Built-From Scratch Tractor Loader

Built-From Scratch Tractor Loader TRACTORS Loaders 30-6-27 The best thing about building equipment or attachments yourself is that you can build them exactly the way you want. John Wall did just that when he built his own front-end loader. "I bought a set of plans from P.F. Engineering, but they didn't quite fit my needs," says Wall. "Their website also had pictures of loaders people had built that I looked at for ideas. Then I drove around and looked at different brands, picking the features I liked best from each of them." He wanted quick removal and reinstallation of the loader, hydraulic float, and the ability to mount and use a belly mower with the loader in place. One of the biggest challenges proved to be mounting the loader around the horizontal muffler on his Case International compact tractor. What Wall came up with was a heavy-duty loader built with 1/4-in. structural tubing. Like many commercial loaders, his has a subframe permanently attached to the tractor. It lets the loader be quickly mounted or removed as needed and offers added support to the loader. Wall's subframe runs the full length of the tractor, attaching at the back axle and the front as well as to both sides of the frame. "My subframe spreads the load across the entire frame of the tractor, he says. "Being able to drop the loader quickly was important for working in the woods. Having a loader in the woods is a pain." The leg mounts for the loader are similar to Kubota mounts. Wall notes that it took several tries to get legs corrected for the right balance. With his design, he attaches support legs to the loader arms, pulls two pins, unhooks the hydraulics and backs away. Solving his mower need was relatively simple. "I integrated the existing belly pan hardware into the subframe, so I can use the deck mower without taking the subframe off," he explains. The muffler was a bigger problem. He recalls taking nearly a month to design the loader around the muffler. The entire project took about 3 1/2 months to fabricate with a total cost of about $1,300. "I used Corel Draw on my computer to draw up the plans," he says. "I took computer files to a local machine shop, and they dumped them into their computer and cut out the parts." Wall bought cylinders from a local surplus center, but turned to the internet and eBay for a set of loader valves. "I only paid $70 for a set that normally sells for $250," reports Wall. "They work great, and I've been using the loader for about six months." Wall reports he has posted the loader plans and pictures on the P.F. Engineering site. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Wall, P.O. Box 544, Greene, N.Y. 13778 (jtwall_2000@yahoo.com). For plans and photos: P.F. Engineering (www.loaderplans.com).

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