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Regularly connect/disconnect arms/bucket on old Davis Loader

N

nrowles

Member
I know this is probably not something that is done often but I'm considering removing the bucket and loader arms on my Davis 102 loader when I'm not using it. My loader use is pretty minimal (5 times per year) and my MF135 doesn't have power steering. All the weight makes it difficult to use when I don't even need the loader most of the time. I would like to know if you think the following would work and I'm not interested in selling my tractor and buying another one so please help me try to make mine work.

I can find the sweet spot to take all pressure off the bottom lift cylinder pins to remove.

Is it possible to install quick connect fitting to the fitting I have pictures of below? Assuming yes, I can then quick disconnect my hoses.

Make some type of overhead harness for each loader arm. Back out the loader arm bolt (pics below) and the arms, cylinders and bucket are separate.

Do you guys think this would work? I know it would obviously be more time consuming than your modern loaders, but I don't see the problem in it.

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Look at how this modern loader has male and female hydraulic couplers right at the loader control valve. Also see the different colored caps and covers in those couplers. You can buy Pioneer/ISO male and female couplers then install them on your loader valve and cylinder hoses. To unhook just shut the tractor off and work the levers and there should be little to zero pressure left on the hoses. Uncouple the hoses an put the caps and plugs in/on your hydraulics.

For the loader arms them selves. Many loaders the age of yours, hung up under a barn beam or even a handy tree. A chain with a come-a-long and your ready to park it. I have also just set a couple of posts tall enough for a cross bar on the top of them to clear the loader and tractor. Then chain the arms to the cross piece when in storage.
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1. Should work.

2. You may quickly learn you use your loader much more than 5 times a year, when it isnt on. If you are like most of us......

Paul
 
When a kid , I worked for a farmer that had a 135
with no power steering and a Alied loader. Boss
wanted the loader off for the summer. So I took the
pins out of the end of the hydraulic cylinders, and
chained them to the vertical post on the subframe. It
was easy to take off. But the old loader was bent a
bit and it was a bear to put back on.
 
I took the front loader off of a tractor because it quit working. It made the front end of the tractor so light it made the tractor terrible to use.
 
Put the quick connects at the control valve so you're not fighting with hoses flopping around all the time.

Use colored zip ties to color code your hoses so you know which one goes where.

When I was a kid, I'd often see loader arms hanging from tree branches in the summer when the tractor was being used for field work. Before quick attach loaders, it was a thing.
 
Modern quick-attach loaders keep all the hydraulic valves and hoses connected to the loader. The whole assembly can be removed or attached in less than 5 minutes. A used loader like that would probably cost $2000 or more.

Removing your loader arms might not be a bad job, but reattaching the arms, reconnecting the hydraulics and bleeding the hydraulic lines will take half a day or longer. A level surface and a good hoist help when trying to get the pins back in the arms. Consider adding quick couplers to make the job easier and eliminate the need to bleed the hydraulic lines. Different pins with a tapered lead-in and maybe spring clips will be easier to pound in than the bolts that are there now. Plan to spend a few hundred dollars for new pins and couplers.

A second 35 hp tractor could probably be found for $1500.
 
Another option is like I do with my Oliver 1550 with the loader I leave the loader lift cylinders on the tractor and stand them up and tie them to the uprights on the loader frame and then have quick disconnects on the two tilt cylinders.A lot easier than taking the lift cylinders off and on.
 
I did that every year with my MF 165 and loader. Bleeding the lines won't be a problem if you install the quick
connect couplers.
 
We always did that on the Super 55. You just want to make sure you use chain and a bolt to hold them up,not wire. A neighbor had them wired up on a narrow front WD Allis. He was going down the road and the wire broke. The cylinder dropped down in the road and he darned near flipped the tractor. I know the Massey has a wide front,but it could still effect steering at a bad time.
 
I used to just remove the bucket, it made quite the difference being heavy and way out in front.

Found even doing that to be a pain to do.

Installed a quick mount on the loader, now it only takes a few minutes to switch from bucket to spike or forks or to nothing.
 
Thanks for all the input. I think I am going to try it out. 2 questions.

1. In the picture I put in this thread, why is the loader arm nut a different type of nut and not just your standard nut? What is the purpose/reason for the nut with tapered/slit ends?

2. What kind of couplers should I get? Seems there are many different kinds. Flat face, Pioneer Ball, Pioneer Poppet, etc.
 
(quoted from post at 06:05:25 06/08/18) I used to just remove the bucket, it made quite the difference being heavy and way out in front.

Found even doing that to be a pain to do.

Installed a quick mount on the loader, now it only takes a few minutes to switch from bucket to spike or forks or to nothing.
Click to expand...

I did think about trying this first. My bucket is pretty big and probably weighs 400 lbs.
 
That funny looking nut is just a self locking nut. It is there so you can set some clearance on the loader arm. So the bolt would not be tight. The self locking nut will not back off like a regular nut would when not tight.
 
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