loader build resumes!

Utility blade, snow caster, mower deck, weights, sleeve hitch, 3pt hitch, front end loader, backhoe, and more. Ready made or homemade.
User avatar
thebuildist United States of America
Posts: 814
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2021 5:09 pm
Location: Atlanta, ga
Has thanked: 837 times
Been thanked: 3243 times

loader build resumes!

Post by thebuildist »

Well I have crossed a milestone. After 8 or 9 months and something like 14 long pages, I realized today that the "adding a spool valve" thread can finally be closed.

Yesterday I went ahead and bolted the loader cross member and vertical receivers back onto the tractor. Early this morning I bolted on the transaxle reinforcements and buttoned up the various covers and sheet metal that I had removed in order to get access to the TCV.

So now the tractor is substantially reassembled and I'm ready to continue/finish up the loader build process.

This afternoon I drove out and remounted the loader onto the tractor. That's a bit of a first, because I fabricated the cross member and bolted it on then fabricated the tower receivers and bolted them on then built the loader assembly to match those tower receivers.

But this is the first time that I've completely disassembled everything and then reassembled it and confirmed that the detachable loader can still successfully attach and detach without moving heaven and earth. And it worked fine. There's a bit of grunting and wiggling and pounding with a rawhide faced mallet. But nothing extraordinary or out of order.

So early tomorrow morning I weld up a mounting plate to hold the new spool valve. And as soon as the new valve is bolted in its final position, I have merely to run the various hoses and 3/8 inch hard lines to the four cylinders before, for the first time, the boom and bucket controls will actually work when I pull the levers. It's been such a long road to get to this point it seems impossible. But I'm right on the precipice.

As soon as I can operate the boom and bucket by hydraulics, the final two steps are:

1: Attach the quick attach mounting plates. One to a set of forks, the other to a bucket. I'll have to do some minor fabrication and adjustment to get the quick attach plates on there in the proper orientation. I have yet to work out the full details of the sliding pin that will engage to lock the quick detach implement onto the tractor.

2: The final step will be to work out the balance of how much counterweight I need. And then create the counterweight.

I intend to buy ten 80 lb bags of concrete. I'll load them in the bucket and find the tipping point of how much weight in the bucket causes the back wheels to lift off the ground. From there I'll measure the fulcrum leverage from the center line of the front wheels to where the counterweight will be picked up by the 3-point hitch. And that will tell me how much weight I need slung from the 3-point to keep the back wheels on the ground plus about 500 lb for traction. Whatever weight that is, I'll make a concrete cube with steel shaft ears sticking out the side that I can just slide the rings of the three-point arms right over and lift it up. It seems foolproof to me...

Bob
"Never be afraid to try something new. How hard can it be?"
User avatar
DavidBarkey Canada
Posts: 3108
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 10:35 am
Location: Waverley On.
Has thanked: 17080 times
Been thanked: 10414 times

Re: loader build resumes!

Post by DavidBarkey »

Remember Bob @thebuildist the farther you place the counter weight behind , the less weight you need to use which reduces the over all weight of the tractor and the load on the rear axle . I perfer to split the weight between static and dynamic. Some on / in the wheels and some out back . this reduces stress on the axle in both downward and upward motion of the frame .
BTW Bob , enjoyed reading of your adventures in the build . Job well done .
Dave
Mad Tractor Builder
User avatar
Eugen Canada
Posts: 5141
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2021 2:52 pm
Location: Port Mcnicoll, Ontario
Has thanked: 11934 times
Been thanked: 16195 times
Contact:

Re: loader build resumes!

Post by Eugen »

Glad you're back tot he loader build. I'm curious what you'll make the hard lines from and how?
Case 224, 444, 644, 680E
Kubota B26 :blush:
User avatar
thebuildist United States of America
Posts: 814
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2021 5:09 pm
Location: Atlanta, ga
Has thanked: 837 times
Been thanked: 3243 times

Re: loader build resumes!

Post by thebuildist »

I'll make them out of standard 3/8" hydraulic tubing, which I bought at a local hydraulics shop. I picked up some#6 JIC nuts and sleeves on eBay a while back. So all I have to do is bend them and flare them.

For bending 3/8, a little tubing bender works like a charm.
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61j ... _QL65_.jpg

For anything larger I use one of these:

http://www.universaltrading.lk/wp-conte ... bender.jpg

For flaring I've learned as I go. I started by modifying one of these, turning the bevel on its plunger from 45 degrees to 37.

https://content.speedwaymotors.com/Prod ... 69f192.jpg

That was ok for small stuff, but it bent trying to flare 5/8 tubing.

So I bought an eccentric ratcheting flare tool, and modified its plunger.

https://images.cecompass.com/productima ... 808A_A.jpg

That tool is amazing. Instead of ramming the plunger straight in, it rotates the plunger around the inner rim of the tube, like the motion when you rub your finger around a crystal glass to make it ring. So it's only bending a little bit of metal at a time, and progresses around and around, slowly inward until it's all done. Really a pleasure to use, though I did make a twister handle to mount in my drill, so that the drill can do the work of turning the handle the... 50? 75? rotations necessary to finish a 5/8 flare.

Anyway, long ramble to a short question.

If anyone wants to try it themselves, a little advice:. Play a record on repeat while you're working:. "DON'T FORGET TO PUT THE NUT AND SLEEVE ON BEFORE BEFORE BEFORE YOU FLARE THE TUBE END."

Bob
"Never be afraid to try something new. How hard can it be?"
User avatar
thebuildist United States of America
Posts: 814
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2021 5:09 pm
Location: Atlanta, ga
Has thanked: 837 times
Been thanked: 3243 times

Re: loader build resumes!

Post by thebuildist »

I'll post a few pictures later today, but IT'S COMING TO LIFE.

My hard lines/hoses plan went straight out the window, though.

I had originally intended to permanently mount the spool valve on the right fender and pipe four 3/8" hard lines from the work ports down to 4 quick disconnects under the right hand foot rest. From the disconnects I planned to run four long 3/8" hoses up the vertical receiver frame to 4 tees and then pipe from those tees out to the various cylinders. I bought the lines and hoses and fittings to make that happen.

But I've changed the location and setup of the new spool valve, having now mounted it permanently to the loader structure. So when I detatch the loader the spool valve will stay on the loader. So now there are only 2 quick disconnects, one for supply and one for return. And the spool valve is more unobtrusive with the loader attached, and of course completely disappears with the loader detached. Way better deal.

But it changes my hose/line routing, and unless I want to buy a bunch of new hoses and such, then I need to make it work with what I have.

So: I'll come out of my spool valve with 4 long hoses. I'm routing them down the inside face of the right hand boom arm and then out to four tees located in the center of the boom center brace. (The crossmember behind the bucket.) From there I'll pipe outward to the various cylinder ports. One benefit of this approach is that the fluid path length will be identical from side to side. Since I'm not installing proportioning valves between the two sides, it seems intuitive to me that this will help keeps the opposing cylinders in sync. It may not matter, I don't really know. But it can't hurt, and if I'm going to make use of those hoses, then that's what I need to do.

So I have the first two hoses run and piped into the boom lift cylinders. So naturally, I backed the tractor out of the basement workshop and started it up to see what would happen.

And the laws of physics are still in effect, so the boom went up and down on command! First time ever. Well, mostly. I had the work ports reversed for the hoses, so it went down when I told it "up" and vise-versa. But that was easily corrected.

Next I pipe in the two bucket cylinders. But I'm two swivel fittings short, so I may have to finish those up tomorrow after a trip to the hydraulics shop. The anticipation is KILLING me! :violin:

Bob
"Never be afraid to try something new. How hard can it be?"
User avatar
Eugen Canada
Posts: 5141
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2021 2:52 pm
Location: Port Mcnicoll, Ontario
Has thanked: 11934 times
Been thanked: 16195 times
Contact:

Re: loader build resumes!

Post by Eugen »

Sounds like great progress Bob, looking forward to some pics. But even more so to see it ALIVE!!! :D
Case 224, 444, 644, 680E
Kubota B26 :blush:
User avatar
thebuildist United States of America
Posts: 814
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2021 5:09 pm
Location: Atlanta, ga
Has thanked: 837 times
Been thanked: 3243 times

Re: loader build resumes!

Post by thebuildist »

Well, the hoses are a bit of a mess. They're about 3 inches longer than they need to be, and it's surprising how tricky it is to tuck away an extra 3 inches of hose length.

I had to make several fittings on the lathe, a few because I didn't want to wait for or spend the time/money to go to the hyrdraulics shop. And a few because they're so unusual, I'm not sure anyone sells them.

Why do I need adapter fittings that are so unusual? It's like this: A while back I was looking on Ebay for hoses, and I sorted them by price. And the CHEAPEST hoses on Ebay that day were 3/8" hoses, 60" long. Parker branded, with some kind of swivel on one end, some other kind of mystery fitting on the other end. $7 each plus $11 combined shipping. So I bought 4 of them for $39 delivered.

I knew that I was going to have to buy some kind of adapters to make them work, and that only after I figured out what kind of fitting they were.

So they turned out to be #8 SAE Oring on the swivel end, and 18mm male cone fittings on the other end.

The SAE8 screwed right into my new spool valve, so that's awesome. But then I needed to adapt from 18mm male cone to JIC 6 male. So I created some 18mm female cone to JIC 6 female adapters. Problem solved.

But it was a PAIN making those metric cone fittings. I made a reamer to try to produce the female cone area consistently, but the low grade steel bar I'm working with kept galling on the reamer edge, so I'd have to cut off a few millimeters and ream it again, trial and error until I got a clean/smooth cut.

Maybe I should have just adjusted the lathe's compound and bored the cone/bevel shape. Who knows. But it's done now.

Anyway, having created a total of 8 custom fittings, combined with a whole slew of purchased fittings, and having made up 6 segments of 3/8" hard line, I finally was able to screw everything together. There were no leaks, unless you count that one JIC6 fitting that I forgot to tighten. That one leaked pretty hard! :lol:

But I didn't care for how the whole rat's nest looked. A big jumbled mess of hoses, that looked awful and are just begging to get snagged and damaged.
PXL_20220627_161506392.jpg
So I stood there for about an hour playing games with hoses, trying different routings until I was more or less happy with what I had.

It's not TOO terrible as it is, and I'm going to add a piece of 6" steel channel in front of the hoses, which will conceal the ugly nest, and provide some protection. But for this second, it's good enough.
PXL_20220627_204655012.mp4_snapshot_06.32_[2022.06.27_19.42.12].png
And finally: video evidence that it all works as advertised:

https://youtu.be/Al6tqy3_kSs :thumbsup: :congrats:

Bob
"Never be afraid to try something new. How hard can it be?"
User avatar
Spike188 Canada
Posts: 1058
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 12:58 pm
Location: Ayr Ontario
Has thanked: 5602 times
Been thanked: 4043 times

Re: loader build resumes!

Post by Spike188 »

Very smooth. I am impressed.
Spike Colt - 9 & 10, Case - 108, 118, 444, 446, 448, 646, 646bh, Ingersoll 4016, 4118AH
User avatar
DavidBarkey Canada
Posts: 3108
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 10:35 am
Location: Waverley On.
Has thanked: 17080 times
Been thanked: 10414 times

Re: loader build resumes!

Post by DavidBarkey »

:worship: :congrats: :thumbsup: :clap:
I thought Frankie was a plumbers nightmare . You are one up on me and made it work nicely. Well done Bob.
Dave
Mad Tractor Builder
User avatar
Eugen Canada
Posts: 5141
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2021 2:52 pm
Location: Port Mcnicoll, Ontario
Has thanked: 11934 times
Been thanked: 16195 times
Contact:

Re: loader build resumes!

Post by Eugen »

Yay!! Moves very nicely Bob, you're unstoppable, you've done it! Great job!
Case 224, 444, 644, 680E
Kubota B26 :blush:
Post Reply