Retrofit a soft ride/drive on a loader

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

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.

No just the one.

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.

Kinda defeats the purpose of having it then.

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.

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

Volvo Boom Suspension System - BSS - YouTube

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?

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

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?

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

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.