Loose 430 Loader shim fix

[Chuck4310]

Last winter I rigged a "temporary" shim to tighten up the loader masts. They were really getting sloppy. It worked great and got me through snowplowing.

Well I finally got around to ordering the shim kit from Deere. +- $35.00.

I would NOT reccomend it to you due to the high price. Yes it works fine, but I'm sure you can find flat stock much cheaper elsewhere.

The kit comes with 12 shims and directions.

I removed the brackets and a friend of mine welded the shims on.

It did a fine job of tightening up the loader. Like new.

 

[kennyd]

Good news Chuck

 

[Chuck4310]

Thanks Kenny.

I've put the toothbar back on and am digging out a site for a small above ground swimming pool for the kids for next year.

The wife suggested the spot saying it "looked" fairly level. Turns out to have an 18" difference in 18'! That's quite a bit of digging.

I'm also digging out a banking for some fill. It has a lot of small rocks in it. Has anyone made a screen for removing the rocks?

 

[kennyd]

Thanks Kenny.

I've put the toothbar back on and am digging out a site for a small above ground swimming pool for the kids for next year.

The wife suggested the spot saying it "looked" fairly level. Turns out to have an 18" difference in 18'! That's quite a bit of digging.

I'm also digging out a banking for some fill. It has a lot of small rocks in it. Has anyone made a screen for removing the rocks?

Look for post's by the user SkunkWorks, he made a screener...

 

[dfkrug]

Last winter I rigged a "temporary" shim to tighten up the loader masts. They were really getting sloppy. It worked great and got me through snowplowing.

I am looking at my 420 FEL mounts and thinking about improving them. They
are quite worn. Why not just weld the wear area with a 7018 rod or ER70S
MIG wire? The 70K psi steel welding beads should be much tougher than
the original steel. I never considered shims...I just saw your thread.

 

[Chuck4310]

The short reply is yes you can do that provided that you wind up with a flat wear surface that will not distort the "claws" that contact the square mounting tube.

Also, I found that the contact areas are close to the "round" edge. The directions from Deere have you welding the shims just off the "round".

After installation, the "claws" are only contacting the very edge of the shim.

I'll post some pics of the shims with the loader mounted.

 

[Chuck4310]

Here are a few pics of how the shims are ,by direction, in relation to the bearing surfaces.

If I were to do it again I would position the shims closer to the "round" edge.

It took about 450 hrs. to get to the point of having to fix the sloppiness problem. I use the loader a lot plus snowplowing with a Curtis [plow attached to the loader arms.

What type of gap have you got between the "claw" and the square bracket?

 

[dfkrug]

Looks good, Chuck!

Well, I just went out and welded mine. Even my little "ears", as shown in
your third photo, have significant wear on them. I am not quite done, but
the effort to grind the new welds to make them planar will be more work
than the welding. I am using some 7014 rod with my Miller buzz box. I
am grinding them to bit a bit proud of the existing surface, like your shims.

I was about to install the bell housing, which the FEL mounts connect to, as
part of my 4300 project assembly. I was just agonizing over whether or not
I should repair the worn areas....your post was my "tipping point".

Anyway, I do not know how sloppy my FEL would be as-is, since I got the
tractor non-op. I have never had this style of FEL before. I do notice that
the cast steel "feet" on the FEL vertical mast are also worn. Just getting the
FEL off without hyd power was an extreme PITA. I will post pix in my 4300
thread.

 

[mjncad]

Thanks for the tips on the shims Chuck. I have a 420 loader on my 4200. How much slop is too much to require shimming? I have about 480-hours on mine and most of it has been loader work.

 

[JohnDeere4300]

Last winter I rigged a "temporary" shim to tighten up the loader masts. They were really getting sloppy. It worked great and got me through snowplowing.

Well I finally got around to ordering the shim kit from Deere. +- $35.00.

I would NOT reccomend it to you due to the high price. Yes it works fine, but I'm sure you can find flat stock much cheaper elsewhere.

The kit comes with 12 shims and directions.

I removed the brackets and a friend of mine welded the shims on.

It did a fine job of tightening up the loader. Like new.

Glad you finally got it fixed Chuck.

I remember your other thread and couldn't believe yours was that loose with the hours you have... My tractor has over 800 hours and my posts will move just a little bit.. I've done a lot of loader work, and I've moved a lot of big stumps.

Thanks for sharing!.... and Good-luck with it