OP
pmmully
Silver Member
Update: It's been a few weeks since it has been fixed. But low and behold, I have the two bent rods in my hands as wall trophies. One for the dumb-ass that pushed a massive oak stump with the bucket down, and the other for me for not setting the ground rules. The bends are very insignificant to the eye, but clearly there. The tolerances are tight, so hence they were bypassing internally.
Dumb-ass confirmed the move. However, I would/could/may have made the same ignorant mistake. While the L48 is "(light) construction grade", I simply did not realize how fragile that loader system is in that configuration. It is not a configuration that one should use for that purpose, or actually any purpose. As the dealer and machine shop told me (same as what 5030 says), even at slow speed, encountering a stump, or rolling up on a stump you may be pushing (especially when not in float), can do it. It is an appallingly common occurrence as is lifting something too heavy as well.
Lesson learned: As the dealer and mechanic told me, tractor/TLB loaders are not really designed to push like other equipment. They are designed to scoop and lift on a base machine that was originally designed to pull loads. The cylinders and arms are very long. The loader configurations/physics on toys like Case 580, Deere 310, and even skid steers are much different, which is why those machines do not have the same weakness. Those toys are not TLBs, they are LBs. Big difference
.
I will say however, the L48 is a beast of a compact with the backhoe. I took out 4 massive oak stumps in 8 hours. Definitely not a fast as an X due to maneuvering, but not slow enough to warrant a whole new piece unless doing it every day. I also learned how cool the float function is when approaching unknown conditions with the loader, or backdragging. It does take a few more passes to but since you still have bucket angle control, it works really well and the finished product is actually smoother. It really does bump over hard ground, allowing the material to be dragging into where it really needs to go. That does not mean I will always use float, but I will never backdrag with the bucket in full dump, ever, really no need to.
Dumb-ass confirmed the move. However, I would/could/may have made the same ignorant mistake. While the L48 is "(light) construction grade", I simply did not realize how fragile that loader system is in that configuration. It is not a configuration that one should use for that purpose, or actually any purpose. As the dealer and machine shop told me (same as what 5030 says), even at slow speed, encountering a stump, or rolling up on a stump you may be pushing (especially when not in float), can do it. It is an appallingly common occurrence as is lifting something too heavy as well.
Lesson learned: As the dealer and mechanic told me, tractor/TLB loaders are not really designed to push like other equipment. They are designed to scoop and lift on a base machine that was originally designed to pull loads. The cylinders and arms are very long. The loader configurations/physics on toys like Case 580, Deere 310, and even skid steers are much different, which is why those machines do not have the same weakness. Those toys are not TLBs, they are LBs. Big difference
.I will say however, the L48 is a beast of a compact with the backhoe. I took out 4 massive oak stumps in 8 hours. Definitely not a fast as an X due to maneuvering, but not slow enough to warrant a whole new piece unless doing it every day. I also learned how cool the float function is when approaching unknown conditions with the loader, or backdragging. It does take a few more passes to but since you still have bucket angle control, it works really well and the finished product is actually smoother. It really does bump over hard ground, allowing the material to be dragging into where it really needs to go. That does not mean I will always use float, but I will never backdrag with the bucket in full dump, ever, really no need to.
Last edited:
