Quick attach loader

Claim 1

In combination with a tractor having a front mounting means and a pair of intermediate mounting means, one on each side respectively of the tractor, a materials handling implement including: a frame structure having a pair of laterally spaced, interconnected side units, each unit including an elongated, fore and aft bar having a front leg secured thereto and depending therefrom and a rear upright secured thereto, each upright being provided with an upstanding post and a rear leg depending from the bar; a boom assembly having a pair of laterally spaced, interconnected lifting beams, each beam including a fore and aft rear arm and a forwardly extending front arm; pivot means connecting the rear ends of the rear arms with the upper ends of the corresponding posts for up and down swinging movement of said assembly relative to said structure; a materials handling tool mounted on the forward ends of said front arms; a stand mounted on the lower ends of said front legs and cooperable with said tool in rendering the implement free standing and self supporting; and power means interconnecting each upright with a corresponding beam for raising and lowering said structure and said rear arms while the implement is supported by said tool and said stand, the lower end of each front leg having means releasably attaching the same to said front mounting means, and the lower end of each rear leg having means releasably attaching the same to the corresponding intermediate mounting means after said structure and the rear legs are lowered, said front mounting means comprising a crosspiece, said front legs having a cross member interconnecting the same and resting on the crosspiece.

Claim 7

The method of mounting a materials handling implement on a tractor, said implement having a frame structure provided with a stand depending from its forward end, a boom assembly mounted on said structure for up and down swinging movement, a materials handling tool carried by said assembly, and power means between said structure and said assembly for swinging the latter, said implement being ground supported by the bucket and the stand when the implement is detached from the tractor, said method including the steps of: driving the tractor forwardly to position its front end adjacent the stand; actuating the power means to swing said structure downwardly while the implement is supported by the tool and the stand until said structure engages the tractor at a number of locations on the latter; and attaching the structure to the tractor at each of said locations, said structure having a front cross member and a pair of spaced rear legs, said tractor having a front crosspiece and a pair of spaced pockets, said method including the downward swinging of said structure until the rear legs enter the pockets and the cross member descends toward and comes to rest on the top of the crosspiece at substantially the same time.

Claim 8

The method of mounting a materials handling implement on a tractor, said implement having a frame structure provided with a stand depending from its forward end, a boom assembly mounted on said structure for up and down swinging movement, a materials handling tool carried by said assembly, and power means between said structure and said assembly for swinging the latter, said implement being ground supported by the bucket and the stand when the implement is detached from the tractor, said method including the steps of: driving the tractor forwardly to position its front end adjacent the stand; actuating the power means to swing said structure downwardly while the implement is supported by the tool and the stand until said structure engages the tractor at a number of locations on the latter; and attaching the structure to the tractor at each of said locations, said structure having a front cross member and a pair of spaced rear legs, said tractor having a front crosspiece and a pair of spaced pockets, said method including the downward swinging of said structure until the rear legs enter the pockets and the cross member descends toward and comes to rest on the top of the crosspiece at substantially the same time.