To start with the company I work for had a 297C that we just upgraded to a 299D and now I have a friend that is looking at a 277C and he calls me with questions and one of them I don't know what the answer is and would like help! The local Cat dealer has the machine well cat financial does but it is at local dealer! The question is when the bucket is sitting on the ground there is a 2 or 3" gap between the loader arm stops is that how it is supposed to be? I know that there is a torsion system ride that the whole machine rides on and I wondered if those torsions were bad! Any help would be appreciated!! Thanks Jerry
Is it a factory bucket ? Normally CF gives a pretty intensive inspection report is there a report with it?
When the axle's go bad the front end will start to droop. Bucket should be flat and touching the stops.
Powerjoke yes it does have an inspection! Catmech I havnt seen the machine other than pics but I was told that when the bucket is flat on ground it is a couple of inches from stops and that had to use hyd and put the bucket down and lift the front of the machine off the ground to get the stops to contact! Thanks Jerry
I know nothing about this machine. That said, it seems to me if the boom was on the stops with the bucket flat on the ground, you wouldn't have any reach below grade without tilting the bucket. I have never run a ctl, but I have run and repaired a bunch of other kinds of loaders, and most all of them would reach below grade a little, in other words, they would lift the front of the machine at least a couple of inches with the bucket flat.
I think theres a few things that could be happening. I know our 262C and 262C2 both lift the front of the machine slightly with the bucket level on the ground and the boom down to the stops. There is also the chance that the bucket that is one it is causing it. Some OEMs have different specs for where their plate attachs and some of these buckets may raise the machine more or less. if it is a Cat bucket though that should be normal. As mentioned they do ride on a torsional rubber system. I would assume it is possible that when that system wears out the front will start to dive as the mechanic above stated. I would compare it to other 277s if you can, or ask a few of the mechanics what they have seen. Those machines have been out for 6 years so they should have some good data on the wear parts.