Front-End Loader Worst things to do to a FEL

[weedpharma]

Also remember if you put something in your bucket like chains, chainsaw etc and forget about them when you start digging into a pile of gravel. I know many people whom have done this...

Guilty last weekend!!

Weedpharma

 

[jmc]

If your loader has a skid steer quick attach, sometimes, depending on how you set down the implement, things down there settle when you unlock the levers. The loader arm or implement come real close to smashing your toes...

Someone on TBN came up with this loader equivalent of tying a string around your finger: If you put something in the bucket you don't want to lose, put a glove on the joystick to jog your memory. If you are that person who posted that tip, come forward so I can thank you.

John

 

[RoyJackson]

If you put something in the bucket you don't want to lose, put a glove on the joystick to jog your memory.

John

Of course....I'd just sit there and think "why the heck is that glove on the joystick?" and then go about my business...

 

[IslandTractor]

Of course....I'd just sit there and think "why the heck is that glove on the joystick?" and then go about my business...

I'd think "There it is, I've been looking for it" and then continue about my senile business.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Lift capacity with FEL is usually 500-2000 lbs. Yes you can push but the FEL bucket is not really designed to push against a narrow object (the tangent of contact between stump and bucket edge is typically 6-12 inches). The FEL arms are certainly not designed to push. It is a front end loader not front end dozer.

On the other end however we have a perfectly positioned drawbar engineered to take anything the tractor can dish out in pulling power.

My point, perhaps poorly expressed, was just that it is fine to dig out the roots of a big stump with the FEL but if the bucket is popping off while trying to displace the stump it means that stump would be better dealt with by wrapping a chain around it and pulling it out. My rough estimate was that a tractor can pull about three times what the FEL can lift.

Sorry for the confusion. Happy to debate stump strategy but I gathered from your post you didn't understand what I meant.

I thought that is what you were trying to get at. And I agree that the tractor can pull WAY more than it can lift.

BUT, the wording in your post in response to gaproperty read as if you could pull more than you could PUSH, not lift. Pull force would be the same (or nearly the same) as the push.

I push stumps out all the time. Some may argue that a chain and drawbar would be better, but the FEL is designed to push on things. Usually it is dirt, and not in just one location on the cutting edge, But I have found that my loader is stout enough to handle all the pushing force my tractor can deliver.:thumbsup:

All true, but when you really need to apply force to move something like a fallen tree or a loose stump the loader will allow you to push a great deal more than you would be able to pull. This assumes 4wd and strong loader arms. Lifting and pushing effectively makes the load easier to push while at the same time increasing traction.
larry

 

[IslandTractor]

All true, but when you really need to apply force to move something like a fallen tree or a loose stump the loader will allow you to push a great deal more than you would be able to pull. This assumes 4wd and strong loader arms. Lifting and pushing effectively makes the load easier to push while at the same time increasing traction.
larry

I understand your point that push plus lift might be greater than pull but there are other considerations. Not sure if traction would be the same for example. Lifting with the FEL would tend to unload (lift) the rear wheels. If that caused loss of traction (spin) then pulling might still be the greater force as pulling on the drawbar would tend to somewhat pull down on the rear tires rather than lift them.

Obviously the other consideration is that tractor FELs aren't designed or built like dozers so there is at least a chance of damage.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I understand your point that push plus lift might be greater than pull but there are other considerations. Not sure if traction would be the same for example. Lifting with the FEL would tend to unload (lift) the rear wheels. If that caused loss of traction (spin) then pulling might still be the greater force as pulling on the drawbar would tend to somewhat pull down on the rear tires rather than lift them.

Obviously the other consideration is that tractor FELs aren't designed or built like dozers so there is at least a chance of damage.

The last is the issue. Traction is close to directly in proportion to the amount of weight on the driving tires. Tremendous thrust is deliverd by 4wd fronts when lifting and pushing -- and this will cause the whole tractor to rotate rearward bringing the back wheels to firm contact. Poorly sized front drives or FELs need not apply.
larry

 

[samhudson3]

I'm glad some of you guys added some humor to this thread because after reading some of the advice given, I don't even know why some people have a FEL!

You can do many of the things listed as "not recommended" as long as you use some common sense.

Eventually, Darwinism will sort out those without the common sense

Agreed, just use common sense and go slow.

You know a redneck tractor owner's last words? "Hey y'all, watch this!" :laughing:

 

[dustinfox]

DO not dig with the loader bucket it is ment for loose materials only.


_________________________________________________________________
Once you flail you never go back:thumbsup::licking::drool:

I'm supposed to sign papers on my new CK35 tomorrow. Guess I had better call and cancel!

 

[dustinfox]

+1,:thumbsup:
Well Said.

James K0UA

Oh that was cruel... :laughing: