install a method to mount a couple pallet bucket forks and a trailer mover I could add to the front bucket. My dealer (Michigan Iron) is a genius at this stuff. Basically, this reinforcing attachment serves to make the tractor capable with the forks and trailer mover attachments and the reinforcing is secondary as a proactive move that does not hurt a thing. The pallot forks and trailer mover work great and as a reinforcement method it ranks up as a pretty good move also.

I'm not expecting trouble anytime soon with the FEL bucket on this CK20.