Swapping out Bucket pins on BX ?

[Jj1479]

How the H*** do you break a bucket pin? I probably abuse my BX more than most and never had that problem in over 1500 Hrs, probably half of it using the bucket. There are a lot weaker points in the whole assembly that should break long before those pins. Ron

I broke mine digging out a cement/rock retaining wall. They are made to break as I was told after some not so friendly phone calls to the dealer. Kind of a weak point so you don't bend/twist the loader frame I was told

 

[wawajake]

For those that have trouble envisioning a broken pin on a hard working BX 2660 here is some pics.
Of note : a new pin only cost $10.00 , it was very easy to replace it by following it in with new one, (although you must keep retainer holes configured exactly at right rotation. New pin is in foreground of picture 1 beside the broken one . The second pic is new one in and ready to be regreased after varsol cleanup.
Now I have no idea how long ago it broke , I only noticed it because I saw one inch more of pin on the inside of bucket and it pushed back in , so I knew it was broke. It might of broke last year when I was moving 60 yards of gravel in three days and spreading on daughter's driveway, or it might of been this year when doing 30 yards of topsoil and 30 yards of gravel, or maybe it was last week when digging a 4 ft deep drainage pit in the tough Northern Ontario clay. All I know is it was okay for it to break, it was doing it's job and better that breaks than bending a cylinder !.

 

[oldballs]

Thanks for the follow up jake. Live & Learn. Although I put my BX2660 through some heavy lifting moving large native rock for a wall as well as moving lots of rocky dirt and gravel, I never dreamed something like that could happen. Guess I was lucky. But it had only about 350 hours on it when traded in on the B2620.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[meos1]

I broke mine when I had the loader up about three feet in the air in tight quarter. The right side caught a tree and I heard the "pop". Later, I noticed that the pin was sticking out. New pin, new knowledge, now moving on with life on the tractor.