Loader Follies

[California]

A longwinded story just for fun - don't try this at home.

A couple of times a year I have to use my bogus 'forks'. (two 2x6's and some chain).

For some unknown reason Dad had stacked more than two hundred wall tiles behind the barn. They aren't good for anything, too slick and fragile for a patio floor and we don't need any walls tiled. I'm sure Dad got a heck of a deal on them.

I stacked them on pallets, and hope the recycle yard at the dump will take them for free.

The pallet I lifted was initially next to the pallet in the background. It lifted off the ground easily, even though at that time it contained all the tile I had to later unload onto that third pallet in the foreground.

But after raising it, I couldn't move backward. The weight had driven the front tires into the soft ground and the rears now had only a few hundred lbs on them. The teter-totter effect on this minor side slope moved the loaded pallet down toward the lumber rack while the back tires chewed their way sideways to their left instead of driving backward. After some small back and forth motions I was stuck with my load suspended over that pallet by the lumber pile.

I added ballast at the back of the mower, then got a third pallet and transferred half the load to it. No luck, it continued to inch toward to the lumber rack. Still insufficient traction to climb out of its ruts. I had to get out the HighLift jack and force the loader bucket sideways uphill to get past the lumber rack. Finally I got free and backed down the slope, then drove back up and took this picture.

If I had both 4x4 and power steering (or just more rear ballast) this would never have been a problem. As it was, it was one of the few times I have tried something and found it was beyond this antique's capabilities. No harm done, just an hour wasted.

Anybody want a load of tile?

 

[California]

A longwinded story just for fun - don't try this at home.

A couple of times a year I have to use my bogus 'forks'. (two 2x6's and some chain).

For some unknown reason Dad had stacked more than two hundred wall tiles behind the barn. They aren't good for anything, too slick and fragile for a patio floor and we don't need any walls tiled. I'm sure Dad got a heck of a deal on them.

I stacked them on pallets, and hope the recycle yard at the dump will take them for free.

The pallet I lifted was initially next to the pallet in the background. It lifted off the ground easily, even though at that time it contained all the tile I had to later unload onto that third pallet in the foreground.

But after raising it, I couldn't move backward. The weight had driven the front tires into the soft ground and the rears now had only a few hundred lbs on them. The teter-totter effect on this minor side slope moved the loaded pallet down toward the lumber rack while the back tires chewed their way sideways to their left instead of driving backward. After some small back and forth motions I was stuck with my load suspended over that pallet by the lumber pile.

I added ballast at the back of the mower, then got a third pallet and transferred half the load to it. No luck, it continued to inch toward to the lumber rack. Still insufficient traction to climb out of its ruts. I had to get out the HighLift jack and force the loader bucket sideways uphill to get past the lumber rack. Finally I got free and backed down the slope, then drove back up and took this picture.

If I had both 4x4 and power steering (or just more rear ballast) this would never have been a problem. As it was, it was one of the few times I have tried something and found it was beyond this antique's capabilities. No harm done, just an hour wasted.

Anybody want a load of tile?

 

[MotorSeven]

That's why i love 4wheel drive! Hey, that 240D is a great little tractor...it was the first and only one we had(bought new in '78). I hated to sell it to a co-worker so i could buy my land in TN, & i knew it would be a little small for 95ac. The fella that bought it is still using the heck outa it...i keep trying to buy her back, but the answer is always the same..."No Way"!

RD

 

[MotorSeven]

That's why i love 4wheel drive! Hey, that 240D is a great little tractor...it was the first and only one we had(bought new in '78). I hated to sell it to a co-worker so i could buy my land in TN, & i knew it would be a little small for 95ac. The fella that bought it is still using the heck outa it...i keep trying to buy her back, but the answer is always the same..."No Way"!

RD

 

[rambler]

The only correct answer is 'more rear ballast'!

4wd would only get you into an even more dangerous situation.

Losing rear traction means the back end of your tractor is way too light, and all the weight is balancing on the front pivot point of your tractor.

We put 900 lbs on the gutless H tractor loader. Even with narrow front (this i s a 1940's tractor) it's never scared me.

When I got the 1720 tractor home, wide front, 4wd - it scared the bejeebers out of me, way too short a wheelbase, way to light a rear end.

I had fluid in the rears within a week. Way, way too dangerous without.

--->Paul

 

[rambler]

The only correct answer is 'more rear ballast'!

4wd would only get you into an even more dangerous situation.

Losing rear traction means the back end of your tractor is way too light, and all the weight is balancing on the front pivot point of your tractor.

We put 900 lbs on the gutless H tractor loader. Even with narrow front (this i s a 1940's tractor) it's never scared me.

When I got the 1720 tractor home, wide front, 4wd - it scared the bejeebers out of me, way too short a wheelbase, way to light a rear end.

I had fluid in the rears within a week. Way, way too dangerous without.

--->Paul

 

[California]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The only correct answer is 'more rear ballast'! --->Paul )</font>

The rear tires are already loaded heavier than the operator manual recommends. I need weight farther back so I'm thinking about getting a Quick Hitch and hang some ballast on that.

Occasionally I have added pier blocks into the mower tailwheel when lifting pallets but I can't leave them there - the weight would destroy the mower.

 

[California]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The only correct answer is 'more rear ballast'! --->Paul )</font>

The rear tires are already loaded heavier than the operator manual recommends. I need weight farther back so I'm thinking about getting a Quick Hitch and hang some ballast on that.

Occasionally I have added pier blocks into the mower tailwheel when lifting pallets but I can't leave them there - the weight would destroy the mower.

 

[rambler]

I should have added, thanks for the pics & story, find such things intreesting to read. Thanks for sharing. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

--->Paul

 

[rambler]

I should have added, thanks for the pics & story, find such things intreesting to read. Thanks for sharing. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

--->Paul

 

[California]

Paul, and Rick, thanks for your comments.

I learned most of what (little) I know right here from others posts. I hadn't driven a tractor in 30 years when I decided I needed one and bought this old Yanmar.

Now that I have a couple of years experience, I hope to give back a little in appreciation for what I have learned here. Again, thank you for your encouragement.

 

[California]

Paul, and Rick, thanks for your comments.

I learned most of what (little) I know right here from others posts. I hadn't driven a tractor in 30 years when I decided I needed one and bought this old Yanmar.

Now that I have a couple of years experience, I hope to give back a little in appreciation for what I have learned here. Again, thank you for your encouragement.

 

[Marlowe]

That is some postcard pretty land in the background. Who cares if a tractor gets stuck with that kind of scenery to work in?

Oh yeah. Been there with the load in the bucket. Mine's just a rear wheel drive model as well.

 

[Marlowe]

That is some postcard pretty land in the background. Who cares if a tractor gets stuck with that kind of scenery to work in?

Oh yeah. Been there with the load in the bucket. Mine's just a rear wheel drive model as well.

 

[Renze]

I can remember the good old days of loading the manure spreader with the 1964 Deutz D50 and loader with 1/3 yard bucket.. Oh man, to drive out of the bunk silo without taking a run to the 1 foot high bank, you had to load the 3pt hitch dirt scoop as much as the tractor could lift, and then throw the rest of the muck ballast with the hand manure fork, untill the 12.4-36 rear tires bellied out... Only serious rear ballast allowed it to drive through muck, and to be steered without the aid of powersteering...

It seems so old fashioned and long ago, but it was only this spring when i had my new loader on the 4wd Zetor 5245 ready...
After the 3rd day of manure spreading, i was just thinking about me not being sick of spreading manure after just 2 days, and even felt to ask the neighbor if i should do his heap also...
It must have been the luxury of powersteering, 4wd and a decent loader tractor that made manure spreading so much fun this year... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Renze]

I can remember the good old days of loading the manure spreader with the 1964 Deutz D50 and loader with 1/3 yard bucket.. Oh man, to drive out of the bunk silo without taking a run to the 1 foot high bank, you had to load the 3pt hitch dirt scoop as much as the tractor could lift, and then throw the rest of the muck ballast with the hand manure fork, untill the 12.4-36 rear tires bellied out... Only serious rear ballast allowed it to drive through muck, and to be steered without the aid of powersteering...

It seems so old fashioned and long ago, but it was only this spring when i had my new loader on the 4wd Zetor 5245 ready...
After the 3rd day of manure spreading, i was just thinking about me not being sick of spreading manure after just 2 days, and even felt to ask the neighbor if i should do his heap also...
It must have been the luxury of powersteering, 4wd and a decent loader tractor that made manure spreading so much fun this year... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[California]

Followup - A neighbor wanted the tiles so I simply carried the pallets a quarter mile.

Attached: I found a 'before' picture I had overlooked. 800 lbs on that first pallet. (6 lbs per tile). No wonder it sunk the front tires.

The lift cylinders handle this weight fine but not the curl cylinders. They won't curl, and droop in a few seconds with this much weight. That's the reason for lifting using chains, and then using the curl to provide a minor amount of up/down at the back edge of the pallet.