Give a fool a lever and he will move the earth

daedong · Jul 24, 2004

I will soon be ready to put the roof on my houseboat, it is going to be polystyrene sandwich board or (cold room panels). Each sheet is 20ftx4ft and weighs about 160lbs. I am considering lifting them with my FEL ( I have a kioti Dk50 with a FEL, I think it is rated to pick up about 1000lbs)

Here is my Question. How long can I make a jib off the FEL to pick up 160lbs to perform this task /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Darren · Jul 25, 2004

It's a simple calc. The rated capacity times some distance (from the lift point?) is equal to the 160lbs (+ the jib weight) times the allowable distance from the same lift point used for the 1000lbs. Solve for the allowable distance.

Ex.:

If you have 5' from the lift point to the center of the bucket x 1000lbs that results in a moment of 5,000 ft lbs. You shouldn't exceed that. Dividing 5,000 by 160 equals about 31 ft. That doesn't include the weight of the jib which would reduce the distance and it doesn't take into consideration where the jib will be fastened. If you're clamping the jib onto the edge of the bucket, you'll damage the bucket. The best way would be to remove the bucket and pin the jib into the bucket attachment points.

Do the calc then reduce the distance as a safety measure. How much distance do you need? Keep in mind anything sticking way out in front of the tractor is going to add to the instability. You'll need a counterweight on the 3 pt for safety.

daedong · Jul 25, 2004

Darren
I will measure that today and calc it and get back to you for further discussion.

KiotiJohn · Jul 25, 2004

Daedong, love your website. That houseboat is starting to look real! The countryside there is very beautiful and interesting. Good on yer for posting it. John

jmc · Jul 26, 2004

What do you mean by "lift point"?

daedong · Jul 26, 2004

John
I was wondering that, i wondered if the distance measured should be from the front axle.

Darren · Jul 26, 2004

I would pick a fixed point where either the loader arm is hinged to the mount or the lift cylinder is attached to the loader arm. As long as you are consistent with making your measurements from the same point it dosen't matter as long as that point is fixed.

I hope that helps.

daedong · Aug 21, 2004

Here is how i solved the problem.
Thanks.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Board/off/Number/483821/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o//fpart/1

neilly2 · Aug 22, 2004

You're calculation only takes into account the rated lifting capacity of the loader. That is extremely dangerous since the loader (or 3 pt. hitch) can easily overturn the tractor when leveraged properly.

The real problem is overturning, with the front axle as the fulcrum (the loader arm connection point actually reduces your positive moment since it is set behind the front axle--but I would ignore this as a safety factor) Therefore you have to perform moment calculations on either side of the front axle. If the positive moment caused by the loader is greater than the negative moment created by the weight of the tractor you will have a turnover. Also, remember that the nose of the tractor, front wheel weights or anything to the front of the axle will need to be added the positive moment. Of course that is a static calculation -- you have to allow a factor of safety anyway + a dynamic factor for the load moving and bouncing.

To accurately solve this would be extensive only for the reason of needing to knowing the weights of all the components.