After watching Revolution in Pleasantville, derrickdrew17 asked “How much will the 3 point lift?” Once again we turn to our friend and Monroe lift expert Clint Dixon for an answer. Here is Clint’s response:
That is a good question on the capacity. I looked through my Monroe/Dodge literature and found that the Glendale Earth Mover is the heaviest I see listed at 1,050 lb. The Newgren/Jeep literature agrees on the weight (see attached). I realize this weight is distributed somewhat through the rear wheels to the ground. However those wheels are waaaaay back there and that listed number would be an “empty weight” anyway. I can see if the pan was full of the right kind of soil, there would easily be at least 1,000 lb. of down pressure at the ends of the Monroe lower links. I do not have all of the Jeep/Newgren literature scanned, so I am not sure if another implement would weigh more. I am wondering about the hammer mill?
I also know that the 3-bottom Newgren plow weighs in at 750 lbs. at least. The Power-Wagon movie shows the truck easily lifting the plow and carrying it around. So, I don’t believe that 1,500 lbs. would present much of a problem for the hydraulics.
But there is a problem. The Monroe components are of a slightly lighter construction than their Ford/Ferguson counterparts for comparison. Also, the lift arms are attached to the rockshaft with tapered pins rather than keyed or splined. This is a weak point and I have heard of owners who have disassembled units only to find out that the pins are nearly sheared in two. The owner who was operating the unit at the time probably had no idea that the parts were stressed to the point of near failure.
I was moving my Stockland blade at a Rally one time. I got in a hurry and I was backing up onto a slab of concrete where I had my trailer parked. My intention was to back right to the trailer and lower the blade onto the deck. I had to back up and over the edge of the concrete which was about 3-inches higher than the surrounding gravel base. The truck had no problem backing over that rise, but it caused the blade to jump up and right back down again in response to the trucks tires crossing the obstacle. I did not know it at the time, but when I got home I discovered that I had bent one of my forged lift arms slightly. It is not enough that anyone would ever notice, but I made sure when I assembled them that a rod would pass through both yokes creating a perfect alignment between the arms. One is bent enough that they are misaligned about .375 inch. My Stockland blade is shown in both Monroe and Newgren literature as weighing in at 380 lb. I have no idea if I partially sheared one of the tapered pins or not but there is a definite bend in the arm forging.
So I guess I would have to answer the question by saying – the less the better.
Clint
