connecting front loader with quick hitch when you cannot see the equipment

[WinterDeere]

I added a front camera which helps with the SSQA but also forking pallets.

Can you post more info or photos on this? My 3033r has terrible forward visibility due to the shape of the hood and loader, easily the worst tractor I've ever owned, when comparing only on visibility for loader operations. I should probably consider some type of camera system myself, since I do spend a lot of time moving both pallets and logs with the forks.

 

[deserteagle71]

Can you post more info or photos on this? My 3033r has terrible forward visibility due to the shape of the hood and loader, easily the worst tractor I've ever owned, when comparing only on visibility for loader operations. I should probably consider some type of camera system myself, since I do spend a lot of time moving both pallets and logs with the forks.

I bought one of these. The camera portion has a powerful magnet that can be stuck anywhere on the front of your loader arms or forks assembly. It transmits an excellent picture wirelessly to the monitor that I stick on the instrument panel on my Kubota. No way I can see the forks to guide them into a pallet without this.

 

[dstig1]

Look up posts by user "Waxman" as he did some great things on his tractor years ago including a camera for FEL attachments and use that was quite well done.

 

[rScotty]

I painted a white stripe on the bucket and continued it onto the quick attach adapter on the FEL - making sure to do it when they were attached, and also putting the stripe in a location I can see from the tractor seat.
With the stripe, it is a lot easier to get the lateral alignment correct. I still have to stand up and hold my breath to make sure the tops are fully engaged when I lift them.
I think the European system is better than SSQA.
rScotty

 

[LouNY]

On both of my tractors with the SSQA if I lean out the door I can see one side of the attachment plate and line it up with the attachment. I also have a camera with a magnetic base that helps with some attachments when I mount it properly.
The "Euro" or global that is on a couple of the farm tractors is a much easier and safer system as well as stronger.

 

[deserteagle71]

I painted a white stripe on the bucket and continued it onto the quick attach adapter on the FEL - making sure to do it when they were attached, and also putting the stripe in a location I can see from the tractor seat.
With the stripe, it is a lot easier to get the lateral alignment correct. I still have to stand up and hold my breath to make sure the tops are fully engaged when I lift them.
I think the European system is better than SSQA.
rScotty

That white stripe is a great idea! But...there is no way I can see the front of my FEL or what I am trying to attach to, over the hood of my Kubota. Might if I could stand up...but that's impossible to do with the cab. That's why I ended up buying a camera.

 

[Tony H]

I just read this. Along with some responses. It made me giggle. My tractor is tall , with a cab, and i dont have a savefty switch on my seat. I can easily see down the side of my hood to align height and sides of attachment.
a while back, i get a call from a neighbor. He has your issue and asked me how the heck I do it alone. I couldnt understand his issue sinse my view is easy
I go over there like 'the ole hand' to teach the newbie what's what. Hop in his Kubota 3000 series and ill be damned. Cant see much at all. I stand up, in his cab, the tractor stalls. Grr, safety crap
Fortunately, his OEM bucket does have small, angled fins for his sides. Even if you are a bit off it will self align as you push the bucket a bit. Like a funnel.

 

[rScotty]

I just read this. Along with some responses. It made me giggle. My tractor is tall , with a cab, and i dont have a savefty switch on my seat. I can easily see down the side of my hood to align height and sides of attachment.
a whilw back, i get a call from a neighbor. He has your issue and asked me howvthe heck i do it alone. I couldnt understand his issue sinse my view is easy
I go over there like 'the ole hand' to teach the neebie what's what. Hop in his Kubota 3000 series and ill be damned. Cant see much at all. Fortunately, his OEM bucket does have small, angled fins for his sides. Even if you are a bit off it will self align as you push the bucket a bit. Like a funnel.

Yep. Nice explanation What you saw on your friend's Kubota is exactly the problem - though I don't think it is a Kubota problem as much as it is a SSQA problem on all makes. .

The SSQA on our tractor - also a Kubtota - is stock and so is the bucket. I've painted some guide lines on bucket and SSQA to help stab it, but I can still mess it up. The only way I know to engage it is to stand up and lean out over one side of hood while driving forward ever so slowly in compound low gear... and at the same time slowly lifting the loader arms up a foot or two until the top "V" on each side of the coupler is visible. Sometimes - way too often - only one side is engaged. If so, lower very carefully and try again. If both sides look to be engaged, I lift it a little higher & give it a shake with the lift arm control to settle both Vs. Then lower the bucket to just off the ground, walk around front, and throw the latching levers....Whew....and give a sigh of relief.

Maybe once every few years when I gave it a shake to settle the V's, one side jumps out of engagement. And there we are, with 400 lbs of bucket dangling three or four feet up in the air at an angle because it is held by only one side. No matter what we do at that point, there's a fair chance of either a full on disaster or of tweaking something in the loader or SSQA.

All in all, it's not the best quick change system - just the most popular one locally.
Maybe someday someone will figure out a way to make it better.

rScotty

 

[dstig1]

Most implements I find I can see OK to hook on the SSQA but if I have a problem I inch forward positioning the arms where I think it is right. Then stand up while not moving so as to not trip the safety switch, then sit back down and adjust some, and possibly repeat the sequence if I am still not there. Harder to write than to do, but the key is to be off the go pedal before you stand. The other 99.9% of the time, I think the safety is a "good idea."

My bigger issue is trying to line up the forks with the fork pockets below my IBC totes filled with firewood. They are not on concrete, but on the grass, so they sink in a bit and are never level. I often get out and look at when I get close to get it lined up right for height and tilt. That is more of a PITA but I only do it twice a year on 2-3 bins so not a huge imposition.

 

[WinterDeere]

Hop in his Kubota 3000 series and ill be damned. Cant see much at all. I stand up, in his cab, the tractor stalls. Grr, safety crap

The inexcusable thing about this trend is that the mechanical designers today have tools that allow them to see the operator's view in full 3D CAD, before ever molding their first bit of plastic.

If the guys working these designs on drafting boards had made these errors 50 years ago, you could almost forgive it. But today? C'mon tractor designers!