Time to shim?

[shiraz627]

So my 2018 BX23S is almost 1yr. old with 85hours on the clock. Today I was turning my reserve top soil because there were to many weeds growing in it. I live to Southeast Georgia so the topsoil is like a gray sand. The soil is dry, so when I was filling the bucket the machine would not curl or lift the bucket until I backed up a bit. Seems like it is loosing lifting power. Time to check the pressure ans shim if necessary? Any thoughts?

 

[BigG]

Take a look at the spec sheet that Bota puts out on your tractor. Your tractor with a QA bucket and 500mm in front is rated at 423 pounds. Your tractor with a pin on bucket can lift at 500mm to the front 509 pounds because it is about 1.8 inches nearer to the pivot point. That is an 86 pound difference by moving the load only 1.8 inches. With these small sub compact tractors a small difference in the shape of the dirt/material in your bucket will make a big difference in what you can lift.

Your info says that you have added a tooth bar to the front of your bucket. I have never seen a Piranha bar in person but from the pictures I am going to guess that it sticks out in front of the bucket more then two inches. But let us call it 2 inches to make my point. Moving the bucket forward 1.8 inches cost 86 pounds of lifting force, what does moving the front edge another 2 inches cost? 423/509 = 17 % in lost lift in 1.8 inches.
Doubling the distance (3.8 inches) the weight is moved forward results in the loss of 173 pounds of lifting capacity.

My advice is to back up a little and let the tractor lift what it can. Remember it is a small machine and all the components are sized to work together.

I have a friend that ran a diesel pickup and wanted more power. He add the Banks power boast which gave him all kinds of power. Then he wanted to know why he had to keep replacing the transmission.

As much as we want to *itch about engineers, their job and their knowledge are put into place to keep you and your machine safe.

 

[edritchey]

I think with some practice you will be able to fill the bucket. It sounds like you are going into the pile to hard. Practice coming into the pile while curling and raising the bucket at the same time. The issue you are describing is something you can correct with some time on the machine. I doubt changing the pressure in your hydraulics is going to help much.

So my 2018 BX23S is almost 1yr. old with 85hours on the clock. Today I was turning my reserve top soil because there were to many weeds growing in it. I live to Southeast Georgia so the topsoil is like a gray sand. The soil is dry, so when I was filling the bucket the machine would not curl or lift the bucket until I backed up a bit. Seems like it is loosing lifting power. Time to check the pressure ans shim if necessary? Any thoughts?

 

[shiraz627]

Thanks for the input. I had the bucket overflowing, which I rarely do. So perhaps I found the limits of the little machine!

 

[Tornado]

What the guys say here is very true. Every inch you move further out on the bucket you lose lifting capacity. If for example you go into a pile, and dont fully curl the bucket, so the load is mounded right on the tip of the bucket instead of being rolled back more into the bucket, you lose noticeable lifting capacity just from the bucket being curled more forward with a load. BX23S is rated at 613lbs lift capacity at the pivot pin. That drops to 423lbs 500mm forward. You can easily hit that with a full bucket of dirt.