Loaders for Garden Tractors

2624 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by TUDOR, Nov 16, 2015

ncostello

Discussion Starter · Oct 21, 2015

I have a 2000 model year Cub Cadet 3235. It was the biggest Cub sold at the time. Been a mower all it's life with a 54" shaft driven deck.

I know it's not a Cub of years gone by...but what are opinions on this tractor handling a front end loader with say, a 42" wide small profile bucket. Been seriously considering this and a three point to make me a utility dirt mover for my property. I'm tired of borrowing my friends huge bobcat skid steer that destroys more than it fixes in my yard.

I'd have to add an additional pump and perhaps reinforce the frame...but overall it's a decent sized machine with 25HP and power steering. I could easily run the pump off the deck pto location. I'll let the tractor hydraulic system handle the forward/reverse and the steering only.

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steddy

· #5 · Nov 15, 2015

Tractor-Holic said:
I have a question...

I made a scoop/bucket clamshell type of loader and have installed it on a Sears Suburban,using a home built frame that attaches to the 4 mower deck mounts,which are plenty beefy enough...the frame goes under the front axle,and does not attach to the axle,leaving it free to "tilt" as it goes over uneven ground...

After putting this all together,with no weights or ballast in the rear tires,or on the rear of the tractor,just me standing in the bucket (I weigh about 180 lbs),will want to lift the whole rear end off the ground,and the front axle pivot action makes the tractor want to do a flip !...it also puts a lot of stress on the chassis,makes it want to flex if I put my weight towards the outer ends of the scoop bucket..

Now I realize adding weight to the rear will help a lot to eliminate that,but now I'm wondering if it would have been better to make the front axle "solid" by attaching the framework to the lower axle tabs...to prevent it from tilting...?

I had a 641 Ford tractor with a loader that had a center pivot front axle and it didn't seem that unstable,even when I had no liquid in the rear tires..but that was larger and heavier too..

I'm thinking make the front axle more solid might improve the stability on the Sears though...the factory Roper snowplow had 4 links that went on the front axle tabs ,in addition to the mule drive,so it tends to prevent the axle from pivoting as much as it normally would..am I right,or should I just leave it as is,and just weight the rear end down with loaded tires and wheel weights and more piled on the back ?..

:Stop:
Don't do it! At the very least, one of your rear tires will seem to be constantly off the ground on the leastest unlevelest of conditions. This will majorly stress out your frame, leading to premature failure.

The reason for this is when you have a pivoting front axle, essentially you have a tricycle. Three points will ALWAYS lie in the same plane (triangulation, if you will). Four points (4 tires always in the same relationship to each other) will also always pretty much be in the same plane, so you better hope the ground you're working on is perfecly flat, or the two planes will never be parallel. Long story short, this will spell early destruction for your frame or front spindles, since they will no longer equally share an uneven load either from forces in the loaded bucket or those on the ground.

Think: camera tripod vs. 4 legged plastic molded outdoor chair placed on hard, uneven ground. Which is more stable?

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