Broken Mount For LA724

[amigauser]

How old is the tractor? I have a 2008 purchased GL3240 with the LA 724 loader and I have the newer style mount you show. My tractor was on the dealer lot at the time for a while to so I am not sure when it was manufactured.

 

[Grandad4]

Yesterday I replaced the old repaired FEL mounts with the new ones from the dealer. In the process I took some photos that show there are significant differences between old and new.

View attachment 322206

The most obvious difference is that the webbing is much more shallow on the new part which significantly increases stiffness cross wise to the tractor. I also see that the webbing has been eliminated alltogether at the back side of the upper mount arm in exactly the location that cracks were starting on my old parts. In light of this new info I'm thinking it might be worth while to have another go with the Kubota warranty person, who claimed that there were no changes between old and new parts. In my mind it's clear that Kubota engineers understood there was a problem and changed the casting design in an effort to correct it. They did the right thing, maybe there's a chance the rest of the company could follow suit. Do you guys think I should push my luck, or just be satisfied with less than half the repair cost?

Sorry if it's a dumb question, but does the actual geometry of that bracket differ between old and new? The old one seems to be tilted clockwise from vertical by maybe 5 degrees and the new one seems to tilt the other way by maybe 10 degrees. Maybe it's just the camera lens or the angle, but they sure look different.

 

[Chilly807]

Sorry if it's a dumb question, but does the actual geometry of that bracket differ between old and new? The old one seems to be tilted clockwise from vertical by maybe 5 degrees and the new one seems to tilt the other way by maybe 10 degrees. Maybe it's just the camera lens or the angle, but they sure look different.

I was thinking the same thing, but figured it might be just me.

Sean

 

[MHarryE]

Virtually every manufacturer has in the fine print that they reserve the right to change anything without obligation to upgrade previous machines. That doesn't apply to safety concerns - by law those are mandatory and open ended. Then there is the discretion of the dealer and local company rep. Normal practice in such a case is the local rep has a budget - use it where it will do the most good. Unfortunately that means the largest customers, by purchase volume not weight, get the most sympathy$$$. Then there are the pain in the *** customers who they pay off just to get them off their back.

 

[firefighterfox]

Here are some pictures that I sent you the pm about.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Didn't get the PM, but those look like the "improved" mounts. Webbing is much thinner than the ones that broke on mine. Just goes to show that Kubota is trying to throw bandaids on a basic design flaw when they should be helping owners out with redesigned mounts that will take the loads these tractors put on them. My experience is that instead, they blame the owners for "abusing" the tractor. Good luck getting Kubota to do anything about it.

 

[Burrawang]

I was using the backhoe and moved the rear of the tractor over to reposition it when I heard a loud snap.I got on the tractor to use the FEL and noticed it was lopsided,looked down and saw the bracket broke clean in two.After going back to the garage I was able to get the loader off.I called the dealer and he said he would come down Saturday to take some pictures and send to Kubota. The loader has a 12 month warranty and the tractor is 15 months old so I am thinking Kubota won't do anything about it after reading other posts on here about similar situations.The tractor has 530 hours on it and most of that is FEL work.I do use it but I don't feel I did anything with the loader that I shouldn't have.When I use the backhoe I lay the FEL bucket flat on the ground so that it will slide when I reposition with the hoe.Maybe moving the tractor around with the hoe is not a good thing to be doing but I thought it was common practice when using the backhoe.After looking at the other bracket I noticed that it has a crack in it as well.You can see from the rust that the broken bracket also had a crack for a while before it broke.I will wait to see what Kubota says but I am thinking I will probably end up welding and reinforcing both brackets.I make my living as a welder so I feel confident in doing this if it is necessary.This incident has kind of left me soured on tractors but that will probably pass with time.I guess tractors are not industrial machines like a real backhoe and are only made to do light work.I never really envisioned something like this happening from the work I was doing with the tractor.Curious to see if anybody else has had a similar problem.The tractor is an L3240.

That's really interesting kcender because I was only doing what I would call light work on the loader at the time it went bang and the loader slew off at an altogether unhealthy angle. Mine broke on the other side, but at almost the exact same place, looks to me like they've under engineered the size of the casting. I haven't noticed a crack on the left hand side but I'll check it out with a bright light and a magnifying glass to see if there are any signs of weakness. I hope the welding and extra plates added to either side of the cast weld will be strong enough; if it holds OK then I'll probably beef up the other side too before it breaks.