FEL bucket orientation indicator

[JohnS]

Being a FEL newbie, and after practicing for about a hour on some gravel, I find it hard to determine the orientation of the bucket from the tractor seat. I remember reading about some indicators, but my searches have not found them. I would appreciate any links, pics, or other info on this matter, espicially any DIY homebrew ones.

JohnS

 

[ChrisR]

Hi John

I have Kubota L35 and on the left-hand arm of the loader is a attached a tube, and inside this is a rod that is attached to the bucket link, as the bucket moves, the rod moves up or down inside the tube, and from the driving seat you can see it come in and out of the tube, and with a bit of practice you soon know exactly what position the bucket is in, it is very simple yet very effective. I'm sorry if this description is confusing, but I don't have a dig camera yet.
I think it is a kubota standard fitting so they may have a photo on their site

Regards

Chris

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

John,

I don't know anything about the FEL on a Jinma, but on my front loader there is a plate on the top of the bucket, parallel to the bottom of the bucket that is visible from the seat. I strapped a half full 16 oz clear plastic Pepsi bottle to the plate. When the bucket was level so was the pepsi in the bottle. When this rig finally got knocked off, I had a good enough feel that it didn't get repaired. Maybe you could rig up something similar.

Al

 

[ERNIEB]

JohnS, Here is one discussion I foundhttp://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=jdown&Number=21376&page=&view=&sb=&vc=1
For some reason the photo links don't work. My TC29D uses the rod thru the tube thing as well. With this type you have to get the bucket level, then either mark the rod or cut it off even with the top of the tube. It's a fairly simple device, with a little drilling and maybe some tack welding you could make one yourself.

Ernie

 

[JohnS]

Thanks Al, The Jinma FEL does have a flat plate ontop of bucket. I will try this quick and dirty approuch. Follow-up with a tube and rod solution, at a latter date. Thanks.

JohnS

 

[JohnS]

Erinie, Chris, Thanks. I think I have a good idea how this works and will try to figure out the best mounting position, etc. I quickly looked at Kubota and Deere sites, but could not identify a level indicator in any of the FELs I looked at. If anyone has a pic or link to one, that would still be great. I would like to make one of the rod and tube ones, but in the meantime, I am going to try Al's quick solution.

JohnS

 

[OverlyRun]

My New Holand TC 35 (16LA loader) has a rod with a notch in it (a small bend in the rod). The rod slides parallel to the loader arm as the bucket tilts...the notch sits on the support bracket when the bucket is level. When the bucket is tilted forward the notch slides forward, when it is tilted up the notched part of the rod is back. It helps align things when approaching a stump or log that I want to lift with the toothbar.

This sounds identical to the rod in the tube...with the addition of a surefire way to know where level is. Perhaps a stripe painted on the rod would accomplish the same thing.

Chas

 

[WoodDawg]

Here is a picture from the NH 16LA loader. As described eariler, when the notch is centered on the bracked, the bucket is level. Having used Green and Orange tractors, I find this one the easiest to use. Just my two cents...
Mark

 

[JohnS]

Thanks, for this pic. Do you happen to have one that is shot from a few feet back. Kinda get an overview of the whole hook-up. Thanks.

JohnS

 

[WoodDawg]

Here is a view from a little farther back. I little harder to see. This is actually a pretty simple setup. You would just have to figure out how to attach the rod at the bottom on yours. The bracket is held on by a u-bolt, it's just a piece of metal with a hole for the rod to slide through. Good luck...
Mark

 

[John_Mc]

The picture Mark posted of the 16LA loader level indicator is similar to what Woods uses on their loaders (or at least on my model 1012). I like it better than the "rod in tube" method. The tricky part may be in getting the bends just right so that it sits in the notch when the bucket is level.

 

[JohnS]

Mark, Thanks I got the idea now. The pic varified what I was interepting from the textual descriptions. Thanks for taking the pic and the quick response.

JohnS

 

[Egon]

John:
You'll find all the indicators in the world arn't as good as lots of seat time. Thats the only thing that will do it.

 

[DVerbarg]

John Mc,

Its not that tricky to get the bend in the rod set to the correct position. Just get the bend close and then loosen the nuts on the u-bolt that holds the metal bracket and then slide the bracket to the correct position. Hopefully this makes sense, looking at Wood Dawg's first photo may clarify my explanation. I have this setup on a TC40D and even my 9 year old daughter gets the bucket level.

DaveV

 

[JohnS]

Agree, just trying to reduce the number of hours of seat time. My first couple attempts were pretty funny. I'd think I have a bunch of gravel in the bucket, but when I dumped it just a pail full of rocks came out! Glad I was off on a more secluded spot. Don't want my neighbor laughing so hard he might hurt himself /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

JohnS