Jarod thank you for taking the time to show us the potential damage and cost associated with this I see all the time front wheels up in the air and back dragging all the time but you are 100 percent correct the laws of physics don’t care what model or brand you have it will break
Thank you for this video! I back drag frequently with the front of my bucket, but will discontinue the practice immediately! Also fantastic to hear I can do it with the BACK of my bucket. Do not only the initial advice, but a work around as well! Thank you!
Ricky Tikki Tavi 😄 I’m sure we were. I know better now though. I can’t believe I didn’t give it any thought before. BTW, I love your username. I remember watching that cartoon in school.
I've done some back dragging with my little Kioti. Never realized the potential of breaking a cylinder. Glad I saw this video. Will cause me to be more careful. Thanks.
Thanks for info, I have been doing this with not a care in the world. Gonna be more careful from now on. I got enough trouble without causing it myself. I am sure this has/will help others. Thanks again.
Thanks for sharing this. I have used my loader in positions and have been extremely lucky not to have been in the same club you are now a member of. Nothing will teach a person quicker than having the lesson cost hundreds of dollars. Sorry for your mishap but willing to bet that it will not happen again. Gary Fox, iowa
Barb Fox DVM Yes, I learned my lesson and am more thoughtful with the forces applied by the work. Hopefully you’ll never experience the same damage. Thanks!
Just bought a kubota bx23s and I have to be honest, I was doing the same thing with my logs and fork. Luckily I didn't break anything, and I can't thank you enough for bringing this to my attention. I have over 20 more trees to drop and I probably would have broke it eventually. I'm going to be a lot more cautious and change my strategy. Thank you for the vid, Sir!
Red 6Romeo Welcome!! I had done the same thing a ton of times myself with no problems. Unfortunately, that’s how everything goes. It’s always ok.....until it isn’t.
Bill O'Brien You just never know. You could do it 999 times with no issue and that 1000th time you snag something. It sucks, it’s embarrassing to share, but if wanted to save people if I could.
@@JaredsShop Takes a mighty big man to do that. Bought my first tractor this past summer, June 2022, a 2012 New Holland. Just happened to see the title of your video and watched it. Thank you very much, sir.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience--and lesson learned. The first time i heard this I did not understand the issue, now i do. I'm in the process of tractor need assessment and trying to learn more before i start working with the tractor and "finding solutions" when i am actually making mistakes. Hopefully i have heard this advise enough to follow it. Back Drag With The Back of The Bucket!
Great video and good warning for us all. It’s crazy how expensive OEM parts can be. It’s also very common for folks who have backhoes to break their bucket curl cylinder as it extends. Keep on tractoring and God bless
Thanks for posting, like everyone else that has commented, I've done the same thing with back blading with edge of bucket. I will definitely be more cautious about using the bucket in this manor. Good luck and glad to see the dealer was able to help you out quickly.
Thx great share, and great dealer you have, not many around like yours, I've seen this happen onall kinds of equipment like you found online in your search, I've seen skid steers of all makes, loaders from Medium to heavy duty,Cat, Komatsu,John Deere,Case,Doosan,Hyundai,you name it,all from extreme articulation and its a common thing,I even saw a Cat 3 series excavator,bend the heck out of one moving a rock, it has nothing to do with 3 rd rate cylinders like Doug Shrader said,I have dealt and worked in hydraulics since the late 70's and saw it happen then and the cylinders now are built far stronger than back in those days,$500 is a great price when you think of it getting you back in operation in a few hours, hats off to backward country gardens,your lucky, the service where i live in Canada is not that good, we just sometimes want to get'er done and we get'er busted,lol,again great video
Bob Church Great info and useful comment. It’s a little frustrating when people comment and slam the brand when it isn’t just related to Kubota. It is all brands and all styles of equipment. And yes, Fackler is a great dealer and will keep me coming back just for their service alone. Thanks!!
Thanks for the video! Heck, it's all I can do just to change implements. I have no mechanical ability. I back-drag heavy objects OFTEN, with the bucket tip extended. Would have never been aware of the potential for damage. I would have to pay the dealer to pick-up, and re-deliver. Plus parts/service.Thanks again!
Not trying to be a dick here, but in the owners manual it explains not to drag with curl cylinder fully extended. I used to not read manuals but as I have got older I realized if I had read the instructions first it would have save me money. Good video!!
You’re good bud. Mine happened so quick and without it feeling like I did anything. I didn’t even think about it and didn’t think I was doing anything detrimental. I was just trying to spin a log so I could grab it and skid it out of the woods. What killed me was that I had long forks on and spun it with the tips instead of engaging it higher up.
I did the same on my New Holland TC45D BACKHOE never on the loader and I do do this all the time. What I want you to learn from me is this: A new cylinder was 400 and a piston was 100 and the shell was 100. So I never damged the shell and changed the piston out for a lot less money. Now after ten years of use the O rings are allowing the fluid to pass by and I should change the O rings out. HOWEVER, I installed a THUMB on this backhoe that I believe put excessive pressure on this piston causing the by passing of fluid. It is still operational, I just need to keep pressure on the HANDLE while using the THUMB. Hope this helps you in the future.
Thanks for the video. I have a grounds crew who back drag driveways in the winter with a Kubota SSV75, bucket fully dropped. Other then breaking it countless other ways (ugh) this has not happened yet, but I can see it happening in the future. I'll bring this subject up to them.
spdwebdotnet Probably not a bad idea. Better safe than sorry. There’s a guy who posted here about doing it to a CAT track loader. I’ve found reports of it happening to almost every type of equipment.
WorthOverdoing Yep.. all it would take is hooking one manhole cover or curb with the bucket fully dropped. Surprised it's not happened thus far actually lol
Great advice and you did an excellent job of explaining how and why it happened. Definitely something to be aware of and I thank you for possibly saving me from damaging a cylinder on my LS tractor. Nice video and well done and thank you!
You are absolutely correct about the fully extended piston rod when the bucket is in the extreme down position, but I don’t think the hydraulic pressure trying to push the piston rod back into the cylinder is what caused the collar on your cylinder to break. If you notice the movement of the cylinder when the bucket is in the fully dumped position, the piston rod end (collar) gets closer to the lift arm as it radiuses from its pivot point further up the lift arm. Normally it would never touch, but when the bucket is pushed further back beyond its normal stop position, (such as when a log might shift towards the machine, or you move slightly forward,) the end of the cylinder can actually touch momentarily on the lift arm causing an extreme pinch point. It doesn’t necessarily leave a mark on the arm, and it’s not evident that it touched after it springs back into normal position, but this is what breaks the collar. While you can do this without the forks, the leverage of any length fork makes it easier for this to happen.
Finally it's Ed I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear. It wasn’t the hydraulic pressure that caused the failure. It was the fact that the rod could not go back into the tube, and then bent, which cracked the gland.
Finally it's Ed Oh, and I have stops on the loader and forks so the the rod cannot contact the loader arm. I know what you’re talking about there. I’ve read some threads from guys complaining that their bucket stops were welded in the wrong place. Thankfully mine weren’t.
Please don't be sorry about your clarity, I'm just sorry to see (yours and my) machines break. Funny enough, I just blew a steering rack cylinder seal on my John Deere 410D backhoe. You can't live without equipment, and when they break, it just goes to prove it, lol.
Is your tractor paid for? If not, I'm sure it has insurance on it. If not provided by Kubota then a private company. If it is paid for then your private insurance should pay for it. Unless you have a $500 deductible then my post was a waste of time. Glad you got it fixed and thank you for the tip.
No, my tractor did not have insurance on it at the time. It was paid off and I didn’t carry insurance after KTAC. I do have insurance on my new tractor though.
Thanks for posting this, I was doing something very similar with my bucket moving trees about a week ago with my BX. I easily could have done the same damage! I won’t do it again now. Thank you!
Thanks explaining, thus thanks for the tip. It may be obvious now, but understand cylinder design and leverage. Your cylinders were fully extended, meaning that there was little "insertion" of the rod into the cylinder. I would not have expected buckling, but the position also makes them susceptible to bending damage if something like a limb strikes the cylinder mid-point. Maybe under full extension, something causes them to flex in a slight arc? (I've seen it) Another thing that can happen when leverage is increased, such as forks or a hay spear, is when the points are down and they catch the ground while the tractor is moving. The leverage creates unanticipated (undesigned) stress. If the cylinders are not fully extended, the hydraulic pressure spikes and can burst a hose or a hose fitting. Ask me how I know. Thoughts about cylinder replacement: first, you always want paired cylinders to match perfectly in both extended and collapsed lengths, thus it is good that you did not settle on a longer cylinder, unless you got 2. In your situation, it would have been possible to take the 14" cylinder and reduce the rod length through cutting/welding to create the perfect length. Again, both need to match collapsed length too. Glad you have a fix and thanks for the time to create this video.
Bob Black Totally agree with what you said. I did have mine fully extended so I think the cylinder was weaker than the hose at that point. I was driving backwards pulling the tree apart. It didn’t take much force to separate it so I didn’t feel like I was overworking any part of the machine.
Thanks for this video, I do this a lot with my 3901 Kubota. I never realized what a strain I was putting on the curl cylinders. I don't drag logs backward but some of my firewood is in piles and I backdrag the top of the pile to make loading easier. I'll be careful now.
Dan Dalrymple Absolutely!! How do you like your 3901? I’m considering that as my next tractor. I like that it weighs more than mine and can lift higher, even though it only lifts a little bit more.
I use the 3901 a lot with firewood, mowing and clearing snow. One thing I DO NOT like about it is the "particulate filter ???" in the exhaust system. During our Ohio winter when I'm not mowing and running the engine hard the particulate filter in the exhaust system requires letting the tractor sit while running the engine at PTO speed for a half hour or more. This happens several times each winter. If this is not done the tractor will not run correctly, near zero power, near zero RPM. No problem with this in the summer when I'm mowing at 2500 RPM with my 3 point 6 foot mower. This keeps the filter clean? Dunno. Wish there was a way to eliminate this problem.
Dan Dalrymple That is a problem with all DPFs. They require heat to clean them out or they get plugged up. You never want to baby an engine with a DPF. I’m a little weary of getting one but I don’t have much choice if I want HP. My dealer keeps suggesting the 2501 because there are no emissions on it but I don’t know. He says no one complains about the power but it has to be geared lower and that results in a lower travel speed. I drive my tractor on the road between my house and woods and I don’t want to go any slower than I have to. If you didn’t know, I’m in Ohio too so I’ll have the winter to deal with as well.
It was 5 BELOW ZERO yesterday morning and I needed to plow my driveway. Waited until the pre heater light went out, it turned over slowly but started right up on the first try. So I do really like my 3901. It always starts and runs fine, still don't care for the DPF but NICE tractor.
Dan Dalrymple Mine started slow also. I previously had a thinner weight oil in it and this summer when I purchased my filters and such the dealer gave me 15-40(?). I questioned it but he said that’s what is spec’d. It turned over A LOT slower with that. I looked in my manual and I can use 15-40 or 10-30(?). I’d have to look at my manual to make sure I’m right on the numbers. I will definitely be running the lighter weight from now on.
ive seen a warning somewhere about back dragging with my bucket straight down - didnt give it much thought - besides wondering why- i have a B3300SU too--spending about an hour on it tomorrow cleaning the driveway of its heavy snow -good thing i seen this
Oh and for back dragging you also can use the float feature where the loader just uses its weight and no hydro pressure is applied ... very smooth once you get comfortable with it Maybe not all models have this feature ... should say in the manual ... 👍
That's why there's Kubota insurance... I watch a lot of these Kubota videos the mistakes I see guys make are many.. first time tractor owners making RU-vid videos got to love it
Hey mate ... Just came across you're video ... Worked in hydraulic cylinder repair for 23yrs ... Seen plenty of cylinders damaged in this way and repaired them .... $500 is a cheap fix. I'm not about to tell you how to do your business but if you can, don't drag the cylinder closed again because when you bend the cylinder rod it won't go back into the barrel without damaging something. Most of the time you'll end up creasing the chrome(won't seal) where the rod enters the gland and when you drag the cylinder back in you'll stretch the gland or if bad enough crack it like in your video. Dragging the rod back into the barrel can cause damage to the internal surface of the barrel. At this stage you're looking at a full cylinder rebuild and a lot of dollars spent. Just to replace the broken gland is a 3-6 hour job (machining time only) If anything else is stuffed the price goes way up. Hope that helps. :-)
Jason Nielsen Thanks! I’m sure it cracked because of the bend in the rod. Unfortunately I deformed the tube so I couldn’t even have it repaired. It all makes perfect sense to me now. I just never even considered using it that way was going to be putting those stresses on it or I would not have done it. I’m mechanically inclined and fix extremely complex machines for a living. I can’t believe I never looked at the mechanics and thought of this ahead of time. The video probably makes me look like I’m an idiot city slicker but I don’t care. If it helps others from doing the same damage then it’s worth it.
The one thing i don't have. The bush hog over work the little tractor. Hate to say it but my fathers Kioti has a better disconnect for the backhoe than my buddies Kubota. Might have to look at one
I have a Kioti DK4510 with a hoe. Comes with its own subframe, 2 pins to hook up the hoe. 3 pt stays on tractor and does not effect mounting of the hoe.
Man, that's a heck of a lesson learned. Thanks for the information. Yep, as you explained it, it definitely makes sense as to why a cylinder would not be able to withstand a force in the opposite direction when the arm is fully extended. Sorry you had to go through that whole thing. Kudos to the Garden shop that helped you and good to hear you're back in business. Thumbs up. New sub to your channel.
Ben Bennett They treat me really good on everything I buy. They know I could order parts and maintenance items from internet sources but their service keeps me coming back.
This is only an issue when pulling back. You have to envision that the bucket is pivoting on the bottom pins. When you are pulling back the bucket is trying to rotate on those pins and push the cylinders back in. If you are pushing on the bucket then you are trying to pull the cylinders out. They are much stronger in that direction.
Can attest - I bent the piston on the curl cylinder of my M8540 using forks. We had a fire in our barn and there were pockets of smoldering hay that I tried to pull out of the partially burned stack by backdragging with the forks fully extended. So I got to replace both a cylinder and a barn/shop. Life. BTW - my tractor, only 1 yr old at the time of the fire, was also in harm's way from the fire. I was able to move it before any significant damage - the plastic backs of my side mirrors melted.
Interesting and strange at the same time. I have a 35 horse New Holland and have done LOTS of back dragging with it, even to the point where it'll lift up the front of my tractor and I've never had any issues with my curl cylinders. I have a feeling that with your forks you had extra leverage going on and that is what put too much stress on your machine. When I do logging work I try to use my Kubota mini excavator, it's easier anyways. I still think Kubota makes a good product. Thanks for sharing, I'm sure it'll help a lot of other people out there!
BarnStangz I’ve also back drug just like how you stated without issue. The forks almost certainly had something to do with it but I also found countless reports of it happening to people with just buckets, which is why I’m sharing. It’s even happened to backhoes, track loaders, etc. It’s usually when you hit something unmovable and the bucket doesn’t go up and over it. The forces of the machine moving is usually much higher than what hydraulics can stop or handle.
I was back dragging with my MX5100 a few years ago and my Dad stopped me and informed me. My Dad spent a lifetime on a farm, Dairy, then heavy equipment burying cable for Bell telephone for 25 years...and then another 20 years for the federal Government in heavy equipment operating. Long story short he was legend on any kind of equipment. He was the guy they called when a backhoe or dozer was stuck, or about to go over a cliff or in a river, they called him to come get it out of the problem area. Anyway he stopped me from working and said Son, that what you are doing right now, (Back dragging with front end loader) I had the front tires dang near pushed off the ground. He said that is one of the worst things you can do with a tractor, or anything with a front end loader. I agreed of course, because I already knew that he knows what he talkin about. He said a backhoe will handle the pressure for a longer time than a compact tractor. But its even hard on a backhoe. He said its okay to back drag a little but be very careful how much pressure you are pushing down. Then he made me put the box blade on and finish what I was doing. It was my tractor, and I was 35 years old...but I was like yes Sir. Lmao...Dad always know best. I just stumbled on to this video in my feed. I hope what I have added to this content may help someone else and save them some time and money...like my Dad helped me.
Smokin Bill Williams Fantastic story Bill! I think it adds credibility to what I’m trying to get across. Back dragging in general, while often done with no problems, does put a lot of stress on certain parts of the equipment and increases the chances of damage. Most professional equipment operators know this and most owners don’t think about it until they’ve damaged something. It doesn’t matter what brand you have, it can still happen.
Smokin Bill Williams That’s what I’ve been telling everyone but a lot of the comments are about my tractor being junk or too small. Anything can break.
I thank you for sharing that information so I don't do the same thing with my tractor and loader. I usually only pickup small stuff but have worked the tractor and loader at times while working with trash around my yard.
You guys are some lucky to get a new cylinder from Kubota for 500 bucks. I am in Nova Scotia Canada and they wanted 1500 so I had mine rebuilt for 450 bucks.
😳 $500.00 for a cylinder. Wow, this is the worse part about having to buy OEM replacement parts. You pay twice as much. Thanks for the tip and video, I’ve done this same thing on my 1025R and now I’m thankful I didn’t break something.
Seen a pile of bent tilt rods when I worked for a skid steer manufacturer. Our problem was the stops at full tilt so the cylinder could hit loader arms if you fully extended then tried to push with the bucket edge, it was a new design of cylinder and the tolerances are very tight. Was surprised that anyone would think this was OK to do but people do it. The kubota's do have stops that prevent damage if you do this. All equipment could suffer this failure if somehow you exceed the design limits. lucky it was just the one cylinder, typically its both. Bent cylinders are very rarely warranty due to the fact that manufactures are very careful to design so they shouldn't bend unless abused. RPM has little effect as one comment says because the relief valve is set by pressure, RPM only effects flow. Kubota makes good equipment, I have a B2601. Typically a rebuild for this type of failure is more than a complete replacement cylinder and you are never sure the rebuild will last.
This is why a skid steer is the tractor's best friend. Much more rugged machine designed for commercial use, stronger lifting and a lot harder to bend a rod. The smaller tires will slip before transferring the torque to the attachment.
chargermopar A skid steer is much stronger but I’ve found reports of them failing in the same way. More than anything, I want people to think about the physics behind what they’re doing and what stresses are being applied to the machine. I just wasn’t thinking when I did what I did.
The cause of this was a little beyond just the pressure in the cylinder, this can happen with just static pressure, i.e. fluid there but no place to go. The mechanics of the failure is when a cylinder is fully extended it cannot accept any side loads whatsoever, due to the only resistance to the unit bending (or jackknifing) is about 2 inches of cantilever support. It is like grabbing a baseball bat by the bat handle knob, holding it out level and then daring someone to apply a side load anywhere on the bat and you hold it straight. It takes only ounces of force to deflect it. moving your hand up the handle will geometrically increase the side loads you can resist. The companies that design their curl cylinder geometry to never be fully extended and in a work range, would never see this problem, but that takes some extra time and money. It just means we have to manage our cylinder extensions ALL the time. Thank you for the video, Sir!
A cylinder is always at it's strongest point when fully retracted and workloads should be applied accordingly. The machine was designed to lift the load inside the bucket, at which point the cylinder would be mainly retracted. It's time for a set of logging tines so you can drag that sob from the draw bar. Most of these little tractors get pushed pretty hard when they're put into logging situations, I see it all the time as I live in the heart of logging country. A 24" bucked white oak @ 12' long is no joke.
Southeastern Ohio Honeybees I agree with the cylinder being strongest when retracted. I skid with an attachment I built for the 3 point hitch. I just was just trying to spin the log around so I could grab the end.
Often times we don't want to leave the seat on and off to hook up cables to get it rigged correctly but..... I skid with a D3C Cat so I can't throw judgement at a guy who uses his tractor at the fullest of it's ability, I understand completely, it sucks you had to pay $500, to teach us all the lesson but thanks for the schoolin.
Southeastern Ohio Honeybees At the time I also didn’t have a cant hook. If the logs were on the dirt I’d have to get them up on the chains somehow. Now that I have a cant hook I don’t mess around with spinning the logs as much or lifting them onto a branch for temporary height.
Rob Chandler I had done it the same thing many times before also. Everything is fine right until it isn’t. I just never gave it any thought until it happened. Hopefully it helps others from having the same fate.
@@JaredsShop I will say to you without reservation that "I know better than to do that." With that said. . .I still do it. LOL! But I try not to do it and with your post of $500 for the replacement I'll try even harder. 😄
Never crossed my mind this could happen, thanks very much for sharing. I’ve done the exact same thing dragging logs with my bucket tripped. I’ll definitely be more conscious of how hard I’m pulling. I admittedly put my loader through quite a bit off hard labor. I have an industrial JD 301A and that yellow paint often gives me a false sense of indestructibility, everything has its limits.
These are the pros and cons I researched before buying a machine. I bought a skid loader. And then a Larger Skid Loader. New Holland Lifts Higher and is easier to work on than most. Hours and hours of use and still running.
Joseph McCue Awesome. I’ve thought about a skid loader and may get one in the future. And you’re right, there’s pros and cons for each. For me, the tractor made the most sense to get first.
Unless I'm mistaken when you talk about the cylinder being pushed back in or bending you are really meaning the ram or as some here call it, the piston.The big red painty thing is a cylinder. The cylinder cap is what cracked.The shiny thing is the ram or piston and what you bought is the cylinder and ram assembly complete.
In Thailand most Kubota tractors have a dozer blade attachment on. It is extremely sturdy and makes backblading so simple. I work in construction in Africa and we use backhoe's all the time backblading, never had an issue with this. I have to admit, being a huge Kubota fan, there might be a design flaw there. Any tractor with a loader attachment ahould be able to backblade without any such issues.
Tertius Bezuidenhout This isn’t isolated to just Kubota though. I found all brands with similar failures, even heavy equipment. It comes when the cylinder is fully extended and then the machine is driven and force is applied to the cylinder. If you’re operating the hydraulics it won’t happen because there is a relief valve inline. It’s only when the spool valve is centered and the fluid is locked that it creates a hazard. Think of having a hydraulic cylinder sticking out of the front of a tractor, fully extended, and you drive it into a concrete wall. The cylinder will bend because the tractor drive is stronger. Once you apply leverages it makes it even easier to bend.
Tertius Bezuidenhout I’m going to have to look for some pics of the dozer blades they use in Thailand. Sounds interested. Must be using a subframe then?
Ya with almost any other loader it would not be a problem but the Kubota stuff is made to be used very lightly! I worked as a warranty admin. at a Kubota dealership for years. Sorry to say I have seen it many times before!
WorthOverdoing Sorry I only saw it on the smaller stuff, especially Kubota all the time! The big farm loaders never had that problem. We had 4 different lines of loaders we sold. 25 lines of farm equipment in total. Seen the Kubota cylinder shafts bend like crazy and Kubota will NOT give you warranty on it if it’s your fault or not! Seen that way to many times!
Brp Fan When I researched the problem I found it on almost every type of equipment. I heard the same thing when I took my cylinder to the hydraulic shop. He said he’s had to fix them on just about everything. There’s also some comments here from guys who have done it with large equipment.
I was recently digging into a dirt pile with my b7500 and back dragged to top of the pile. As I was doing it, I wondered what harm it could do. Now I know!
Freedom 1 I agree. The problem I had was I deformed my tube. I had a busted cap, bent rod, and deformed tube. The hydraulic shop said it would cost more to fix it than to buy a new one. I did try though. They disassembled it and everything but there was just too much damage. I probably distorted the tube when I pushed the piston back in. Had I left it out and took it straight to the hydraulic shop I probably could’ve had it repaired cheaper. I was in the middle trying to get trees skidded so I didn’t want to take the time. My haste probably cost me more than it should have.
WorthOverdoing yeaaaa, that does make it difficult.... I replaced the seals in mine a couple of times. The 1st time i did it. It took me 6 hours.....the 2nd time it took 3 hrs. So next time I’m thinking it may only take 1 hr....ha ha..........thanks for the post.....best of luck to you!
Thanks for posting for the greater good =) You could have replaced both cylinders to avoid having the same problem with Kubota cylinders......The Bx is a small model but that should not have happened.......You might think/feel that this was from back dragging but its more likely that forward pushing broke the cap.....and back dragging against it made it noticeable with the leak.....This happens a lot when hydraulics are fully extended.....just a couple inches off fully extended limit would probably prevented this ....but at the same time it's clear that the 2 curl cylinders do not have the same throw.....I wish you the best of luck with the replacement =)
nitebird scuffle I plan on changing the cylinders but am having trouble finding suitable replacements with having to do a lot of fabrication. I just need to figure out what I’m willing to modify to make a different size cylinder work. This is a B, not a BX. It did crack the gland when the rod bent from back dragging. When you back drag, the forces are not pulling on the cylinder but pushing, which is how it bent. It couldn’t force it back in so it had no where to go.
Thanks for the video. This is absolute news to me. I have a tooth bar mounted on my FEL and frequently use the teeth in the fully extended position to back drag brush/branches from felled trees; mostly on frozen ground so not to chew up forest soils. I put the bucket in float position to further reduce chances of digging into soil. Never knew this could be the result. Ouch! If my tractor (Kioti CK20s hst) had an option for a third hydraulic on the front, I'd have me a brush grapple in a heart beat. Lacking that, I'm going to check my curl cylinders and be wicked careful.
So now that I think about it, isn't using your FEL to get you out of being stuck (putting your bucket in nearly full-extended position, and drawing the tractor forward or pushing the tractor back) to get you out of a much or other kind of hole put your tractor at the same risk? This is fairly common practice and an advantage of having a FEL; at least that's what I have always heard and believed.
Moose Terious It is not the same risk because you are using the hydraulics. Any time you are using the hydraulics the system is open to the relief valve for high pressures. The risk comes from the spool valve having the fluid locked with nowhere for it to go and then applying a large force trying to move that fluid. That is when something can bend. The driving force of the tractor is more than what the cylinder can handle.
Lots of these piston rods are cheap mild steel which bend easy...been making some new in machine shop with good alloy case hardened /chromed for my buddy and no more problems.
Wow sorry this happened! I was expecting you to say you were pushing with the bucket or forks tilted all the way forward due to direction of the bent cylinder, and location of the crack
The only way this can really happen is via the way I explained. It takes a cylinder that is fully extended trying to get pushed back in to bend like this. The only way it get pushed is on the backside (bottom) of the bucket.
Extending the bucket into the dump position and dragging, pulling or pushing with ANY size tractor or machine is not a good idea. Thanks for sharing your experience.
