LA 525 Loader Issue

[millsrv]

Grouse 09. I went out and checked my LA534 loader yesterday also out of curiousty. Mine looked slightly tweaked just like yours. I went by the dealer today and looked at a brand new B2650 with LA534 loader, and brand new on the lot it was exactly the same as yours and mine. Just the way they are made I guess.

I would appreciate it if you would measure the thickness of the steel plate on your 534 brackets and let us know. i will do the same with my 525.
Thank you!

 

[rkidd]

I would appreciate it if you would measure the thickness of the steel plate on your 534 brackets and let us know. i will do the same with my 525.
Thank you!

I went out and measured the plate thickness for the brackets with a dial caliper and was .255 or 1/4" plate. The thing I noticed when I was at the dealer saturday was that the bracket for the 525 loader and where the upper pins for the bucket cylinder mount are alot taller off of the loader arms than the ones on the 534 loader, which can sure be adding to the problem.

 

[precisionbike]

Does this problem also apply to the LA 434?


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[LMTractorGuy]

Does anyone know what the measurement is on a new LA525 loader at the point in question?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Does anyone know what the measurement is on a new LA525 loader at the point in question?

It should be the same width as it is below where the plates are welded to the boom.

 

[millsrv]

Does anyone know what the measurement is on a new LA525 loader at the point in question?

Yes I measured mine yesterday and those plates (brackets) are 3/16"
So it appears that the 534 loader has thicker plates than the 525.

 

[millsrv]

I went out and measured the plate thickness for the brackets with a dial caliper and was .255 or 1/4" plate. The thing I noticed when I was at the dealer saturday was that the bracket for the 525 loader and where the upper pins for the bucket cylinder mount are alot taller off of the loader arms than the ones on the 534 loader, which can sure be adding to the problem.

Absolutely, between that and the fact that Kubota used 3/16" steel plate instead of the 1/4" on your 534. Looks like based on this new information that the 534 loader is not going to have this issue or at least not as much.

 

[Fractal]

Anybody brought this to the attention of a dealer yet?

I am still waiting to hear from my dealer about the rest of the accessories I purchased when we signed, so I haven't mentioned it to him yet. He owes me:

Service manual
parts manual
top link
canopy and lights
filled r1 tires

I have called once to check status, he didn't return the call. This is something that is irritating the crap out of me, he did the same thing when we were looking to buy. Claimed he didn't get the message from voice mail. This time I left the message with a person, over a week ago, and still haven't heard from him. I don't absolutely need the stuff right now, so I am curious how long it will be before I hear from him. Meanwhile we are putting a lot of wear and tear on brand new "loaner" R4's until the R1's are installed. I doubt he realizes I have put almost 30 hours on it already in less than a month. Oh well, we will see how long it takes for him to get off his posterior. I still have the Kubota after sale satisfaction survey sitting on my counter at home. Figure I will fill it out after I see if I get everything he promised.

 

[millsrv]

I am still waiting to hear from my dealer about the rest of the accessories I purchased when we signed, so I haven't mentioned it to him yet. He owes me:

Service manual
parts manual
top link
canopy and lights
filled r1 tires

I have called once to check status, he didn't return the call. This is something that is irritating the crap out of me, he did the same thing when we were looking to buy. Claimed he didn't get the message from voice mail. This time I left the message with a person, over a week ago, and still haven't heard from him. I don't absolutely need the stuff right now, so I am curious how long it will be before I hear from him. Meanwhile we are putting a lot of wear and tear on brand new "loaner" R4's until the R1's are installed. I doubt he realizes I have put almost 30 hours on it already in less than a month. Oh well, we will see how long it takes for him to get off his posterior. I still have the Kubota after sale satisfaction survey sitting on my counter at home. Figure I will fill it out after I see if I get everything he promised.

My friend and I both purchased our tractors from the same dealer a year apart and had similar issues with the salesman who actually owns the dealer. We both discovered that texting him brought almost instant results, where calling and leaving a message did not. If you have his cell number, and you should in this day and age, try that.
Being an old f**t I used to think that texting was some rude thing that kids did, and it may be, but it sure is handy. I use texting all the time now and wonder how I got along without it.

 

[Fractal]

I don't have his cell number and he is an older gentleman (owner of the dealership) that doesn't even keep a computer on his desk. He has his office staff handle the technology.


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[D2Cat]

Remember, The squeaky wheel gets the grease. If he doesn't hear the squeak, you'll get no grease!!

I'd call, get the persons name you leave the message with, let that person know you've been trying several times to reach the owner/salesperson. Ask when he will be available to be on the phone...be persistent. Call two or three times a day until you're satisfied.

From the human relations perspective, don't get loud or angry in your voice.

Use the "sandwich" approach! Positive, Negative, Positive.

Start out with a compliment, "I want to let you know I really like my new tractor."

Then insert the problem/challange, "I need to visit with Charlie to go over the manual's I haven't received, top link, tires I ordered and the canopy."

Now the other piece of bread in the sandwich is something positive again. "This tractor sure starts quicker then my old one, glad my friends talked me into looking at Kubota"!

 

[bdale]

I have a B2650 with the 534 loader and it is doing the same thing, just got this tractor new late last year so all I have done with it so far is mow my grass and play around with the loader some to get a feel for using it, tractor only has 16 hours on it. While studying the design of this unit I thought I would take a different approach to fix the problem. My loader doesn't have a lot of room that some of the others have to drill and put a pin through the main pivot pin. I thought that I would drill and tap a hole length way in the out board side of the main pivot pin and install a hardened bolt with an appropriate size washer to tighten up against the flange

 

[rkidd]

I have a B2650 with the 534 loader and it is doing the same thing, just got this tractor new late last year so all I have done with it so far is mow my grass and play around with the loader some to get a feel for using it, tractor only has 16 hours on it. While studying the design of this unit I thought I would take a different approach to fix the problem. My loader doesn't have a lot of room that some of the others have to drill and put a pin through the main pivot pin. I thought that I would drill and tap a hole length way in the out board side of the main pivot pin and install a hardened bolt with an appropriate size washer to tighten up against the flange

Bdale. Just making sure you saw my post that mine were a little tweaked,bowed out at the pins also and I have 450 hrs on mine and have bucketed alot of material. I went to the dealer and looked at a brand new B2650 with LA534 loader and no hrs to see if there was any difference. The new loader looked identical to mine at the pins. It just seems to be that they are made and welded up that way. Everything is good.

 

[bdale]

Bdale. Just making sure you saw my post that mine were a little tweaked,bowed out at the pins also and I have 450 hrs on mine and have bucketed alot of material. I went to the dealer and looked at a brand new B2650 with LA534 loader and no hrs to see if there was any difference. The new loader looked identical to mine at the pins. It just seems to be that they are made and welded up that way. Everything is good.

rkidd does your tractor loader have a second hole behind the pivot pin that looks like it might have been the original spot , but was maybe changed due to not having enough room for the bucket cylinder

 

[Fractal]

Remember, The squeaky wheel gets the grease. If he doesn't hear the squeak, you'll get no grease!!

I'd call, get the persons name you leave the message with, let that person know you've been trying several times to reach the owner/salesperson. Ask when he will be available to be on the phone...be persistent. Call two or three times a day until you're satisfied.

From the human relations perspective, don't get loud or angry in your voice.

Use the "sandwich" approach! Positive, Negative, Positive.

Start out with a compliment, "I want to let you know I really like my new tractor."

Then insert the problem/challange, "I need to visit with Charlie to go over the manual's I haven't received, top link, tires I ordered and the canopy."

Now the other piece of bread in the sandwich is something positive again. "This tractor sure starts quicker then my old one, glad my friends talked me into looking at Kubota"!

Good advice, I am going to wait him out a bit longer, and then I will try again. I get very annoyed when someone doesn't do what they say they will, and I have to pester them, one of my huge pet peeves.

 

[rkidd]

rkidd does your tractor loader have a second hole behind the pivot pin that looks like it might have been the original spot , but was maybe changed due to not having enough room for the bucket cylinder

Bdale. Yes there is another hole behind where the pin is on mine also. It might be something they use for a jig when they build the loader?

 

[lugbolt]

What's causing the metal to be bent OUTWARD? I'm curious. The cylinder is inline with the frame, so there is mostly forces in that direction (fore and aft). What is causing them to be forced sideways? I know someone who might could use this information, and I'll forward the issue. I guess nobody ever noticed this issue on the LA524 which is almost the same loader and same tractor (for the most part)?

You guys that have bent loaders, how are you using them? What is your general location?

Just because there's x amount of same problems doesn't mean Kubota (or any other manufacturer) is going to issue a TSB or "recall"....they need to know how people are using them, what they're being used for to cause it, the general locale of the failures and a host of other information. Then, and only then, they will make a decision as to what's causing it. This goes for cars, trucks, tractors, toys, almost everything. A great example was Ford and the Explorer "exploding" firestones.

BTW a "recall" is issued for safety concerns. A factory directed modification is issued for non-safety concerns, and a TSB is issued for service information only, which is fix-as-fail basis.

 

[D2Cat]

Lugbolt, your experience sure adds to this forum. I appreciate your input.

 

[mdhughes]

I wonder if we had a list of S/N's of FEL with the failure and a list of S/N's for FEL that don't have any failure we might find a pattern.

I have almost 200 hours on my L3901DT and have done a lot of FEL work with it. I have moved a lot of dirt (red clay), maybe 30 hours or so and I haven't seen any movement in the metal.

I would be willing to set up a web page/database to track this information if it would help.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Mdhughes, I share your enthusiasm for data...and I am wondering if such a database should include some measurements to show if the shape of the metal is changing with use at all? I kind of think that rkidd has part of the answer, namely that the metal is flared out from the get go, but I wonder if it can be bent from heavy use?