Front end loader limits on TC24DA

[Mark.B]

I have a tc24da with a 12LA loader but I guess this would be a general question regardless of loader and tractor type.

I do a lot of lifting with the loader (Logs, stones) and was wondering what happens when you attempt to lift something that is beyond the lifting capacity of the tractor/loader. Besides from the loader not being able to lift the object do you risk damaging anything??

Thank you

 

[Heavyduty]

Your loader lift arms may leak if they can't lift the load at all. You may need to get a larger loader if you are running into lifting problems on a regular basis.

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

There are several issues. When you are trying to lift somthing that heavy you are putting a lot of stress on the front tires, rims and the axle housing. There are also safetyy issues. When moving heavy objects the rear of the tractor gets lite in the rear and makes breaking scarry. If you add enough rear balist to prevent that then you are stressing the center of the tractor if your pressure releifs aren't set properly.
Bill

 

[jinman]

I have a tc24da with a 12LA loader but I guess this would be a general question regardless of loader and tractor type.

I do a lot of lifting with the loader (Logs, stones) and was wondering what happens when you attempt to lift something that is beyond the lifting capacity of the tractor/loader. Besides from the loader not being able to lift the object do you risk damaging anything??

Thank you

Mark, your tractor has a hydraulic pressure relief valve. When you lift something, the pressure on that valve increases as the size of the item you lift increases. As the pressure grows to the maximum pressure, the relief valve will start to open and limit the pressure to the system to protect the pump, hydraulic pressure lines, hoses, and the structure of your tractor. This pressure is well below any danger of damage to your tractor. However, if the relief valve lifts (the loader stops lifting and you can hear the pressure relief opening) and you keep applying pressure to the joystick, the valve will become hot from fluid friction.

There is normally no reason to keep applying pressure. Most of us react to the loader stalling by stopping and taking a smaller bite or doing something different. Short periods of pressure relief will not damage anything. That's what the system is designed to do.

Where you can damage the loader is to allow a sudden load on the system that the relief valve cannot respond to. For example, say you are unloading a heavy pallet off a flatbed truck with forks or a chain on your bucket. You notice your tractor cannot lift the item, but it will pull and slide the item off the flatbed. If you pull that item off and the whole weight is suddenly felt by your loader, you may do mechanical damage to the tractor, burst a hydraulic line, or suddenly lift the rear tires of your tractor leading to a rollover. Because of the design of the loader joystick valve, the pressure relief valve is not in the circuit when the joystick is at neutral. Therefore, it is possible to overload the hydraulics in the scenario I just described. The best defense is to know what your tractor is rated to do and never go above that weight.

 

[Tommix]

Well guys I HAD a NH TS100A with a 56LB loader on it with a 84 inch bucket. I was moving some stuff around with it a couple of years ago and noticed a leak on the right front hub. I took it to NH and they first replaced the seal only to find out that the right front hub had cracked. About six months later I was using the loader to move some dirt around and another right front hub cracked. I asked the dealer why this would happen and was told that I must be driving too fast with a loaded bucket and the front end would start bouncing causing the hub to crack. I don't believe this because I travel real slow with a loaded bucket, anyway........I got tired of paying for all the repair work. I also had a front differential chew itself up, I was doing some tilling pulling a 10 foot disc when the 4WD went out. I got the front differential repaired and was getting ready to sell the tractor when I decided to do some last minute loader work. Guess what? The right front hub cracked, for the third time! I was moving some dirt probably about 75 yards on a level surface, when I had the loader full I did not go over 3 MPH, I was nursing this think along so I wouldn't break anything before I sold the tractor. I had not been working for more than 15 minutes before I looked down and saw the right front hub leaking oil.
I would have thought that the pressure relief valve would have bypassed if I was trying to pick up anything too heavy for the loader or front end but that did not happen. I think that New Holland knows that they have a problem with the front axles because they have refused to respond to my letters. I am buying a John Deere 6430 with a front loader, the front axles on those are pretty beefy.
Good luck to you guys with front loaders on your tractors, you shouldn't have to baby them, NH shouldn't sell frontloaders for tractors with weak axles. Sorry for the sour grapes but my TS100A cost me thousands of dollars in repair bills.

 

[jinman]

Well guys I HAD a NH TS100A with a 56LB loader on it with a 84 inch bucket. . .

...Good luck to you guys with front loaders on your tractors, you shouldn't have to baby them, NH shouldn't sell frontloaders for tractors with weak axles. Sorry for the sour grapes but my TS100A cost me thousands of dollars in repair bills.

Tom, I can sympathize with your situation. I think NH should have replaced your entire front axle and drive. When multiple things go wrong and keep repeating without abuse, there is something else that is the problem and causing undue stress on the broken parts. If the TS100A's front end was inherently weak, there would be hundreds of tractors that needed fixing. Your tractor was a lemon in my opinion, and you should have been treated better. The TS100A and 56L loader are massive and should be capable of doing very heavy jobs.

While I think you were not treated properly, I would not want the OP to think his tractor is weak and not get as much use as possible. There are lots of Class III Boomers like mine that have had front end differential problems, but my tractor and most others don't have the same problems. I use my tractor very hard, but try not to abuse it. Some things I do actually border on abuse. In 1500 hours, I've not had the slightest problem with the front axle. I think you can agree with me that if everything is working as it should, problems like you had will not occur. A TC24 with 12LA loader is not a massive tractor and if you try to baby it too much, you won't get much work done. The loader and front end should not be in danger when pressure bypass occurs.

I'm including a picture of a TS100A and 56L loader I took in 2004. That is truly a massive tractor by most of our standards.

 

[Tommix]

Jim....

Yes I am very dissappointed with New Holland, to crack 3 hubs on the right front is not right. I took good care of my tractor, when I sold it, it only had 740 hours on it and still looked new. The last time I had it repaired I hired an independent mechanic to work on it, who had worked for the local dealership for several years. He knew of the problems with the front axles and when he was done with the repair he told me to go right in and call that guy that wanted to buy it and get rid of it. Sad but true. Without the frontloader on the machine I might not have had any problems. I remember when I ordered the tractor I told them that I wanted a front loader on it, they asked me if I wanted the light duty or heavy duty one. I told them I wanted the heavy duty one so they were aware I was going to be using the FEL.

Anyway type in "new holland front axle" in your search engine, I use dogpile.com, and you will find a NH media release article. Very interesting, they talk about beefing up the front ends on the 70-96 PTO HP tractors. Hmmm, it sounds to me like that they knew they had a problem. Attached is a pic of my TS100A with the 56LB loader along with the bolts that sheared off in the front differential.