New 2520 owner questions

[kennyd]

Interesting - in theory, but not in practice. If it were true, there would be dozens - if not hundreds - of reports on this forum of broken front axles. I doubt if ANY owner has not at least rocked the rear wheels (transferring weight to the front axle) to a degree when using the FEL. Trying to pry out a stump or a concrete slab is a common way to do that, and it WILL happen with or WITH or without a ballast box on the rear end. I fully understand the theoritical physics of what you envision, but the fact is that we do NOT have actual multiple reports of axle failures for tractors in use.
Notice that I wrote, "Tractors." Your concept would apply to ALL tractor/loaders of all sizes. In no case is the front axle load rated for the entire weight of the tractor plus a full bucket load. Of all the things to worry about, breaking a front axle with a full bucket is about the last thing........

Working without rear weight - best in the form of a heavily loaded ballast box - is imprudent, unwise, and ill-advised because of the extreme danger / safety factor of doing so. BTW - My personal experience is that 800 lbs has meant "800 lbs". I can SKID with more weight, but the bucket simply will not lift more.

We will have to agree to dis-agree then, I made my point and you've made yours-we will have to let the masses decide for themselves...

 

[Killer_B]

I disagree with this 100%.
OK, so the loader can "lift" 800lbs as you say (but many others here have proven it can lift more-but not to the full height) But to this you must add the weight of the loader/bucket itself, and the percentage of the tractors weight that is already on the front axle

And let's not forget about bouncing across the yard, which can multiply the effective weight of any load. But has anyone ever heard of a modern CUT front axle breaking due to overloading the FEL?

KB

 

[jdbower]

But has anyone ever heard of a modern CUT front axle breaking due to overloading the FEL?

em added

Therein lies the rub. Catastrophic failure isn't the issue here, ie lifting something too heavy and having your brand new tractor's axle snap. It's more an issue with metal fatigue severely limiting the useful lifespan of the component. Overloading the tractor once or twice probably won't hurt - especially since Deere seems to be pretty conservative with their numbers. However, doing it repeatedly can cause microscopic stress fractures to build up and increase the likelihood of failures (and, as mentioned above, this could be in a variety of sympathetic systems and not just an axle break). Since a lot of TBN posters seem to like to trade in their tractors every few years for something new it may be an issue for the next guy, but it's always wise to know what you're lifting if for no other reason than safety issues. I've got no issue with lifting rolls of wire fencing to the max height, but if I had a heavy rock I needed to move it would stay as close to the ground as possible.

 

[Engine66]

Re: front axle loading, I find both opinions in previous posts persuasive. However, I also have confidence that the engineers who design these machines understand that the end user will likely experience some tasks discussed in this post. I'm certain pre-production tests include abusive operations, temperature extremes, overloading, etc. and specifications are developed to withstand occasional "misuse" of the machine. Let some good common sense, caution, and experience guide you in operational extremes. With or without ballast, keep all four wheels on the ground, keep heavy loads low to the ground, watch out for turns on steep hills, correct gear for the job, etc. I don't think the occasional ooops will hurt your tractor.

 

[billb3]

You wouldn't want to come by on Sundays and watch me pick up buckets full of concrete and granite driving along the edge of a cliff with a fifty foot drop dumping the load and backing off with one foot on the brake and the other triple cking the right foot is on the reverse pedal because the front wheel is inches from the edge.

I've stalled the engine trying to pick up too much (in gear). Concrete and granite is heavy.