My tractor can lift more than it can curl

[Roger66]

I have a Mahindra 1526 My tractors primary purpose is more of a forklift than anything else It can lift the loads I need it to easily, but it can't curl them meaning if I pick a pallet off of a truck I have a really hard time lowering it to the ground as I can't curl up the forks to keep the load level as I lower the loader. Is this common or something wacky about my model? I run loaded tires and a heavy ballast box and I'm frequently picking up pallets in the 1,400 lbs range. I might look into up-sizing my curl cylinders. Please skip the Safety Sally comments. I know I should have a larger machine.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[MossRoad]

Safety aspects aside, then.... :laughing:

I'd be concerned with the strength of the loader where the larger cylinders will attach, and, the extra loads it's gonna put on the structure.

I had an old IH2500b tractor loader that I bought used and someone had put on gargantuan lift cylinders at some point in its life. I could hook the loader bucket under roots and easily lift the rear off the ground (8000# machine). The bucket eventually bent and cracked due to these extreme loads. Granted, that wasn't the curl issue you are having.

What is your bucket breakout force rated for on that machine?

 

[MossRoad]

Here you go...

TractorData.com Mahindra 1526 tractor attachments information

Almost 2800#. Hmmmm.....

 

[Roger66]

is breakout force curl? or just lift at ground level?

 

[MaineGuy1]

This issue is how much you are lifting, not a problem with the curl. You are lifting more than rated weight at the pins.

 

[Roger66]

This issue is how much you are lifting, not a problem with the curl. You are lifting more than rated weight at the pins.

Not true! my tractor is rated at 1,560 to full height at the pin. I'm well below full lift height so it can lift more closer to the ground. Plus I already stipulated I should be using a larger machine, but that's not an option. This is already a big machine for less than 1 acre of property. To me the problem is clearly with the curl as a properly designed machine should be able to control what it can lift. Therefore curl should always be more than lift.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have found that on my Deere 6200 and Kubota Wheel Loader. With a very heavy load, I can lift it but not curl up. I sometimes let it down and curl it while on the ground, or hold the joystick in the curl up position while driving and the bounce of the load will often allow me to raise it.

 

[Stan B]

...Is this common or something wacky about my model?...

It is common. My Kioti CK3510 is the same way. If you think about it, the curl cylinders are not setup for maximum rollback force. When they are rolling back, the pressure is applied to the rod side of the piston. When dumping, the pressure is applied on the other side. So, the effective force the cylinder can put out is less in roll back (reduced by the cross-sectional area of the rod) than in dump. It makes no sense to me from an operational perspective. Seems like you'd always want more force in roll back than in dump. This is why big wheel loaders have the "Z" linkage that reverses that. They have more roll back than dump force.

I would think that you wouldn't be exceeding the design limits too much if you replaced your curl cylinders with ones that could exert as much force on curl as they currently do on dumping. To add some safety, you could add a relief valve on the dump side to make sure you're not exceeding the dump force currently offered by the stock cylinders.

 

[Roger66]

or hold the joystick in the curl up position while driving and the bounce of the load will often allow me to raise it.

That's a great tip! although I generally move at a super slow crawl while I have these loads on.

 

[MaineGuy1]

Not true! my tractor is rated at 1,560 to full height at the pin. I'm well below full lift height so it can lift more closer to the ground. Plus I already stipulated I should be using a larger machine, but that's not an option. This is already a big machine for less than 1 acre of property. To me the problem is clearly with the curl as a properly designed machine should be able to control what it can lift. Therefore curl should always be more than lift.

Yes, I didn't word that correctly. You are close to the lifting weight at the pins, and that number is not an exact science. If your load is hanging out quite a bit it only stands that the curl will be affected by this. I've encountered this on very heavy loads also.