Retrofit a soft ride/drive on a loader

GardenMan1981

Hi All,

We have a Stoll loader on 2003 4345 and we would like to fit a soft ride suspension, as it can be a bit bouncy on the road.

Has anyone done this before or can provide contact details for a supplier or breaker who could assist me with sourcing the kit?

Regards, Thomas

Limestone Cowboy

I put one in mine a few years ago. Got it from Dhfm in gort. https://www.dhfarmmachinery.com/products/loader-soft-drive-sdk750.html

satstheway

https://youtu.be/6I28RMwJkCE

I farm we farm just this week

Tileman

We must be all looking to do it since Adrian on ifarm did it last week. 😀

good video last week and was much simplier than I imagined.

timple23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118412904#Comment_118412904

Do you need to buy two of those? One for each ram?

Limestone Cowboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118413299#Comment_118413299

No just the one.

9935452

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118413299#Comment_118413299

Both rams are ran off the same pipework so are connected to each other so 1 accumulator does both

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118412904#Comment_118412904

Do you know what pressure it was set to when you bought it? QTP do one which is set to 30bar (435psi) but I couldn't see what the DH Machinery version was set to.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118414389#Comment_118414389

Do you need to put the accumulator between the tractor/loader connection and the first ram or is it fine anywhere on the circuit?

funkey_monkey

@Limestone Cowboy - how are you getting on with this soft ride kit? Is it setup for an empty loader on the road at road speed or a weighted loader up and down laneways and fields at lower speeds?

Limestone Cowboy

Works away the finest. I've it on an mx100 loader and it needs an implement on the front to notice it working really. Makes a serious difference with a bale on the front but you'd notice it floating away with just the bucket on empty too.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120057070#Comment_120057070

You are supposed to turn off the soft drive when you have a heavy weight on it. Even though many lads don't bother.

Limestone Cowboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120057206#Comment_120057206

Kinda defeats the purpose of having it then.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120058585#Comment_120058585

Well you wouldn't normally be driving at speed with a heavy weight on it.

Odelay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120057206#Comment_120057206

Any loader I've seen they leave it on all the time, especially when loaded and travelling. Only turn if off for delicate positioning of heavy loads, or high tip buckets.

Limestone Cowboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120058897#Comment_120058897

What do you class as a heavy weight? The only time I think I've ever turned it off was leaving pallets of slates up on the scaffolding for the lads roofing the house just because a bit more precision was required. You won't go anywhere fast with the softdrive off and heavy weight on anyway, that's for sure.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120058972#Comment_120058972

Yes, people either don't know, or don't care about switching them off when carrying heavy loads. Some loaders have an electric switch on the joystick to make it easier turning it on or off.

When would you be "travelling" with a heavy load anyway? I wouldn't like to be buying a machine where the previous owner used to drive 2 miles with a fusion bale on the front to feed it in another yard every day. You'd wreck a tractor with that carry on

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120059055#Comment_120059055

You won't go anywhere fast with the softdrive off and heavy weight on anyway, that's for sure.

No harm either. Although for lads with cab suspension they might not notice as much anyway

Heavy weight would be a bale of silage.

Odelay

Volvo Boom Suspension System - BSS - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=577hqCloQ0Y

This is essentially the same principal. It can be set to disengage at slow speed, but when travelling it engages to save the operator and machine. That is the purpose of soft ride. Even the name gives a hint to its function. Otherwise why have it?

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120059233#Comment_120059233

Generally when you are working with heavy weight on a tractor loader, you shouldn't be flying along at speed. Soft drive or no soft drive.

I am sure you could have a system which would be usable when under heavy load but it would be more expensive and I don't think that the average loader soft drive is built for that. I'd say your loading shovel video above has more than a bottle system costing a couple of hundred bucks. (Some new machines have an inbuilt soft-drive type suspension feature on the back end now, which would be carrying weight but how this is done I don't know).

People still use them under load, but if you check the user manual for your loader it probably explicitly tells you to switch off the soft drive when the loader is being used and only use it for transport i.e. getting from A-to-B with no load.

Odelay

Its not a complicated system. On a loading shovel of that era it is just hydraulic accumulators. Big expensive, accumulators, but the same principal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXbIcI4w2x0

Above is a Quickie example.

Driving loaded is what they are designed for. Are you honestly telling me for models with out the joystick disable button, a lad would have to get out and turn on the soft ride, drive to the field, get out and turn it off, drive home loaded, get out turn it back on, drive to the field, get out turn it back off. Comical stuff.

I've provided enough information from two manufactures. Can you provide something firmer than "it probably explicitly tells you to switch off the soft drive when the loader is being used". In what manual does it probably say this?

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120057070#Comment_120057070

Might have a bit too much precharge in it for my needs. Just looking to take an empty loader along at road speed. Absolutely soul destroying driving it along the road. Only thing that is worse is the slurry pump.

In the same vein, got a counterbalance block on back which is currently quick attach (no top link). It can clatter a bit when on the road. Would getting a eye for the top link weld on be sufficient to hold it in place or would the quick attach hooks need to be replaced with eyes too? Could the top top adjusted to hold the bottom arms in a jammed position?

timple23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120059055#Comment_120059055

Why do you need to knock it off when you need to be precise? Would it be a bit bouncy when lifting?

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120059734#Comment_120059734

Sure. Google throws up a manual, albeit for a Rossmore loader. See halfway down the screenshot below. I would say that it depends on the loader and that "heavy" is relative to what your loader can lift. i.e if your loader is rated for 2T then 500kg might not be heavy whereas if your loader is only rated for 1T then it might.

It's very little hassle to turn them on and off even with a manual one like the above. Turn it of for the road and turn it off for the field and yard. If you are drawing bales for example, you are getting out of the tractor to plug lights in and out of the trailer anyway. Only takes a second to flip the valve

funkey_monkey

Consider it like a spring. If you have a weight on the loader such as a bag of fertiliser on a pallet and you are resting it down on the ground. If you don't fully remove the weight of the toes before reversing out, the soft ride will still be in compression and when the toes finally released the leader will spring up and could damage the bag.

Also, if you are trying to place some valuable or delicate stuff the bounce on the loader might be difficult to predict.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120061220#Comment_120061220

The accumulators can wear out/lose pressure over time. I would presume that not using it when under load helps against that.

Odelay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120061203#Comment_120061203

Going by the manual, we are now saying the same thing. Use the sort ride when transporting a load, heavy or not, (makes no mention of weight). Disengage it when doing delicate loading work as the loader may rise when the load is taken off it relatively quickly in the example Limestone mentioned above when loading tiles onto a scaffold.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120061332#Comment_120061332

No. Transporting means transporting the loader i.e. moving from place to place. Not when using it to transport something else e.g. flying down a potholed back road at 40k with a wet fusion bale sitting on the front. I think that they can burst as well. A pipe can burst on your loader anyway, soft drive or no soft drive, so you'd be advised not to be transporting heavy stuff on it on the road anyway.

I'm going by what the mechanic told us years ago. The first few yokes we had with soft drive we didn't know to turn them off either. I think @FintanMcluskey is a mechanic? He can maybe tell us. I noticed he gave a thumbs up to my initial post.

Limestone Cowboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120061162#Comment_120061162

I was more weight than the loader or tractor was fit for to be honest to the point where it was hard to turn the steering. Wouldn't recommend anyone to do it, just didn't want to pull down the scaffolding.

Limestone Cowboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120059749#Comment_120059749

Ya probably just has a bit too much precharge alright. What kind of a loader have you?

Odelay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120061417#Comment_120061417

No machine that I know of should be going down a potholed road at 40km/hr with a wet fusion bale on the front loader. How about 20km/hr on a regular road with no potholes with a wet fusion bale on the front. Soft ride on or not? Which is better for the tractor and loader?

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120061568#Comment_120061568

I wouldn't do it in a tractor at any speed above 10km/hr and not for any real distance either. Maybe a one-off if I was stuck. I'd have something on the back to carry it if I needed to do it regularly.

Grueller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120061578#Comment_120061578

That's the key to it. I never transport stuff on the loader bar a few fencing materials in the bucket. As far as I am concerned the key is in the name "a loader" not a transporter.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120061517#Comment_120061517

Chilton 40.85.

jimmy G M

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120059055#Comment_120059055

Have a softdrive fitted on an MF/Quickie loader here. Got it fitted when we bought the tractor & loader over 10 years ago. Never turn it off bar loading muck into a side spreader as I feel that pushing and lifting at the same time might put a lot of pressure on it. Draw in fusion round bales over the summer, mile of a draw for some fields, bale front & back, not doing full speed but perhaps 30/33kph. Wintertime a bale shear on it to feed out the bales. Had to replace the softdrive cylinder there this autum, €150 for the cylinder.

The main benefit of the soft drive is when you are carrying a load, in fact I'd go as far as saying that the softdrive makes it much easier./less stress on both the loader and the tractor when in operation either with or without a load out front. Safer too, wouldn't be without it.

Each to their own, I'm just giving mye xperience of softdrive.

funkey_monkey

@jimmy G M is that a dual accumulator setup? Do you know the precharge value on them?

jimmy G M

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120066973#Comment_120066973

Single acumulator, was retrofitted onto the loader when we bought it 11 yrs ago. I just bought a replacement cylinder, the full kit would have included pipes, fittings and a switch off valve. I didnt need those so they just sold me the cylinder. Ill see if there's anything written on the cylinder about the precharge later on this eve.

jimmy G M

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120066973#Comment_120066973

Its a Fox cylinder. www.fox.it. Nitrogen precharge pressure is 30. Also mention on it of PS250 bar and PT357 bar stamped into the cylinder, whatever that means.

FintanMcluskey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120078373#Comment_120078373

Also mention on it of PS250 bar and PT357

Working pressure & test pressure.