Simple loader!

[volp]

I have my Kubota B6001 (with 20 HP D950 engine) on the Spanish island of Mallorca. I have no FEL on it. Searching for a not too expensive FEL in Spain, to mount myself, I found THIS FEL that is attached to the front of a small tractor. The manufacturer say that they will adapt it to almost any mini-tractor such as my Kubota. It costs €1500 which is about $1600.
I can see that it is not designed for heavy work.
Another YouTube video HERE
Do you think that it can be useful and worth buying?

Anders

 

[torch]

I have my Kubota B6001 (with 20 HP D950 engine) ... I found THIS FEL that is attached to the front of a small tractor.

My concern would be how far out in front of the tractor the bucket is. It's all about leverage -- the further out the bucket is, the more force it applies to the front axle. When I was researching FEL design, one "rule of thumb" I learned about the proportion of length-in-front to tractor-size is that the distance between the back of the bucket when it's on the ground and the front wheel should be approximately the same as the diameter of front wheel.

Now that's a very rough guideline, but clearly the tractoria unit is way out of proportion. They are digging some very loose, dry soil in the video and still have a large mower hanging off the 3 point hitch for counter balance.

Also, it appears that the unit just bolts to the front "bumper" of the tractor, without any sort of sub-frame underneath to reinforce things. (unless I missed it.) Numerous people advised me that small Kubotas do not have a strong joint between the engine and transmission halves, so it is possible to actually break the tractor in half over time unless there is some reinforcement between the front bumper and the rear axle.

I think you would have to be very careful not to overload that big bucket to avoid damage to your tractor. Is it useful? Well, if you don't have any other options, then a light-duty loader is probably more useful than no loader. But is it worth spending that much money on?

I just built my own traditional-style loader for about 75% of the price of the one you listed, not counting my time. I have approximately 48 hours invested in the construction, which would at least double the cost if one was paying a welding shop to construct it. And since you live on an island, perhaps the cost of shipping would add considerably to the price.

But if you have the skills and time -- or a good friend with same who will work for beer and cigars -- building your own might be a better option. But that's just my 2¢.

 

[D2Cat]

Are wanting to dig as shown in the video, or load onto a trailer/truck?

If you're not needing to pickup the material high enough to dump but just clean/move material you can find a tool like this for less then $300. Some are reversible so you can pull them forward or hook up so you push backwards.

 

[volp]

Where to find plans to build a FEL for my Kubota B6001? Any ideas?

Anders

 

[torch]

I think the B6001 is similar in size to the B7100?

I posted my B7100 FEL build here.

 

[Missouribound]

Have you looked around on Alibaba?

 

[bcp]

Some plans here:

https://www.cadplans.com/cadloaders.html

Bruce

 

[vic gerbasi]

you can try P.F. Engineering 47 Pomeroy Lane Amherst Mass 01002 phone 413 835-5801 p.f.engineering@juno.com

I found this in a very good magazine/book Farm Show available by inexpensive subscription good luck a friend ordered the plans for a loader for JD 755

 

[volp]

Thanks everyone for your input.
I feel that I have the tools to build a FEL if I could get the parts as a kit. I have not found any kit in Spain or in Europe and neither have I found someone that can fabricate the parts in Mallorca. I am still looking! The second hand FELs you can find her on the island are for bigger tractors.

Anders

 

[torch]

Thanks everyone for your input.
I feel that I have the tools to build a FEL if I could get the parts as a kit.

I don't think you are going to find a B6000 FEL kit.

I used 4 double-acting cylinders with a 16" stroke, a open spool control valve capable of handling two circuits with "power beyond". I couldn't find a control with all the features I wanted (single lever joystick, boom float, tip regen) locally, so I bought that on eBay. I measured the required hose lengths to the nearest foot after the fact and bought off-the-shelf hydraulic lines from the same supplier I got the cylinders from.

I had access to a metal supplier that will sell part-lengths of material. I used 3" x 2" rectangular, 3" and 1" square tube of various wall thicknesses, 1/8", 1/4" and 3/8" thick plate, 1/4" thick angle iron, 3" x 1/4" flat bar, 1" round bar stock, DOM tube and a variety of fasteners, mostly Gr.8 nuts and bolts.

I used a 4" x 6" bandsaw, 5" grinder with both grinding and cut-off disks, 12" cut-off saw, die-grinder, sawsall, oxy-acetylene torches, MIG welder, stick welder, small mill and small lathe. Some of those are optional -- there's always more than one way to skin a cat.

I have a nice flat poured concrete surface to work on, but it's off-level (for drainage) so I used an electronic level that can be zeroed at the touch of a button and a couple of squares to ensure things were straight with the machine as I went along. I started by taking basic measurements of the machine and mounting points. Then I sketched out various ideas, with scale measurements, as a guide. Once I settled on my design, I made a list of materials to buy.

I don't know what of the above are available to you on your island, but if you have similar resources then you can build your own without a specific kit.

FWIW: here is my final sketch for my B7100. It would not necessarily fit your B6000, and I think some of the actual dimensions were tweaked during construction, but it would probably be close to the right size.

 

[volp]

Thank you Torch.
This certainly gave me something to think about!

Anders