Tweaked FEL

   / Tweaked FEL #1  

UtahJock

New member
Joined
Jul 8, 2018
Messages
12
Location
Huntsville, Utah
Tractor
JD 3039R
IMAG0828.jpgIMAG0830.jpgIMAG0832.jpgIMAG0835.jpgIMAG0838.jpgIMAG0840.jpgIMAG0841.jpg

Greetings to all. I was trying to lift a pallet of 2x4's and this is what happened to my FEL arms. Afterwards, I calculated the weight of these 2x4's to be about 200 lbs over my limit. With my previous tractor, this would not have happened. I don't think this should have happened with this tractor (3039R with 320R FEL). Any comments and suggestions to fix are welcome. Thanks.
 
   / Tweaked FEL #2  
That looks pretty bad. It definitely wasn’t caused by 200 pounds overloading. Any details on how it happened?
 
   / Tweaked FEL #3  
Maybe show some pictures of the mounting where it deformed? Were you on sloped ground? Did the load shift when it was up? I assume you were able to lift the load before this happened? I would have thought the loader would have stalled before damage. If you never got it off the ground are you sure your FEL attachment points are secure and in place?
 
   / Tweaked FEL #4  
Are you sure you didn't accidentally ram the forks/FEL/2x4's into something while moving forward to lift the pallet or driving around with the pallet? Or did you try to backup with the forks hung on the ground or pallet? That is a lot of damage and looks more like things were shoved backwards towards the front of the tractor on one side and then bent. I've seen FEL's bent up as bad as this before but it has always been from ramming or hooking something off center with the FEL while the tractor was in motion not just lifting. Most tractor hydraulics stall on a good lift that is too heavy if the tractor and FEL are matched before any damage can occur and before the item can be lifted. I know all of the tractors I have operated popped the pressure relief valve which prevented the lift. Now, my experience is limited to only tractors and excavators that were properly matched to their attachments. We could certainly bend a FEL on the things we operated but you had to ram something or try to lift with just one fork out on the edge or only the side edge of the bucket. We never bent anything lifting a secured load properly. Also, on just a bad lift you usually twist the arms out of square or bend cylinders and mounts. I can't say I've seen a bad lift shove things back into the tractor without the tractor being in motion either forwards or backwards. I mean, heck your brush guard is even jacked to one side from the looks of the pictures (not positive on that). You sure whatever happened didn't bend the tractor frame too?

The following is just my opinion and others will certainly chime in with other opinions. Kind of hard for me to tell from the current photos where the problem actually starts so my advice is to figure out what all is actually bent. If it were me, I would start by taking some measurements along the frame to make sure the frame is still square. If you can't visually tell what on the FEL is bent, I'd start measuring that too. The masts ($??), boom ($1580), and cylinders ($710 a piece) can all be replaced on the FEL. Make a list of things that are bent and price out the replacement parts. John Deere Parts Catalog Take that price and compare it to the cost of a new 320R (approx. $5000), a used 320R (not sure you can find one), and a quote from the dealer for repair. You might also be able to find a heavy equipment repair shop near you that could give you a quote on fixing just the parts you find damaged/bent. You won't be able to bend the masts, booms, or rams back into spec on your own without the expensive heavy hydraulic machines.

If you haven't worked on a heavy attachment before and decide to do the work yourself, be very careful. It is easy to get a crushing injury or lose a finger if things shift/fall when disassembling something like this. You will need to use bracing and a hoist/lift or a second set of hands when replacing the masts or the booms. Remove the wrong part without the proper bracing and the whole thing could collapse on you. I'm sure you already thought about that but I'd feel bad if I didn't say it and you got hurt.
 
   / Tweaked FEL #5  
That most certainly was NOT done by picking up a pallet of material 200 pounds over your limit...

I have accidentally drove the corner of my bucket into a huge boulder doing about 4 MPH and all it did was stop me dead, that tractor hit something very hard and very fast!

Or the FEL is garbage.. there is a defect in it somewhere in the welding and it caused it to deform like this, I would bring it back to the dealer and have them check it over.
 
   / Tweaked FEL #6  
Looks to me like the loader experienced excessive side load. It appears to be bent to the left.
Side loads occur when the operator is turning and contacts an immovable object with the loader.
Perhaps attempting to slide said pallet of 2x4's into a certain position.
 
   / Tweaked FEL #7  
Definitely more to this story.

The twist can be minimized by overloading the high side abusively.

Not sure what will be the end result in regards to being shoved sideways
 
   / Tweaked FEL #8  
Did one cylinder or valve give out while you had the load in the air?
 
   / Tweaked FEL #9  
Were you on rough ground while turning?
 
   / Tweaked FEL
  • Thread Starter
#10  
It was just from tying to lift. I got it about 6'' above ground before the FEL stopped trying. I didn't ram anything, I wasn't moving. The brush guard is attached to the FEL frame, which is why it moved. And it looks like the ram heads (at the attachment pin) are bent. The driveway slopes slightly away from the front end. The load was maybe six inches off center, but with the load at ten feet wide, six inches shouldn't make any difference. And there was NO ethanol involved! The mechanical engineers at work agree that this shouldn't happen unless there's a defect somewhere.
This weekend I can take more pics and measurements. A Thanks, again.
 

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