Lower lift arms

[4570Man]

I’d have that straightened and welded in like an hour. How much was the weld shop wanting to fix it.

 

[GhostWriter]

Straighten those and weld the flat bar to the bottom.

That's the new plan. Bought a 12 ton press at HF today and straightened the arms out. Will have the flat bar welded on them tomorrow .

The strange thing is the bend is in the straightest part of arm and arm should be strongest, I kind of wonder why the pressure that caused the bend why it did not happen and exaggerate where "factory" bends are in arms which should be a weaker point...

One would think so! Maybe heat treat was uneven, or metal softer in that spot - I really don't know. Just happy to move forward on fixing them.

I’d have that straightened and welded in like an hour. How much was the weld shop wanting to fix it.

Agree, and bought a 12 ton HF shop press today. The cost to weld is $60. The person that's welding it up (one man shop behind his house) is few miles from me. He's a good guy, a little opinionated about knock-off parts. lol - He still says the arms are crap, and I'm wasting my money, but if I want to throw my money away, he'll weld it up for me next week

For the price and the quality of his work I can deal with that.



Edited to clarify that 'opinionated' is about knock-off parts - not other stuff.

 

[DieselBound]

After many years and hours of the lower link arms holding up on my B7800 I manged to bend one (pushing with the box blade). Everything works, until it doesn't.

When pushing with a box blade you have to watch really closely to catch things before the blade starts to grab and bind.

Better that a link arm bends than you shear off something at the tractor's axle housing.

Most seasoned welders know metals. Not all metals are the same. Cheaper products tend to be cheaper for a reason, and that reason is usual attributable to lower quality materials (and or QA work- poor QA can result in getting something that would otherwise be rejected, something akin to a "late Friday afternoon build").

 

[SPYDERLK]

Any recommendations?

Purchased a set of lower lift arms from a company called NeatFarms (Neat Attachments) have had them a little over a month, and today they bent like a bow while pushing a 4 foot box-blade.

View attachment 567824

Neat Farms says they weren't made to handle a box-blade and suggested I have the arms modified and strengthened. The local weld shop says I'd be throwing good money after bad because the metal is soft and the cost would not be worth it.

Anyone recommend a place to purchase lower lift arms with decent quality and a reasonable price to fit a John Deere 4400 compact tractor. Neat Farms did try to sell me a replacement set, but obviously it will be a cold day in you know where, before I buy anything else from them.

The strange thing is the bend is in the straightest part of arm and arm should be strongest, I kind of wonder why the pressure that caused the bend why it did not happen and exaggerate where "factory" bends are in arms which should be a weaker point...

Dale

That's the new plan. Bought a 12 ton press at HF today and straightened the arms out. Will have the flat bar welded on them tomorrow .



One would think so! Maybe heat treat was uneven, or metal softer in that spot - I really don't know. Just happy to move forward on fixing them.



Agree, and bought a 12 ton HF shop press today. The cost to weld is $60. The person that's welding it up (one man shop behind his house) is few miles from me. He's a good guy, a little opinionated about knock-off parts. lol - He still says the arms are crap, and I'm wasting my money, but if I want to throw my money away, he'll weld it up for me next week

For the price and the quality of his work I can deal with that.



Edited to clarify that 'opinionated' is about knock-off parts - not other stuff.

Think about that large unclasped hole for the lift link. The sway bar hole is clasped tightly and the factory bend is solid.