cylinder safety stops for *bucket* cylinders

[orangetree]

I have cylinder stops (these; same function as u-channel designs of varying polish), which I bought for when I needed to be working under the arms.

I need to use my forks to hold a work platform. I can tie in, so with the FEL arms safe, the "worst" that could happen is a complete hydraulic failure and the platform would go from horizontal to "dumped" and I'd be hanging. No where near as bad as getting crushed outright - but still not good.

Does anyone sell, or have a clean example they fab'd / DIY'd, for safety stops for the BUCKET cylinders? The complication is they raise by retracting, the opposite of the main cylinders which can be held "up" with a simple spacer.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Two straps or chains?

 

[5030]

How about 2 pair of high pressure WOG valves, two on each bucket cylinder? Open, the curl function would operate normally and closed they would effectively lock the cylinders.

 

[Sportsman762]

Does anyone sell, or have a clean example they fab'd / DIY'd, for safety stops for the BUCKET cylinders? The complication is they raise by retracting, the opposite of the main cylinders which can be held "up" with a simple spacer.

Remove the bucket. If its not up in the air then it cannot fall. I cannot think of any reason to increase risk by leaving the bucket on when working under it.

Tow straps or chains?

I have used chains on loaders that did not have a quick attach bucket.

 

[orangetree]

How about 2 pair of high pressure WOG valves, two on each bucket cylinder? Open, the curl function would operate normally and closed they would effectively lock the cylinders.

Interesting idea. I don't like the thought of putting more moving parts there, but this would seem to be "pretty close" to the safety provided by the arm cylinder lockout bars.

 

[orangetree]

Remove the bucket. If its not up in the air then it cannot fall. I cannot think of any reason to increase risk by leaving the bucket on when working under it.

I have used chains on loaders that did not have a quick attach bucket.

See the OP. The bucket (specifically) is already off, I'm talking about a work platform on forks. And I'm on it, not under it.

 

[orangetree]

Two straps or chains?

Did you bolt or weld on something to the FEL arms for an attachment? I suppose that would probably work.

Keep in mind use-case here is a bit different than the main arm cylinders - for those, in general, you're preventing the arm from falling "a lot" and crushing you.

On a work platform a "drop" of ten's of degrees could still be serious, as the platform would move violently while you're relying on it to be stable. With a "strong" anchor, I could see using a ~load-binder to tighten the chain you mention - which would prevent any significant movement of the bucket joint.

Point being this would it seems to require some sort of custom mount point welded to the FEL, in order to be tightened to remove any slack (?) On the main arms, I'd be doing the equivalent - gently setting it down onto the safety plates (or rather, after a half hour it would settle there, anyway)

 

[Sportsman762]

See the OP. The bucket (specifically) is already off, I'm talking about a work platform on forks. And I'm on it, not under it.

I missed that in the original post.

A chain would work, but it does not let you adjust the angle when raising it. There is no simple answer to this that will meet your requirements involving stops that I am seeing. The simplest solution would be to put three or 4 legs on the work platform and lower them once the platform is at height. The platform is then not affected by any hydraulic drift.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Did you bolt or weld on something to the FEL arms for an attachment? I suppose that would probably work.

Point being this would it seems to require some sort of custom mount point welded to the FEL, in order to be tightened to remove any slack (?)

I've never worried about hydraulic failures when working on things while standing in the bucket or on a pallet (on pallet forks), so I haven't looked for suitable anchor points.

I'll check tomorrow, but seriously doubt that there aren't already useable places to hook straps or chains to...without having to weld anything extra onto the loader.

 

[Smokeydog]

Wanted to test an idea and made these adjustable safety stands. Tested with 600# weight plus me with complete relief of pressure. One can support the load but a little bouncy. Admittedly don’t always use them but nice option depending on the job.