FEL trouble

rivers · Jul 5, 2004

I'm having trouble getting my FEL reattached. I detached it from the tractor about a week ago and left it in the garage. It was standing on the support arms.

The problem is that the latch bar (lower bar between the two support arms) will not seat into the slot on the tractor frame. The only thing that I can figure is that when the loader was sitting on the support arms it shortened the arms slightly, as they are connected by two bolts.

The loader is level - it is on the concrete floor of my garage.
The tractor is lined up the with loader.
I tried putting a little grease on the latch bar to see if it would slid in, but no luck.

Suggestions ?
Anyone been through this ?

jd110 · Jul 5, 2004

Is this the first time you had the loader off? Did it come off easily? There are a couple of adjustments that can make this work better. First try loosening the two bolts on each side. If it goes on easily with the bolts loose, tighten them after it is on. If that doesn't help, try loosening the four bolts on each side that attaches the mounting frame to the tractor. Also, be sure you are putting enough down pressure on the loader to slightly lift front wheels off the ground. Once the loader is on and the latch pins are engaged, tighten all hardware to spec while there is still down pressure on the loader. this should have been done at setup when the loader was installed initially, and shouldn't need to be redone unless something got bent or came loose. I hope this helps !

rivers · Jul 5, 2004

2nd time the loader has been off, but the first time for any period of time. Yes, the loader came off easily....no problems.
I will try your suggestions, Thanks !

BenderKC · Jul 6, 2004

Had the same problem recently with my 4310/430 setup. The suggestions offered worked for me. Also beware that the bolt attaching the front rotating plate to the long rod may be hitting the frame and not allowing the plate to engage. This was partly responsible for my problems. There was a definite loud, solid, metal on metal noise when I tried to engage the locking rod from the operator position. Mine must be setup wrong as there is no way this should happen. Once I figured this out it still would not engage the plate properly. Loosening the bolts as suggested solved the problem. I tightened them as suggested. I now remove the bucket when mowing rather than taking the loader off as I don't want another 2-3 hour frustrating, sweaty, curse laden loader reattachment exercise. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

beenthere · Jul 6, 2004

When adjusted right, un-attaching the Deere loaders is at most a 45 second job. A half-minute longer to attach it because you have to color-coordinate the 4 hyd. hoses before 'plugging' them in. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Don't miss out on this great system for attaching a FEL, just because it isn't adjusted properly. Get the dealer by the ear, and let him know their set-up guys messed up big time.

RoyJackson · Jul 6, 2004

"Don't miss out on this great system for attaching a FEL, just because it isn't adjusted properly."

Concur with this statement 100%.

cadblaster · Jul 6, 2004

There have been a couple of times when I had a hard time getting the (210) loader to mount. These all occured when the alignment wasn't quite right. That is, either one or both of tabs on the mounting frame didn't quite drop all the way to the bottom of the slots on the arms, or if the arms didn't "grip" the mounting frame quite right. I've had this occur on both even and uneven surfaces.
I've had my loader off and on a "gazillion" times. If yours is indeed malajusted, once corrected you'll find it's a breeze.

yellowsocks93 · Jul 6, 2004

I had the same problems as you switching the loader from the 4300 to the 990 but now that I used the tech sheet from my dealer all is well and I can detach and attach my loader for once. I go so mad at it too since it worked fine on the 4300 and once I switched all the hyd. lines around and put the new masts on the 990 it did not work worth crap, but now it does just fine. BenderKC, don't be afraid to take off the loader as the masts are now adjusted properly and they should stay put if you have the bolts tight.

rivers · Jul 6, 2004

Okay, so I loosened up the two bolts on both support arms and it was still very difficult to get the latch bar to go into the slot. As strange as it sounds, its almost as though the circumference of the latch bar got bigger, because it is a really tight fit. Eventually, after using a hammer, I was able to get it to slid in. I know, I know, the hammer thing probably wasn't the brightest idea, but after dealing with it yesterday and today, it was going on today.

Tried to take it off again and it doesn't want to budge(no big surprise there, after the hammer thing). Something must not be adjusted right. I think it is time for someone who knows what they are doing.

yellowsocks93 · Jul 6, 2004

Your dealer should help you but if you want to tackle it yourself take and loosen the 4 bolts by the latch plate retainer and the 4 bolts on each side of the loader mounting brackets. Then install the loader and tighten. It should self align like mine did. My latch place was about an inch too short from clearing the weight bracket but now it adjusted using the trick mentioned.