Just an obsvervation about FELs

[etpm]

I have seen many pictures of Front End Loaders on Compact Utility Tractors on this site. Having one myself, a CUT with FEL, I have been paying attention to how they are constructed. And they are all pretty much made the same. Not just the geometry but the actual shape of the components. The bracing, gussets, and the prismatic tubular components. By prismatic tubular components I mean stuff like square or rectangular tubing that changes dimension along the length. So even though the tubing might be square or rectangular at any particular cross section the size changes along the length. So If I was to build one for myself I would just find one on a lot somewhere that is the size I want, or close to the size I want, take some pictures with a tape measure in the picture to use for scale, and copy it. No calculations. No wondering why a particular shape of gusset. Apparently the calculations have been done and work well enough for everybody else to use the same shapes and the same changes in dimension. This works for backhoes too. Just copy something similar. They are all using the same geometries too.
Eric

 

[Peace]

Here’s a cool link I had in my bookmarks for DIY plans. Videos and pictures of others projects. Helpful tips like reinforcing front spindles, proper pumps, etc...
P.F. Engineering — Do-it-yourself Plans — Front-end Loader Plans
they offer their phone number and email to talk about your project. Seems like they want to help out the DIY guys.

 

[LD1]

Its about putting the strength/mass where it is needed, and not having the extra mass where it isnt.

You could build a loader like a tank. But that either adds to the load on the machine or reduces its capacity or both.

 

[BnRidge]

But there is far more than just taking a tape measure to it. Welments that are concealed inside, size and type of welds and material properties are just some of the things that could add major differences yet go undetected. In the past before strain gauges or FEA they just added more material, or adjusted for failures later with updated designs. Now, an FEA report can be generated on a laptop in minutes, with materials and geometries that can then be tweaked, and a new report generated. Maybe that's why the designs now have converged to all look alike.

 

[rScotty]

I'd agree that a basic loader looks simple. Probably most important is to build a good full length subframe from front of the tractor back to the rear housing. With that done, adding a loader would be easier.

All our loaders have full length frames...my guess is all good ones do. There's still a little bit of room for innovation in FEL design. We have 4 loaders and each has a completely different way of tilting the bucket.... not counting the old JD that had a manual dump. With a bucket full of wet manure that manual dump could sure be exciting...
rScotty

 

[Peace]

I'd agree that a basic loader looks simple. Probably most important is to build a good full length subframe from front of the tractor back to the rear housing. With that done, adding a loader would be easier.

All our loaders have full length frames...my guess is all good ones do. There's still a little bit of room for innovation in FEL design. We have 4 loaders and each has a completely different way of tilting the bucket.... not counting the old JD that had a manual dump. With a bucket full of wet manure that manual dump could sure be exciting...
rScotty

lol! My dads Ferguson had manual dump. Always had to pause for a second and consider which way the breeze was blowing before dumping the bucket.

 

[SmallChange]

How do you know wall thickness? Can you get at it to measure it for all the pieces?

 

[etpm]

How do you know wall thickness? Can you get at it to measure it for all the pieces?

I can determine the wall thickness on my FEL. I assume that anybody that is gonna weld up their own FEL knows enough about fabricating something like this to have a pretty good grasp on how thick the metal should be and if they don't they would know how to find out. What I was trying to get across in my original post is that the design elements and sizes of all the FELs I have seen on CUTs have been virtually the same and that a person could save themselves a bunch of time by just copying one rather than trying to figure out all the lengths, angles, gussets, and braces. All this hard work has already been engineered and done by someone else. There are many folks here who like making their own stuff, I'm one of them. I just observed that all the FELs looked the same and if I wanted to build one I would take pictures with a tape measure in the pictures for scale and use the pictures as a design and build guide.
Eric

 

[Vigo327]

I sort of agree with you in the case of loader arms that are square/rectangular section because they are unlikely to have any hidden features on the inside that you can't see. But any sort of arm that is more like '4 plates welded together' than '2 channels welded together' has a good chance of hiding something very important on the inside.

I'm definitely a big yes on the encouragement/DIY aspect of it. I have never heard of anyone who completed a DIY loader project and went 'ehh, you know that wasn't really worth it'. I think that's partially because if you build a loader for the first time, probably more than half of what you get out of it in the end isn't the loader, it's the rest of the manual and mental skills you developed along the way.

 

[ptsg]

I can determine the wall thickness on my FEL. I assume that anybody that is gonna weld up their own FEL knows enough about fabricating something like this to have a pretty good grasp on how thick the metal should be and if they don't they would know how to find out. What I was trying to get across in my original post is that the design elements and sizes of all the FELs I have seen on CUTs have been virtually the same and that a person could save themselves a bunch of time by just copying one rather than trying to figure out all the lengths, angles, gussets, and braces. All this hard work has already been engineered and done by someone else. There are many folks here who like making their own stuff, I'm one of them. I just observed that all the FELs looked the same and if I wanted to build one I would take pictures with a tape measure in the pictures for scale and use the pictures as a design and build guide.
Eric

That's more or less how I did mine. Just went ahead and checked lots of loaders in person on farm shows and other events, to get an idea on how it's put together, thickness of materials used, cylinder placement and sizing, hoses, etc. Did take some pictures but didn't really take any measurements.

Another trick I used was to find a picture of another tractor like mine that had already a loader, import the picture to a CAD software, scaling it properly, and then get all the dimensions I needed. Won't be fully dead on but will be perfectly close enough.

In the end, came out with my own CAD model to make sure I had all the right geometry, clearances, strokes, etc.