I am toying with the idea of converting the 4 stick controls to 2 stick controls on a 1999 580 SL. Anyone ever done this? Any ideas on cost? Is this a bad idea? Any ideas welcome.
Easy enough to do but trying to find parts is the biggest issue. Call some salvage yards and see if the have any 2 stick machines you can swap towers on or hit up Craigslist and see if there are any guys selling a machine that you could swap the towers out on. The swap itself is fairly simple. Unbolt the floor pan around the tower then mark and pull all of the clevis pins on the rods attached to the valve block then undo the four bolts holding the tower on and remove. Some say you need to also swap the springs in the swing spool because there is a stiffer spring for the foot swing but I didn't know about the spring when I did mine and I can't tell any difference between my 2 sticks Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
Agree with 1466IH and will add, while I like the 2-stick ease of use, there are some advantages with the 4-stick. Got my first 4-stic with my 416C and it took some getting use to, but I am really starting to like it
Stay with the 4 lever. Way more smoother when digging and clean up looks better when using the hoe for backfilling. And..... If you get stuck, you can pull your self forward with the front bucket and push yourself with the back bucket at the same time. I operate for the utility construction, so I'm in ditches all day long. Our primary hoe for the crew is a 4x4 ROPS 580sl with two levers in the back (wobble stick, backhoe controls....) our back up is the a 2x4 OROPS 580sl with 3 lever foot swing. I like the back up better but I also 4x4 too
This is very easy. ESI in cambridge OH is where I bought my controls to convert. They ship by UPS. It is about a 2 hr job. They send the whole tower. Just nut and bolt work. There is a different spring in the valve that has to do with the swing, we did not change it and all works fine