Hi guys, I am the the proud owner (for the second time) of one old and ugly 580se. Here's my first problem, when I swing the hoe up to the transport position the latch hits the pin about 3/4" down on the side. It started happening one day and I had to tie a vine around the latch to hold it up far enough to lock. There was obvious play in the swing pins and I thought maybe I had waited too long to repin and bush the swing tower and that the geometry was off.Sooo I had a local shop put in new pins and bushings. When they were done there was still some play in the lower joint but it much less than before and the transport latch worked . Now its back home and I've used the hoe 5-6 times and the latch dosen't work again:Banghead. Anybody have any tips, ideas , suggestions, Thanx, Jim
a pic would help , i have a se but never had a latch problem
this happened to me on a JCB sitemaster.The end cap on the boom ram had backed off. Tightened this, problem solved
If it's really new to you I have to ask if you really know how to operate the boom to latch it up, reversing the lever near the top. Is it not coming back far enough to latch? If this is not the issue, how is the strength of the cylinders in general. Do you have hydraulic power to dig?
Thanks for the replies. I might be able to take a pic Shopguy, but all it would show is a little mark on the pin where the latch hits it. Bowen, thats a fair question, I know how to latch the boom, it does take a little practice at first though. It used to latch and then one day it just wouldn't. I probably didn't explain this well enough. When the boom swings up instead of the latch going over the pin and catching, the end of the latch smacks the back of the pin. Hence the need of a vine (now a tarp strap) to tie onto the latch to hold it up with my left hand far enough to clear the pin while I do the back and forwards thing with my right on the boom lever. This was just all of a sudden. I was alternately using the loader and hoe, latching the hoe when not in use and.... went latch the hoe and smack! I can't figure why the latch is to low now.
Check that rubber strap that holds it up just enough to miss the top of the pin they will strech ,dosent take much it glances over the pin anyway also check the pin in the latch hope this helps.
Keep your head in the cab
IF this is the correct parts diagram maybe it will help. It looks like there were 2 different styles. Looks like this might be a real simple issue, otherwise you should be able to see any major problem with it. :eek2 Maybe I can make a photo today of mine to see if that helps. Which pins and bushings were replaced?
Shopguy, those rubber straps are kind of frayed and I do need to replace the latch pin but it seems that would raise the boom end of the latch making the situation worse. Bill, I try to keep my head in the cab even though I don't use it for much. Thanks anyway, Jimr.
Bowen, the diagram on the top is the style on mine. Both swing tower to backhoe frame pins and bushings and boom pins and bushings were replaced. I agree it is a very simple system, that's what's cofusing me. How can this thing work for 26yrs. and all of a sudden be 3/4" to low to clear the pin:beatsme.
I would change the straps they are the only thing that sets the latch height they may have sloted bolt holes to adjust it if so set set it to just touch the pin as it comes over the top.That pin dosent need to worn a lot but a bit is ok
I odered the straps and the pin today as both look pretty worn.... parts won't get here until thursday or friday. I'll let you guys know if it fixes the problem. Thanks again for all of your help. Jim
So today I got the new pin and straps and set about to install them. After fighting with the old pin long enough to invent some new words it finally slid out. That's when I discovered what the problem was. The PO had used a bolt, instead of the roll pin (number 14 the diagram Bowen posted) with a nut on it to hold the latch away from the pin (number 13) . Well that bolt head was worn down to a nub, actually it looked like a miniture canoe, and had broken off inside the latch. I guess that's why the latch just dropped and wouldn't slide over the top of the swing pin anymore. Anyway .... new boom latch pin, new straps, new roll pin and she works better than ever. Thanks to all who helped :notworthy, Jim
I am happy to know you found the problem. I am also glad you put the correct parts on there.:thumbsup Seems to me when folks "improvise" it often causes trouble later. I suppose at the time he thought it was good enough.
Isn't this just the case of not bouncing the ball [so to speak] strongly enough to latch it?
Tuney443, the problem was that the latch was too low to go over the pin. I had latched the boom about 3 times earlier in the day and went to the latch it again and the latch was 3/4" too low to clear the pin. I could see the scuff mark in the paint on the end of the latch where it hit the pin but I could not imagine why the latch would just drop 3/4". I was thinking VooDoo or blackmagic until I took it apart and had seen what had hapened. I was definately one of those "well that's just stupid!" moments .