Kubota L3800 Loader problems... twisted??

[kubotagary]

Good Afternoon

I was using my Tractor today with the forks in together to dig out rose bushes the wife wanted removed. I would drive in, get under neath and pop the roots up, it was going swimmingly well, making short work of the bushes and without a drop of sweat!!

Then on my second last clump, i pulled out and noticed that one of the quick connects had come loose and the forks were only attached by the one side (right side i think...)

i lowered the FEL, and disconnected the one side and when i went to re-connect, i noticed that my cylinders were operating different speeds. The right hand side would go faster going down, but when the cylinder compressed, the right side would go up slightly slower.. this obviously caused massive problems trying to re-attach.

finally i got off the tractor and looked at things and it appears, that when facing the tractor, the left side is twisted maybe 3/4" to the left... so even when i try to by hand muscle the forks back on, it appears the "paddles"? that flip in are almost two wide apart..... best way i can describe the twist is that its like someone was facing the tractor and pulled the loader arm directly to the left....

hope this makes sense.. i am wondering whether anyone has had a similiar situation and can comment, or suggest what to do... i have a basic amount of DIY skills and my neighbor who has a case d40 is my go to guy for tractor lessons & help...

i added a few pics, before i turned the tractor off, i raised the FEL off the ground and curled it all the way up... and then went out 15 mins later, i found that the cylinder that seemed to have twisted has extended maybe an inch...

 

[DK35vince]

I read about this happening many times on TBN.
Its the toque tube (the tube running between the QA plates) are easy to twist if 1 side comes unhooked.
Its an easy fix.
Just twist it straight, or cut the tube, line it up straight and reweld.

 

[Carl_NH]

If you put the forks on the left side (bent side) and put a 4x4 block under the fork - do this on level ground/pad then use down pressure to bring it back into alignment and attach the right side. You will probably need to go a bit beyond say 2.5" to bring it in.

Probably best to have your neighbor spotting with you on the tractor. Go slow and see if this brings it back into alignment.

 

[s219]

Yep, you bent the torque tube.

 

[skyhook]

You could heat the tube and re-bend it back, but,,
May need to replace the tube, once bent, it could be a weak link for future bends.

 

[kennyd]

Morbid curiosity here, but what brand of forks do you have?

 

[BC Boy]

I thought I did this to my Kioti CK 2510…I sent a photo to my dealer…He said its an easy fix..like straightening a car frame…I took the tractor to him…wasn't the loader in my case..the weld on the mount tower let go…he re welded it and add a beefy gusset…It won't ever let go again..

 

[RLstangs]

Put one side against a tree and slowly move the other side out with the hydraulics until it bends the torque back straight and both attaching points are back even.

 

[kubotagary]

KennyD
i have HORST forks

took the QA part off by removing the retainer pins, then knocking the 2 large pins on each side
once the piece came off, it was more obvious to see the twist, where before you could see an obvious twist in the torque tube. My neighbor & I are taking it to a machinist tommorow(hopefully) and going to get him to twist it back , and bring it somewhat back to square. if at all possible i am going to see if he can make it stronger, perhaps a solid bar instead of the hollow tube...

will update when i can, thanks for all the help so far!
i went from panicking, thinking i destroyed a few $$ in the FEL to seeing some positive solutions

Thanks!

 

[s219]

You might not want to reinforce that -- I think the torque tube on QA models is meant to be the weak link that gives before you destroy something else. Kind of like a fuse. Someone else can probably confirm.