Cab tractors and Loader Removal

[Oldoak]

practice does make perfect, but one does want to use caution

Exactly! While practicing to become perfect, mistakes can be made and accidents can happen.

 

[MHarryE]

Important thing is solid base for the loader. One year I decided to leave the loader off during winter storage leaving me inside storage room around the tractor. Next spring after the ground had melted, the supports had dug in deep. I tried attaching in the normal way tilting the bucket as required to get the rear mounts positioned but at that time the loader was in such a bad configuration the loader jumped over its mounts and ended up beside my legs in the cab - with broken glass shards covering everything including me. I then backed out, used my other tractor to raise the loader and put planks under the loader supports and attached it like I should have done in the first place. Haste makes waste, in this case $1,000 for a new windshield. That hasn't stopped me - loaders on all loader tractors on and off multiple times yearly depending on the job, but now dismounted on hard ground and remain on for winter.

 

[chim]

I keep my loader off unless I'm using it. Mowing makes up the largest usage of my tractor and the tractor is more nimble without it. The tractor and loader are kept in a shed with a level floor. On or off takes a few minutes. In warm weather it's real quick because I have the doors off the cab and can lean out the sides and do the two pins. With the doors on I need to get out to do the pins. It is not unusual to put the loader on for a 15 minute job and remove it when finished. There isn't a lot of extra space in the shed, so the tractor gets parked so it looks like the loader is mounted. That allows me to connect the hoses before starting the engine.

 

[bullockcm]

I have both a John Deere 2210 and a cabbed Kubota L4240 with quick detach loader frames. Both come off and go on easily, the key as mentioned is to use a flat hard surface, preferably concrete although I have done it on gravel as well. Both operations on either tractor take less than 5 minutes, sometimes I think the bigger tractor is actually the easier of the 2 even. One of todays projects is taking the snowblower off the 2210 and putting the loader on to get ready for moving mulch and compost. I probably swap the loader on and off the 2210 half a dozen times per year and the 4240 2 or 3 times primarily for mowing purposes. The manufacturers really seem to have done a good job making it an easy process. Operating without the loader if not needed for function or counterweight does seem to make the tractor much more maneuverable and not feel like it is beating it self up so much.