Avenger
Veteran Member
A while back I did something stupid. I attached a tine bucket with 42 inch tines to the FEL, stuck the tips of the tines into the dirt (slightly) and backed up. :duh:
The increased leverage of the tine bucket, mixed with my stupidity, bent the crap out of the loader links. But I didn't even notice, not for a while anyway. That was early winter of 2019. Here is what they look like before my repair:
I used the FEL like this for a while. The bent up links rubbed on the frame a bit, but other than that, everything seemed ok. Until I took them off:
I noticed this large rip in the steel, and kicked myself again for not doing this repair sooner.
I took off the links and hardware, cleaned them up and started the process of straightening them.
I used a rosebud, hammer, vice, crescent wrench, and channel locks to get them 'mostly' straight. They are not perfect, but much better than they were. Some machinist friends would likely balk at the methods and accuracy of "flat" that I have achieved. One of them even told me I should just make new ones, that I'll never get it perfect. But perfect was not my goal, getting the tractor back to work was. This is good enough given the time and tools I had at my disposal.
The crack got welded and ground flat.
I then welded some 1in angle iron to strengthen the links.
This should help from them buckling in the future. However, I know that these links are the 'weakest' links in the system. I'd rather replace these links than the curl cylinders. But I have learned my lesson, no more back dragging. I just felt that I could do something more to keep these from getting bent out of shape in the future. *I know I run the risk of damaging my curl cylinders. That is a risk I am willing to take.
I got them painted up and re-installed.
I used Ford Blue for the color. I know its not the exact same blue. I couldn't find the "safety blue" or whatever its called. It's close enough, and once they are covered in grease and dirt, I wont be able to see the difference.
From removal of the links, to the re-install, took me all weekend. The straightening took about 4 hours. The rest was cleaning the links and waiting for the paint to dry.
This was something that is easily avoided had I not been such an idiot. I knew that back dragging is hard on these FELs and run the risk of bending those cylinders. When I saw the damage, I should have repaired the issue immediately instead of pushing it off, which likely caused more damage, rust, and could have resulted in further failure of the FEL.
I've learned my lesson, fixed my issue, lets hope I remember this lesson so next time it wont be worse.
The increased leverage of the tine bucket, mixed with my stupidity, bent the crap out of the loader links. But I didn't even notice, not for a while anyway. That was early winter of 2019. Here is what they look like before my repair:
I used the FEL like this for a while. The bent up links rubbed on the frame a bit, but other than that, everything seemed ok. Until I took them off:
I noticed this large rip in the steel, and kicked myself again for not doing this repair sooner.
I took off the links and hardware, cleaned them up and started the process of straightening them.
I used a rosebud, hammer, vice, crescent wrench, and channel locks to get them 'mostly' straight. They are not perfect, but much better than they were. Some machinist friends would likely balk at the methods and accuracy of "flat" that I have achieved. One of them even told me I should just make new ones, that I'll never get it perfect. But perfect was not my goal, getting the tractor back to work was. This is good enough given the time and tools I had at my disposal.
The crack got welded and ground flat.
I then welded some 1in angle iron to strengthen the links.
This should help from them buckling in the future. However, I know that these links are the 'weakest' links in the system. I'd rather replace these links than the curl cylinders. But I have learned my lesson, no more back dragging. I just felt that I could do something more to keep these from getting bent out of shape in the future. *I know I run the risk of damaging my curl cylinders. That is a risk I am willing to take.
I got them painted up and re-installed.
I used Ford Blue for the color. I know its not the exact same blue. I couldn't find the "safety blue" or whatever its called. It's close enough, and once they are covered in grease and dirt, I wont be able to see the difference.
From removal of the links, to the re-install, took me all weekend. The straightening took about 4 hours. The rest was cleaning the links and waiting for the paint to dry.
This was something that is easily avoided had I not been such an idiot. I knew that back dragging is hard on these FELs and run the risk of bending those cylinders. When I saw the damage, I should have repaired the issue immediately instead of pushing it off, which likely caused more damage, rust, and could have resulted in further failure of the FEL.
I've learned my lesson, fixed my issue, lets hope I remember this lesson so next time it wont be worse.
