Bent 3pl arms

[paul735]

I have an old Kubota B1902, i put a bale spear on the 3pl and was moving some dry round bales, about 350kg, and one of the 3pl arms bent, i was shocked and told the guy i brought them off and he said the bales are too heavy. My argument is the tractors rear hydralics lift the bales no problem and it drives fine so why should the arms bend, im talking about steel thats 12mmx50mm surely they should be stronger than that...cheap steel?
Any thoughts? am i silly to be lifting bales with a small tractor?

 

[Just2quickz28]

I am sure someone will tell you that your being silly moving round bales with that tractor, but I do it all the time with my BX24, so it won't be me.

I am not sure if every part of an older Kubota was engineered to the tolerances that newer ones are. Meaning that just because the hydraulics will pick them up doesn't mean the lower lift arms can handle it.

Did you have the 3pt side to side sway linkage (turn buckles / adjusters) tight? It could be possible that extreme force was applied during moving.

 

[Tx Jim]

I agree that stabilizers need to be snug. I would think that putting an extreme side load could bend 3pt arms easier than trying to lift excessive weight. If 3pt raised load and frt wheels stayed on ground then load was excessive for arms.

 

[bikerdib]

I've always heard that the 3pt is designed for pulling not for putting extreme pressure on it while backing up. The only time I put a lot of pressure on my 3pt while backing up is to fill the 3pt scoop that I use as ballast for the FEL. I usually dig up some dirt and make a pile with the FEL then back up and fill the rear scoop. This allows me to move more dirt as well as have extra ballast but I always take it easy filling the rear scoop. Think about this, if the 3pt was designed to have a lot of pressure applied to it while backing up, it would have downward force as well as lift. Yes I know some tractors have down force on the 3pt but only on large tractors. I also use a quick hitch, it helps tie the 3 points together.

Maybe I'm totally wrong about this, I don't know. It wouldn't be the first time. :laughing:

 

[LD1]

Any chance you could post soe pics of the damage? This way, we can look at it and possibly see what caused it to bend.

Like others have mentioned, extreme side loads could cause them to bend. But both bends would be in the same direction.

Another thought:

What is the sixe of the bale? This will tell us how far back the load was centered. Your 3PH has a MAX rating @ 24". Do you know what this is? Because of the nature of the 3PH and being a parallelogram linkage, you loose very little lifting ability by moving the load farther back. (keeping the front down is another story). But even though you dont loose much lift force way back, you do put MUCH more compression on the lower links and more tension on the TL. Couple that with maybe hitting a bump too fast and bouncing the bale.....

 

[paul735]

What ive had done is inch by 3/8 flat steel bent & welded along the bottom of the arms as a gussett, of course thats after straightening the bent arm in a press, it should now hold up but no doubt the steel used is not tempered at all just mild steel and id guess all made in china/india.

the thing is when i brought the linkage kit the guy was bagging chinese tractors saying how badly made they are, yet hes happy to sell substandard linkage...very dissapointing.

 

[Just2quickz28]

So the 3pt linkage was aftermarket?

 

[paul735]

Yep aftermarket gear, what else would i expect..anyway here is a couple of pics..

3PL set up

This is the gussett i have had welded on and today i moved 25 bales with no issue

You can see what im talking about saying the std arms should be well and truly strong enough but they were not.

 

[JB4310]

Yep aftermarket gear, what else would i expect..anyway here is a couple of pics..


This is the gussett i have had welded on and today i moved 25 bales with no issue

You can see what im talking about saying the std arms should be well and truly strong enough but they were not.

You wont have any more problems now with that repair.
Those arms look pretty wimpy. My JD's are beefier (32 hp) I still bent them, but I was hammering them into snowbanks in REVERSE with a rear blade

I repaired them with steel underneath, but for some clearance issue I couldn't extend them out wider than the arms like you did, (which makes them even stronger) I had to make them the same thickness, but I added about an extra inch to the bottom. and have had no more bending