Tweaked FEL

[ddbackhoe]

You disagree that there should be some sort of pin that holds the mount in place to protect against accidental disengagement? I sure would want to make sure a stray branch did not disengage my FEL. Or the kids flipping a release lever when they are playing farmer.

Guess I should have clipped the original, "If there happens to be pictures of delivery from the dealer of that side showing it unlocked, that would be golden." Again, knowing the equipment you are operating is part of operating safely, especially for these type of things where they (should be) in your field of view from the operators seat. :2cents:

 

[oldtimer 66]

Just some more info. The John Deere loader manual is some what detailed on the mounting of the loader frame. For the cam locks to be engaged and or dis-engaged the front wheels of the tractor must be lifted by the loader off of the ground by at least a couple of inches. This forces the vertical arms away from cam locks so they can be released. During normal operation the cam locks are loaded ( compressed ) unless you do some type of back drag or similar operation that tries to lift the front of the tractor. At that time the cam locks can become loose, depending upon adjustment, but they are retained by the spring latch. Just a quick question. Did you actually get a loader manual with the tractor? It is separate from the tractor manual. I have had my tractor for 12 years and I remove the loader every time I cut the grass and occasionally at other times. I have probably removed and installed the loader 300 plus times. I have on several occasions, forgot to latch the, believe it or not, the right side cam lock. The minute that I try to lift the loader it is obvious that the right side lock is not engaged because the bucket lifts up uneven with the right side tilted slightly down. I then must go back and lift the front end of the tractor off the ground and engage the right side cam lock. Another thing that I do is run my finger around inside of the vertical arms where they meet the lower mounting pins. This confirms that the vertical arms are in there correct position. Another thing listed in the loader manual is to tighten up the cam locks such that you cannot release them even with the front end of the tractor off the ground,. This makes the loader frame somewhat more rigid but it eliminates the quick park feature. You would need to back off the cam locks when you need to remove the loaders. I have also done this when I knew that I would be doing more rugged loader work. I have my cam locks normally set so that they can just be released with out binding as also noted in the loader manual. As mentioned in another post is it possible that the hydraulic hoses molested the spring latch and caused it to release? I don't know that. I will check my clearances and follow up. I noticed that the hydraulic hoses are routed inside of the horizontal support. My 400x loader has the hoses routed outside of the horizontal support. This could be due to the difference in the connection points. Hoses routed to the inside I think would scrub the engine hood. Mine do that occasionally, jump over, but I pull then out and re-rout them. Later

 

[SPYDERLK]

Here are pics of the disengaged right side and the normal left side. I would never think to take pics of something for future use like this; I have pics, but not close-up details. It's going to the dealer tomorrow.View attachment 562810View attachment 562811I guess I shouldn't have touched the lever as it removed the dust.

Sadly, it's obvious by the last two pics that the lock was engaged at one time. You can clearly see the skinned paint.

Why it unlocked is going to be the issue to be resolved. The dealer is going to have to be very creative with JD to get this covered under warranty. If he pulls it off I would be a faithful customer from this time forward. Including all fluids and filters.

If a JD warranty rep gets called in this isn't going to end well.

Side note and my opinion only. That lock system sucks!!! An "over center" latching device should never be used here. I'd have zero faith in it from now on......

Yeah, thats it!

Yep. Mine is held in place by a gravity slip pin.

I saw a thread here where an operator had one come out. I modified mine and added a coil spring to hold it in place. Still easy removal with no wrenches required.

I did a thread on that mod if any Kubota owners are interested.

Looking closely at the OP's pic you can see how the latch moved up slightly which took away the "over center" protection. Then it continued to climb upward until it unlatched. Those signs would be my argument with JD. This was not operator failure to relatch. The forces involved unlatched it. That's why I have no faith in it.

^ ^ Looks like the through hole on that tab on the lock could be meant for a safety pin? v v​

You disagree that there should be some sort of pin that holds the mount in place to protect against accidental disengagement? I sure would want to make sure a stray branch did not disengage my FEL. Or the kids flipping a release lever when they are playing farmer.

On my Massey 1705 there is a about a 1" pin that holds the fel arms to the frame that is mounted to the tractor so there is no way that it can even begin to move in a side motion without bending the whole lift arms. The uprights that the fel mount to are about 7/8 to 1" steel it would take a lot of force to even twist them. And with a lift capacity of less than 1000 lbs. I don't see how anything can move without taking the the whole tractor over. When I was shopping around for my tractor I looked at the way the fel was attached to the tractor I didn't particularly trust the way JD did there's it's like they are relying on gravity to hold the locks in place. I agree with that there should be some kind of mechanical latch to hold the release lever in locked position.

The torsional cross tubes on my Mahindra 7520 tweaked with all systems to spec and acting as designed. I was working full time then and noticed it driving away one evening from where I had parked it a day or so before. I couldnt figure out what I had done in use, although firm, to cause it. -- Perhaps my tilt tatch had prevented me from immediately noticing the damage while I used it. :confused3:

Even tho all the clues were there my busy mind did not concentrate - I merely adjusted the tilt tatch to align the forks horizontally and went to task. It took me a looong time before the light dawned. In the meantime I had tried months later to re tweak back to straight. -- No dice with all the force I could muster to the point of tipping the tractor onto 2 wheels.​

So the pertinent points were that the tractor was parked in 3rd lo range brakes on on a slight downhill with the forks tilted down to the ground. At least a day later my wife started the tractor and used it. She didnt get the forks up before she let out the clutch. The idling tractor stalled and she figured it out She didnt volunteer the situation but readily recounted it when asked. So I knew it but didnt experience it. No immediately apparent damage except to the ground where the left tine went in much deeper than the right. ... Whew - busy.

Gradually I saw all the damage - tweaked loader, damaged top rail on the left of the forks, and ultimately curl cylinders ballooned slightly on the retract end. One of the curl cylinders popped its endcap in use before I noticed the last - - but after 10 yrs I had already linked the true source of the damage.​

I havnt told my wife yet. ASAP is a necessity, but there is never a good time for that kind of thing. Fortunately she is now much more tractor conscious, and has the experience of the original mistake - just not the wages of it.

 

[ovrszd]

As mentioned by oldtimer66 above, the loader manual states to lift the fromt tires off the ground and tighten the cam locks until they can't be released........

Wow......

So, if properly installed according to the manual the loader requires tools to remove?

So, if I don't do this I have improperly installed the loader. Which, if I have problems such as happened in this thread, removes all liability from JD....

Wow......

Again, the OP's dealer is going to have to be creative or this isn't going to end well....

 

[goeduck]

This looks the be the setup the OP has

How To Remove A John Deere Loader - YouTube

Whether or not you have to lift the front wheels off the ground first or not, those flippy levers look way too easy to get accidentally disengaged. Good design for simplicity, but bad design for what can go wrong and apparently went wrong here. Either that or the dealer never had the right side engaged and it was only on a full load where it became an issue. To the point of paint marks, there is no reason the dealer or factory could not have done that and still delivered the loader with only the left side fully engaged.

And as has been mentioned, maybe the loader is not tweaked or is only slightly tweaked if the loader is half off as shown in the pictures.

 

[UtahJock]

Hello, everyone. I took the tractor to the dealer yesterday morning. The service guys looked at it and said, oh, that's an easy fix. It was fixed and I was on my way in ten minutes. Good job Stotz service department in Bluffdale, Utah. The problem, as mentioned by some smart people above, was the quick-attach system on the right side had become loose, and once some weight was put on it, it become completely disengaged. The right side was too loose, the left side was too tight. The guys corrected this, showed me what to do, and how to check it. It's embarrassing, and I realize that tractors are tough and meant to be at least partially fixable by the end user. Thanks again to all who contributed to this thread.

 

[ptsg]

Glad it was a simple thing and worked out nicely to you without any problems! Good stuff!

 

[ovrszd]

Thank you for the update!!!! Dodged a huge bullet. Glad they taught you how to adjust and maintain the latch system. It obviously needs it!!!!

 

[Threepoint]

Great news! :thumbsup:

 

[mercdv]

That is great news!!! It is so hard to tell from photos the level of damage (or lack thereof). I'm glad it looks way worse in the photos than it actually was. Sometimes it turns out to be the exact opposite and requires opening that wallet.