Loader questions

[RandyLittrell]

I am bound and determined to get a loader built in the next year and have a few questions for the experts out there.

Would you recommend P.F. Engineering's plans? It looks good to me but would like to hear from someone who has built one from them.

I have a power steering pump from a older gm truck, would that work for the pump? I plan to put this on one of my 149's.


Thanks for the help!


Randy

[J Hayes]

Hi Randy welcome to the forum !
You do have a lot of guys here with loaders I'm sure someone will be along to answer your question.

[Scott C.]

Randy,
I have not seen them myself but have heard that they are very complete.
Not sure about the pump but I'm sure it would be sufficient for what we do with them. I would hope the plans give you a pump rating with gpm info.

[klinej]

Hi randy I built a loader using the PF engineering plans for my 104 cub cadet it works great lifts about 500lbs and the plans were easy to follow .I did beef up the towers and arms, the spindle upgrade is a must not too difficult to do on a 149. My only other mods will be a remote 7gal oil tank behind the seat on the weight box[ also a must]instead of using the towers as tanks[ less plumbing] and i'm considering moving the pump mounting to be direct drive off the front of the engine. Good luck It was a fun project

[CaptMax]

Hi randy I built a loader using the PF engineering plans for my 104 cub cadet it works great lifts about 500lbs and the plans were easy to follow .I did beef up the towers and arms, the spindle upgrade is a must not too difficult to do on a 149. My only other mods will be a remote 7gal oil tank behind the seat on the weight box[ also a must]instead of using the towers as tanks[ less plumbing] and i'm considering moving the pump mounting to be direct drive off the front of the engine. Good luck It was a fun project

Can you post a picture of your loader? I would love to see a home built loader.
Thanks, CaptMax

[Amigatec]

I am in the process of building a pf loader for my 129. I have a set of the plans here, the plans call for a pump in the 4-8 gpm range, and cylinders are 2X16. I also plan to add a tank behind the seat. I am going to use a dual spool valve from a 1450 for the controls.

[Farmallgray]

A power steering pump will be a little low on flow. Here is a thread that gives some various ps pump outputs;
http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-h ... k-etc.html

A pump with low flow will make your cycle times slow. If you know the bore and stroke of your cylinders you can calculate what your cycle times would be with one of those pumps. When you know the cycle time you can decide if it will be acceptable for what you are doing.

You can buy a proper hydraulic pump fairly resonably from the Surplus Center;
http://www.surpluscenter.com/sort.asp?c ... yword=HPSR
You just need to pay attention to the rotation direction and the RPM rating. Pumbing will be easier than with a P/S pump. They also have good prices on cylinders and valves and other hyd components.

I'm running 2" bore cylinders on mine and I went with an 8 gpm pump which made my cycle times about the same as a newer compact tractor.

[Amigatec]

Here is the Pump I plan to use,

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200329712


Here are the cylinders i plan to use.

http://www.delavanagpumps.com/powermax.htm 2X16"


And the bushings i plan to buy from,

http://www.xtrememotorworks.com/

For the bucket I going to use a Swisher Bucket for an ATV.



Here is my Valve and handles





I lan to gather all the pieces and take it all down to the Vo-Tech and have them weld it up.

[RandyLittrell]

Thanks for all the post and links guys, sounds like I will be getting the P.F. Engineering plans for sure.

The pumps are cheap enough not to mess with an old PS pump, I'm not that broke yet!

I would like to see some pics of how pumps are mounted if anyone has some. I seem to remember from reading on the old site, that some pumps you can't use a v-belt on. It has to be a toothed belt or direct drive? Is that right?

When I get he plans I will be back for more questions, thanks for getting me started in the right direction!





Randy

[lonnyb]

Randy.

Here are a few photos of my home built loader useing the swisher bucket and a off brand hydro pump.

Pump mounted



control valve body


finished project


Some of the use I get out of it





Need to brace the bucket where the dump cylinder attaches

[vince_o]

Lonny

Why are you putting dirt on the deck? Your sposta make flower boxes then but the dirt and flowers in them, and hang them off the deck rail!

Joe and I mounted my pump behind the lights. I lied it there cause Im hard on equipment. also watching Scott at the lodge I could see where Id tear it off up front like that.

[RandyLittrell]

Thanks for the pics guys.

Lonnie, does just one cylinder on the bucket work well? I see some with one and some with two, I know two is probably stronger but maybe one is enough?


Vince, is yours done now? How is the pump working out, I like the idea of up out of the way.






Randy

[Farmallgray]

My pump runs off the back of the hydro and I used the transaxle as the reservior. Simplifies the plumbing and don't need an external filter.

[lonnyb]

Lonny

Why are you putting dirt on the deck? Your sposta make flower boxes then but the dirt and flowers in them, and hang them off the deck rail!

Vince.

The dirt on the deck was placed there for use on a later date.

[lonnyb]

Thanks for the pics guys.

Lonnie, does just one cylinder on the bucket work well? I see some with one and some with two, I know two is probably stronger but maybe one is enough

The one cylinder is enough to do the job, thats why I had to reinforce the bucket where the cylinder attaches as I tore the bucket, and strong enough to find the next weak link


I made up a bracket to protect the pump from getting hit from the front, you can see it in theses photos.

[RandyLittrell]

My pump runs off the back of the hydro and I used the transaxle as the reservior. Simplifies the plumbing and don't need an external filter.

Thats a great idea Todd. I think I remember seeing another narrow frame with the pump there now that I see yours.
Nice to not have another tank to deal with as well.



Thanks,Randy

[RandyLittrell]

Thanks for the pics guys.

Lonnie, does just one cylinder on the bucket work well? I see some with one and some with two, I know two is probably stronger but maybe one is enough

The one cylinder is enough to do the job, thats why I had to reinforce the bucket where the cylinder attaches as I tore the bucket, and strong enough to find the next weak link


I made up a bracket to protect the pump from getting hit from the front, you can see it in theses photos.

Sounds like one cylinder will get the job done, thanks for the info Lonny.






Randy

[Farmallgray]

Todd, how did you get so smart?!
INGENIOUS I say, INGENIOUS !

I can't take that much credit for being smart. I had seen someone else do a similar setup many years ago.
A lot of times I see other peoples projects and ideas and they give me my own ideas or at least something to build on. I also spent a good bit of time thinking and planning and getting ideas for my loader long before I started gathering parts and building it.

[mgonitzke]

Lonny-

A lot of your problem is likely that the cylinder(s) have too much stroke and/or are improperly placed. You want the stroke of the cylinder to be the limiting factor or 'stops' in either direction if possible, and not the rest of the structure.

[RandyLittrell]

I found this video on youtube of a 1250 loader and it was built using PF Engineering plans. This guy did a super nice job and I thought I would share it. I will bookmark it for sure for reference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zIJb61t ... er&list=UL







Randy

[lonnyb]

Lonny-

A lot of your problem is likely that the cylinder(s) have too much stroke and/or are improperly placed. You want the stroke of the cylinder to be the limiting factor or 'stops' in either direction if possible, and not the rest of the structure.

Cylinder travel was not the cause of the break, poor weld (sodder) job. Was fixed in 20 minutes and 1 cold tool latter.

[Amigatec]

Can you show how you braced the back of the bucket, I may go with one dump cylinder myself?

[BigMike]

Here is my version of the loader.
It started as a Johnson model 10 to fit a narrow frame.I made new stanchions,moved and changed the controls and moved the pump.

[vince_o]

Yep Mike I like where the pump is, you got that on a gear drive or hydro?

[Farmallgray]

Yep Mike I like where the pump is, you got that on a gear drive or hydro?

Vince,
On the 1X8/9 series the color of the stripe on the hood indicates the horsepower.
Gold is 8hp
green is 10hp
red is 12hp
and blue is 14 and 16hp.

So assuming the hood is original to the tractor, it would be a 149 or 169 which would be a hydro.

[vince_o]

Todd

yet you ass u me, no telling what hood is on there


I bought a p k eng today. It has the loader arms done, pump and joystick. I just need the sub frame, bucket, and hoses.

[BigMike]

149 Vince.

[jspicer]

Kinda like Mike, here's my version of a loader cub. It's a Johnson 10 as well with stock brackets for a wide frame. Needs to be beefed up some, but works for what I need it to do. Mike, that's a really handy spot to have the pump at. Up and out of harms way.

I hear the PF engineering designs work great.

Hey Vince, what cub do I have my loader hooked up to? That is the original hood.
(No cheatin' either. Don't look at my sig. )

[vince_o]

982 ????????????????????????

You just shrunk it a bit right ????????????????????

I went to look at it yeaterday and it looks good. Kinda wish I was still at the fork lift shop so I could make my own hoses. I dont trust the guys welding, so Ill run some small 7018's over his bird poop. Am I aloud to say that? Ill post some pics when I pick it up towards the end of the week. Im going to put it on the 1872, If I can ever find time to finish wiring Dannys 482 and paint the fenders and nose piece.

[jspicer]

[quote="vince_o"]982 ????????????????????????

You just shrunk it a bit right ????????????????????


How in the heck did ya figure that out?????
That 982 would've loved the weather in South Carolina.
Kamp thought so too.

Looking forward to the pics when ya get 'em.