Severe Use

[JimR]

Jim, One thing to remember is that everything hydraulic has a relief valve. The arms, buckets and pistons can only do what the hydraulics allow them to do before a relief valve kicks in. What you do with the machine's power can and will do damage to the loader and backhoe. Anotherwords, forcefully trying to move an object that is way too big for the piece of equipment. Loader bolts and mounts should be checked often if used and abused frequently. I had to always tighten my loader bolts on my Cub Cadet. That is until I found out I could put in longer bolts. Since then I have had no more loose bolts. Backhoes take a lot of abuse. The mounts and pins take the most of it.

 

[JimMorrissey]

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[JimMorrissey]

Dog....You really put things into perspective for me /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Thanks for the whole hearted confession.

 

[N80]

I've worried about this sort of thing as well. I have a new (1 yr) 45hp Kubota L4400. I just completed clearing approx 3 hilly acres of dense, young 10-20 foot pines. Including stumps and everything else. It took 10-15 tractor hours to do it. The only casualty was a small cedar twisting up into the engine compartment and skewering my radiator. Repair was $85.

But much of the time I felt like I was pushing the tractor to its limits. It usually came from the impulse that one more try or a little more gas would accomplish the task (knocking a tree over, popping the roots out, pulling the stump out, pushing a large brush pile, etc.) And usually the impulse was correct. It did get the job done. I just remember the relief valve going off a lot, lugging the engine some, getting bogged down in the mud and needing the diff lock a lot (never got stuck), trunks and branches wacked the dump cylinders hard (took the paint off) several times too. The two things that concerned me the most were 1) putting a lot of pressure on the front end by trying to lift or dig too heavy a load and 2) when the ground is drier the wheels spin when something (tree or stump) won't move, but rather than dig down they cause the tractor to hop and bounce until I got the clutch in. That just can't be good for the clutch or tranny.

I'm still planning on using the tractor hard and often, but that was my last really big job and I'm glad its over. I'm very proud that my little CUT was up to the task but wonder how much I've shortened its lifespan. It will be interesting to see what the oil and hydraulic fluid look like when I do the 50 hour maintanence which is due.

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

I worry more about things like wheel bearings , spindles and axles than hydraulics. We take a tractor and add as much weight as we can with loaded tires, weights and the heaviest implement we have on the TPH so we can either pick up or push more. I think we are our own worst enemy . We always try to do more with what we have than it was designed for. We always push the limits. When we do something with our tractors we didn't we could, we start wondering if we haven't been underestimating its potential. Insted of adding all of the weight to a smaller tractor and pushing its limits we should have gotten a bigger tractor.
Bill

 

[Cliff_Johns]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I've blown and replaced two sets of front ring&pinion gears in the first year, and then put an entire new front differential on it, all done under warranty. This wear was due to extreme FEL use without maintaining appropriate rear counterweights. Once I added more rear ballast (400lbs wheel weights) on top of CaCl-filled rears from day one, I don't seem to have any more issues with the front end (but discovered the next weak link - see below).)</font>

Not to be picky, but wheel weights and loaded tires are not "counterweights," they are just weights. The only way to get weight off the front axel is with ballast hanging off the rear of the tractor behind the rear wheels. I don't think adding wheel weights has helped your fundamental problem at all.

Cliff

 

[JimMorrissey]

When I lift something really heavy, I move the BH with a rock in the bucket way out, sometimes nearly all the way to counter balance. It's effective, but cuts the turning radius quite a bit. It's not something I like to do very often.

 

[JimR]

I'm surprised that the BH itself isn't enough to keep your machine on the ground. I never had that problem with my old loader backhoe I had.

 

[_RaT_]

I'm not sure what you mean Jim. Are you saying you need to add weight to the rear via a rock in the hoe bucket because of the front loader load? I've never heard of such, but then, I have only used industrial hoes so I have no reference.

 

[Highbeam]

"Not to be picky, but wheel weights and loaded tires are not "counterweights," they are just weights. The only way to get weight off the front axel is with ballast hanging off the rear of the tractor behind the rear wheels. I don't think adding wheel weights has helped your fundamental problem at all.

Cliff"

Not sure I buy that Cliff. During heavy loader work, without some sort of weight on the 3ph my rear end raises into the air pivoting about the front axle. Any weight added aft of the front axle will counter this. Including weight added to the rear tires. So yes, filled tires are a counterweight. The filled rear tires won't help keep the front end down if I am pulling a rear implement above the rear axle.