Loader Level Bucket Indicator

[WaxMan]

Somewhere out there is a digital angle gauge with a remote sensor or display.

https://www.google.com/search?q=rem...Gauge&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch

Bruce

If your bucket was truly level as if you had a 3 ft bubble level on it, and your tractor is off level, Once on the ground your bucket will be digging or riding hi if not on the same plane as the tractor.
That is why they don't have one.

I will ask you the same question why is it important to have your bucket true level when your tractor is not.

 

[WaxMan]

WaxMan, you have a really good idea there. I can see how it would work well for grading. However, for my application, I could use something different. When picking up round bales off the ground, I can't see the spear in front of me, and when unloading off of a truck or wagon, sometimes the spear is out of view. Also, when feeding silage from a bag or bunker, I want the bucket level, so I don't dig into the dirt. What I'm getting at, is that I need some way to know when the spear or bucket is level with the earth no matter what position the loader arms or tractor is in. I like your electric light idea. I'm wondering if there might be a way to implement some tilt switches in a safe place, like behind the bucket frame. Maybe 3 switches, 1 for level, 1 for 5 degrees above, and 1 for 5 degrees below. I know that mercury switches aren't available anymore, but there should be suitable replacements.

I guess while I was writing my big long story you posted this, If you read at the bottom of post 10 I talked about the ONLY option to do that.

I'm wondering if there might be a way to implement some tilt switches in a safe place, like behind the bucket frame. Maybe 3 switches, 1 for level, 1 for 5 degrees above, and 1 for 5 degrees below. I know that mercury switches aren't available anymore, but there should be suitable replacements.

That is just how mine works with the three sensors
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ng/296930-electronic-fel-level-indicator.html

I also went a step further where I have it auto stop at level.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...13-electronic-bucket-level-indicator-now.html

 

[bcp]

I will ask you the same question why is it important to have your bucket true level when your tractor is not.

I don't need one. I only provided a possible answer for those who want one.



Bruce

 

[Paul N]

I will ask you the same question why is it important to have your bucket true level when your tractor is not.

In a farm application, loading or unloading bales can take place in many awkward positions. The truck may be fairly level, but the tractor may be in mud, snow, in the cow yard, in a ditch, or out on a hilly field. A self leveling bucket wouldn't be as useful as a true level indicator.

 

[WaxMan]

In a farm application, loading or unloading bales can take place in many awkward positions. The truck may be fairly level, but the tractor may be in mud, snow, in the cow yard, in a ditch, or out on a hilly field. A self leveling bucket wouldn't be as useful as a true level indicator.

In that case the operator has to have the skills to fudge it. The self leveling bucket is what they use for that.
I don't think a true level indicator would be useful to you at all
here is my reason why

The only way to get true level is a bubble level. Either digital or bubble. You can put one on your bucket for those special situations I guess.

But think about it, take your level out of the garage and tip it back and forth and center the bubble between the two lines.
Very sensitive isn't it. Now think about doing that with your joystick. And keep it there while you travel over uneven ground mud snow etc. How much time are you going to spend trying to get the level back and forth with the joy stick.

This is way they don't have them, it would be almost unusable for ground work. You would get it level with a stopped tractor "Only" but the minute you move there goes level.

Sorry for highjacking the thread. I'll just say this and leave you guys alone.

If your bucket is "true level" "Not" on the plain of the tractor you could be digging when you don't want to, Or your tip of your bucket will be Up off the ground and riding over stuff and not doing what you want.

Any bucket indicator that I know of Does Not work off true level. All bucket level indicators work off the plane of the tractor, the ground the 4 wheels are sitting.
Otherwise your tractor fel indicator with a bubble gauge on it would only be good for truly level ground and nothing else.

Like someone said the earth is not level. Correct, That is why you don't want a true bubble level indicator.

 

[jlgurr]

I will ask you the same question why is it important to have your bucket true level when your tractor is not.

I will make a couple quick sketches of my situations today and post them. Pictures are worth a thousand words...

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[skyhook]

Ok, for some this may be a silly question but curiosity is getting the best of me... Came up on it again this weekend with a small project. My FEL is narrow enough that I can usually lean to the side and be sure the bucket is level with the ground. Noticed some have installed their own indicators and also that some tractors even come with one from the factory. What I have not seen is an explanation as to how they indicate level.

The reason it nags at me is because the "angle" of my bucket to make it level with the ground changes depending on the height of the ground relative to the tractor as well as the forward/rearward tilt of the tractor. Another way to say this might be that if I was working on a raised ledge in front of the tractor then my loader bucket will be closer to full tilt but still level with the work because the loader is already up in the air a bit.

So does the bucket level indicator take into consideration the height of the work? If it doesn't does that mean it is only accurate when the working height is in the same plane as the tractor tires.

Thanks,
Jeff

You make a good point, but lets not forget, these "level" indicators can be adjusted for the
type of work you require.
You can level your bucket on a "slope" for instance, to grade "with" the slope as opposed to
a true 'flat level" grade.
In theory, if your coming down a slope with a leveled bucket for that slope,
and you now come onto a true level surface, you will actually start to create a "slope"
with your "leveled" bucket.

 

[jlgurr]

I will make a couple quick sketches of my situations today and post them. Pictures are worth a thousand words...

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[skyhook]

I don't understand how that loader could possibly work without, cylinders.

 

[Gary Fowler]

There is nothing like experience running the FEL to gain eye/hand coordination to visually see that the bucket is level with the horizon not the hill you are working on. NO instrument is going to beat that ability. Having a good "level head" is one of the things that make a good operator of dirt equipment (dozers, land planes, excavators, box blades, etc.) A new piece of equipment may take a bit of time to observe how the top looks when it is level which is what the little flat plates on some Kubota buckets are for, it is up to the operator to determine when that plate is level with the work surface.
In order to get that determination, it will take a bit of experience and eye coordination that some folks just don't seem to have.

I levelled the pad for my 52 x30 shop by eyeballing it and when the contractor checked it with a surveyor level, it was within 1" of level at all corners of the slab. This was cutting down a hill, sloping the sides of the hill on the high side and making a level surface across the foundation. The hill was sloping in 2 directions also. I can say I was rather proud of my work to be that close when I finished.