Go BottomTop link breakage
 | cutter
Join Date: Feb 2000 Posts: 1307 The South Shore of Lake Ontario, New York 
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2002-02-05 35332
I have read a good deal about top link breakage. Saw one picture of it on a J/D 4300 and heard of another one on a Kubota tearing apart, on this board I believe. Not sure about the N/H, but the setup looks about the same. It is hard to say how extensive the problem is with these. The casting is ruined when it happens, requiring a major and expensive repair. We have a couple dealers on this board that are associated with Kubota. I was wondering what they could add to the fray. I am probably going to replace my new Kubota top link mount with the heavy duty one myself, which upsets me that it has to be done to prevent damage to my machine in the future. Any input here Art White or Mr. Carver?
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 | Roger L.
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 0 
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2002-02-05 35339
cutter, am I missing something? It seems to me that Kubota has a heavy duty part available which you can choose to buy if you want one. Sounds like a good deal, not a bad deal. Or are you saying that their standard 3pt top link will not stand up to their own specifications? ....
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| Elkoboy
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2002-02-06 35340
Funny that you mention that, Cutter...
I have a B2910 on which I broke the 3 point lift housing casting last fall while using a post hole auger. One bolt that holds the top link brackets broke off the casting where the hole is tapped, apparently under twisting stress from the auger.
I didn't even realize I had broken the machine until days later when I tried to change 3 point implements.
Fortunately it was repaired under warranty, and on my request for a preventative measure the dealer welded both top link brackets to a 1/4" backplate (in lieu of replacing the top link with Kubota's heavy duty toplink). Hopefully now the twisting stresses on the top link brackets that contributed to the breakage are distributed between the 4 bolts.
I just assumed this was a freak accident, possibly caused in part by over-torquing of one of the top link bracket bolts.
Where have you read about these sorts of incidents? I'm nervous that this might happen again and want to explore anything that might further prevent a repeat occurrence. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley 
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2002-02-06 35343
There is a current discussion titled 'broken top-link' on another board. Plenty of pictures but I don't know how much the discussion really adds, except that the problem does happen. I'm not sure the discussion indicates what caused a broken case around a top-link bracket.
Most of the discussion here centers on backhoe use. I think that forces on the top-link bracket between hoe and auger use are different and perhaps an auger creates more controllable forces. With a hoe, there can be a lot of force on the top-link, but I think it would be more compression and less shear force. I think the cases near the split points are more at risk, and I'm not sure I've heard of a hoe breaking the cases around a top-link.
I think that with an auger, there would be little top-link compression or decompression unless an auger has a down-force kit. However, augers can wobble a lot at PTO speed, especially when first starting a hole. They can really bang a hitch around and I guess could create a lot of shear force on the top-link bracket.
When I say that forces may more controllable when using an auger, I'm thinking that it's a little tough to judge how much a tractor is being stressed when using a hoe. However, an auger will definitely bang around. However, slower RPM's can be used when starting a hole. I'm guessing that tightening up the sway chains and taking disabling the lateral hitch float (if so equipped) might also limit stresses from auger use.
I guess that excessive repositioning of the tractor with the auger still in the hole could produce a lot of force on the top-link, but I really don't know what would tend to bend or break first. I reposition my tractor slightly using the loader bucket curl. Often as not, I reposition because the auger is excessively wobbling, and repositioning often reduces the problem. I guess what I'm saying is that a heavy-duty top-link bracket sure would offer some piece of mind. I'll probably get one myself if there's a part available from NH. On the other hand, careful moderate operation also can do a lot for piece of mind (but not to suggest that operation was at fault in this case).
....
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