The crooked FEL & Kubota's

[sdk1968]

there are several threads on us not having level FEL's here on the site....

& YEP like everyone else, mine is not level on a level floor either.

it does seem to be getting worse & i repeatedly check tire pressure to make sure thats not the culprit. (my tire pressure never changes, btw)

so my question is for you guys with "bigger" tractors:

is this happening on ALL Kubo's?

or is it just on the smaller ones ? (BX's & B's)

or is it just up to a certain size FEL? (3, 4, 5 series)



love my 2601, its an awesome machine! but if all you have to do to avoid this is "move up" to a 33? i might consider doing that as it does tweak my OCD to see it setting crooked.

LMAO

thoughts, input & experience wanted!

 

[tcrote5516]

You can tweek the FEL on any size tractor. Obviously the bigger the machine, the bigger the force required to do so but none are exempt. I think the reason you see it more prevalent in the smaller bx and b series is many of the owners (myself included) ask it to do more than we should relative to it's size at times. A bigger machine handles bigger loads easier so it's automatically got better odds at staying straight.

I know I had mine out of whack a couple of years ago. The right side was a good inch higher than the left. I never did anything about it and I've seen it go the other direction where the left was a half inch higher than the right. At the moment it's dead on level and it has been for the last year or so. I expect a bit of movement is very normal. One good off center workout one day will eventually be equaled out over time. Not great for the OCD but nothing to worry about so long as it's a minor tweek and not real damage that causes fel mount line up issues.

 

[jryser]

So how DO you "re-level" one?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pau7220]

Well, here's how I fixed my 2200hr L3650 w/ a Landpride fel. Last owner must've hit a Stationary object at full throttle in eighth gear. I found the bend in the lift arm using a straight edge. 10 ton Porta-Power wouldn't budge it, and I didn't want to take any further risk of a chain in the face. I may have broken every rule in the book, but mine was so far off I had no choice.

I located exactly where the bend started, you can actually see where the paint flaked off. I cut the lift arm about halfway through with the plasma cutter. I then did my thing with the Porta-Power. I bent a U-shaped 1/4" round stock and put it inside of the lift arm for back up material during welding. Vee'd out the cut and re-welded. I've worked it pretty hard since the repair without issue.

 

[sdk1968]

wow! so you actually had a BENT arm!!

from the other discussions here i just thought these were poorly aligned or had bad attachment point locations....

my brand new baby has never picked up anything heavy or attacked a post/pole, but will look it over really close now to see if i got any warps.

 

[BAP]

Another issue to check is the rear tires. It has been reported before that someone found out that their rear tires were not the same height. They ended getting one of the tires swapped so that they were both equal size.

 

[skeets]

Pau,,, you gota be a coal miner,,lol

 

[Dr Honda]

I like the comment on the tires.

So... how "Not level" is it? My BX1870 seems very level when I set it down on the driveway... but I know it's not in my garage. After thinking about it... my garage floor looks level, but it's not. There is a drain, and it slightly tipped to the center. Because of this... it's hard to put my FEL back on when it's in there. (just something to think about if it's just a little out)

 

[sdk1968]

its pretty consistent on any level surface, driveway, garage, shop, yard, down at the gas station... (yes i drive it down to the gas station in my rural location)

when the guys here first pointed it out to me it was not much... now its probably closer to 1.5-2" of difference.

will measure the tires & not just check the air pressure. good idea.

 

[dandeman]

I like the comment on the tires.

So... how "Not level" is it? My BX1870 seems very level when I set it down on the driveway... but I know it's not in my garage. After thinking about it... my garage floor looks level, but it's not. There is a drain, and it slightly tipped to the center. Because of this... it's hard to put my FEL back on when it's in there. (just something to think about if it's just a little out)

Garage floors can really be deceptive looking.. My garage with an 18' and 9' door on the front and a side 11'x11' door has the floor tilted toward both the front and side doors for water drainage.. e.g. right rear corner the highest and left front corner the lowest and not really sure what transitions may be in the floor from a flat plane. Would take a laser level to measure it.

My FEL doesn't sit level either, but suspect it's in part due to the rear tires.. the MMM and rear blower has more weight on the right side.

 

[Loner16]

Whenever I've noticed this issue, I check the rear tires. Mine are loaded, so I don't check air pressure, and it's not that meaningful anyway. I always get a dimension from the level floor to the top of the tire. When they are equal side to side, my loader sits level.

 

[vio4701]

Mine is just barely off, 1/4 inch one side. Not bad

 

[sdk1968]

on a level piece of concrete (level on eye check, level on level, tractor level on level bubble too!)

34" in the back

22" in the front

right at 1 5/8" left side of bucket high (from seat view)

checked for visual bends or warps & cant find any, but also have never picked up anything heavy or off center.. usually just scooping gravel or back dragging.

but if you guys think its a twist in the FEL frame or tractor frame? i'll start trying to load it a little more to that side & see if it will even out.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Mine was crooked when I got it, and it was a combination of rear tires not evenly inflated, detected by measuring from center top of rim to ground, and the frame not being bolted in the optimal spots. There is some play in the bolts, it really isn't a twist in the frame. The tech put the bucket down, lifted the tractor a bit with the hydraulics, loosened the bolts and retigntened them. You want them really tight once the bucket is level.

 

[KennedyFarmer]

Pau,,, you gota be a coal miner,,lol

Wow...someone from my area of PA!

 

[Newlyme]

Well you guys had me out checking mine today.
I set all of my tire pressures first then measured.

BX24 3/8" off.
M4900 1/8" off.

Not going to do anything about it just curious.

 

[Pau7220]

Wow...someone from my area of PA!

Scranton or SW PA?

 

[Pau7220]

Pau,,, you gota be a coal miner,,lol

Even though I'm a mining history fan, I'm just a mechanic that's used to fixing butcher jobs done by others.
Steering box post>> http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32404