Bent cutting edge on Front Loader?

[madslick]

Hello all,
I have a front Loader (LA403) that I have succesfully been able to bend the cutting edge on it while trying to push down an old tree (don' ask).
The cutting edge gently bows down roughly 1/2" in the middle when compared to the sides.
Does anyone know how to bend it back?
Any comments/recommendations appreciated.
Thanks,
Rick

 

[curtisfarmer]

Heat it up with torch and use bottle jack or chain come along, depending on which way the bend is (in or out). I would probably drill some holes and install a bolt on cutting edge to stiffen the bucket and beef up the current edge.

Good luck.

 

[Egon]

Find another tree and push the opposite way. It may straighten!

Heat and a good sledge will do the job also.

The original cutting edges are not that sturdy. When the one on my loader wore out I had it cut off and replaced with a much heavier weld on type. It surely stiffens up the bucket.

 

[Camo]

Try putting a thick bar or plate in the bucket that will reach the sides, and try to gently reshape it by using a porta power or a large c clamp just a little at a time. Never did it, just giving a suggestion. You must have given the tree a good ole push!
Another idea, might be to get a piece of plate steel as wide as the cutting edge, but heavier, and bolt it or weld it over the cutting edge on the bottom to make a heavier cutting edge, and straighten the existing edge at the same time.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Find another tree and push the opposite way. It may straighten! Yes

Heat and a good sledge will do the job also. Careful!

The original cutting edges are not that sturdy. When the one on my loader wore out I had it cut off and replaced with a much heavier weld on type. It surely stiffens up the bucket.

Hitting metal directly with a hammer deforms the point of impact and effectively stretches the surface you have hit against. This tends to bow the metal away from the impact even while the whole piece of metal deflects in the direction you are trying to bend it. The two effects are in opposition. To prevent this, lay a piece of plywood on the surface and hit the wood with a good sized sledge. The 'cushioning' prevents the 1st effect.
larry

 

[Timber]

Bolt a tooth bar on it after you get it relatively strait. If you don't have to heat it don't. better to straiten it cold. The tooth bar will add strength to it anyway but just using will straiten it anyway

 

[madslick]

Find another tree and push the opposite way. It may straighten!
.

That was my immediate "oh sh_t" response.
Ha ha ha, as Murphy would have it, it didn't bend back.

I'm slightly afraid of using Heat as it may permanently soften the metal.

I do like the comment about using a heavier bar over the cutting edge and by using a C-clamp to tighten the middle until it goes back to shape.
I think I may have to provide a little clearance on the Heavy bar in order to allow for a slight over-correction so that when I release the compression from the C clamp it should snap back into shape.

Thank you all for the comments so far.

Rick

 

[Camo]

That was my immediate "oh sh_t" response.
Ha ha ha, as Murphy would have it, it didn't bend back.

I'm slightly afraid of using Heat as it may permanently soften the metal.

I do like the comment about using a heavier bar over the cutting edge and by using a C-clamp to tighten the middle until it goes back to shape.
I think I may have to provide a little clearance on the Heavy bar in order to allow for a slight over-correction so that when I release the compression from the C clamp it should snap back into shape.

Thank you all for the comments so far.

Rick

Correct on that, a spacer on each end to go slightly past straight is an excellent idea. Let us know how it works out, as I'm absolutely sure you are not the first, and certainly not the last to have this happen.....As in I could see this happening to me.

 

[Egon]

Use heat. It'll help!

 

[SPYDERLK]

Use heat. It'll help!

Absolutely! Cutting edge steel, if high quality, is hard like a grade 5 bolt or maybe even grade 8. You dont want to use enuf heat to anneal it, but if you dont use some you are going to have to flex it way back beyond straight to get it to take a straight set. 600 to 800F will not spoil the original heat treatment. You can gauge this temperature by 1st lightly abraiding the surface to put a silver shine on the metal. Then put a couple 2x4s about a foot apart on hard ground or concrete. Press down on themwith the center of your bucket lip til your tractor lifts. This will hopefully flex the lip at least straight or even a little past. If not move the 2x4s closer, or just use one in the center. Now heat the lip back away from the edge with a big torch like a weed burner type blow torch. Move it back and forth left and right of center. When the shine turns straw brown you are at around 400F. At blue you are passing 600. At purple you are at 800 or so. Do not go further. If this didnt do it you need more force. Maybe push against a tree stump to flex the lip further past straight and heat. You will need to re shine the surface each time to gauge heat. If you try to do it without heat it is possible you will break the cutting edge especially if there are any bad nicks on the side that must stretch.
larry

 

[KeithInSpace]

The cutting edge gently bows down roughly 1/2" in the middle when compared to the sides.

You mean it's not s'posed to be like that?

Kidding, but only a little. Let me guess...had the stump cut about 4 feet above the ground for leverage and you ran straight into it with the FEL flat to push the thing over. The tree wood caught the edge and as you pushed the stump over, it pulled down on the cutting edge in an arc motion and by the time you realized what what happening, your edge was bent. Then you put the center of the bucket on the very same stump, lifted the front wheels off the ground and bounced the tractor up and down trying to straighten it out, but to no avail. Then you felt silly for using the FEL like that in the first place. Ya...never EVER done any of THAT before.

Mine has been warped as such since the first 10 hours of use. The edge has had a subsequent 170 hours of abuse and has NOT bent any further, so this isn't one of those things where you'll end up with a yawning, hopelessly warped edge over time. I've gotten used to it. It has not had any ill effects, even when scooping snow. No biggie, just one of those things that happens to a tractor.

And ya, I tried the "bend it the other way against a tree" approach to no avail. Personally, I'd rather put time to other projects than constantly straigtening the cutting edge on my FEL. I PROMISE it will keep happening unless you add a toothbar.

If it really bothers the stink out of you, I think a new bucket is under $500. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. I'll be replacing my bucket before 400 hours probably so the problem will be solved then.

 

[Shantycoke]

I have a piece of old trolley track from Wheeling WVa. that was my dads. I use it as an anvil. If you could heat the loader edge a little while setting the edge on something like that track lengthwise, you could probably get it pretty close to perfect with a good sized ball peen. Hoopie tractor maintenance. Heat it & beat it.
Pat

 

[Shantycoke]

I have a piece of old trolley track from Wheeling WVa. that was my dads. I use it as an anvil. If you could heat the loader edge a little while setting the edge on something like that track lengthwise, you could probably get it pretty close to perfect with a good sized ball peen. Hoopie tractor maintenance. Heat it & beat it.
Pat

I almost forgot, if you do this, wear ear plugs.
Pat

 

[Egon]

Ahh, about that much heat so it responds to the sledge hammer.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I have a piece of old trolley track from Wheeling WVa. that was my dads. I use it as an anvil. If you could heat the loader edge a little while setting the edge on something like that track lengthwise, [[[you could probably get it pretty close to perfect with a good sized ball peen. Hoopie tractor maintenance. Heat it & beat it.]]]
Pat

Good! .......madslick, note that a slight overflex is good and you would peen the side you want to stretch [top] while reacting against a smooth anvil surface on the opposite side.
larry

 

[madslick]

You mean it's not s'posed to be like that?

Kidding, but only a little. Let me guess...had the stump cut about 4 feet above the ground for leverage and you ran straight into it with the FEL flat to push the thing over. The tree wood caught the edge and as you pushed the stump over, it pulled down on the cutting edge in an arc motion and by the time you realized what what happening, your edge was bent. Then you put the center of the bucket on the very same stump, lifted the front wheels off the ground and bounced the tractor up and down trying to straighten it out, but to no avail. Then you felt silly for using the FEL like that in the first place. Ya...never EVER done any of THAT before.
.

Humm, I just had a weird feeling where "Keithinspace" may have been watching me from a distance >> maybe from space << he knows too much much about my sequence of events.
Ha ha ha

Absolutely! Cutting edge steel, if high quality, is hard like a grade 5 bolt or maybe even grade 8. You dont want to use enuf heat to anneal it, but if you dont use some you are going to have to flex it way back beyond straight to get it to take a straight set. 600 to 800F will not spoil the original heat treatment. You can gauge this temperature by 1st lightly abraiding the surface to put a silver shine on the metal. Then put a couple 2x4s about a foot apart on hard ground or concrete. Press down on themwith the center of your bucket lip til your tractor lifts. This will hopefully flex the lip at least straight or even a little past. If not move the 2x4s closer, or just use one in the center. Now heat the lip back away from the edge with a big torch like a weed burner type blow torch. Move it back and forth left and right of center. When the shine turns straw brown you are at around 400F. At blue you are passing 600. At purple you are at 800 or so. Do not go further. If this didnt do it you need more force. Maybe push against a tree stump to flex the lip further past straight and heat. You will need to re shine the surface each time to gauge heat. If you try to do it without heat it is possible you will break the cutting edge especially if there are any bad nicks on the side that must stretch.
larry
.

I may try Larry's approach on a hard flat cement floor:
I'm thinking of using 3 2x4s: 1 on each end of the bucket and 1 in the middle.

If things go as planned and I angle the cutting edge correctly, the middle 2x4 will be the only one in contact with the cutting edge.
I'll lift the front of the tractor by pressing down on the middle 2x4.
While up in the air, I'll heat the center area (back and forth) of the cutting edge.
If things go as planned, as the metal softens , the edge should go back down until it rests on the 2x4's at the edges and thus preventing over-correction.
I think it should work.

Off to Homedepot >>> Gotta find me a big torch now...

Thank you all.
Rick

 

[Jimmyp5]

You mean it's not s'posed to be like that?
Mine has been warped as such since the first 10 hours of use.

You mean you waited until you had 10 whole hours on it... I think I managed to bend mine in the first 30 minutes... And I agree not big deal, I still get all the work done I need to do.

 

[art]

Anything less then an inch inch isn't hardly worth the effort. You might also try getting a larger cutting edge and welding it onto the bottom and clamping as you weld.

 

[mikim]

I just used my farm jack. Hooked the top of the jack on the top of the bucket and jacked the bottom back into shape. Had to reposition a few times, but it worked pretty well.

 

[KeithInSpace]

You mean you waited until you had 10 whole hours on it...

Well, I spent 9 hours just driving my machine around the neighborhood like a golf cart. Then I speared my garage door threshold with the loader. Then I decided I should do some real work with it, so on hour 10, I permenantly deformed the bucket.

Or something like that.