Use FEL hydraulics for other attachments?

[grandad]

OK, here's one I haven't seen before... maybe it just illustrates my level of ignorance.

The control for the new style loaders on the Grand tractors, stay with the tractor when the loader is removed. Does that make the control and hydraulics potentially usable for certain other attachments? I've been trying to figure out why they changed the design that way, and that's the only reason I could come up with other than it's cheaper.

Could you rig up the loader controls to feed a hydro rear blade or such when the loader is off, for example? Is this a less costly alternative to adding one of the 1 or 2 way remotes in some situations?

 

[Kelvin]

Grandad,

On my older B2150, there were two different front-end loader available; the LA350 and the LA350A. On one of them the controls stayed with the tractor when the FEL was removed and on the other the controls stayed with the loader. I've seen conflicting information as to which model does which.

I think that the FEL controls, when left with the tractor, are useable for a front blade. I don't have any idea about using the control on rear-mounted implements.

Kelvin

 

[Bird]

On the models where the valve stays with the tractor, it can certainly be used for rear mounted implements as long as your hoses are long enough to reach the valve.

 

[grandad]

You'd have to snake your lines and clamp them so they don't get tangled in the operator's way, the 3 point mechanicals, etc. I need to rent a seed drill this fall that they tell me uses tractor hydraulics for some part of its operation... trying to figure out if this is workable. Probably not as slick as the separately installed controls, but maybe it would do for occasional use.

 

[grandad]

Thanks, Kelvin, for confirming my idea. As Bird points out, you'd have some long hoses to deal with going back to the 3 point, but maybe you could get by with this if it wasn't your everyday setup.

Odds are I'm not the first one to notice these nice quick connects and that fancy joystick just sitting there when the loader is off. I can't believe someone with way more seat time than me hasn't already tried it.

 

[sugarmaker]

Grandad,

I've done this for occasional use with a homemade dump trailer. I run the long hoses straight back off the loader valves, around the back of the seat (between the seat and ROPS), then around the left side of the ROPS back to the trailer.

I've used the FEL raise/lower circuit for this. The curl/dump circuit on my 3-way FEL valve is regenerative which doesn't work well for the double-port dump cylinder I used. You can read chapter & verse on this in Kubmech's excellent <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=buykubota&Number=101191&page=13&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=>post</A> from January in the Kubota buying forum.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I use a 3ph snow blower and remove my FEL because the total length becomes too confining in small spaces. After the first season with the blower I made a special effort to obtain hydraulic snow chute actuators (swivel and deflector). Long hoses were a minor inconvenience - they are temporarily cable tied to solid points - but using the joystick is far safer than reaching in with winter clothes to adjust cranks and sliding bars.