New L5740HSTC3 loader question

[TripleR]

TripleR see you are up early to. Spread 18 yards of mulch yesterday along with some dirt and still up by 6:00 AM reading. Oh well so much for sleeping in

Morning, after all the complaining we did this summer about lack of rain, we seem to get some rolling through here now often enough to keep it too muddy to get any work done. On the two days I had open I had flats.

The men renting our land went full tilt all one day and night working up a winter wheat field, putting down fertilizer and planting in the fields right in front of our house, two big John Deeres going all night long; reminded me of when I was farming, only on a much smaller scale.

 

[mike69440]

You'll soon learn how to move the FEL at speeds appropriate to task. It can be very slooooow, or faster as you discovered.
I highly recommend making a habit of resting your elbow on the arm rest when operating the FEL lever. This stabilizes your arm and allows fine motor control with wrist action on lever. I do not believe there is any rpm speed which is damaging to engine, transmission, FEL or 3ph...beyond the usual wear incurred by operating any such device.

Net, run at rpm's that make you comfortable and provide the operating speed and power you desire for the task at hand. You're getting a great tractor with excellent features and attachments...enjoy and don't worry about damaging it by simply using it. Like you, I run equipment at rpm speeds minimum to get the task done. But, am not afraid to run at 2600 rpm when at PTO operation or asking for max capacity from tractor. The HST+ is a real step ahead of simple HST, wish I had it. True, engine noise is reduced by the cab. Suggestion, have the dealer CHECK the hydraulic pressure relief for FEL...my L5030 was under specification and lift capacity was dramatically increased when pressure was increased by adding a shim to the relief valve. This is an easy test/fix for the dealer to do. With the grapple, you will want all the lifting power you can get....am glad to hear you are getting a ballast box...BEWARE, on my tractor, I can EASILY lift rear tires off ground when lifting with FEL without proper rear ballast...and I mean approximately 1000 lbs. Proper rear weight will keep all tires on ground and the relief valve will pop (this is normal, no problem, you will hear a hisssss) when the loader has reached its maximum lift capacity. The relief valve setting is far more significant to max lift capacity than is rpm. I always have a counter weight when operating the FEL. Also, I highly recommend filling your rear tires with liquid...adds to ballast. Many, many TBN members have loaded tires. Front tires should be aired to near max PSI shown on sidewall...numerous TBN members did not pay attention to this and under max FEL loads and turning have rolled their tires off the rim. I just mention these things since this is your first FEL. Consider chain hooks on your FEL....sooooo handy for many, many things...also, a tooth bar if you are going to be doing dirt work...for me, the tooth bar about doubles the capability and usefulness of the FEL. Money well spent. You are getting a quick attach on the fel, aren't you?? Another extremely handy must have, IMHO.

Can't say it better so I'll just quote it again above.
Athough the oweners manual advises against it, I run my L39 with the backhoe, thumb, plus at least 800 lbs of wheel weights.

Full load in the FEL and the back end still gets light, and it does on take much of an incline to get a rear tire off ground. I carry heavy loads low.

 

[daugen]

I checked out my front tires with the bucket full of gravel and they "looked" fine, no sidewall rippling.

This past week a conventional septic system was put in near the storage barn I use, and the contractors pushed about fifteen feet of woods "into the woods" to make room for
a swale. What a mess, so I decided to clean it up. Moved about a dozen 10-12" trees and lots of woody mess about five hundred feet away, near my wood splitting operation, where I can
use what's worthwhile and then burnpile the rest. The autothrottle worked nicely going here and there, but on heavy stuff, not so good. And I found it useless trying to get a full bucket of gravel.
I went manual, leaving on the Stall Guard and other nannies, but using about 1800-2000 rpm. That got the job done, but boy was the action jerkier. Learning how to use the lightest possible touch on the
controls, I hate it when it bangs with a crash when getting the last of the load out. Shakes the whole tractor and clearly this is not good for things. I watch the pros use their big excavator and they whip that thing
around amazingly fast. Me, I have to keep telling myself, slow down, slow down, what's your rush... take little bites and enjoy the process.

Grape/monkey vines are my new enemy. Boy do they get snarled up in everything, and I had one big one, still attached to the tree, hang on for dear life, and start to lift the tractor.
Parking brake on, chain saw out, end of story. And I found that cutting some of the trees in two made life much easier.

 

[TripleR]

I grew up farming and became so use to frequent throttle changes, I don't use the auto throttle much though I have experimented moving trees and equipment, I haven't tried it in a rock pile, but have some to move, so I will play around a bit with it.

Smooth operation of the FEL definitely takes some practice; been doing it for years and I'm still not as good as I'd like.

 

[daugen]

I was a little surprised that even at higher rpm, I could not curl at all once in the gravel pile. Always had to back up a little. I'm trying to push in and curl at the same time, and have a long way to go to get better at it. But the FEL seems weak scooping stone. But likely that offers me some safety until I get more weight in the rear. I think I'll experiment using 2000 rpm and turn off the stall guard; curious to see if the nanny device is set very protectively. But I really don't want to load the tractor too much until it has more time on it; I'm up to a whopping 18 hours now. And boy am I having fun.

 

[texasjohn]

Yes, there is a certain touch to getting a full FEL bucket of gravel in one smooth scoop ... and it doesn't always work...I forget, do you have a toothbar??

You've got a superb tractor there and are well along the learning curve...somewhere about 50 hrs is where I got pretty comfortable with operation, RPM's, and how to handle the hydraulics with some ease.

 

[daugen]

yes to the toothbar. They had one that came off with just two bolts, so I can remove it if needed, but for tree work, it was super helpful.
There is a little on/off lighted button below the two control buttons, and every once in a while, I popped some breaker because the light went out and it turned off.
just press the button again and continue. I'm wondering if/how this is related/connected to the relief valve in the FEL.

 

[texasjohn]

I'm sooooo envious...lovely control handle...dunno about the light...maybe something about it in a manual?? What turns off when the light goes out??

 

[daugen]

What turns off when the light goes out??

pretty sure it's just the grapple, but maybe not. Will experiment. One thing for sure, I've never heard any hissing pop off valve yet.

 

[texasjohn]

I'm assuming that the grapple hooks can be rather easily removed when not needed...this would remove a lot of weight out there, make picking up a load of gravel easier, and improve visibility ... just a thought...for when doing no grapple work but lots of FEL work.