Screwed up loader arms with grapple

[IslandTractor]

After brush once loosened the lever on my QA, I welded a little loop of metal on the top of my QA mount lever and use a thick rubber trucker's "bungee" to secure it around the torque tube and back to the loop. Hasn't failed in seven years.

 

[sdef]

Pretty sure most SSQAs cam over and lock into place by spring pressure, never seen one pop open but when using my root grapple which is on my L45 99% of the time, I have seen limbs stick thru the grapple, hit one of the levelers and pop it open since there is nothing to keep it from hitting the levelers like my JD SS which had a solid plate between the arms. Not a great picture but you can see what I am talking about.

I dropped one side of my bucket once due to inexperience. My Kioti has a single lever that locks both sides at the same time. Was working the bucket and one side dropped off the mounting plate and the lever was still in place. Somehow I must not have locked that one side in due to misalignment and it popped off. No clue how that could have happened as all of my buckets have a snug fit- but it did. So now I take nothing for granted when hooking things up- front or rear.

 

[brown40]

Sure--get a long enough lever on that sucker and you can twist it right off. Your tube can be straightened, but there's no going back on the steel's memory of the event. It'll be more susceptible to taking that same twist again if the conditions occur again. If the QA is that subject to popping off on you, make sure you correct that. The bucket/grapple/forks should tie everything together pretty good, stressed or not. The tube's meant more for keeping your arms positioned than strengthening--strength in the loader runs vertical. Glad you avoided paint removal/rewelding, etc.!

 

[xtn]

I might go a LITTLE bit bigger tube, but as others have mentioned, I wouldn't want to big enough that something else would break/tweak first...namely the loader arms themselves. I rather cut out and weld in a new timing tube every year of my life than ever have to try to repair/realign a whole messed up loader.

 

[DK35vince]

This is how the SSQA on my JD SS was designed, it had a very beefy steel plate between the loader arms. You would have bent an loader arm before twisting the "timing" plate.

Our skid steers at work are the same way.
We wrap chains around the QA torque tubes and lift/pull with them all the time.

 

[jcummins]

Sure--get a long enough lever on that sucker and you can twist it right off. Your tube can be straightened, but there's no going back on the steel's memory of the event. It'll be more susceptible to taking that same twist again if the conditions occur again. If the QA is that subject to popping off on you, make sure you correct that. The bucket/grapple/forks should tie everything together pretty good, stressed or not. The tube's meant more for keeping your arms positioned than strengthening--strength in the loader runs vertical. Glad you avoided paint removal/rewelding, etc.!

Yes, it's occurred to me, that even IF I can get it twisted back right, the tube is weaken.

What's everyone thought to welding a .... say 3x3 section of angle iron to the tube once I get it right?

 

[ovrszd]

Yes, it's occurred to me, that even IF I can get it twisted back right, the tube is weaken.

What's everyone thought to welding a .... say 3x3 section of angle iron to the tube once I get it right?

I'm in the minority here. I think the tube is only there to align the QA when hooking/unhooking.

Reinforcing it will transfer the stress to the loader frame if something goes wrong, rather than simply twisting the "fuse".

 

[IslandTractor]

I'm in the minority here. I think the tube is only there to align the QA when hooking/unhooking.

Reinforcing it will transfer the stress to the loader frame if something goes wrong, rather than simply twisting the "fuse".

I think you are basically right but the tube does also provide very good support to insure that the arms don't pinch together or spread apart in response to either static or dynamic loads. I don't think they are intended to "share" the load from one arm to the other.

 

[DK35vince]

I think I'm in the minority that believes you can beef up that torque tube and not hurt a thing.

 

[brown40]

I don't know why you'd have to if it'll twist back where you want. The bucket/grapple/fork/spear on the front will shore everything up, and if it seems to want to go back to its memory, you can always address it then. Just a spot of bad luck having one of your QA's open on you caused it, and so long as that wasn't duplicated...