bx FEL bucket quick attach

[Just2quickz28]

i hate to fabricate a Quick Attach and find it weighs 100#, that is 1/5th of the bucket lift capacity robbed.

Exactly, for what I am looking for that ATI Pin on looks decent enough. If you look closely at the the ATI PIN On QA the ends where it will meet the bucket are tapered almost triangular to help with lining up the attachments. And then for building attachments use the bucket mounts as a template and go to town. I am going to stop at the local dealer on my way home from work and see what they say.

 

[bx23barry]

After reading this the pats system popped into my head. Seems they (or something like them) could be adapted to the fel arms to attach the lower fel (or whatever) pins. Might wear the pins without the captive grease of the pin holes but I'm not sure how big a deal it would be. With the lower pins connected the cylinder pin would be pretty easy to line up and one pin to dive out/in is better than 3.

 

[Just2quickz28]

ATI used to sell a QD option for the Kubota BX, a pin on type. Sale of that item has been discontinued I think, but the last time I looked, there were still pictures of the setup at their web site. I think there were some problems with camming forces exerted by the center tilt cylinder, but it might be worth a look for ideas anyway.

Chuck was dead on.
I just stopped in and talked with the local dealer who called ATI on the spot and even put them on speaker phone . They are no longer selling the model for the BX loader arms, no matter how much they tried to reinforce the center attachment point they would tear apart. (note when they where operational they were reported back to ATI that they worked great....till they broke) Which I guess why the front bucket of the BX series is really reinforced at this point.

Anything else I can think of starts to weigh more than the front bucket plus whatever attachment (except maybe my plow)

 

[SkunkWerX]

OK, so maybe the solution is just to have some Quick Pins made that fit the existing pin holes? Not sure.

I am going to remove one of the pins and take a look at what might be possible. Thinking of a set-up like the FEL locking pins, they are big and sturdy, but come out very easily.

Then, any attachment would just need to be built with the same geometry as the back of the bucket, so the 3 Pins line up....and re-inforce that center pin!!

This is just thinking out loud, right now.

 

[Just2quickz28]

Thinking out loud is good. I also asked the dealer about the other types of pins, the non drive in kind, the ones you can pull out by hand, cannot remember the term...... He then reminded me of the center connection that has the grease fitting built into the pin?

And on top of that it takes a good ammount of pressure to drive out the pins.

I am really starting to think that bolting something into the front bucket is the way to go.

Still looking for ideas...............

 

[SkunkWerX]

My thinking was to replace the original pins for good, or modify them permanently.

It seems if you took the original pins, turned them down a thousands of an inch or two, they would still be relatively tight, but able to be slid back in easier?

As far as the grease fitting goes, if you use the same pin (modified) you still have the grease fitting. A new pin would need to be drilled for one.

I wonder how much $$$ for a new set of pins?

 

[Just2quickz28]

The more I look at the ATI quick attach picture. I think I can see where the failure point is on the units. From the looks of this ( I may be wrong pictures are really small ) you would drive up to the bucket line up the center attachment point and curl the unit in and it would line up the out side pins making it easy to put the pins in. But I do not see where a pin would actually attach the front bucket to the center point, does it just rest there?

I think the side connections of the design would work well and to design the center to have to pins one to hook up with the cylinder and then actually take a slip-fit pin (thats the term I was searching the brain for earlier) for a strong secure connection. I think the downfall of this product on the BX series was the idea that it would require no modifications to the front bucket and would easily work with the rest of the attachments ATI sells. By adding a second PIN or bold to the front bucket as the place to initially grab the bucket with the loader arms and then putting a pin in would most likely relieve the stress on the center point.

from the product manual
No modifications are needed for the tractor or bucket. Quickly change attachments or drop bucket for better maneuverability-- just hook into the top bucket pins and then manually insert the tapered lower pins. Pin-type quick attaches are available for the following tractors

 

[Just2quickz28]

I found this user RobZ that has the Pin type QA on a different tractor with the different arms but it has close ups of where the connection issue would be with the center pin on the BX series

http://www.tractorbynet.com/photos/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/529

 

[SkunkWerX]

I enlarged the pic of the QA for the BX.

Looks like the factory pins get re-installed into the QA, but then, the implements are "hooked", even the center cylinder.

There would be torque-ing going on between the two outer FEL arm points and the center point. If you beefed it up you would start adding additional weight to the whole contraption.

That is why I am leaning more toward using the stock pin holes as the coupling points, won't be truly QUICK connect, maybe semi-quick, I don't mind a 5 minute change-out , 20 mins would be too much.

 

[Just2quickz28]

The 2 outer pins are using a slip fit style pin, that could be pulled out by hand and the center is not pinned at all its hooked. Even on the two piston models like RobZs photos show that the dump and curl mechanisims are all hooked in.

I don't think the hook point is where the load should be, use the hook to pull the bucket in and line up the holes and then use a 3rd slip fit pin to hook the center secure the bucket to the mount.

I wish I could get my hands on the discontinued BX model to try adjustments. I think there would be a decent sized market for something like this for the BX series.