Finally got the FEL in from Kubota and installed after three orders getting cancelled and reordered. Had the front hydraulics kit from Brian at Fit Rite Hydraulics already here impatiently waiting to be put on. I must say Brian is incredibly knowledgeable and great to work with. The quality of the kit is first rate. I only wish every company I had to deal with was this good. This kit does take some thought to install as it is not tractor specific so it is not direct bolt up but we had this thing from box to a working grapple in just a few hours. And the price can't be beat. :thumbsup:
Here is how I did this kit on my L4330.
Hydraulic Solenoid Valve from kit.
Just need to decide where best to mount it. This looked like as good a spot as any.
Fabbed up a mount and checked it for fit.
Bolted it up to check the clearance with the valve.
Next thing we had to decide was how to mount the joystick trigger control. I wanted the joystick in a straight up position and at a comfortable level so just sticking it on the end of the OEM loader handle was not going to work. Took a piece of copper tubing to bend a template to work off of to fab up a new control rod.
Test fit with the joystick on for position and level.
Since we added the bends the rod needed to be a good bit longer than the OEM control rod. We only had 1/2" rod on hand which is bigger than the original rod so we turned down the end where the bushing for the joystick control mounts up.
Then test fit the bushing before making the bends.
Time to man up on this rod.
Check against our copper tubing template and we are almost there.
Next thing to address was the OEM mounting block from the original control rod.
Cut that thing off and welded it up to the new rod.
Looks good to us.
Now time for a little paint.
Painted the valve mount and bolted it up.
Decided to mount the front quick connect kit in the center and drilled two holes to bolt it up.
Had to send Brian the hose length measurements once everything was fitted up and voila[SUP]'[/SUP] 2 days later
this is at the door. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
Next thing to do was route the hoses.
And now mount the joystick trigger control.
We are good to go. Tested and we have grapple function!! :cool2: And yes that thing is "Wicked", aptly named.
Ran a full cycle on all FEL functions to look for any binding issues and all looks good. Just have some final cleanup to do and zip tie work but we are ready to clear some roads. Thanks again Brian!! You are the hydraulics man. :drink:
Here is how I did this kit on my L4330.
Hydraulic Solenoid Valve from kit.
Just need to decide where best to mount it. This looked like as good a spot as any.
Fabbed up a mount and checked it for fit.
Bolted it up to check the clearance with the valve.
Next thing we had to decide was how to mount the joystick trigger control. I wanted the joystick in a straight up position and at a comfortable level so just sticking it on the end of the OEM loader handle was not going to work. Took a piece of copper tubing to bend a template to work off of to fab up a new control rod.
Test fit with the joystick on for position and level.
Since we added the bends the rod needed to be a good bit longer than the OEM control rod. We only had 1/2" rod on hand which is bigger than the original rod so we turned down the end where the bushing for the joystick control mounts up.
Then test fit the bushing before making the bends.
Time to man up on this rod.
Check against our copper tubing template and we are almost there.
Next thing to address was the OEM mounting block from the original control rod.
Cut that thing off and welded it up to the new rod.
Looks good to us.
Now time for a little paint.
Painted the valve mount and bolted it up.
Decided to mount the front quick connect kit in the center and drilled two holes to bolt it up.
Had to send Brian the hose length measurements once everything was fitted up and voila[SUP]'[/SUP] 2 days later
this is at the door. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
Next thing to do was route the hoses.
And now mount the joystick trigger control.
We are good to go. Tested and we have grapple function!! :cool2: And yes that thing is "Wicked", aptly named.
Ran a full cycle on all FEL functions to look for any binding issues and all looks good. Just have some final cleanup to do and zip tie work but we are ready to clear some roads. Thanks again Brian!! You are the hydraulics man. :drink:
