Well I was using my Mustang 2086 today with my stump bucket and something caught my eye through the cage on my left side. I looked over and the cylinder rod was in an L-shape. I shut it down and got to looking and found that my bucket latching handle had come loose and the left side and the left side had dropped down. I don't know exactly why it bent but I'm thinking it may have had something to do with the bucket coming unlatched and twisting. I now have a new assembly on the way but I would like to know what caused my problem in the first place so I don't have this problem again. Any ideas?
I bent one this fall on a Mustang MTL25, at about a thousand bucks, it stung a little. I'm not sure how I bent mine, but the boom lock was also wadded up with a pin missing. I can blame it on lossing the pin and not my fault orrrrrrr, maybe I had the bucket tilted down too much (while pushing) and that bent it. I'm not sure which it is.
Well that may have been it too. I didn't know what all I could do to bend one. I was pushing over a pine tree (tree clearing is the main thing I use it for) when it happened. I've cleared a lot bigger ones than I was pushing when it happened. Yea it really stung, especially when this is for personal use only. I will have to keep the position of the bucket in mind from now on. Thanks for the tip.
Generally cylinders only bend when they are nearly fully extended. I bent three of them with my new holland and backhoe attachment. That's why I got rid of the backhoe, too expensive to operate. Try to not push hard, or especially to jar it too much, with the cylinders extended.
Well that makes perfect sense. I did have the bucket above the top of the cage when I was pushing on that tree. I really don't know why I did that because I usually push from lower. I guess I was trying to get better leverage. I will be sure to be mindful of where my bucket is next time I get to pushing on trees. Thanks for the tip!