What You Should Know About Volvo Wheel Loader Parts

1. What You Should Know About Volvo Wheel Loader Parts Volvo wheel loaders are known for having a comfortable cab experience and long lasting, durable components. This is because Volvo wheel loader parts are made to match the ISO 9001 certification for quality, so any supplier who sells Volvo machinery parts knows they can create good relationships with loader owners and operators, built off the foundation of reliable components like Volvo loader parts. This article provides an overview of some of the most common kinds of components that you can replace or repair on a wheel loader – those around the bucket and bucket linkages – as well as giving some details to be aware of ahead of such maintenance so it goes as smoothly as possible. Here, we describe wheel loaders in terms of five sections: the bucket (including ground engaging equipment and linkages), the cabin, the engine, the drivetrain, and the rest of the loader such as the articulated steering. Of course, each of these sections relate to each other in various ways, as well as contain a multitude of their own components.

2. First off is the bucket, including ground engaging equipment and linkages. The most prominent component in this section is, of course, the bucket itself. The teeth on the bucket (or a cutting edge, for buckets without teeth) are designed to take the brunt of the force as the wheel loader operates and therefore are designed to be replaced. These components fit into adaptors, which are welded onto the bucket surface. When replacing bucket teeth, it is important to minimise the risk of being injured from the bucket. This means placing signs up about maintenance in progress, removing the keys, and taping over the ignition. This may seem like overkill, but operators cannot see what is immediately in front of their bucket, which is where you need to be to replace the teeth. It is also important to minimise the risk by ensuring the pistons are not holding the weight of the bucket, because if they fail then there is nothing stopping the bucket squashing anything underneath it, which may include you. Therefore, use jacks, stands, or properly sized wooden blocks to support the bucket. The process of replacing teeth itself involves removing the pins holding the old ones in place, which can require a bit of forceful hammering, so it’s imperative you don’t have the bucket balancing on a knife’s edge while you work on it. It's also worth mentioning the other pins that are used in linkages in the bucket articulation mechanisms. In these linkages, such as on the boom arms and the z-bar linkage, there are pins on which the Volvo machinery parts will pivot. As such, making sure they are not seizing up is critical to ensuring the continued free movement of the pivots. These are another part which can be tricky to remove for replacement or repair and can include bearings and bushings. But, depending on where the pivot points are, they can require seriously beefy winches to keep the wheel loader from falling apart as the pivots are removed. For instance, the articulated steering on a wheel loader means there is one chunky pivot point that separates the front half of the machine from the back. This means you need a winch that can support the entire front section of your wheel loader, if you intend on replacing these Volvo loader parts yourself. While replacing pins can be tough work which needs a bit of elbow grease, replacing pistons can be much messier because hydraulic cylinders are filled with hydraulic oil. Firstly, just as before, make sure the component being moved by the cylinder is supported so that when you relieve the pressure from the cylinder, there is something else to take the weight. Once the weight is being supported and the machine is off, then you can remove the cylinder without being concerned about the usual high pressures the cylinder is subject to lifting. Depending on where the issue is, either you can remove the piston rod from the machine, or remove the entire cylinder. The benefit of not removing the whole cylinder is that it can save you from having to remove the hydraulic hoses as well. The drawback is it can be harder to access the cylinder to reinstall the rod as well as for collecting the hydraulic oil when the rod is removed. It’s possible to save the hydraulic fluid, especially for larger pistons with a decent volume, so that it can be cleaned and reused.

3. There are countless other components to wheel loaders but most of them are more straightforward to repair and replace than ground engaging equipment and hydraulic cylinders. For instance, most of the cab components are a matter of simply replacing what was there by removing a few fasteners, taking out the old item, putting in the new, and re-fastening. Hopefully, these brief notes on repairs gives a snippet of an insight into what goes into maintaining a wheel loader.