BX 24 front windshield shattered...but WHY?

[Mizman]

Moving snow with the bucket, first really cold day, temp about 12°

In 4WD kinda climbing up a snowbank to deliver a bucket load of snow (&rocks) behind the pile, I was kinda far up and the bucket was really high and just as I dropped I heard over the diesel rumbling a CLICK

Was in the open, dropped and reversed and was heading towards the next pile in the wide open and suddenly the window blasts into the cab! Safety glass but I was glad I had my safety glasses on!

Spoke with several people that operate tractors and one suggested torsion. It was late fall and very cold and I had the window locked closed, the two lower handles pushed down.

There was a windshield wiper motor attached front and center and I don't think it was activated during the shield burst.

Can anyone tell me about torsion and I am trying to figure out if I did anything wrong and literally ANY comments and advice would help.

Thanks from the NOOB

 

[William1]

You were unevenly loading the tires (all four not at the same height) and that induces a slight twisting to the machine. Metal flexes, glass does not, The solution is to try and enable the cab to 'float' (mount on rubber bushings.)
When I raced cars, it was not uncommon for windshields to fracture in hard corners, when rules permitted, we replaced with plexiglass.

 

[Hugo Habicht]

I assume that was heat treated pre-stressed glass that shattered into thousands of pieces.

This type glass is really tough and can take a lot of abuse but what it does not like is anything hard against the edge or on the surface. Is it possible that a rock fell out of the bucket and against the wind screen?

Difficult to speculate without knowing how the glass was mounted (glued into frame or rubber surround strip). If the former it may not have been centered correctly and warping of the frame caused the edge to be pushed hard against steel.

You could replace it by laminated safety glass, this may crack when it gets damaged but you still have a warm cabin.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

in the good old days, there was a thick, large rubber gasket between the glass and the frame that allowed independent movement. You'll find 1,000s of 50s-50s cars with their original windshields in them and roads were a LOT rougher back then. Today they GLUE them with 'windshield ureathane',so no real 'give' to them.

 

[Speed25]

What brand of cab? My BX Curtis cab had the windshield on its own hinges/latches and no amount of torsion would bother it in the least.

 

[Bee-Positive]

Seems unlikely but maybe thermal stress with a little help from jarring when you dumped?
You didn't say if you went from a heated garage to outside or if you had a cab heater pointing at the window heating it unevenly.

Could have been a nick or flaw in the window when installed also.
You'll never know now that it's shattered.

 

[Mizman]

I assume that was heat treated pre-stressed glass that shattered into thousands of pieces.

This type glass is really tough and can take a lot of abuse but what it does not like is anything hard against the edge or on the surface. Is it possible that a rock fell out of the bucket and against the wind screen?

Difficult to speculate without knowing how the glass was mounted (glued into frame or rubber surround strip). If the former it may not have been centered correctly and warping of the frame caused the edge to be pushed hard againsr steel.

You could replace it by laminated safety glass, this may crack when it gets damaged but you still have a warm cabin.

Yes, exactly...thousands of tiny pieces and I am so glad I always wear my safety glasses as my hands got blasted with shards and many cuts.

I am leaning towards something falling down from the bucket as a reason and I was up the snowbank pretty high and I did hear a CLICK but nothing happened immediately.

After the shattering experience, I attempted to recreate the angle and bucket lift and I guess a rock could have dropped, hit the arm and bounced into the window, maybe there was a crack and backing it down into level fatally flexed it.

The window had a metallic frame around the glass that fit it into the cab front. It wasn't rubber at all.

Thanks for your opinion, I think that's what happened and thanks for the laminated glass repair idea, the tinted glass from Kubota is unfortunately over $1k.

 

[Mizman]

Seems unlikely but maybe thermal stress with a little help from jarring when you dumped?
You didn't say if you went from a heated garage to outside or if you had a cab heater pointing at the window heating it unevenly.

Could have been a nick or flaw in the window when installed also.
You'll never know now that it's shattered.

The machine is stored outdoors and we did have an extremely sudden cold snap as I recall about 12° temperature.

I did not have the heater on at all.

I think a rock fell from the bucket when I was in a high lift up the side of a snowbank type position and as the four wheels were all engaged and kinda torquing the frame, maybe the click was the first part of the shatter and when the cab squared on relatively flat ground, it blew in violently.

Thanks for your opinion, I appreciate your answers.

 

[Mizman]

You were unevenly loading the tires (all four not at the same height) and that induces a slight twisting to the machine. Metal flexes, glass does not, The solution is to try and enable the cab to 'float' (mount on rubber bushings.)
When I raced cars, it was not uncommon for windshields to fracture in hard corners, when rules permitted, we replaced with plexiglass.

Thanks for your information, it seems like a combination of maybe a rock falling and bouncing into the glass and then the torque doomed it.

Must be real scary driving a racecar and the windshield cracked...what an experience and thank you again for your reply.

 

[Mizman]

in the good old days, there was a thick, large rubber gasket between the glass and the frame that allowed independent movement. You'll find 1,000s of 50s-50s cars with their original windshields in them and roads were a LOT rougher back then. Today they GLUE them with 'windshield ureathane',so no real 'give' to them.

Yeah, the glass windshield had a metallic border, definitely not rubber, the cab side glass all have rubber gaskets around them, this was metallic.

Thanks for your reply, I appreciate your opinion.

 

[Mizman]

What brand of cab? My BX Curtis cab had the windshield on its own hinges/latches and no amount of torsion would bother it in the least.

There were two latches on the bottom at each side that closed and opened the windshield about 2-3" and I had them latched down or closed. Two mounting hinges at the top.

i think something fell from the bucket in the extreme angle up the snowbank and bounced into the glass. I heard a CLICK but didn't notice anything until it imploded shortly after.

Thank you for your response, I appreciate you taking the time. I have an owners manual but the cab was likely also a Curtis build but the gasket was metallic, not really rubber.

 

[D2Cat]

I was carrying a shower door up some stairs in a rental, I bumped the frame as I was going up. The explosion sounded like a gun going off. The lady downstairs came bolting out wondering if I was OK. The largest piece of glass was a bit smaller then my little finger nail.

 

[Mizman]

I was carrying a shower door up some stairs in a rental, I bumped the frame as I was going up. The explosion sounded like a gun going off. The lady downstairs came bolting out wondering if I was OK. The largest piece of glass was a bit smaller then my little finger nail.

Yes, EXACTLY like that. I was inside the cab when the windshield exploded in and the diesel engine was running but the BANG was still loud. Cuts on both my hands, I almost always wear safety glasses and I was glad I did that day. I was clearing tiny little pieces of glass out of the frame with a toothbrush in a few tights spots.

 

[mikester]

Safety glass can shatter unexpectedly and for no apparent reason. You won the glass lottery!

Spontaneous Glass Breakage: Why it happens and what to do about it

The past few years have seen several highly publicized incidents involving window and balcony glass breaking spontaneously and falling from high-rise buildings.

www.constructionspecifier.com

 

[Mizman]

Safety glass can shatter unexpectedly and for no apparent reason. You won the glass lottery!

Spontaneous Glass Breakage: Why it happens and what to do about it

The past few years have seen several highly publicized incidents involving window and balcony glass breaking spontaneously and falling from high-rise buildings.

www.constructionspecifier.com

LOL, the glass lottery.

Very interesting article, thank you for sharing it.

 

[chim]

My youngest son and I broke the same full glass storm door (years apart). He was a youngster "playing golf" in the front yard. After convincing him that I wouldn't eliminate him from the gene pool, he described it as one of the most awesome things he'd seen. He said the instant the ball hit the glass, it kinda turned opaque and fell straight down. About 6 years later I got to have that experience when the string trimmer launched a small stone into the very same door.

Years earlier I was replacing a glass window in the garage door at our previous house. Somewhere I salvaged a storm window and it was much larger than the garage door window. No sweat, I have glass cutters. I removed the metal edges and placed the glass on a big plywood tool chest. As I scribed the glass with the cutter and not much happened till the little cutter wheel stepped off the glass at the end of the stroke. There was a small "BANG" and the glass changed form a single panel to a bunch of scattered pieces none of which were larger than a kernel of corn. It was one of those whattheheckhappened minutes.

 

[Spam Bot]

I remember when a high-rise building was built, and everyone marveled at the full-length glass at the ends of the halls where you could look out at the city below. According to the news report, a genius in an office took the bet that he couldn't run down the hall and bounce off the glass as someone had seen in a video. He took the bet, ran from one end of the hall, and when he got to the end where the glass was, he jumped up and through his body into the glass. The glass shattered, and he fell to his death. It was later determined that his belt buckle caused the glass to shatter. That building now has steel bars on the lower half to idiot proof the glass.
I would install plexiglas into the frame and call it a replacement. Just make sure that it is wetted down with a hose before you attempt to clean it. Otherwise, you will scratch it.

 

[chim]

If the glass is curved, it's pay big for glass or do something with plastic. If it can be flat, I'd have a piece of laminated auto glass made to fit. I built a cab several years ago and made luan templates for the glass cutter. Any material other than glass will not be satisfactory in the long run. That's especially true if you have a wiper. It was $10/SF back around the end of 2012 when I built the L3200 cab. Like everything else it's probably much more now.

 

[Brown]

People who live in glass houses shouldn't mow stones.

Or something like that . . . .