Quick attach bucket falls off.

Suddenly the buckets on my skid steer just fall off if any down pressure is applied. Been working fine up until yesterday. Buckets are pretty new so dont think they are worn. I havent had time to really study the problem yet but both levers felt loose, yet I couldn't see anything obvious that had come apart or broke. It appeared that when the levers cam over that the springs had little tension on them and the pins just slip upwards and unlock. Is it just the spring tension that keeps the pins locked? I couldnt see anything else that would hold the pins down like a stop of any kind. Im going to try and look at it closer tonight if I have time.

Pick the bucket up so you can look underneath. Are the pins protruding through the holes in the bucket?

What do you mean by "both levers felt loose?" Loose as in normal and not bound up, or loose as in unusually loose and floppy like they were not functioning properly?

Cold where you are? Pins are probably frozen in place and not moving like they should.

Pins both protrude through the bucket but yes the levers feel looser than normal. It appeared that the spring compresses but then when the lever fully cams over it uncompresses and handle feels loose. Almost like the thing cams over way too far yet the handles come to rest against the frame where they always have. Ive got to study it further as it just didnt make sense.

Machine was inside so dont think anythings frozen.

Are the plates on bucket where loader goes
under bent up? Been there!

Tim you are not going to believe me but here is what has happened. In the upper part or the latch
with the bucket OFF the pins have spun around 180 degrees. You will see you have the sloped turned
and thus not latching. The complete pin will rotate . If that is not the problem you have most
likely bent the top hold angel letting the bucket ride up as one other poster suggested , check
that first.

Had that issue once. I tightened down the nut on top of the spring/pin assembly and it solved the problem.

I need a little more info. Are you saying the pins protrude through the plate like they should but then jump up when you start lifting? Or do they not protrude through the plate in the
first place. Is there some manure frozen to the back of the bucket so it doesn't mate tight to the mount plate?

If your buckets are newer, the issue is likely with the quick attach itself. I would check the latch linkages for worn parts and also check that the latch springs aren't weak or broken. The angled tips of the latch pins could be worn as well. I had the same issue a couple years ago with losing my snow bucket repeatedly. I could see that the bucket was not keeping tight contact with the loader quick attach when moving over rough ground while I had some down pressure on the bucket cutting edge. Looking at the loaders quick attach assembly I could see wear on the surface of the top angled portion that fits into the upper part of the quick attach plate on the bucket. I tack welded a piece of 1/8 by 1 inch flat stock on that angled surface to compensate for the wear. I still have some slop in my latch linkages and plan to rebuild them but the flat strips really helped. Good luck!

thats kinda odd when i used to change back and forth from bucket to forks i always did a visual check on the pins to make sure they were
locking in. in cold weather hydraulic's are slow and need extra attention.

Just came in from looking it over and am even more baffled as to the problem. The pins do indeed enter the notches in the bucket and protrude through maybe 1-1/2". The sloped side of the pin faces away from the bucket which I assume is correct? The notch in the bucket still contacts the sloped surface of the pin however. Nothing seems bent or rusted and everything moves freely. I see nothing bent or broken anywhere including the bucket. The holes are not worn at all and I cleaned the little bit of dirt that was in the holes out. Everything else looks clean. Top angle of the bucket looks fine. Watching it while applying down pressure on the bucket, it appears the pins just slide up releasing the bucket. There seems to be very little spring tension holding the pins down. I can push them up with my thumb. Why suddenly is this happening. The quick attach is one I adapted to my old skid steer but has worked flawlessly for a couple years. The bucket is fairly new and I tried another attachment and it also wont stay latched. I took the whole latch assembly off and have it on the bench now. It just seems like it cams over and goes so far that it releases all the spring tension on the pins. SO strange its happened suddenly and to both pins. Im thinking of making some kind of adjustable stop and maybe shimming the springs to be tighter.

Your springs are adjustable try setting the lock nut down on the springs giving the quick attach
more preasure

The springs are your problem. I put a titan aftermarket qt on my ford 7710. It just spring tension that holds the pins down. Lost the bucket all the time with
down preasure. I removed the springs and replaced with a solid sleeve. Solved the problem. Had to trim the locking notch on a couple of the attachments so the
pin had clearance to go all the way down. Wife cousin has a newer ford nh with factory loader. About 50 hp. same set up same problem. You may be able to correct
by tightening the springs as others have said. Don't remember that the titan had that option. As to why it worked good for awhile and then gave problems, I dunno

when you apply down pressure is that applying pressure on the backside of pin or the tapered side ?

You must have down pressure and backing up.
Don't back up. No way it would fall off going forward.
Just $0.02 worth.