I almost gave myself a heart attack!!! Thank God for Tractorbynet!!!

blucoondawg · May 10, 2013

So I was out digging stumps with my DK50SE, everything is going fine and I dig out 5 stumps, I decide to call it a night and park the machine, as I look over the rear of the tractor I notice something doesn't look right, the 3 point arms were jammed into the bottom of the backhoe frame and one of the quick adjuster levers on the 3 point arm was all bent to heck. So I instantly get angry and look to the 3 pt levers which I cannot now remember which position they were in but they did not move the hitch up or down. So I get out a BFH and a pry bar and get the pins drove out and remove the 3 pt arms and remove the hoe, I cannot lower the arms. Now I am in full out anger mode and sick to my stomach as I am contemplating a pricey trip to the dealer. I don't know how the 3 pt got lifted but it did, I asked the wife if she did it, she said no she doesn't even know what the levers do so she doesn't touch them. Anyways I look online and find on this forum that if the speed control knob is accidentally turned down completely the hitch won't drop, I go check and sure enough that was the issue.

Sorry for the long post but I am very relieved, the only question is do I need to worry about internal damage, possibly metal shavings in my hydraulic or something from damage caused by the hitch jamming into the backhoe frame and stripping something out internally? Or is that not likely? I am not familiar with the internal workings of the 3 point mechanism. As it sits right now everything looks fine other than the quick adjuster on the one arm needs to be replaced as it was bent badly.

Let this be a warning to anyone with the DK50SE and a Woods backhoe subframe, even though Woods says you needent remove the 3 pt arms to attach the hoe, do it anyways to prevent this type of damage from happening in the future!!! I know mine are coming off tomorrow!

Mousefield · May 10, 2013

I tried once to leave the 3pt arms on as well. Had the same problem but only a bit of damage. I have a CK35 with a 7ft Woods backhoe.
Now I am fairly quick taking off and putting on the arms.

blucoondawg · May 11, 2013

I didn't think leaving them on would be an issue and for the last 6 months with the hoe on it wasn't, I still don't know how or who raised the arms, the only people who operate the tractor are my wife and myself, the wife only runs it if I am doing a bunch of backhoeing and need to move often then she sits in the drivers seat and moves me as I need so she really doesn't run it on her own and knows not to mess with levers which she knows nothing about and I certainly haven't messed with the 3 pt controls so it is a mystery to me. It is definitely worth it to remove the arms for a few seconds it takes to pop off a couple pins. I am just glad I read up on it on here rather than borrowing a trailer and hauling it to a dealer for something so dumb, now I just need to order the new quick adjuster part and I'm good to go.

Also on a positive note I checked the dealer locator on the Kioti website to see if they started up any dealerships closer than the one I bought from since it is 2 and an half hours and was pleased to find that a local implement dealer with 5 locations took on the Kioti brand, they used to carry the Bobcats.

TomSeller · May 11, 2013

Shouldn't be any damage to the 3 pt as they are hydraulic and just stall out and your relief valve provides flow back to the tank. I have my Kubota hydraulics piped to either the backhoe OR the 3 point so this couldn't happen. Taking them off in your case is the way to go. The levers are easy to accidentally move.

Gil Case · May 11, 2013

I was under the impression that removing the 3pt arms was always to be done with Woods BH on any Kioti's, all the way down to the CK 20. One of the few advantages of the Kioti brand BH is that you can leave the 3pt arms on.
Being tall, I bump those stupid levers all the time, so looking for a culprit might mean looking in the mirror.

blucoondawg · May 11, 2013

Nope, the arms can stay on with the Woods, just the linkage needs to be disconnected and pushed in toward the center and everything fits between the frame, just have to lower it. I am taking mine off now anyways. Certainly I could have moved the levers somehow but I find it hard to believe I somehow pushed both of them all the way to the most shallow position on accident, I haven't noticed a problem with snagging on them or anything even when wearing winter clothes, I think a possibility is someone stopped over and looked at the tractor when I wasn't home and fiddled with the levers and I didn't notice it before starting he tractor, or my buddy's naughty 4 yr old was messin with it the other day when they were over, but I didn't think the kid was outside long enough to get into anything, and the tractor was covered at the time.

mrutkaus · May 12, 2013

I have a CK30HST and Woods frame and B80h backhow.

I just install the backhoe with the 3pt arms all the way UP.

That way you can't hurt anything.

Mike

blucoondawg · May 12, 2013

Ya, that's another option, I honestly didn't think of that, I will give it a try and see if it works out that way with mine.

Mousefield · May 12, 2013

mrutkaus said:
I have a CK30HST and Woods frame and B80h backhow.

I just install the backhoe with the 3pt arms all the way UP.

That way you can't hurt anything.

Mike

I will look at doing that, hope it works for me.

Coyote machine · May 14, 2013

There are lock knobs on each lever's slot to prevent them from accidentally being moved. I've always kept my 3PH arms on while the BH was on, but recently removed just the very end sections, (with the swivel ball), which makes egress to the BH seat area much easier, and safer too. YMMV.

If all else fails- blame it on a handy neighbor's 4 year old!