Damage from Loader

[radios1]

Political? No, just someone looking for facts.:confused3:

After all, there are many foreign manufactured tractors from different countries being sold in the U.S. Allow the administrator to determine what is "political".

that has already happened once before, and I will NOT press my luck again.. you can get yourself banned, but I will NOT!!..

 

[rScotty]

Brands?

It isn't so much brand of tractor as it is the way that some old-fashioned aftermarket "one size fits all" type of loaders were mounted. I don't recall seeing any modern OEM loaders being mounted poorly today. It's just too easy for any OEM manufacturer to mount loaders correctly. Even the universal loaders today tend to come with a subframe made for each specific tractor.
But it definitely was a problem a few decades back when inexpensive used tractors were being imported into the US and fitted with inexpensive universal loaders for sale to less knowledgeable homeowners. They would often work just long enough to make the poor owner think that it was something he had done wrong. Wrong!

Think of it this way: When a loader is in use all of the combined forces of weight in the bucket, push by the tractor, and twist from the uneven ground end up being applied in one (or two) single spots - right in the center of the tractor there at the bottom of the right hand and left hand loader uprights.

For the loader designer who wants to save money on loader mounts, it is really tempting to bolt those loader uprights directly to the cast iron interface between the engine and transmission - called the bellhousing. The bellhousing is fairly heavily built, right there in exactly the right place in the middle of the tractor, and even has convenient bolting points all ready for use. All that is needed is some tabs and longer bolts.... and viola! You have a simple & cheap instant loader mount. The problem with that solution is that bell housings, engines, and transmission cases all tend to be made of fairly brittle cast metal that is already heavily loaded. Add the stress of loader uprights to what is already there and those loader mounts can break a tractor's back.
Mechanically, bolting to the tractor bellhousing is sort of like jumping up and down in the middle of a lightweight foot bridge. Not recommended.....

To avoid all that concentrated stress in the middle of the tractor, most loaders today do NOT bolt the loader directly to the tractor's bellhousing or engine or transmission housing. Instead, the loader uprights are bolted to a subframe of heavy steel that runs fore and aft under the tractor. Typically the subframe is bolted to the front and side mounts of the engine block in the front and then to the large bolts that hold the rear axle housing just inside of the rear tires. Spreading out the loader stresses in that way puts very little load on a tractor.
Mechanically, you can think of a loader with subframe as putting the loader stresses out at the ends of the bridge. Now we are jumping on the abutments of a more heavily built bridge. No problem....
enjoy,
rScotty

 

[npalen]

Gosh I thought most loaders built these days have the subframe mounted midway front to back to the cast bell housing area. The subframe usually extends to the front of the tractor also and sometimes to the rear axle as well.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

....most loaders today do NOT bolt the loader directly to the tractor's bellhousing or engine or transmission housing....
rScotty

Well I would hope not! Mine certainly isn't built that way.

 

[tc429]

a few years back, looked at a bucket for our '98 ford/newholland- and in reading found several folks had busted tractors in half with them...they mounted to lugs cast in the 'bellhousing' region(for lack of better word) and castings would fracture... now just thinking a three point hitch mounted scoop, with a top link using a toggle/chain binder type of thing would maybe be safer, would be handy for moving a little dirt/gravel...

 

[MHarryE]

I grew up on a farm with Farmall H loader tractor, standard Farmall loader. The main beams attached to the rear axle. Problem it had was wanting to fill the bucket when loading gravel. Old mechanical transmission, clutch, run into the bank at a good speed to get any gravel at all, tractor raises, step on clutch and it comes crashing down. Farmall H has a deep cast iron section between engine and transmission housing. Crack started and spread across the housing. Dad kept welding on it with nickel rod but my cousin and I kept cracking it. I'm surprised we never broke it completely. Several of dad's customers cracked theirs too.