Talk about bad luck, I was cleaning up a brush pile today with the 973 I bought last fall. Everything was working great then I heard a loud pop and felt it then the machine quit moving. I'm guessing it broke the drive between the motor and pumps. The hydraulics still work which drive off of the gear case on the back of the motor. I've put a whole two hours on this machine since I bought it. This brush pile is on property we built a 18 acre lake on about five years ago. I blew the motor up on my other 973 and the 963 on this lake. To top it off my 322 exc. burnt on this lake also. I think this spot is haunted for me.
Damn GW did you dig up any bones around the lake??
Are you sure you've not blown a transmission hose? I've never seen a pump drive fail. The implement hydraulics work off the tank under the front cover..
It was a big bang and you could feel it threw the machine when it did it. I've blown drive hoses before and never felt them break. I'm going by there tomorrow and look at it. This a 96 model so yes it does have a separate hydraulic supply from the hydro stats. I didn't see any oil leaking when I looked under it but I was not very happy at the time and didn't hang around.
I think you could pull the charge pump and see if the drive is turning
Talked to a mechanic buddy and he thought the charge pump might have broke or it could be the drive shaft but he's never seen one break. He was going to look at his books when he got to the shop today.
Talked to him today, he thinks the female coupler that bolts to the fly wheel probably gave up. Any way about it the motor has to come out.
should of looked at the SIS it looks like your drive coupling is most likely the culprit the one I looked at has a plastic drive I have had problems with those in skid steers
Sometimes I wonder why I battle these machines. This one down, I was running the older one on a pond and boom. Hydraulic leak!! Looked at it and figured it was more than a shade tree fix. Took it to shop and after 1 1/2 hours washing finally figured it was the hose from valve body crossing behind the oil tank to the bulk head on the other side to the lift cylinder. Another hour of me and a mechanic buddy hammering on it in the heat we had to take both hoses off. Only 102 degrees in the sun but the wind was blowing. Hopefully cooler in the morning putting it back together. I'm getting to old for this ****!
So you thrash on it with a mechanic and get it going and move it to the job late in the afternoon. Rains 3 to 4 inches that night!!! Life is great if you can stand the pressure!!!! So I work 2 paid hours all week but the cold beer still tastes good on a Saturday evening setting on the patio!!
I just rebuilt all the hydraulic drive system on a 963 bbd suffix, the drive pump on he right side self destructed and pushed metal and pieces of bearings out of he pump and through the hydrostat system, I found all the failur in he filter but I still had to go through all the hydraulics and check for metal, while they are separate systems they still work off the same oil and same tanks
That must have been costly! Cmark posted some pics. a couple years ago of what all went wrong and how to properly clean up a hydrostat loader. I think it was 963 too. Everything had to be taken apart and cleaned, everything!
yeah it run him pretty close to a hundred grand, after parts and labor
I'd guess the rest of the machine was in pretty good shape to spend that kind of money on it. If the machine is older and doesn't have DEF or too much electronics might have been the best way to go over buying a new machine.
When discussing Cat track-loaders It's important to compare apples with apples. The C series and later are a completely different animal to the first generations.
First generation runs a separate tank for the hydraulics and hydro stats. Better systems I would think.
Which are more reliable?
I don't remember how old it was, I know it was a C model and a bbd serial number so its not to old,, the engine was a 3126 I think it only had maybe 8,000 hours,
Seeing that you can't even get parts for a HPCU anymore, reliability got replaced with availability, that and not alot of people know how to work on HPCU anymore
It's debatable. With correct maintenance, the early HPCU machines give good service. The early C series suffered from drive pump failures and parts are hard to get. Also like a lot of electronic controlled machines, they suffer from bodgy wiring repairs and people tampering with them in ignorance. The first D series machines are now starting to get some big hours on them but appear to be holding up pretty well.
8000 hours seems pretty low to have to replace the hydrostatic drive system but if the machine was maintained the rest should be in great shape. A big portion of the repair bill was probably for cleaning the entire hyd./hydrostat system.
Are Cat track loaders are pretty common in Australia?
Yes, reasonably common although they seem to be being replaced with the bigger CTL machines, presumably due to cost. Typically seen with a GPS or laser setup for leveling new house pads.
Never seen GPS or laser on a loader. I could see the smaller machines being replaced by a CTL but not the 953's and above. Are they still being used to dig basements?
Excavators are the big thing thee days Dave, no need to track materials from hole to stockpiles, just boom out. Can sit aside a foundation hole and have it cleaned out faster, with spoil piles further away.
Excavators and six way angle dozers along with the big skid steers seem to have taken the place of track loaders and motorgraders around here on commercial construction. I like track loaders working in rural farm area I'm in working by myself. Excavators are great but really need a support machine if you are moving anything very far. Excavators for digging stumps, every machine has it's place it shines, we do almost all the fine finish work with the skid steer behind the loaders and dozers on ponds, lakes and brush jobs if they want a final finish on them.
I thought if they're leveling house pads they might also be digging basements with them. Track loaders used to be the machine of choice for basements. A good operator can still dig a basement pretty quick.
New houses with basements are uncommon around here. For years a 953 was the weapon of choice. Now the 299 seems to be replacing the 953 somewhat, probably due to the fact that a 299 is a fraction of the cost and can do the job just as well. Note this is speculation on my part. I only repair them but I report on what I see. There are people around here who make a good living in this line of work and presumably they have done the maths.
I think a 953 would have a longer life span than a 299 but busy contractors would probably replace their machines before they got too expensive to repair/run.
I use the 963 or sometimes the 973 to dig big basements. I did dig a smaller one with my 97 kubota and was surprised how fast it went. The problem with digging them with the 973 is you really don't want them to watch you as they go way to fast.
I agree. Also bear in mind transportation costs. They will put an MTL in the back of a tipper truck and move from job to job. A 953 will need to be floated. Costs that add up when you're doing two or three house pads a day.
How many hours do the steel tracks on a 299 last? I think you'd be replacing them more often on a 299. I've also read some of the horror stories on 299's on here.
Mostly all on rubber around here. Like any machine they do break down but no more than any other. The owners clearly factor the running costs into their business model because they pay the repair bills without complaint and keep buying new Cat machinery.
I guess the type of soil would play a big part. I thought everybody complains about repair bills. Must be some rich Australians. I'm happy when it turns out to be an inexpensive repair when I thought it would be an expensive repair or I can fix it myself. Hoping I can fix my backhoe swing pivot myself. Going to try finish setting up the drill press tomorrow and try the boring head.
We have every soil type imaginable in this area I work in. Some of them you don't want a rubber track in. I've worn out new teeth on the 63 in a couple weeks in flint rock clay.