Well, I'm usually pretty lucky on used stuff - but this one made it 75 feet and the right side locked up... Everything worked perfect on inspection. Rats. First excavator so this will be a learning curve. About 60 feet from the trailer and the right side was not giving any power but track was still turning, 15 feet later and it locked. 2005 model, I've included a video of the issue. Right side is lifted off the ground in the video. The hydraulic motor seems to turn and provide power both directions? To me it feels like the planetary gear set has something stuck, or the front idler bearing has failed? Didn't have time to do anything except look for a rock lodged in the tracks, then I had to leave - back to it on Thursday with the game plan of removing the track and starting there. Any and all suggestions are appreciated
Btw, what oil do I put back in the planetary? Rear end oil like for my pickup?
If the final drive is broken, is this a good company and a good price for them? Better idea to have them rebuilt or repaired locally?
The first thing I would do is pull the cover off and look in there. You don't have to pull the track to do that.
I would drain the oil too see if you have any broken pieces on your plug
I was there last week. They were unable to source a seal kit for my Takeuchi drive. I bought an aftermarket drive (Korean?) from them. The replacement drive didn’t fix my problem (but that’s another post). I would buy from them again. You will need to be sure your old sprocket matches up with new drive (or be prepared to get that from them also).
Update: no stuck rock unfortunately. Opened the drains to check the oil condition in the final drive...nope... condition: missing. I flushed it out with diesel, then spun it with diesel in it, drained and repeated several times. Then used rear end oil to fill, spin and drain several times. It functions, is noisy and clunks some, but doesn't get stuck. The floating seal between the hydraulic side and gear side is completely out, the oil pours out of it.
So if I take it apart, I looked up how to fish the wire out of it for cover removal. How do I get the wire back in?
You might as well plan on taking it apart, or you will be stuck very soon. That's not like a missing gear tooth that has been knocking for decades
Lowest quote for replacing the seal is $900 + parts. One place said 17 hrs labor or wants $9500 for a new one. Online orders are looking like $2,000. Tough to shop local this way.
New drive gets here Wednesday from Texas final drives. $2200 shipped. 2 yr unlimited hours warranty.
I've been using it while I wait on the new final drive (just put oil in this drive and let it leak out). This was a huge broken down corral filled with rocks, boulders, garbage, oil jugs, metal, various "farm debris" and aluminum cans...and 7' tall weeds. Now flat and empty Used the mini excavator to rake up all the crap into piles and dig out the rock/junk/boulder pile. Bobcat got rid of it all. The corral behind it is next, then keep prepping the property for sale. Sweetie is prepping/repairing the house, I've got the outside, shop and outbuildings.
Btw, is there a resource for Hitachi that gives a listing for their Egyptian hieroglyphics on the control panels? I found reference books for other companies but not Hitachi. I've had no luck finding a manual for the zx35u. They are all for zx35u-2 and above and the control panels are different.