Finally picked up the Foton FT254A from Rural king

[amafrank]

All the posts concerning Rural Kings service were pretty much right on. The mechanic is actually a really good guy and very helpful but they assembled the rotary mower over the weekend while he was gone. They put the wrong PTO shaft on it and didn't tighten a bunch of the bolts. Super mechanic fixed those problems while the manager straightened out the paperwork. Once I got the thing home and running around I discovered the brakes don't work properly, the brake light switch was not adjusted correctly so the brake lights overheated and blew the fuse. I think some wires must have melted too as replacing the fuse doesn't help. The shuttle shift lever was mighty tight and hard to move but a little oil and some working in fixed that. Overall the tractor runs great and I mowed about half the field before lunch. The little details will get fixed under warranty and I'll keep it going after that. The new Spirit FEL seems to be really nice and easy to operate. I haven't had a chance to see how the quick remove feature is but I'll get to that.
I'd give this one a thumbs up for now with a whopping 6 hours up operation so far....

Frank

 

[crazymike]

If it's the china loader you just have to remove a few pins on the loader arm, a pin from each support leg and unhook the quick discos then drive away. (backwards /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif) and your good to go.

 

[amafrank]

The loader says " Made in Wisconsin by Spirit Implements" as well as American Made. It only has one pull pin on each side along with the 3 QD fittings. I just need to read the manual to figure this one out. The stand slips into the horizontal brace for storage.
Brake adjustment was simple and one of the shorts in the electrical system turned out to be the horn. The mechanic said that of the 5 254's he's done they all had some problems with the horn because the design is silly. Brake light switch adjustment was simple too. I guess that pretty much fixed the problems. Now I just have to keep an eye on bolts and fittings. One of the hydraulic lines started leaking a bit when it came loose and a few nuts have backed off in spots. I have plenty of locktite.....
I mowed the other half of the yard this eve and it looks pretty good. The wife is pleased too as she won't have to figure out my oddball fixes on the riding mower now.
Frank

 

[3RRL]

amafrank,
Can you post a close up of that QD system on the bucket for us?
Thanks,

 

[amafrank]

I'll try to get some pics in the morning. According to the manual you have to loosen one 3/4" bolt on each side to allow the retaining pins to come out. At that point you back away from the loader enough to get the stand under it and disconnect the hydraulic QD's. I tried looking for the spirit website but it keeps coming up "page not found".....
Frank

 

[3RRL]

Sorry Frank,
I should have been more clear about why I wanted to see a photo closeup. I want to modify my regular bucket to quick connect so I can mount some QD attachments for it.

 

[amafrank]

Sorry about that then, the bucket is not a quick detach from the loader. The loader is a quick detach from the tractor. I suppose that the bucket could be removed and a multi mountable frame fitted up that would take forks and other fremostats of that type. Bucket uses 4 pins to attach to the loader assembly. One at each hydralic cyl and one on each side of the bottom of the bucket. I think this is a pretty standard system.

On another note, a buddy loaned me a 6 ft blade for the TPH and I managed to get a few of the trenches filled and leveled today. I guess I'll need to get my own blade now. 15 hrs so far and the thing is running great. The loader has exceeded my expectations and is very handy. I've filled in quite a few holes in the yard with good dirt from the creekbed. . . areas where old drain tiles have collapsed. Not a good thing to hit with a tractor when mowing.
Thats it for now.
Frank

 

[bluechip]

Rob, If you ahve the Koyker 195 loader, a QA option is available right from Koyker. You ahve to buy the plate and a new bucket, but it is skid steer type and many attachements available. It is not inexpensive but it is handy.

 

[3RRL]

Chip,
Thanks for that inormation. Should I contact them direct?

Also, if I can take the current mounts off of my bucket (cleanly) is there any reason I couldn't use my bucket and weld on the QA kit? Sorry...don't know enough about the quick attach system???

 

[bluechip]

I don't think they will sell direct, I'd be happy to quote you a drop ship on it. the bucket for the skid steer has a bit more hadware, the backside is completely different. It oculd probably be done by a good welder with enough materials, the mechanism is in the plate that pins on the loader instead of the original bucket.