How Much Play Is Too Much - Loose and Broken Loader Bolts 

Check out the lock and lube and 3m work tunes headphones at the following links Lock and lube: amzn.to/3wLLuR5 Dewalt grease gun: amzn.to/3g5i7mO 3m Work Tunes amzn.to/3mHcGvB Thanks for watching and check out our other John Deere 2038R compact tractor videos at ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-G9ccCrIRsgY.html And subscribe to our channel at ru-vid.com Buy me a coffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/rockhillfarm Thanks for watching

Thanks for showing this, Brock. I'll definitely will be checking bolts. 👍

Great video Brock. I am constantly looking over the tractor searching for anything that may be loose or warn.

Howdy Brock, great video, as well as your others, especially the one you made with Waldo and all the cool additions he has on his 2038R ( You provided perfect info on the 4 in 1 bucket, I just ordered one) timing is everything, I have a 2021 JD 2038R Tractor with the JD 220r MSL (mechanical self leveling) loader, luv it…while moving heavy drifted snow for a few hours, here in southern Montana, I noticed my loader making a “clacking” noise as if something was loose or broken, this loader / tractor has less than 60 hrs. since new, I noticed the slop in the left side latch to the frame, so I figured it was ok….🤔. Following day I decided to grease the loader after heavy use and before the next usage, surprise surprise, I found one of the top pivot pins had backed so much, it rotated out of the lock tab hole and had 1/4” of pin showing, the bolt, metal and rubber washer were still there, barely. I cleaned all the grease fittings, inspected all the remaining pivot hardware and found 3 others loose, but not backed out. I removed the backed out the pivot pin, inspected for damage (none), but found the rubber washer had been partially crushed, I surmised, the bolt backed out because it wasn’t seated hard against the metal washer, when originally assembled, it was seated against the rubber washer, due to movement, it slowly worked its way out, insufficient torque / actually false torque from the rubber being pinched, I’ll need to replace that and possibly other rubber washers, I believe the rubber washers are there to keep the grease in and debris out. Make sure when tightening the lock bolt, metal washer and rubber washer, the torque on the bolt doesn’t feel spongy when tightening, if so, stop, loosen and reposition / center the rubber washer on the pivot pin, install large area washer and bolt and tighten. Re-grease as needed. Another area to inspect regularly, is the 8 bolts ( 4 on each side) that bolt the front end to the frame, on another You Tuber video, another 2038R operator had noticed he lost one bolt and another bolt was loose. I suggest torque checking these bolts and applying colored torque paint across the bolt to the side of the frame bolt hole and area that doesn’t move, this way on a visual inspection, if the torque paint is missing or cracked, the bolt is moving and needs to be re-torqued. Anyway, Thanks again Brock for the honest videos, keep them coming and stay safe out there ! Marc from Montana

Brock, Unless I'm not understanding something that I'm unaware of, I'd start swapping out the nuts to nylon lock nuts or thread lock where appropriate and make visuals thread/nut stop points with thread tamper proof torque marker paint. This will eliminate the need to physically torque check. You just need to do a visual check! If not you'll eventually run into really big issues in the future at when not expecting it and it most likely will damage other things. Expensive. Your manufacturer should've recognized this engineering mistake and corrected it. IMHO. Just a thought. Good video again sir, as always.

Good video Brock. We should all check our equipment regularly to ensure our safety and longevity of the equipment

This is why heavy equipment uses a retainer bolt off the pin flange to keep it from rotating and moving around and then a bolt perpendicular through the pin on the opposite side

Good video Brock!! 1. The eyebolt on my level indicator broke as well, not sure why, it's not a real pressure point. Put a second one on and have already noticed a slight bend in it. I actually took the level indicator off, I got used to using it without while I waited for the replacement and have not looked back. It's not as much of a necessity on the self leveler IMO. 2. I discovered the loose bolts on the pivot points early on and have since made it part of my routine when I grease the loader. Though I will say that the bolts seem to be staying tight now, last time I only got a little movement on one of all of them. Lock nuts would probably be a more permanent fix. Overall, I would not want my NSL back, once you get used to the MSL it's a breeze to operate. To me it's more of a safety thing, I'm not always alone when I'm working the tractor. It's one less thing I need to be focused on so I can pay more attention to my surroundings and the people working with me.

great video! i repaired one twice. the right side bolts continue to loosen. The first time most of the bolts only on the right side were gone or sheared off. the local dealer was no help. The second time I researched the problem online and found a Dealer request for engineering support number. When speaking with JD they recognized this number. with this information my local dealer provided all the parts at no charge. Sorry i don't have the number handy. its late. this is a known issue with these models!

Brock good morning a visual check then with a wrench is all we but it will help keep it out of dealer shop and give us peace of mind God Bless All PaK

Good video Brock! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you.. left side mast is broken.. is that a home repair that can be done?

You need to adjust the latch at the quick release

The retaining bolts which have the rubber washers are not intended to be torqued down (and thus squishing the rubber washer). The best solution is to put some of the blue Locktite threadlocker on each bolt and put them back in but not torqued down so as to squish the rubber washer. Also,, the eyebolt for the level indicator rod is intended to be loose as well with the nut slightly tightened. Do NOT put Locktite threadlocker on the eyebolt! The eyebolt must be allowed to freely rotate during loader use. If you tighten down the eyebolt and it is not allowed to freely rotate you will break the eyebolt again, and again, and again. The eyebolt will not fall out as long as the level rod is installed. The level rod will only allow the eyebolt to turn a few degrees. By doing this the level rod will never bind up in the eyebolt which leads to bending and breaking the eyebolt.

My 3025e msl has all kinds of loose hardware, my top arms pins with the rubber washers both fell out. My main sport with the bar that goes up to the bumper, all four bolts are backed out and about ready to fall out. Dang it only has 38 hours. Just the other day when moving soil a hydraulic line came loose and sprayed fluid everywhere, shut it down quick. Was the one with the blue zip tie, check your hydraulic fittings too.

Mine does the same thing. I used Loctite and overtightened the bolts and squished the rubber and it’s all a huge mess now and the whole thing has a lot of play. I don’t know if I need new bushings or something it’s really bad.

The self leveling loader has a lot of links in the leveling mechanism, each one can be additive to create the looseness you observe. The nuts coming loose is a different story, I would suggest asking the dealer for nylock replacements.

Hey Brock, any follow-up on what your dealer said about the bolts on your loader and the slack/slop you notice when operating it?

Same thoughts and concerns on mine. Self level loader on mine too! I noticed I had some loose bolts too at about 20 hours. 🤷‍♂️.

Brock man, I need you. I just took delivery on a 2021 2038 with 89 hours. I was greasing and torquing everything, fixing a few problems and going through the manual. Anyhow, while marking the bolts so I can tell if they backed off, I noticed that the main square loader frame tube on the left side that is welded to the frame plate (the one with the 10 bolts), is not welded on all sides and it looks crusty in the area that was not welded. Probably 25% (the rearward side) is unwelded. The tube on the right side is 100% welded. Would you look next time you're out there working on it?

I looked for that lock and lube in the description but I missed it or something, anyway I couldn't find a link to it where you said you'd put it in the descriptions

While working on my 2032R with the MSL this past week, I just watched the eyebolt fall off and was like WTF? I found some loose hardware on the loader and tightened it up, but I guess it was enough play to allow the level bar to put too much pressure on the eyebolt. How did you get the portion of the eyebolt shaft that remained on the loader out? was it stuck? Appears an easy fix if I can get the remaining bolt out. Thanks so much!

Is it just me or do these large frame 2 series tractors seem like have an issue with loose bolts? 🤔

What grease are you using? Looks like Lucas extra heavy duty. The green stuff.

If Deere was smart, they would be monitoring these videos (I'm sure they are if they have a healthy attitude) to get a feel for problems and perceptions.