All 4 cyls on my 955K are leaking. There are 4 bolts that hold the end plate on. Is there another plate behind this that requires a spanner wrench? Or do I undo the 4 bolts and the whole rod will come out? How tough is it to repack a cylinder? I have time, equipemnt, and am a tight ass... not paying someone to do it. Thanks Wags
not to bad, you should be able to pull the four bolts and pull the rod out. just becarefull when you replacing the packing. in seal at a time don't take them all off then try to figure it out, you will see why later.
955k cylinders are pretty easy to do the one problem you might have is getting the piston nut loose the lift rod nuts torque to 2000 ft lbs
The correct police might get me, but I heat the nut to get it off. Most of the time it's been rebuilt before and somebody will have put LockTite on it. Just get a new lock nut afterwards.
HOLY COW! ONLY 2000 ft. lbs??
OK, so the piston nut is opposite the rod end. Or it is the sealing end of the cylinder internally? So, it has to come off. And you mean the piston nut... on the lift cylinders, not the roll cylinders torque to 2000? Thanks Wags
Found a torque multiplier. Whew! Anyone use "Bulldog" brand seals? The local place uses them. Thanks Wags
Hey Wags, you may have already ordered your seals but we had good luck with Baum if you decide to mail order. Depending on your cylinder type yours may look similar to the ones we just rebuilt on the Dresser. Pictures on pg 16 of my first track loader thread. Ours had a 4 bolt cap and were single piece piston...yours may be two piece. A manual and a helper or two will help tremendously.
Yeah, Bulldog seals are pretty common and I've had good luck with them. Every now and then, Cat will be a little cheaper on their seals. You can leave the lift cylinders on the machine to install the seals. Block up the bucket and pull the pin, undo the 4 bolts on the rod end of the cylinder(hang the cylinder with a strap from the loader arms) and take a come-along and pull the rod out of the cylinders. To get that bad boy nut off of there with your new torque mulitplier, shove the rod end on to the appropriate sized drawbar of something you have around there to hold it. Pull the piston off it and intall the seals. You should be ready to go back together now. It's very easy after the first couple of them you do. You'll be ready to tackle all the leaky ones around your place afterwards.
Thanks for the tips. I will check out baum and cat for prices. I'm going to tackle the tilt cyls first. I am glad I can do the lift cyls on the loader. They look pretty damn heavy. HA I like the draw bar trick. Makes sense. A buddy of mine works for John Deere, so if I run into questions he probably can pointme in the right direction. Thanks again. Wags
Update on the cylinders. Piece of cake. Well, not quite but almost. I was searching for a socket big enough to fit the nut on the piston end of the rod. I think it was 3.250. On craigslist a guy had a snap on 4x multipier and 2 sockets (1 was 3.250) for 600. I bought it. Yanked off the cylinders, and no problem from there. (well, chaining it down, etc). But both cylinders (tilt cylinders) rebuilt, repainted, and working awesome. No leaks. I will tackle the lift cylinders shortly. So, 50 bucks each for the kits, I put in pins and bushingsa that were loose, 600 for the tools and I have good cylinders. Wags
For the lower cylinders is the Cat "safety stop" actually safe to prop the bucket up. On the right side there is the lever you flip and it locks on a pin to hold the bucket up. Seems like a lot of weight on a pin. Wags
You are better of putting bucket on top of loaded dump truck or in the bluestone quarries we use a big rock.
If I remember right lots of the 955 and 977 cyls had an update to the head because there were no wear rings in the head and the piston rides on the seals, we usualy cut the heads in the lathe and ad the wear rings . Pretty easy and the packings last a lot longer.
I don't have a dump truck. I could rest it up against as tree and use the safety stop to be sure. I am sure it would be fine, but it is my life. HA I will check the piston and see if it has the wear band. Thanks for the tip. Wags
WAGS, The pistons have the wear ring, its the head with the 4 bolt holes, there is a wide about 1" by 1/8" thick fibre type band end are cut diagonal.
Hmmm... My tilt cylinders did not have the wear ring in them then. These were the first I took apart, so had no idea. Yes, my piston had a wear ring (fiber 1" ish wide), and 2 sealing rings (hard ass teflon or something like that). The head had the outer seal (dirt seal), a second seal with o ring behind it and a third seal (main seal I think) but no wear insert in it. I will yank then off tomorrow. I am a go getter. LOL. (gonna rain all weekend, so I should be able to do them). I'll replace bushings/ pins as needed. I only (try anyway) to do things once. Wags Thanks again. Makes sense the head should also have a wear ring instead of the cylinder riding on the seals.
I'm not sure about the 955 seal arraignment wag, but most cylinder applications of that sort, the gland (head) has a wiper seal on outside. Next seal behind wiper is main seal, u-cup, poly pak seal, etc. Then they might fit a buffer ring to control high pressure shock load on main seal. Lastly, may fit a wear ring (bearing ring) to keep rod from pressing rod load on main seal.
That is what I have less wear ring. Thanks for helping me out with terms. Wags
You're welcome.
There is no wear fibre fitted into the head of 955K/L cylinders the hoist rod nuts are pulled down to 2'000 LBS FT, the bucket tilt cylinders are slightly different to the hoist cylinders, as the piston is fitted to a taper, so after the nut is removed the piston should need pressing off the rod, the nut torque on these cylinders is 1'200 LBS FT, the important thing is always fit the piston onto a non tapered rod with the fibre end close to the nut.
2000#! on the hoist cyls? YIKES! My little ass ain't getting that done with a 4x multiplier. What size is the nut? Any idea? OK, no hill for a climber. I keep telling myself that. I replaced bushings, rod ends, clevis pins, etc on the throttle linkage and shift linkage this weekend. Man it is sweet. Probably much better than new. I am a machinist, so all tight and precision. (I know... once it gets all dirty it wil go to hell). Oillite bushings, rod ends with grease zerks. Man it is sweet! Oh, made new pins for the worn throttle pivot and shift pivot. Chrome rod pivots. (I must have to much time on my hands) Wags Oh, how much of a pita is it to get the hoist cylinders out? Looks like 6 or 8 bolts, screw in 2 bolts to pry out the pin. A buddy can do the cyls, I am sure of it. He builds forklift cyls and attachments. What does one weigh? My little tractor is good for about 700#. Thanks again. Wags
Wags, You don't have to pull the cylinders off the tractor. Just unbolt the 4 bolts off the head and pull the rods out of the bore end of the cylinder leaving them on the tractor. Then you can take the rods to a clean area and put new seals on the pistons. A good way to undo the big nut on the end of the rod is to put the rod end in the tongue of a drawbar and pin it. Then you can get rough with it. It beats a vise flopping around. The rods along with the pistons on them probably weigh 80 pounds or so. I'd say the nut is probably 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inch. That's how I did my 941B anyway. They were the first ones I rebuilt and they're so simple to do. The bolts I'm talking about are #17 in the drawing.
To remove the hoist cylinder rods the best way is to crib up a chunk of channel or RSJ and bits of timber to pack out the shape of the bonnet / hard nose so the loader frame is supported on both sides resting on the front bonnet area, you will soon locate the strongest spot, the rod eye pin is threaded to be pulled out with a hollow ram, I think the thread is 1"1/4 A.N.F. or 1"1/2 A.N.F. these pins usualy will hit out, remove the 4 head bolts plus the 4 bolts on the head pipe, then pull out the rod with a pull lift hooked onto the loader frame, the rod nut is ether 2"3/8 or 2"1/2, and they tend to be on firm, to refit the rod put the hoist lever into float position untill the head is located.
Just a thought, look at Using a bit of Muscle in the shop talk slot, as I am stripping a loader frame out of a 951 shovel also doing a rod seal job on 1, this might help with the cribbing thing also.
I was wanting to remove the WHOLE cylinder. I know that is not the easiest way or smartest way. I was going to remove, steam wash, reseal, and paint the cylinders. I know this is like bolting a new set of **** on an old whore. HAHA But if you are going to... might as well make it nice. I may defer to common sense and just do them in the machine. I hope I do. Wags wow t*i*t*s was blocked???
The bottom pin location often makes my eyes water when I go to remove the complete cylinder, I have the tooling for this task but those lower pins can be a fair pig to set free, when I used to get plenty of CAT shovels to repair/rebuild, if the track frames came off the bottom pins were pulled and replaced, some of them though had to be cut out, best of luck, Oh on your tip cylinders was the piston a taper fit on the rod?
mate i know this might sound a bit stupid but make sure when you have the rod out of it that you dont scratch it or dint it also make sure it is really clean where you are doing the seals seen a few wallies before dint the rod before. and yeah seems liek you are going to need the right tooling to get them lower pins out mate either that or a whole lot of mussel.
Well, you guys have convinced me...screw taking the cyls off. I will do them in the loader. I looked at my torque mulitplier...it is rated to 4000# so I am ok there. It will take 1000# input. I just need a longer breaker bar (pipe). Thanks for making me see the light. The pistons on the tilt cylinders were a taper fit to the rods. Weekend proect! Wags
This thread is a great find for me! I'm just about to try and tackle this job myself. On a 955K no less. I was totally wondering if I could do them on the machine or not, looks like that's definitely the way to go. If it crosses your mind, some pics of the lift cylinder rebuild would be amazing.
I have all the parts riding around in my service van. It is balls hot this weekend. How soon are you thinking of doing this project? Wags
I'm not in a big hurry, but I want to get on it. Knowing someone else is doing it at the same time is good for me. I've wrenched on hot rods and farm tractors a lot in the past, but I recently got a 955 (did you notice that was my first post after lurking for like 2 years?) and it runs great, but I don't want to use it until I get these seals redone. I need some inspiration here
Didjit, can you take pics of the overhaul and post them? It would be great to see the step-by-step process.
and pins for these as the pins were worn and bushings also loose. I figured do it once and it will outlast meOK, I am CERETAINLY no expert, which is probably more helpful than someone who does it all the time. So, here is what I discovered from doing my tilt cylinders: 1) Those big ass nuts on the rod are TIGHT! I had a torque multiplier, had cylinders chained down, etc and they were tight... UNTIL I applied some heat. The one popped off without heat. The second would not budge until I heated it just till the locking nylon was melting somewhat. Bang, right off. 2) It is a PITA to "stretch" the seal itself over the piston. I got some water damn hot, put the seal in it, then much easier. 3) It is not rocket science. Far from it. 4) It is important to keep everything clean. 5) After taking the 4 bolts off the "head", it is still tough to pull the rod/ piston assembly out of the cylinder. I hooked a truck and tractor to the first ones. I used a come-a-long for the second. 6) You need a big work area with ways to hold stuff. I worked on a flat bed trailer which enabled me to chain stuff to hold it. Many guys suggest putting the rod eye on a tractor draw bar to tighten/ loosen nut. 7) A LONG pipe/ extension on your breaker bar is important. Some locals I talk to use a 10' pipe, then just tighten as much as they can. Not to technical. I am a torque guy personally... hence the multiplier. 8) IF you don't want to go through the expense or borrow a multiplier and torque wrench... put a chisel mark on the nut and rod end. Then, just tighten up nut to the same location. Do not damage the threads, just line them up. Make sense? I will post some pics as I fumble through the process. Again, I am so far from an expert it isn't funny. I am a mechanic that works on industrial hyd. and electric equipment, though, so not an idiot. (some would argue this) HA Wags OH, when I did the tilt cylinders (and also these) I replaced bushings in the cylinder and rod end. They were pretty loose. I replaced one pin, the other was in great shape. I ordered bushings.
Right on! I guess after looking through the book, those big ass nuts are the ones that have me scratching my head. I was thinking if i can get a 4' pipe wrench locked onto them, I could move the handle with the FEL on my tractor. Does that sound like it would work or can you hear dueling banjo's playing at the thought of it Certainly dont wanna bend anything. Good call on the chisel mark. That makes total sense to me. Did you repack the cylinders or just replace the seals? Old timer who is always telling me all the things I need to do tells me to get the repacking too. I'll totally take pics. I need to get my seals ordered and I'm thinking about making a "stand" for the bucket out of cross ties. Then I'll get on with it. Thanks for all the info. This is good stuff! I'm glad you went first
Replace the packing glands and seals both. You have to take the piston of the rod to replace the seals. No reason not to replace the glands or whatever they are called. A kit is so cheap it is unbelievable. Like 40 to 75 bucks. I was going to try the pipe wrench and FEL trick too, BUT you cannot get a pipe wrench on the nuts (scratch that... not on the tilt cyl nuts... I have not taken the lift cyls apart). The tilt cyl nuts are recessed somewhat and a socket is the only way to get a hold of them. So, IF the lift cyls are the same, pipe wrench won't work. I will look at a parts diagram and see if it look similar. Wags
Oh, for seals I ordered mine from American Crane and Tractor... maybe. Kits are aftermarket and cheap. If I was using this daily I might buy cat replacements. I won't put 50 hours a year on this piece. My tilt cyls are leak free... even with some minor scarring on the rod. I think I had less then 200 in my tilt cyls with bushings, pin, seals, etc. I have around 300 to 350 in lift cl parts with 2 pins, bushings, seals, etc. Wags
nice. i called the cat service place here in my area and i got quoted at $4800 to redo the seals. That's what made me think this is gonna be a DIY affair. That's $300 more then I payed for the machine! Gonna order the seals and do the tilt cylinders first. I spent an hour or so looking at it yesterday and think I have my head around it.
While mine were off I bought some "rustshield" brand paint, (cat yellow)(holds up great, sticks to anything), pressure washed them, rebuilt them and painted them. They look sweet and don't leak. Wags
I pulled my tilt cylinders today. the o-ring at the base of the piston looks all chewed up, and the wiper seal is in horrible shape. Here's something that's got me scratching my head tho... it looks like the big seal has a gnarly crack in it, but the other rod has the same deal at exactly the same angle (yes... i put a speed square on it). This isn't right is it? i tried to pull them out with a really wimpy comealong, and no dice, needed to use the tractor. The other seals on the piston look good but they have some streaking in them that i would imagine would cause leaks too. I've been taking pictures of every step and will post if/when i can declare victory.
It is right. The thing with the split is a wear sleeve or wear ring. It keeps the piston from scuffing the cylinder. The 2 black rings are the seals or whatever they are called. They are a teflon/ hard plastic. Behind them is a rubber square ring. (about 3/8" square) Also note the o-ring on the head. It will be 1 o-ring and you will see in the kit a sort of rectangle shaped o-ring the same diameter. These little rectangle shaped rings go OPPOSITE pressure. In the case of the head, the o-ring goes towards the fluid. The square little ring goes away from the fluid. These little square ring things are to keep the o-ring from shooting out under pressure. I hope that makes sense. Wags
No worries didjit, that red looking thing with the crack in it is actually a bearing ring on the piston, it keeps loads from mashing piston seals and keeps piston from contacting cylinder bore during high loads. The two urethane rings on next to the bearing ring are the piston seals. You need to get that nut off so you can remove the gland and replace the seals in the gland. And, although the piston seals look good, if I have a cylinder apart, I'm replacing all the seals.
Now that you have the cyl/ rod apart.... look at all the rust on the head, end of the cylinder, and at the beginning of the cylinder (where the piston goes in) Scrape all the rust off the flat surfaces. Make them so they will mate up flat and nice. (well, decent anyway). ALSO use sandpaper or scotch brite to clean the rust from the beginning of the cylinder. This will keep the seals from being scraped up/ screwed up upon initial install. Also grease up the cylinder inlet. Grease up the rod. Make sure stuff is clean and plenty of grease (not 1/4"). You get it. DO NOT put in the seals dry. Wags
LoL...looks like wags was one minute ahead of me in posting.
The nut on mine was 3.250". Remember... try to loosen it, if not, use some heat. NOT cherry red. I just heated mine until the nylon started to bubble a little bit. Wags
HA And you are light years ahead of me in actual knowledge. I just typed faster. Wags
I recently replaced right lift cylinder on 1969 955K with a good used one. We pulled the entire cylinder rather than removing gland and pulling the rod/piston. If I had to do it over again, I'd pull the gland with rod and piston. It's gotta be less work that way.
I got my rods rebuilt and it wasn't as bad as I had thought it was gonna be. I'm gonna put things back together this week hopefully and see how I did. If all goes well, I'll reward myself by pulling the lift cylinders and doing the same thing with them It took me, a 10 foot section of pipe, my fattest buddy, and a torch to get the nut off the rod. Good times!
Well, here's my cylinder project I finally got a few hours to spend working on the loader this afternoon, and wound up putting it all back together. It was soooo much easier then I had thought it was going to be. So easy in fact I debated posting the pics, but someone asked me to do it, and it might help so I figured I should. Here's the thing, and I'm sure y'all are laughing so hard right now that I finally figured this out... It's tougher to get the things apart then it is to get them back together and the machine back together too. Wags said this is far from rocket science and he's totally right. It's really simple and to be honest, I spent more time doubting myself then I did actually wrenching. If your seals are leaking, do this. Like I said, my estimate from CAT was like $4500 and I'm fully convinced that I'm in the wrong line of work... Not that I could do this for a living, but I think that's a ridiculous price for something you can do yourself. At least I'd never pay that. Anyhow... I took the lines off and let the hydro fluid out. I propped up the cylinder barrel on some stuff that was around the worksite. I should have strapped this down. I'll get to that part later. Knocking the old pins out was probably the hardest part. Mine were stuck like chuck. I tapped on them with a framing hammer and a tractor pin before welding a wedge backwards onto an old axle I had lying around and beating on them with a sledge. Out they came. To pull the rods, I started with a wimpy 2000lb come-a-long and broke that pretty quickly. I had a strap around the rod arm that was connected to my loader bucket on the farm tractor so when I did pull the thing loose, It wouldn't fall and get dinged up. Basically a sling. I'll get to a pick of this "HOT SETUP" in a sec. Since the rod was hanging from the loader bucket, I fed a chain through the eye of the rod, and pulled it out with the dodge. Here's a pic of the rod in the back of my truck. Wags was "on target". The nut is 3.25" I put the eye of the rod through the drawbar on the farm tractor and put a stall mat over the lift arm. I got a pipe, a breaker bar, my 400lb buddy, and we pulled on the pipe but no dice. I totally wish I had a picture of the 400lb bubba hanging from a piece of pipe, but alas, I have failed you on this one!!! I heated the nut, and pop! off it came. Replacing the seals was a snap. I got mine from Bulldog. I payed less then $100 for both set. I'm not advertising for them, but aside from the sales girl being a compete ditz ("oh! we don't sell seals for caterpiller...") i was pleased with how it worked. They shipped quickly and all the parts were in the kit. The plates that hold the pins in make a good little tool to press the seals that go into the piston caps. I just layed a rag over the seal, put the plate on top, and gave it a few taps. The hot water trick worked for the rest. Wasn't hard at all. I was worried about getting the whole mess back together, but like i said, that was the easy part. Less then 2 hours for the whole thing, and If I had someone helping it would have been quicker. So basically, yes, you can do this alone That's my sling made out of tie-downs and recovery straps. I left the ratchet on the boom side as I quickly figured out getting things straight is the clutch here. to be continued (aren't you excited?)
back for more... Once I had everything up in the sling, I just needed to get the piston in the barrel. I made sure that it was nice and clean. I used a scotchbrite pad to scour it, and make it pretty. Also, as someone suggested, I made sure there wasn't a bunch of broken seal pieces in there. I lined up the piston with the barrel, and sort of got it started. This went kinda slowly. I tapped on the end of the rod with a framing hammer until It started to go in. I just wanted to make sure the seals didn't cinch up on the lip of the barrel, so that went kinda slow. Once the seals were in the barrel, I knocked it the rest of the way in with a sledge. I got it about this far in. I figured I could pull the cap in with the bolts if i torqued them down like putting on a cylinder head (which I guess is exactly what this is... ) The bolts pulled it in. Again, I wanted to do it slowly and evenly because there's a o-ring on that head that I didn't want to booger up. Getting the pin back in was a lot easier then getting it out. I blocked the rod with some scrap wood, and could lift it up with the tractor bucket. This part was really easy. Well there it is all back together. No big deal at all. In fact, in a sick sort of way, I'm looking forward to doing my lift cylinders this week. The new seals look pretty good and no leaks! Thanks again everyone! Like I said, you all are prolly laughin hard at this since it's prolly complete noob stuff, but i gotta admit, it had me a little worried. All the help here is invaluable, and I hope this helps someone!
Leak-free hydraulics. Puts a smile on your face don't it ........?? Congrats on a job well done. The rod nut's got Nyloc in it so having heated it to get if off a bit of Loctite might have gone been a good idea when you put it back. That's just nit-picking though.
Good call! I did loctite it, and i forgot to mention that before me and aforementioned lard mass cracked it, I gave the nut a wack with a chisel so I could line it up - like wags suggested. here's one for ya... i got done, loaded my truck, and went home right after I got it together as I suddenly came down with a sudden horrible sickness only a large pizza could cure. I totally wanna top off the hydraulic oil, but it sounds like the hydraulics are making a "overloaded" noise (like when I pulled the rods in and lowered the bucket flat) I figure it's air in the there, that I just need to work out easily. i want to top it off before I do anything else. in the book i have, I can't find a relief valve to get the air out... i'm thinking i totally need to "bleed" it, but i've also heard I don't need to as that system doesn't need it. the last thing i wanna do is mess up the pump. any ideas?
I finished my lift cylinders a couple weeks ago. I propped up my bucket with the safety arm lever thing. It was fine, but it was a little scary. I SHOULD have chained it up also to my rops or something. Would have instantly killed my if safety failed (which I am sure it is engineered properly... be safe) I propped up the lower cyls with some firewood I had laying around. Got them level ish. Not rocket science. I removed the line from the end of the cylinder (rod end). The biggest issue I had before was getting the heads to pop out. I DON"T RECOMMEND THIS! But it is safe IF YOU USE YOUR HEA!D! So, I loosened the 4 head nuts and backed them out about 3 turns. Still tons of thread engagement. I then cranked the engine and brought it to the lowest of idles and applied hyd. pressure to the lift cyls (tried to lift the bucket with the lever) AS SOON AS THE HEADS moved I shut it off and released hyd pressure. So, you are not loading the piston against the head with any real pressure. Get it. Think it out. Don't kill yourself by standing in front of it. legal disclaimer. Don't do it. OK I then used my little loader on my tractor with a sling setup and drug the rod the rest of the way out. I dumped the fluid. If you care you need probably a 5 gallon bucket + per side to catch it. Then rebuild same as the others. HEAT THE NUT! I just heated mine until the nylock starts to bubble a little bit. They spin right off that way. (well, with a 4x multiplier and or a long ass pipe) Again I chisel marked the nut and rod end. I then torqued stuff back together and the mark was slightly tighter. Like 1/8" off. No big deal. The nut is the same size as the tilt cylinders. The biggest PITA was actually getting the wiper seal back on the rod. It goes in with lip towards the rod end and the end of this cyl. is not tapered like the tilt cyls. A little working and it went on. I had the chic drive the tractor with loader/ sling setup. It is easy enough to eyeball the level, get it close and whack it with a hammer. It will slide in. (oh, remember to clean rust/ crap, etc from end of barrel and wipe out) Shove it in until you can get the head bolted in place. Bolt it, slide the rest of the way in and hook up the line and go. Good luck. Wags
Your "overload" noise is in fact air in the system. Use it easy for 10 minutes or just work the cyls full extend, then full retract. It will work out. Wags
right on wags! you're ahead of me. I still gotta redo my lift cylinders, but they are maybe dripping 10 drops a day, so it's not really as immediate of a thing as my tilts which were gushing. I get some time off work next week, so once again you might have inspired me to do it. since i got my tilts done and things are working, i've been messing around with the loader a bit, moving boulders and general clearing. I'd hate to be a stump on my farm these days. thanks for posting! do you have a 4n1 on yours? those cylinders on mine are in the best shape of the lot, but they also look the easiest to get off and get resealed.
I have a gp bucket not a 4 in 1. If yours are leaking 10 drops a day just consider it som extra lube. NOT a leak. HAHA I ran the hell out of mine this weekend. I replaced pins and bushings as needed while doing the job. AMAZING how the wear in the pins exagerates the slop in the linkage. It is way better now. Not perfect, but neither am I at 43. HA I won't last anywhere near as long as this loader. Now, the winter project is to replace the steering brakes. I am almost out of adjustment on one. Wags
Quick ? for you 955K guys. How much throttle do you run when working? A neighbor runs his machine low to half throttle and I do the same. The mechanic who assists me with repairs says to run it just below WOT so all the pumps in the transmission will have sufficient oil pressure. Any thoughts?
Hi Pete - I'm prolly not the guy you should listen too regarding this since I'm a complete newbie with loaders. I'm a farmer and needed one to clear land so I'm not an expert by any means. The dude I bought mine from said to run it wide open, so I'm usually around there or a little less. Mostly been clearly in second gear an I drop throttle and to first when I get into really thick terrain or am pushing boulders. I guess I'm at the stage of operation where I try to keep conscious of putting it into neutral and stepping the brake if I wanna stop. I slow it down if I have to make a 90 degree turn or something like that. I'm used to rubber tire tractors and so far when I feel the loader go up on one track on a rock it makes me swear (loudly) enough to send 3 souls to hell!
About 80 to 90% on my 955L. Less throttle and the machine doesn't respond properly. More and it's too jerky on gear changes. When I'm digging or pushing hard, then it's 100%, and I back off as soon as I can. Keeping the throttle slightly less than 100% unless you need it saves fuel too.
didjit & PhilDirt - Thanks for the replies. I'll start running more throttle.
I just got around to pulling my lift cylinders. I found that if you stick the teeth of the bucket down in the dirt and pull of the sides of the hood, there's clearance to get the pins out. I opted to do it this way cuz I don't have the cajones that wags has and the idea of working under the raised up bucket gave me the heebeejeebees. If I were anywhere where I had something to set it on, I'd prolly go that route, but I'm clearing to build a barn and I haven't got any place to prop it up. Was gonna just pile up some dirt and use that, but then i didn't think I'd have a way to pull the rods out. Sounds weird, but there's clearance on top of the bucket to run a cable right over the bucket to pull out the rods.