I have a a recently purchased a used 2004 bobcat 323 mini, and when I am crawling along with it at speed it will not let me raise the boom up ( no weight in bucket), and it seems a bit slow to let it down as well. the bucket and the stick are the same. I can slowly lower them while I travel but raising them seems to not work. I wonder if it is a safety precaution installed at the factory, or if the hydraulics are under to much of a load to lift and travel at the same time. I also have a small hydro fluid leak underneath in either the track widener area or somewhere else, the leak doesnt seem to affect the digging power as long as I keep and eye on fluid levels. and it only seems to leak heavy when it is off and parked....if anyone has any expeirience with these machines let me know. I plan to get the machine in the garage this winter to fix the leak but I have a few more jobs to finish be fore the big freeze and I need the machine now... Thanks!
If the pumps complete output is put to the travel motors there will not be anything left for the boom. The easiest way to find the leak is with some UV dye and a black light. You may want to look underneath the crawler frame and see if the leak is coming from the swivel joint. The track adjuster only holds grease
I had a feeling the pump fed all its juice to the travel motors...thats why the boom had no power. I do want to check the swivel joint for leaks, the model I have has expandable tracks that can be set for 38 inches wide, or spread open to about 55 inches. This is done with a hydraulic piston underneath the swivel joint. I am hoping my leak is coming from that piston and maybe it is only a faulty hose or bad piston seal. I like the UV dye trick...do I just add the dye to the hyd fluid tank and run out my different piston controls? does the dye any damage to the hyd system? and where can I get this dye