Fel drops on one side

[Manage]

Hi, I have a l3901 with the la525 fel that is 3 years old.
When I went to change from my forks to my bucket the left side arm on the fel dropped down 2 to 3" as soon as I released the quick connect the right side stayed where it was, So hooking up the bucket was a total pia because of alignment.
I did call the dealer today and they said something about running a bracket from one side to the other, which I don't feel is the right way of fixing it, This tractor has 40 unabused hour.
I did forget to tell them that the backhoe out rigger on the left would also drop down after a couple days if that means anything?
One other thing is the tractor did run low on hydraulic fluid as soon I got it back from the dealer installing the new backhoe on it a year ago from a loose fitting on the bottom of the backhoe assy. Hydraulics were shuttering and fixed right away.
Any input on what would cause the fel dropping?

 

[Roadworthy]

If the FEL is only dropping on one side you may have an internal leak in one of the cylinders - especially if that's the only thing wrong.

 

[Dave_eng]

Roadworthy's suggestion of internal cylinder damage could be true but I am noting it is only the bucket cylinders that were disconnected not the loader arms

A more complete explanation of exactly what was done would help because right now for me it does not make sense since there is a big torque tube tying both sides of the loader frame together.

Could the tractor be on uneven ground. Tire pressures at the rear uneven.

I have attached the LA525 installation instructions so you can double check the frame parts bolted to the tractor.

Dave

 

[whitetiger]

I think what is saying is that his bucket quick attach is twisted, not the loader its self.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

this is one of those 'a picture is worth 1000 words' posts...
My BX23S, though not the same tractor has 550+ hrs on it, over 300 would be 'loader operations', and some of those not exactly 'textbook'........ Loader is fine, bucket is still straight,level, true(checked that last week...)
..so I am curious to see what the problem is

 

[Dave_eng]

When forks were mentioned I thought possibly serious cylinder damage as a possibility

Dave

 

[Manage]

After talking to the dealer on taking it in for a couple issues I was told the only way to get a appointment was drop it off and they'll get it in in 2 weeks, they refused to scratch in a appointment unless the tractor is on there lot. Again this is bs in my eyes.

Reading your guys replies I started measuring and seeing it's not in the fel arms but I believe its in the tilt/dump cylinder. The passenger side reacts first

 

[Bark]

Doubt this will help but I never got a satisfactory answer from my dealer on this topic.

FEL slowly goes down.

I know I cant be the first person to have an issue with this but after spending a lot of time searching I cant find a post or solution. Today it was pallet forks and a 250 lb generator as the only weight on the FEL. I was working on the gen and noticed the loader was still slowly going down by...

www.orangetractortalks.com

 

[whitetiger]

After talking to the dealer on taking it in for a couple issues I was told the only way to get a appointment was drop it off and they'll get it in in 2 weeks, they refused to scratch in a appointment unless the tractor is on there lot. Again this is bs in my eyes.

Reading your guys replies I started measuring and seeing it's not in the fel arms but I believe its in the tilt/dump cylinder. The passenger side reacts first

The bar between the two latches is clearly twisted, as shown in your pictures. There is a different length of chrome extending from each cylinder, they should be equal lengths.
Since your loader is out of warranty, you can get the latches back in alignment by putting the side showing the most chrome against something solid and extending the dump cylinders a bit. The side not touching will extend further than the side that is blocked.
Go slow and easy, checking for proper alignment often. Use a string or a straight edge to check for proper alignment.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

unpin and remove cylinder ends from QA frame.
'cycle' the dump/tilt to fully retract,extend,retract the cylinders, then reattach the QA frame.
it should fit perfect. if not, check for something 'bent'.
also post more pictures, different angles. I can't see the 'bent bar' that WT sees.....could be an 'angle' thing or my aging eyes....

 

[jimmay]

I have recently run into this issue. In my case I was working with a set of pallet forks moving logs and rocks and found one side of the quick attached had come loose due to brush and twisted the pallet forks frame which I think I tweaked the other side of the SSQA. Did the suggested method of pushing against a solid object straighten them out?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[jimmay]

Update: I found a stout elm tree, got a friend to eyeball the alignment and used the hydraulics to carefully realign the SSQA mounts as suggested above. All is well. Thank you.

Jim

 

[lugbolt]

I think what is saying is that his bucket quick attach is twisted, not the loader its self.

that's what i understood too