[Cakes]

Loader is completely functional. Everything is hooked up and working. All hoses are held in place by simple zip-ties for right now. As you can see from the video is does a pretty decent job. I am very pleased with its performance. In the video I am just moving some piles of dirt that I removed from an old garden. I am using my turf tires and I have NO weight in the weight box. I obviously need weight as well as a lug tire. One thing I did notice is that I need power steering as my arms are paying the price. Please let me know what you think of the video and sorry for the quality as its the only camera I have.

 

[BearNPum]

Nice little powerhouse - amazing. Great job Cakes. I need to find a hydro tractor and follow your lead. The video was plenty good enough.

 

[ed-nh]

Wow, I am amazed at how well the 1225 handles that loader. I am new to these old Bolens. I just bought a nice 1886. I guess the FEL would work great on mine. Hmm... something for me to start researching.

 

[Cakes]

I was a little leery as the loader was coming together. I was worried if it was going to have enough power, would the tractor be able to handle it properly, etc. If you do a search for my name you can see my posts on what I did prior to the build to ensure that none of the above would be an issue. I upgraded the front spindles and made the rear weight box. I also repowered the machine a while back with an 18HP Briggs Vanguard V-Twin. Like I said before my only concerns right now are power steering (I am researching it right now) as well as getting some rear lug tires to aid with traction. I actually had my tractor and all my attachments up for sale to find a large frame with loader. A lot of people said a tube frame with loader would not be much more than a powered wheelbarrow. When it did not sell I decided to keep it and make the loader for it. A large frame with loader would be killer based on what my little machine can do.

 

[modaone]

great job on that loader

 

[ed-nh]

Cakes, I found this power steering kit on sonnys bolens. It has a great breakdown of the entire setup for a large frame. It may help you out with the tube frame, not sure though.

http://sonnys_bolens.tripod.com/manuals/images/largeframe/attachments/18088.pdf

 

[Ken in NJ]

Look like its working well to me Cakes .. Have you found anything out on the power steering ? I do not ever recall see it on any tube frames.

I do believe if you load your weight box up .. it will help lighten the load up front.

I have power steering on one of my 1886's which is REAL nice when I use the snow-blower on it.

My HT-23 and HT-20 both with loaders do not have power steering .. and even with a full bucket of dirt .. its not a problem .. as long as I don't try to turn when sitting still ..

 

[Ken in NJ]

Cakes, I found this power steering kit on sonnys bolens. It has a great breakdown of the entire setup for a large frame. It may help you out with the tube frame, not sure though.

http://sonnys_bolens.tripod.com/manuals/images/largeframe/attachments/18088.pdf

All the years I have been going to that site .. I have never seen that info :thanku: for posting it ED

 

[Cakes]

I have never seen a power steering setup on a tube frame but I am sure it could be done with some work. I have been searching ebay for steering units/cylinders from John Deeres (they seem to be the most popular tractors that offered power steering). My main concern is making it look factory. I am also not 100% sure on how the steering works. I mean I know the steering wheel is connected directly to the valve which in turn lets fluid through to the actuating cylinder but does it take full hydraulic pressure/voulme? How do I limit lock-to-lock turning and so on and so forth. I am sure I will figure it out.

 

[Ken in NJ]

I have been SHOCKED with the price they have gotten on e-bay for USED large frame power steering kits .. I am pretty sure one went for close to $700 last year

I am sure you will get one put together .. you sure did a great job building the loader from scratch.. :goodl: on the power steering set up

 

[frugal]

I was wondering what kind of tires you have on the front and what pressure you're running. When I changed from turf to tri-ribs on the front, steering became much easier.

Mike

 

[Cakes]

I am running regular 4-ply turf tires which are 7.5 x 16 x 8 (Deestone brand). I understand a bigger tire will cause more steering force but I am not really wanting to give up on them as I like the wide contact area for working in dirt. I also notice that when I have my 38" Sno-caster installed on front it can be hard to turn when the blower is in the raised position albiet easier than a fully loaded bucket.

 

[crossroads45356]

Yuo did a good job on the loader another choice if you have the room is a bigger steering wheel which will give you more leverage when turning although it will help some when sitting still it will make it alot easier when moving power steering would be the ultimate

 

[Cakes]

I actually have already drawn up my plans for a hydrostatic steering set-up. It will utilize a 1" bore by 6" stroke cylinder (with Heim ends) along with a 4.8 in^3 orbital valve which I have speced out to fit in a "hogged out" factory steering column. These valves are used often by 4x4 rock climbers and thats where I found a lot of information. I plan on attaching one end of the cylinder to the frame and the other to the tie-rod. I am also upgrading the tie-rod at the same time to a 15/16" piece of 4140 (its a scrap Marlin 30-30 barrel blank, I am an engineer at Marlin Firearms) I am also going to use heavy duty heim joints from McMaster. See the attached picture for an idea as to how it will work.

 

[larryccf]

nice job - i haven't got my FEL tractor up and running but was thinking i'd need power steering, so i've been researching what bolens did.

and what another poster said pricing - i've watch two power steering assemblies, sold by individual component go for over $500 each on ebay - killer is that the nearly identical powering steering control valve, mounted at bottom end of steering column is available at the surplus center

doubt you need the info, but in case, there's some decent info on how bolens routed the power steering lines, in series, on the GT2000 at the sonny bolens site
svc manual: http://www.sonnysbolens.com/manuals/images/5000-5100-GTX/1760169-5100-DURATRAC.pdf
the GT2000 is the 5120H

and the parts manual
http://www.sonnysbolens.com/manuals/images/5000-5100-GTX/5118HS-5120H.pdf


suspect we know some folks in common - i'm in the firearms industry as well, and knew most of the folks at H&R before marlin bought the operation

 

[slkpk]

Thanks for the video. It looks like it does a great job for it's size. slkpk

 

[crossroads45356]

Thank you guys for the information I am either going to build a loader for one of my tractors or find a tractor with a loader on it for me doing firewood I think it would be very useful

 

[Cakes]

The orbital valve I have been using for my research is located here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/STEE...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

For $275 + shipping I do not think it is a bad price considering it comes with steering column of your choice as well as fittings for the valve itself. I am not 100% sure as to what steering wheel I am going to use but more than likely some basic/cheap 15" automotive type.

I have used the loader for sometime now and I can say that it can and will be a very handy tool for me. I look forward to using it some this winter to remove snow (I also have plow and 38" sno-caster). One thing I definately need for sure is power steering as well as AG tires for the rear. I think it was well worth the effort and cost to make this for my tractor.

 

[larryccf]

it might be easier to find one already built - i found mine for $450, stilll attached to a questionable H16xl - when i say questionable, it had been "frankensteined" sometime ago and didn't run but is restorable and nowhere near as bad as i thought - the two "brushed" paint jobs and tons of grease/grime made it hard to tell

there have been other FELs sold in the $350 - 500 range - when i checked the parts/plans available, i estimated $1000 - 1200 to build from scratch

 

[Cakes]

I spent about $1000 on my loader. Most of the expense was hydraulics. The reason I built mine was to be sure that it would fit my tractor 100%. I also drew it first in CAD to confirm the design.