mystery solved....

[GreensvilleJay]

noticed the bucket tilted about 1/2" this morning.....
..this explains it.
now I'll finally HAVE TO remove the loader after 5 years.

 

[ve9aa]

THAT can't be good. Tell me what I am looking at Jay--broken weld?

 

[Tughill Tom]

That's un-good!

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Ouch!

Looks like the horizontal tube, just aft of the bucket?

If you weld, it might not be too bad.

I am no pro welder, so with bucket removed, I would disconnect loader and turn it on its side so I could weld it horizontally.

What is your theory on why it happened?

 

[xrocketengineer]

Looks like the weld had no penetration. Its going to be fun to get everything back squared for proper welding.

 

[fried1765]

Ouch!

Looks like the horizontal tube, just aft of the bucket?

If you weld, it might not be too bad.

I am no pro welder, so with bucket removed, I would disconnect loader and turn it on its side so I could weld it horizontally.

What is your theory on why it happened?

Yup!
Remove bucket, stand on side/end, weld horizontally!
I ain't no welder either!

 

[The Evil Twin]

I used to weld a lot, and that looks like what we call "glued". Judging by the rust, it came unstuck a while ago.

 

[Jsjac]

How old is the tractor?
I would inquire if this is a known problem.
If so maybe Kubota will take care of it.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

yeah, well dealer where I bought it 5 years ago...says 'out of warranty', which I knew....
1st time he'd seen it so I said 'great,so Kubota will replace it...due to 'bad welds'.....
yeah, that didn't fly either...
new frame is 2k or 2.5k depending on which one....
so I opted for plan 'B'. nice neighbour runs a big shop, said he'll fix it...
Once I got loader off, I removed everything ,so just the 2 sides and the tube,drop it off he's not there...
gone golfing !!!!
If I had a nice flat steel workbench I could have welded it up but he's got all the nice tools AND the talent.
BTW the left side showed similar 'cold welds' or 'lack of penetration'.
It 'might' have been possible to weld on the tractor but I did what the expert asked me to do.
I know it'll take me a LOT longer to reassemble it than his jig and welding time.

Murphy must have seen me..... I had 6 semiloads of topsoil dropped off yesterday.... off well..

Dang tractor looks 'funny' without the loader ! Might even drive it at night just to see the headlights work too !!

 

[ken erickson]

yeah, well dealer where I bought it 5 years ago...says 'out of warranty', which I knew....
1st time he'd seen it so I said 'great,so Kubota will replace it...due to 'bad welds'.....
yeah, that didn't fly either...
new frame is 2k or 2.5k depending on which one....
so I opted for plan 'B'. nice neighbour runs a big shop, said he'll fix it...
Once I got loader off, I removed everything ,so just the 2 sides and the tube,drop it off he's not there...
gone golfing !!!!
If I had a nice flat steel workbench I could have welded it up but he's got all the nice tools AND the talent.
BTW the left side showed similar 'cold welds' or 'lack of penetration'.
It 'might' have been possible to weld on the tractor but I did what the expert asked me to do.
I know it'll take me a LOT longer to reassemble it than his jig and welding time.

Murphy must have seen me..... I had 6 semiloads of topsoil dropped off yesterday.... off well..

Dang tractor looks 'funny' without the loader ! Might even drive it at night just to see the headlights work too !!

When looking at pictures on the Net, is that area double layered? If so, to my eye, it looks like the layer of steel the cross tube is welded to fractured around the outside perimeter of the weld bead, with good penetration?

 

[Trimley]

Holy ship. What penetration?

 

[GreensvilleJay]

yeah, THAT'S why I said I thought it should be under warranty...obvious manufacturing defect that appeared after 1100 hrs of use....
Hopefully it'll be ready Saturday afternoon.already printed pages off of how to reassemble....

 

[William1]

Ehhhh... a spritz with some Kubota Orange'll fix that

But seriously, Wow! At least it is a clean break and a touch of the grinder and a weld appears to be all you need. You are lucky nothing appears to be bent/twisted.

 

[jaxs]

When looking at pictures on the Net, is that area double layered? If so, to my eye, it looks like the layer of steel the cross tube is welded to fractured around the outside perimeter of the weld bead, with good penetration?

That's what it looks like to me to and that's what can happen when welding steel that's not suitable for welding. I pursued Kubota for weeks trying to find what alloys were used for the busted part on my tractor. Thier answer is "a good welder will know which process,filler and heat to use". My response to them is "a good mfgr knows the alloys used for their product". My conclusion is they don't know because their steel come's from melted scrap of unknown sources and alloys. That's why welding shops won't use bed railings as angle.
It's a pain removing loader but that was the right thing to do. I suspect your welder will fab a plate to spread stress on joint so I'd like to hear how this turns out.

 

[skeets]

Please post some pictures when you get it glued back together

 

[GrizBota]

That's why welding shops won't use bed railings as angle.

Lol. I thought bed rail angle iorn was the best. Truth be told, I just fabbed up a tool basket bracket for my tractor using bed rail angle, just the horizontals, which just have the basket sitting on top of it.

OP, if that was my FEL, as soon as the broken side is welded up, I’d flip it over, grind out the weld on the other side and re-weld it. The amount of time to do that relative to the reassemble is probably nearly ancillary.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

That will buff right out!

 

[leveraddict]

Well Jay that really sucks! I will be keeping a close eye on my welds from now on!

 

[Motion]

If it were me, I'd pull the torque tube back into place with pipe clamps and tack weld to ensure correct positioning, then remove the bucket and the FEL, hoses, cylinders, etc. to allow for ease of welding. I'd also consider making 4 horseshoe shaped gusset plates (two for each side) to get more metal on the frame side.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I was told frame bedrails are heat treated to make them stronger, which explains why you can't drill holes in them......

When I get it back, for sure it'll be picture taking time and another trip to dealer....for some 'Orange' paint.
sigh, poor thing was outside all night, 1/2 naked........