twisted loader

[ArkCivEngr]

Just noticed the other day that the right side of my bucket is about 1.5 in. lower than the left. This is checking with the cutting edge vertically down, on a concrete pad, so I'm fairly confident in the measurements. Tire pressures are equal. The cutting edge seems true, so the bucket isn't warped.

The only thing I can think of that could have caused it was recently when loading wood chips at my local source. The tree service owner dumps his chips on an old pile of logs/stumps. I had gotten to the back of the pile and must have gotten the right side of the bucket underneath one of those logs, because it began to squat the front end of the tractor, and pick up the back end--which was not good, considering I had my hoe attached.

Other than noticing the unevenness, nothing is amiss. All functions are working properly, strength is normal.

Just how expensive would it be to level it back out? Or is it something I could do myself? I don't like the idea of doing the same thing with the left side of the bucket. Unless this is a quick, easy, and inexpensive fix (which I don't see being possible), I don't plan on doing anything about it because it hasn't affected it functionally.

As always, any input is appreciated.

 

[Timber]

Your going to have to determine if anything is bent 1st. To be honest lifting the back of the tractor with the hoe should be fine unless you did a lot of bouncing with it off the ground. If you have a quick tach loader I would take it off and put it back on. It might have just shifted in its cradle.

 

[rbargeron]

This amount of misalignment is relatively small. A suggestion would be to loosen the subframe attachment points, with the tractor parked on a level surface with bucket edge touching at the low corner. You may discover some connections that shifted a bit when loaded. If the bucket edge doesn't go level during this operation,you may at least discover which part of the frame seems to be misaligned. All parts of the loader frame are ductile steel. Within reason, it can be bent, and then bent back, without damage. If the loader is actually twisted, the fix may in fact involve the careful application of force in the other direction. The telltale for more serious damage would be cracked paint at welds - that would indicate a weak spot that might need repair. Go slow, get an actual eyeball opinion from an experienced heavy equipment repair person if possible.

 

[Tollster]

I concur with the above reply, you may have just sprung a part. Put on level ground remove pressure from hydrolics,and loosen all bolting, then in a systematic approach, retighten from back to front, both sides of loader at the same times, or don't do one whole side then the other. Also if you have any pins or connections that you can rotate, rotate them 180 degrees before you tighten.
I have seen this happen on allot of motorcycle front ends, which took a shot to the tire. The forks appear twisted, but instead they where just sprung. Typically we raised the bike ensuring no weight was on the front end, then loosened all fork to triple tree connections. rotated the fork tubes 180 degrees, then tighten the tripple tree pinch bolts from top down towards wheel. It works, if we did not see a 100% improvement it was at least much better that it was. It may consume some time but well worth the effort. I have not forgotten the lesson.

 

[N80]

I'd remove the loader as per the manual. Do it on hard, flat, level ground, and then reattach it. Then I'd do as suggested above.

I can't imagine that you've actually bent anything doing what you've described. I've pounded the bucket on my loader (L4400) to the point that it has a slight 'smile' and even a crack or two in the brace on the back of the bucket (has been repaired) but everything on the loader remians level and symetrical.

Here is a related question: How can you fix the 'smile' on the bottom of a bucket?

 

[rbargeron]

It depends on how stiff the bottom edge of your bucket is, and how your garage is constructed. I once put a floor jack under the middle of the bucket with two 4x4's standing in the ends of the bucket going up to the header across a garage door opening. The garage was wood, sheathed with T-111 and had a second floor (loaded with junk) which made it pretty stiff above the door head. When the center of the bucket was jacked up, the smile came out without wrecking the building. BTY, the smile has to go to a frown to come back straight. Not all buildings can stand this, if you hear a lot of snapping and popping, go slow, and maybe quit before you make a mess. If you don't have a suitable building, ask somebody with a 10-wheeler (like your friendly town road boss) to park it in your driveway for a few minutes and use the same method. Even unloaded these things are heavy in back - and very stiff. As always prompt cheerful refund if info is bogus.

 

[tony3542]

Have you checked your tire air pressure,a low tire could make a difference.
tony3542

 

[Timber]

You might need to shrink the metal. Heat it, pound it and cool it. Sometimes just trying to bend it back won’t take the ripple out of it. You’ll have to heat the surface with a torch pound it into shape and cool it with a water soaked towel to shrink the metal. Than I would put a tooth bar or a new cutting edge on it to ad some integrity to the cutting edge.

 

[ArkCivEngr]

Haven't checked tire pressure yet; haven't had a whole lot of time. But it will be the first thing I check before I try the other methods described above.

Thanks.

 

[Tollster]

I noticed you live in Russelville and figure your a CE. I was down your way working the ANO steam genny replacement outage last fall. I've done NDE for the past 20 years, wonder if I may have seen you there? Anyway let us know how you make out, and stay the **** out of the north 40. Hehhee

 

[ArkCivEngr]

I actually work for the Ark. Hwy. Dept. But I did work at ANO (you know what that spells in Spanish, right?) for a brief bit in 1990-1991. And of course, I stay away from the 40. I even stayed away from there (mostly) even when I was single.

 

[dieselsmoke1]

Have seen mine about 1" lower on one side before. Put the low side on top of a 6" high stump and bounced it a time or 2, good as new.

 

[LAWALLSTRACTOR]

You have gotten a lot of good ideas here but you have to put them in order.

1. check tire pressure
2. make sure your loader is sitting on the q/tach posts properly
3. check for cracked paint to find where it may have been stressed and repair it if you find a spot
4. loosen all of the bolts that hold your loader frame to the tractor and put some pressure on the high corner of the bucket and retighten all of the loader frame bolts.
5. if none of these solve the problem you will have to use brute force to twist it back.

I own and operate a tractor dealership and an automotive collision shop and had the same situation once. The automotive frame machine came in very handy for twisting the loader. I hope I have been helpful, and good luck with it.

Galen LaWall
Your Mahindra Tractor Dealer
Batavia, NY 14020
585-343-0770