Gotta love it when you break a new piece of equipment

[grsthegreat]

i don't know, i have straightened and strengthened so many things over the years that i always try to fix it first off, then replace only if necessary. My snowblower auger bent every year until i added gusset supports to it, then it never bent again.

 

[Grandad4]

I was having trouble hooking it up, got frustrated, and lifted it with one pin in, so it's totally my fault. I'm pretty disgusted with myself, that's for sure.

Well, at least you're man enough to admit what happened. Not all that many people do that these days, so more power to you.

I'd at least try to get the thing straightened before jumping into a replacement. You could try bending it in place, which may be tricky, or you might remove the bent bracket (which looks to be bolted to the tractor frame and should be easy to remove) and see if a machine shop can straighten it in a press. I think Kubota uses a mild steel in many parts like that so they will not be brittle and prone to cracking, but the trade-off is the potential for bending. While it's at the machine shop, adding a reinforcing gusset would be a good idea, particularly since the bracket has been bent and re-bent. If you look at the pop-up photos for the BX25 loader at the Kubota website, you'll see how they reinforced the bracket on that model. Good luck getting it fixed!

 

[timswi]

Well, at least you're man enough to admit what happened. Not all that many people do that these days, so more power to you. I'd at least try to get the thing straightened before jumping into a replacement. You could try bending it in place, which may be tricky, or you might remove the bent bracket (which looks to be bolted to the tractor frame and should be easy to remove) and see if a machine shop can straighten it in a press. I think Kubota uses a mild steel in many parts like that so they will not be brittle and prone to cracking, but the trade-off is the potential for bending. While it's at the machine shop, adding a reinforcing gusset would be a good idea, particularly since the bracket has been bent and re-bent. If you look at the pop-up photos for the BX25 loader at the Kubota website, you'll see how they reinforced the bracket on that model. Good luck getting it fixed!

Amen to that...I'd 2nd grandad's suggestion.....I love the honesty.

 

[beckmurph]

I would let the dealer handle this. If you have Kubota insurance, it will cover all but $250.00.
Just my thoughts.

 

[BXpanded]

BX 1860, had it a couple of months. 38 hours. I've had pretty good luck mounting/dismounting the loader, but today was different. I wrestled with it for almost an hour and gave up. When I came back I noticed I'd bent the bracket on the right side. Now I gotta figure out some way to bend it back...

Looks like it's just bent inward. Try putting a bar through the hole and manipulating things back to position.

 

[George the Beagle]

I found that mounting and dismounting the loader is much easier on flat concrete. It's the ground being crooked relative to the tractor that gets you hung up.

The loader in my storage building--wooden floor, but flat. I've had no issues installing it before, but for some reason couldn't get it done this time. Should have stopped and walked away after fifteen minutes, but didn't.....

I have the insurance, but am going to try to bend it back first. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[TripleR]

I was having trouble hooking it up, got frustrated, and lifted it with one pin in, so it's totally my fault. I'm pretty disgusted with myself, that's for sure.

Good for you, not many admit to that anymore.:thumbsup:

Been disgusted with myself a time or two myself, there is definitely a learning curve to all this and sometimes I wonder on which side of the curve I'm on.

You aren't going to lose anything by trying to bend it back so I would give it a shot and use a straight edge to check your loader too.

A word of advice you probably already know, when you get frustrated, just walk away as that is when things get broken and people get hurt; voice of experience.

Good luck to you.

 

[kcender]

I had a similar situation with breaking the mount on my 3240.If it is cast steel,like mine is,I would not recommend straightening it as it will probably crack if it is not already.Also it will be hard to get it exactly in the right spot and you will almost surely crack the powder coating which will look bad,especially on a new machine.As for pricing, my larger brackets were over $1100 each plus the tax that we pay.I did weld reinforcing plates to mine and had them powder coated which is how they are painted from the factory.The powder coating was $600.It was quite costly as you can see but Kubota covered mine under warranty and hopefully they will do the same for you.Good luck.

 

[George the Beagle]

Well, I straightened it out, by the usage of this large antique pipe wrench with a six foot pipe used for leverage:

As a matter of fact, in my enthusiasm I bent it back just a bit too far, got it bent back just about straight, and installed the loader with very little fuss. Perhaps I bent it previously without realizing it which made the loader difficult to install the last time. Who knows, but I'm feeling much better.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I got lucky.

 

[grsthegreat]

good for you....and thats a nice pipe wrench.