I just bought a 2000 case 1840 a few days ago. I made a huge mistake of assuming the hour meter read 2000 hrs but it actually read 20,000 hours, the owner and I both screwed it up he swears it has under 3000 hours. I bought it from the original owner and he swore his grandpa bought it new in 2000 and they have been using it for manure and ranch stuff ever since, also plowing snow. (picked it up in the middle of Wyoming/Colorado border). I got it home and started cleaning it and looking it down and was shocked to find a major crack on the right lift arm frame (see pictures). Then I found another crack on the bell housing cover (see pictures). THe good news is I am a half decent tig and mig welder. How should I go about repairing these? I am planning on putting a plate over the right arm crack and welding that up. What should I do about the bellhousing? Bigger questions: Has anyone seen cracks in these areas before? Someone on FB told me they have seen the lift arm cracks and it is somewhat common especially if it isnt properly greased. What about the cracked bellhousing? How does that even happen? Should I weld it up or leave it? Also please chime in on the hours, do you think this machine could actually have 20k hours?? I find that highly unlikely. Maybe key was left on for months at a time??
more photos of machine exterior. 20k hours??!
IMO if that's a 20k hour machine its been pretty well kept. I've seen some that look much worse than that with only 2,000 hours. Is the flywheel housing cast? I don't know how well it'll weld. Personally I think replacing that would be a safer option. Frame crack I'd just weld it up and plate it if it were mine.
If I remember correctly there is a hole in the flywheel housing for a barring tool. I bet someone hit the starter with the tool in the housing. If you pull the engine to replace or repair the flywheel housing you will have much better access to repair the cracked frame.
Welcome to HEF @dodonnell The cracks in the chassis frame are not unusual - have seen same type a number of times. Be mindful when doing your repair - that is the hydraulic tank. I've never seen a bellhousing crack like that - like @mekanik says, if you were going to pull the engine to repair/replace the bellhousing, that's ideal time to do the chassis repair. There's no way a farmer does 1000hrs a year - so hourmeter, most likely is true.
I bought one of these recently with under 1,500 hours. Yours looks almost as nice. When I bought mine, it was running when I got there to look at it. I was a little bummed that I couldn't see it start cold. I bought it anyway. I didn't have a trailer that day so I came back the following Saturday. It was about 20 degrees that morning and I was a little worried about starting so I brought starting fluid and jumper cables with me just in case. There's no glow plugs in these. I put the key in and gave it a twist. It started up before one revolution and no smoke. If yours starts like that, it's probably low hour unit. That all said, I can't imagine what it took to crack the frame like that.
After reading this thread, I had to go out to the garage and check mine for cracks. Non thankfully. I looked at that spot on mine and think it would be quite easy to groove that out with a die grinder and hit it with a mig welder.
Thanks all. It started real good when I bought it on a 35 degree day. After buying brought it up to steamboat springs Co where it was 25 and it needed maybe 3 seconds, a few rotations but fired right up. The engine sounds real tight, no blow by and easy starting without block heater.
Yeah agreed on pulling the engine to do frame repair, just don't have a inside shop and it's freezing in steamboat springs Co. Do you know what type of metal the bellhousing is? I've heard cast aluminum which would be tough to weld.
I'm not sure what type of metal it is which is a problem.
The thing that would concern me about welding the housing would be how badly the housing is fatigued, is it or would it crack into the rear seal area? Plus with heat warpage from welding you might find it difficult to seal it to the block or have issues with rear crank seals. Bear in mind I'm not a welder but those would be a few points I'd worry about.
See if a magnet will stick to it.
totally agree on the heat warping. Im probably just going to put a new one in.
Getting 100% penetration on the cracks might be difficult. Need to bevel the cracks. Weld one side then back grind the other side for full penetration. If you can add a reinforcing plate would be good idea. There is a thread in the mini excavator forum of a very well done frame repair. You want to start the weld at the open end of the crack and have the crater back on the frame so you don't give a new crack a place to start. Tig would be pretty hard to do on the frame. If the flywheel housing is cast aluminum is a good thing. Cast aluminum is regularly Tig welded but needs to be done by someone with a lot of experience so it doesn't crack again. Transmission cases are a commonly welded part. Proper preheat and welding technique is important. If you haven't done much aluminum take it somewhere that has. If it's cast iron is much trickier but can still be repaired. Brazing is one option but needs a lot of heat. A place that repairs cast iron cylinder heads would be a good bet for welding it. As far as the hours, I find it hard to believe it has 20,000 hours. I would think the pumps and drive motors would have had to been rebuilt or replaced at least once in that many hours. I considered an 1840 when I bought my skid steer. Seeing those cracks, I'm kind of glad I didn't buy one but I don't know how much abuse this one had.
Well! Frame is no surprise at all, on Case. Bell housing - is another question
For the bell housing. You need to find out what SAE size it is, and you can find those used for a few hundred bucks.