Tweaked FEL

[CincyFlyer]

It looks to me as if down pressure was excessive, causing upward bending on one side. Loaders are engineered for lifting, and it's difficult to overload a properly engineered system by doing so (I can put one fork under a load and stall the hydraulics and it won't bend like that!) With better pictures once could see if things are bent/twisted upward or downward from normal.

 

[herm0016]

maybe the high side lift cylinder is doing all the work and the line in blocked on the low side? the valve or hoses or the o-rings in the cylinder are blown out? if all the weight was being lifted with one side, i could see this happening.

 

[Ford850]

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.

Wow! So you drove up with your forks and got into position, and then raised the load only 6" off the ground and this happened?

 

[wagne223]

Wow! So you drove up with your forks and got into position, and then raised the load only 6" off the ground and this happened?

Pretty sure there's a lot more to this story......

 

[UtahJock]

Pretty sure there's a lot more to this story......

Tonight, I will confirm with my eyewitness to see if there's something I'm missing.

 

[1010]

Some more PICs would be great also sir! Some from underneath, front and back.

 

[Ford850]

Some more PICs would be great also sir! Some from underneath, front and back.

Maybe there's a cracked weld somewhere that failed and caused such a major shift and twist.

 

[Djames55]

I would take it to a friends body shop and let them pull it back as straight as they could... Take some pictures of the loader on the tractor... Then take some pictures with the loader off the tractor... Then run a ad on craigslist and sale the loader because if it bent like you say, it will do it again... I wouldn't trust it a second time... I would just buy a new loader or get a larger tractor with a larger loader...

 

[ovrszd]

Based on the OP's description no FEL should fail like that. The cylinder strength is always matched to the frame strength.

Only plausible explanation so far is regarding a failed cylinder?

 

[ptsg]

Unless JD is making the loaders as cheap as they can't, that shouldn't happen.

That kinda looks that the loader wasn't properly attached onto the tractor frame. Maybe one of the latch/pin of the quick attach was not in fully?