I've never owned a backhoe before but have wanted one for a lot of years. Found one that was destined for salvage. The engine runs and it drives but I have not been able to test the drive train yet. All of the hydraulics work but several of the cylinders are leaking badly. A lot of stuck parts and linkages. In short, it's a mess, but I am happy to have it and with lots of help from this forum I hope to get it back to working order again. Here is my first question: (Do I really need the clutch cut out circuit as it is designed?) I'm confused on how the clutch cut out switch in the dash that works off the right brake pedal, the switch in the floor and the toggle switch on the dash that says "drive" work together. I've read the service manual several times but am not understanding the need for the system. I can wire it all up with new wiring and switches but I just don't understand why it is needed.
The best example of it's use is when you would be loading a truck. If the hoist isn't high enough when you are approaching the truck with a bucket full of material you step on the brake pedal and the clutch cutout switch puts the drive line in neutral long enough to finish raising the hoist to clear the side of the truck box. I never had a need to use one much.
Thanks, that helps understand when it might be needed. I will go ahead and put the circuit back in. For normal use like moving dirt around from one place to another, does the toggle switch on the dash need to be in the "drive" or "neutral" position or does it matter? I hope these questions aren't sounding too stupid but I want to learn how to use the machine the right way.
GWS, I am barely a junior member and have found this site to be invaulable. My best advise to you is to wrap your wrenches in $100 bills and when the green rubs off the bill, re-wrap the wrench and put on another part or rebuild a piece. When you've gotten this down to a habit you don't even think about, your new toy will come together. Good Luck! Packratc
I would assume in the drive position. The switch in my tractor is marked {Clutch IN -OUT} You will know when you get it working. You cannot do any harm to anything by running it either way. Also if for no reason your tractor will not move either way when you put it in gear can be caused by that clutch switch malfunctioning.
I'm starting to learn it's going to be expensive for the parts alone. I thought JDeer parts were over priced but Case has them beat. Latest estimate is around 5K for parts. Most of the hydraulic cylinders are pitted and leaking and pretty sure all of the bushings and pins need replacement. Just spend $500.00 on the brake parts/seals and getting them freed up. It will just be used around my place for the things I want to do like the 90 plus tree stumps I have to remove and some landscaping work. I've got to learn how to deal with the size and weight of the backhoe as it needs to be removed and completely rebuilt. Thinking of building a large steel A-frame to remove it.
I was asking because there is a note in the service manual that says if it's in the "drive" position the clutch cut out is disabled. Not sure what that means as far as operating it or why they would need to put that note in there or why you would want to disable the circuit. I just want to make sure it will stop when I need it to stop.
It sound like "drive" would be used in normal operations. For instance, going down hill, you may just want to slow down, not disengage the transmission, which would actually make you speed up going down hill. Anyway, welcome to the forum and ask as many questions as you like. I joined for the same reason- I bought a backhoe and had a lot of questions. These people are a great resource. John
Thanks, that makes sense to me. I have plenty of flat land I can play with it once it's up and running to see what the different effects the switch has on it. The order in which I am working the repair is: Brakes (Done) Dash and linkages (Started) Engine (rebuild fuel injector) Wiring Drive train (depending on what it needs) Backhoe (Hydraulics and pins/bushings) Loader (Hoses and pins/bushings) I am hoping to have this completed by the end of summer. I'll start posting photos as I go along in case I am missing some steps in the process. Hopefully you guys can point out some time savers or anything I may be missing as I go along.
GWS The last 580 C I had . I don't think it had a cut out toggle on the dash for the shuttle/ transmission it was only on the floor rubber cover over it . If the switch seized in its pressed down state the shuttle/transmission will not ingage in either direction making you think you have a shuttle / transmission problem . It is a good accessory to have when loading trucks and making big stacks of snow or earth. You can unplug it right at the rear shuttle housing .Basicly as you load a truck you put the power to the hydraulics and not the wheels so your not slamming into the side of the truck . I don't Know how to explain it better . Forklifts have the same feature in the one of the 2 brake pedals
If I understand what you are saying correctly, I could leave the floor mounted switch out of the circuit since I don't see a situation where I will be using the loader in a commercial type use (loading a dump truck) and keep the brake mounted cut out switch. Seems there are a lot of comments around about the floor mounted switch failing pretty regularly anyway. I would think I would have my foot on the brake just about anytime I am getting close to something I didn't want to bump into. If I have this right, I would leave the dash switch in "Neutral" for normal use (loader and backhoe work) and put it in "drive" if I had to drive it down the road to some place. Is my thinking right or wrong on its use?
GWS Im not sure about the dash switch but I would just leave it in the drive mode , as you operate the machine to dig you just put the forward and reverse lever in neutral .I have a 580 super e and the neutral button is on the loader handle .
Thanks Bill. I'll have to do a little trial and error to see how the two positions work. I was doing a lot of reading this weekend and I don't remember if it was in one of the manuals or on the internet but there was something about the switch positions and it said that if the dash switch is in "drive" and the throttle is wide open the brakes won't stop the tractor in the lower gears (I assume 1st or 2nd). I have an open field I can test this out once she's up and running again. Has anyone ever experienced this happening?
I am an owner of a 580 c and when I purchased it the solenoid and switches were in-op. I spent a little time hooking up and adjusting the switches. When the dash switch is in drive position the brake switch won't activate the cut out solenoid so that you can maintain brake steering while back-blading. Also the switch on the floor helps when shifting transmission gears first to second, as it acts like a clutch. I would hook them all up to function properly.
Thanks for reminding me about the back blading. I should have remembered that as I have done it on my tractor a few times. I will put all the switches back in the circuit. I have been pondering how to set the brake and clutch switches on the brake pedals. Are they hard to get set up or is there a trick to adjusting them? I checked them with a voltmeter and they seem to be a little touchy at a certain point in the movement of the lever.
I will look in the service Manuel tonight and see if there are specs to set the switch. I know you can access them through the covers in the top of the instrument cowling and by pulling the instrument cluster out. There are just bolts that you loosen to adjust the bracket that hold the switch.
Is it easier to set them with an ohm meter or by using the lights for the brakes? On the clutch cut out switch on the brake, do you want the brakes to catch a little before the clutch cuts out or before the brakes start grabbing? I did not get a chance to drive it at any speed before I started taking it apart and from what I have seen disassembling it, it wasn't working anyway.
I'm new here but have been lurking for years and finally signed up. I'll be watching your thread here for pointers along the way. I have a worn out 580c that needs some attention all over. Thanks!
Well, the first thing I came across while rebuilding the brakes is the right hand differential gear. There is a small seal inside the gear shaft(s) that unfortunately requires the drive gear to be removed and that in turn requires the axle housing to be removed or the axle shaft driven out of the axle housing. What the service manual does not tell you is if this can be done with the rear end in the tractor or if it has to be removed. There is a small cross beam that is right over the top of the rear end cover plate and it's welded in place. I'm not sure if the drive gear can be lifted out past that cross beam of the housing enough to get the differential gear to clear the drive gear to get it out so the seal can be pressed out and back in. So, for this year it didn't get changed. I wanted to but with so much other stuff to fix it will just have to wait till next year if it is leaking into the brakes.
You can get the differential gear out of the case by removing the gear off the end of the axle shaft and pulling the axle out a couple of inches and rolling the large gear to the rear of the housing.
Is the axle outer bearing seal hard to get back in the housing? I'm assuming this will knock the seal out. What have you used to get the seal back into the housing? I'm asking because I don't have the special tools the manual calls out using. If I could find the tools for sale I would buy them.
The seal will stay in the axle housing, and just the axle will slide out. I did mine and have no special tools. In the end I ended up pulling my diff housing out of the tractor because I had to replace the bearings in the transmission and third gear on the main shaft. I found these problems after I had already replaced the small seal and the brakes with the housing in the hoe. nothing like doing a job twice lol.
If the bearing and the seal stay in the axle housing, I should be able to get the gear out. The manual I have says the outer bearing has to be heated to get it on the axle so I assumed it would be stuck on the axle and push the seal out if I pulled the axle out. I'll give it a try and see what happens. I'll take some pictures along the way. I assume a couple of 12 ton bottle jacks should lift the rear up to get the tires off??
Thought I might add some insight here - the diff lock seal can be changed without removing the side gear & all that go with it. I have made a tool from an old stop cable - using the knob & about 2-3" of stainless inner cable - flatten the cable & make a hook at the end, then grind the hook end down to about 1-2mm. Push the wire through the seal twist 90deg to hook the seal casing & give it a good pull. To install a piece of tubing needs to be found or fabricated to install the new seal. (think I made mine from an old steering cylinder) It's not unusual to see 2 x diff lock seals installed - so you could try to simply fit another one in there - worth a go!
It's certainly worth a try to replace the seal that way. I can make the tools to take it out and put back in. Not a lot of room to play around with. I too had the thought of just putting another seal behind the existing one but found that the new seal just slid in up against the existing seal with no pressure to push it in. It may be that there is a second one in there already. I don't actually know if the seal is leaking yet. I found both brakes soaked with oil when I took them off and I replaced the bearing support plate seals. Would it be ok to leave the differential lock and cover off and see if it leaks? Not sure how long I would have to drive it around before it would show if the seal is leaking.
Sounds like a good idea. About the oil in the brakes - be certain there is no movement in those side gears. If there is you will have 2 problems 1) Oil will continue to leak into brakes 2) This means the crownwheel is moving & WILL cause a crownwheel & pinion failure soon.
The side gears don't have any movement. I was careful to replace the shims the same as they came off. I did notice there is a drain hole on the right brake housing (differential lock side) so maybe if it leaks I will be able to see some evidence there. I'm keeping my fingers crossed I don't see leaking. I could tell the brakes have been replaced before and did find a couple of things that were done wrong on the way they put the brake band pins back in and a wrong type of spring on one of them. I'll be back home this weekend and take some photos. Thanks for the help.
alrman great advice, I have heard of this but never attempted it myself.
Got ready to put the seat pedestal back together today and as I'm sure anyone who has taken one of these apart, scratched my head on how to get the spring back in. After a few attempts, I've come to the conclusion that Case must have a $20,000 machine that puts the spring in the tube. So I was wondering if anyone has replaced the spring with something like one of those small cylinders you see on car hoods and tail gates? Trick I guess would be finding one that wasn't too strong and the right length. I'm going to look into this route. Got to be easier than the spring.
Well it was actually pretty simple and easy once I took the time to look at the spring base plate. I was pondering why Case used a tube instead of a steel rod and then it made sense. Slid a piece of all thread through the base tube to keep the spring in place and clamped it with vice grips and the rest was easy. Next step, repair the worn out loader valve linkages. Probably not going to be as easy.
try removing a linkage,then plug weld the wobbled out hole.drill a hole for your new pin.cheap fix and as good as new.
Got the loader linkages out. I'm starting to believe case builds their machines in layers. Some of the parts are repairable (welding up the holes like you suggest) and some are just going to have to be replaced (swivel linkages) unless there is a reliable way to fix them. Right now, I think the crud is holding it all together.
Finally got everything cleaned up, repaired and painted. I left some play in the linkages so that dirt would not tend to bind them up. Hopefully not too much play. I did find that the one end of the rod end linkages had been welded to the arm. Assuming that was a quick field repair and not the kind of work I am going to run into as I get farther into the machine. Tried to find the rod ends locally but no luck. I did find the exact replacements on line for a fraction of the cost Case wants for them. So, when they arrive this is ready to go back in and on to the loader valve. Appears to be several leaks on the valve that are going to have to be fixed. Just hope the valve is not in too bad of shape.
Manufactuers dont usually sell a spool with out the valve body. Even though I have a machine shop I did send one spool out and had spray arced. The valve is obsolete, saved the unit, came out ok. Might consider if your spool is pitted, cost 100.
I'm thinking I may just leave the valve alone for now. I can tell it has been seeping oil but not sure exactly where and how much. It works the loader and bucket fine with no indications of anything not working right on it. Since I have bigger jobs on the hydraulics (cylinder seals, rods and pins), I'm going to just clean it up and see where and how much is leaking. I'm hoping that it is just the o-rings that are leaking. What is the rectangular box with the two wires at the end of the bucket spool for? I tried to trace the wires but didn't find out where they are hooked to.
I just bought a 580C. The brakes work. But, you have to push the pedals pretty hard to get it to stop. Is this normal? I bought it from my neighbor who rebuilt the brakes about two years ago because the brakes didn't work at all. How do I find out what year it is? Also, where can I obtain a manual for it?
I don't know anything specific about these backhoe's, only what I have learned so far as I go along with restoring mine to working order. My brakes didn't work at all because the master cylinders were shot. When I removed the brake housings they were both saturated in oil from the transaxle seals leaking. You may have the same situation. I do have a lot of years working on automobiles and rebuilding car engines so I can relate most of the mechanical issues. The guys on here can probably tell you what the cause likely is before you have to get into the brakes. The serial number for the hoe will give you the year range it was built. I think I found it on here doing a search for "580C". Someone had posted a really good list of the years by SN. Mine is a 1976 model year.
Well, been fixing up what I have time and money for over the summer and now down to re-kitting the fuel injection pump and replacing the wiring. Started draining and replacing fluids today and found that the shuttle was full of ATF. What problems will this cause? Before I started working on it, I ran it around a little and even pushed over a small 4" tree with the bucket. The shuttle didn't seem to be slipping but I don't know if the ATF will cause problems. I have no idea how long it has been this way.
Tore the injection pump down, cleaned the flex ring grit out of everything, put the new ring in and put the pump back together. Everything went well until I got to the pressure advance plunger. There is a groove around the center of the plunger but there was not anything in the groove when I took the plunger out. I saw one diagram that shows a seal and ring in the groove and another that did not show it. Do some of these pumps have a seal and some don't? I did not find a seal close to fitting the plunger in the seal kit I have. Maybe I have the wrong kit but everything else in the kit seemed to be correct.
I have both the service and parts manual for a Case 580C on cd. I can send you a copy if you like.
I found out there is supposed to be a metal ring seal and an underlying square O-ring seal on the piston. Picked them up from a diesel shop. This will complete the overhaul of the injection pump. As soon as the instrument panel comes in we shall see if it fires up.
Swing cylinder removal Has anyone removed the swing cylinders? I can't get them to break loose. Any tricks or special tools needed? Thanks.
Heat the nut red hot with an acetylene torch. Use a large tip, cutting tip works good. Head the nut as quickly as you can with the torch almost touching the nut. One you get one or two flats red your wrench will take it off.
Thanks Deon. I'll give that a try since nothing else I've done so far worked. I have a replacement cylinder. I could see that the right cylinder had been repacked a few times by the stretched holes in the gland nut so I figured it probably wouldn't hold a repack for very long. Just didn't realize how hard these bolts are to get out.
Got it running today after a bout with the injection pump being stubborn. Found a problem that may or may not go away. After draining the ATF out of the torque converter and shuttle and filling with Hy trans, it now won't go into gear if the engine is running without grinding the gears. Moves forward and backwards ok, but you have to shut it off to get it out of gear. It didn't do that with the ATF. Will the ATF cause problems like this and will I have to tear it down and rebuild the shuttle to get it right again?
Applying heat to the nut worked great. Thanks for that tip. I now have a question on the swing tower pins. I have been looking for the boom to swing tower pins and am being told they are no longer available and a new (expensive) kit is needed to replace them. My question is: would it be possible to use the tower to frame swing pins that are the same size but longer and have them cut down to the same length as the boom pins? It may not be any cheaper but I would not have to weld the bushings on the swing tower that the new kit requires.
Here is a photo of the two pins. Left pin is the boom pin and right is the tower swing pin (that is available). I am thinking maybe a machine shop can shorten the swing pin down to the boom pin size?? I will have to have them drill the pin and put in a grease fitting but that should be doable I think.
why not have a machine shop make new pins? might be cheeper tb
I was reading on here where the pins are hardened and the recommendation is to use the OEM pins. I'm not sure of the cost and time it would take to get them hardened. Either way, I figure I won't be saving much but it might be faster to cut them down and get it back together. Can't figure out why the boom pins have been discontinued. I did notice the new kit is a one piece pin that goes all the way through instead of the two individual ones. I lucked out with the swing tower not having any damage to the holes and the bushings all look good. Just have to replace the two bushings on the back of the hoe where the tower connects so I will have to figure out how to get them out and the new ones in.
dosen't cost to ask and most machine shops can do the hardening tb
I don't know what I was thinking. I was sitting here looking at the pins when it hit me that I don't have to cut the longer pins down. I can just put them in. The new kit has a pin that goes all the way through both sides so why not just stick them in the way they are? I guess if you stare at it long enough the simplest solution finally work it's way to the top ointhead I can get the tower pins for $50.00 a piece and be done with it.
Anyone have a trick or suggestion on how to get these bushings out of the swing cylinder base and top plate? I think I can make a tool to remove the ones on the cylinders but not sure how to go about getting these out.
Weld a wavy full circle around the id of the bush, allow to cool & they will shrink - almost fall out.
I'll give that try tomorrow. What do you use to pull them up out of the holes? Both the top plate and frame are solid on the back side. There is a small gap at the bottom between the bushing and the back but not much.
If they get loose enough maybe it won't be an issue. Are they a soft bronze type material? I wonder if you could cut them in 1 or 2 places with a sharp chisel. It would probably require making a close tolerance shaft but I also just thought of the old trick of removing the pilot bearing from a crankshaft with grease and pressure.
They look like the steel ones I took out of the swing tower. I'm usually not lucky enough to get something to just fall out. Would be nice if they do. If there as tough as the pins then I'm not sure if a chisel will even cut them. Took me almost an hour shorten down a swing tower pin to make a boom pin out of it. Then it took a carbide drill bit to drill a new grease fitting hole. I didn't want to go the route of the expensive weld on kits and then pay someone to weld them on. If I ever have to do it again, I'll reconsider the options.
Try what alrman suggested first and see how loose they get. If you still can't get them out how about welding something round and about 5/16" to 3/8" thick inside of the bushing. Weld a nut or tap a hole in the center and push them out with a fairly large diameter bolt. I don't know if the metal in the bottom of the holes is thick or strong enough to do this though.
I checked the wear on the bushings in the frame and top plate against the bushings on the swing cylinders. The gap averages about .018 gap. I think bushings on this model usually runs about .010 clearance so I'm looking at .008 wear. Is this enough to warrant the cost and work needed to replace them for swing cylinders?
Got the swing tower bushings and thrust washer replaced today. Next will be replacing all of the o-rings in the backhoe valve. I debated on removing the valve until I read it ways 95 lbs so I'm going to try to do them in place. We'll see how well that turns out.
Looks good. What suggestion did you finally use on removing the bushings? I will be doing the same sometime in the future and any insight is great. Thanks.
GWS, Did you make the bushing and washer youself, have it made, or buy them somewhere? Dave
I got the bushings and pins from Broken Tractor but the washer I could only find at a case dealer.
GWS, Thanks for the info!! Dave
If you are referring to the swing cylinder bushings, I have decided not to remove them this time. Only a little wear and now that I know how to get the cylinders out I can do that in the future if needed. I made a tool to remove the swing tower and boom bushings that does not require any welding, heating or hammering. It pushes the bushing out and also presses the new bushing in pretty easily.
Tough decision, but it is apart at the moment. Because of geometry a little slop in this area adds up pretty quickly. I’m somewhat of a perfectionist and I can tolerate all of the other loose joints in my hoe except for this one, but that’s just me. You do very nice work BTW.
Yea, I went back and forth on replacing them or not. Finally decided I can live with them for now. Before I took the hoe off, I used it a little and did not hear or feel any noise or slop during the swing. Seemed to be pretty smooth. I did find slop in just about every other bushing on the hoe so they are all getting replaced. The swing cylinders don't move all that much in the bushings and I'm hoping they can work with a little wear on them. Now that I am familiar with how it comes apart it's not that big a deal. I plan on pouring a concrete pad this fall that I can park it on anytime I need a level/clean surface to work off of. I am thinking also it might be worthwhile to install an a-frame hoist on the slab for removing the backhoe boom. I thought I could hold it with my mid size tractor loader but found out how wrong that was when the boom stood the tractor on it's nose the minute I pulled the pins.
Decided to tackle the backhoe valve today to see what I was up against. Turned out to be pretty simple work. Glad I decided to go ahead and replace the o-rings. Took the swing valve relief apart and found it rusted and an o-ring missing on the top check valve plug. It's the far right plug in the picture. Whoever worked on it last either forgot it or didn't have the special white o-ring and just left it out. That may or may not contributed to the ghosting to the left all the time. Next I'll see what the spool looks like. At least they are pretty easy to repair with the valve still in the frame.
I bet that was an interesting moment... I have had a few like that. Good looking work!! Dave
It was a case of completely miss judging the weight of the boom compared to the tractor. Turned out the boom weighed more than the tractor. I have a friend that has a wrecker for towing semi's and he will hook up to it when it's ready to go back on which I hope will be this week. So far I have not found any part of the poor thing that does not need repair or some kind of work. I keep finding things missing or put together wrong. At first glance it didn't appear to be in to bad of shape. After I got into it though it looks like it has been abused and neglected for a long time. Can't complain, it was going to be scrapped and I talked the guy into letting me have it for the scrap cost so I didn't start off with a lot of money in it. By the time I get done it will have about its value in rebuild parts and work so I'm still happy with it.
How coincidental, one of my best buds owns a wrecker / diesel shop in southeast Missouri... He has 6 wreckers, from the standard rollback to a massive triple axle rig to tow the tractor trailers. I understand about the value of your tractor, I am about in the same position. I gave a little for mine and will probably have close to $5K in it when I complete it. But it will close to new when I am done, and I will have saved that or more not renting the local 580 SM at $800 and weekend with delivery to work on my property in Wayne Co, Missouri. Plus I get the fun of working on it. Yes I am one of the those sorry individuals that actually enjoy working on older equipment. I have rebuilt old Jeeps as a hobby for sometime, so I am quite used to bringing rusted POS's back to life then selling them for another project. My wife is a saint.... Like I said before, looks like good work and I enjoy seeing the pics. I guess I need to start returning the favor when I am working on mine. The next project is replacing the front axle, as someone had seen fit to weld different spindles on the ends. I pick up the new to me axle between Christmas and New Years in Arkansas. Dave
Post some pic's when you replace the axle. I am sure the pins in mine are as bad as the rest of them and would like to see how you get it out and back in. Most of the work is not all that hard but there are a few parts that need a hoist or small crane. I would like to find the front loader arms. Mine have been welded up with plates and are showing some small cracks. Not sure how hard those are to replace or for that matter even find.
My loader arm has been welded as well. Most that I find have been welded at the cross beam behind the bucket. The unit I am getting the axle from has been as well, but I am going to check it anyhow when there. I have a bigger MIG and a pipeliner in my shop at the country, I may just re-do mine. Dave
That is where mine are cracked. Must be a weakness in that area. One side has been repaired with plates. If I don't find a good set of arms, I may wind up doing the same repair to the other side.
I have to say that looks better than most repairs I have seen on the loader arm.... Dave
For what I will be using it for, welding would probably be sufficient. I do think that welding the plates on would make it stronger though. This poor machine has been through a lot of abuse and neglect.
I couldn't find boom pins except at a Case dealer and they wanted $100.00 per pin and had to be ordered and would take a week or more. I could get the swing tower pins for $100.00 a pair from another source. Appears these pins are no longer made by Case and the replacement is a 200 plus dollar weld on system that I didn't really want to do. So I decided to cut down the swing tower pins and save some money. You do have to have carbide drill bits and a chop saw. Tried cutting them with a band saw and only managed to shine them up and dull the teeth. Regular drill bits won't even start to cut these things. The grease hole has to be drilled about 3/4" deeper and a new hole moved to the center and plug the existing hole. Took about 1 1/2 hours per pin mostly in cutting them down on the chop saw.
Replaced the boom cylinder lower bushings in the swing tower. Had to make a smaller version of the puller. Total time to replace both bushings was 15 minutes. No heating, welding or hammering.
New bushings installed
I can see myself in those bushings.
re when you instaled the new bearings did you have to ream them to the finnal size and also make the inside dia. round
None of the bushing to pin tolerances I have seen so far on this machine are all that close a fit. Most are in the .010 gap range. To be able to get grease in I suppose. The pins and bushings are sold individually and don't need to be all that critical on alignment. If I was reworking the holes on the swing tower then that might require line boring. The only pin I see on the backhoe boom that needs both bushings closely aligned is the top boom cylinder bushings. That pin goes all the way through. Everything else is pretty much dual pins.
Yea but give them 6 months of dirt, sand and rain and I bet they don't look all that shiny then. So far all of them that I have replaced look as though they haven't seen grease in years.
GWS, Do you have a bridgeport and a lathe?? Nice setup in the shop!!! Dave
GWS, What type of tap do use to thread the zerk holes ?
I have 12 x 36 gear lathe and manual mill. Not fancy but I can make most of what I need with them. At the price of machine shop work these days they are worth it.
I tried tapping them but could only get about 1 or 2 threads before the tap froze. So I wound up grinding down the threads on the zerk fitting and pressing them in. Pretty much the same as press in grease fittings. If they go bad, I will have to drill them out and press in new ones. I've had all kinds of problems with all of the pins and have had to re-work them to get them right.
I was hoping you had a source for a tap that would do it. I have Case T/L/B, all four pins in the loader bucket have no way to grease them. They were not designed to be greased. The noise they make gives me the shivers cause it sounds so awful. I have been pouring oil on the pins every time I use it but it does not last very long. Have you considered drilling the zerk holes big enough so that it would allow you to press in a soft sleeve that could be tapped for a threaded zerk ? I have been wanting to do something so that I can grease those pins, but just had no idea as to how to do it until I saw your post in regards to pressing in the zerk.
I have some front pins on my Deere that are the same way. I use the same lube on them as I use for my dirtbike chain. It sprays out thin, gets into the joints, and sets up into some really sticky grease which hangs around for a long time. The cans also come with the little tube so it's not messy either. Just about every motorcycle shop will have a good selection of this stuff, I use PJ1.
There are taps made for hardened steel but I have only seen them used on mills. I'm not sure if you can do it by hand. I just took the quick way out and pressed them in. You also have to use carbide drill bits for the holes and they are rather expensive and easy to break. OldandWorn has a good way to get around drilling and tapping. To drill them, you need a sturdy drill press and slow rpm and cutting oil. Depending on how big the pin is, you could use a soft sleeve but that seems like a lot of work for just a grease fitting.
I just repainted the machine last year and I hate looking at the mess lubing the pins with sprayed on or poured on lubricant makes. I will most likely do the same as GWS , drill the pins and press the zerk in.
Drilling the holes isn't that bad. Just go slow, back the bit out and clean off the cuttings and keep putting cutting oil in the hole. For the center hole it's pretty easy but when you put the hole through the side, go at a slow rpm till you get almost to breaking through. Then pick the rpm's up to 300 or so and go very, very slow. If the bit starts to break through at slow rpm it will bite and snap the end off the bit. I had to regrind the bit the first time before I learned how to get it through without damaging the carbide bit. At $30.00 a bit you lean fast! The key is steady pressure and don't let the bit vibrate or bite to deep. The pressed in zerks worked great. Time will tell how long they stay in there.
Got the swing cylinders, swing tower and boom back on today with the help from a friend and his wrecker. Tomorrow I will cycle the boom cylinders before I attach them to the boom end to get the air out before I lift the boom up. I'll post some photos tomorrow. Much easier with two people. I would not want to try it by myself.
Well crap. Thought I would be able to get all the hoses on today and test the backhoe out. I didn't do what I should have done and check the hoses I had made a couple of weeks ago. 2 of them turned out to have the wrong size fittings on one end and another had the wrong type of fitting on one end. You would think that when you give them the original hoses they could take the time to look at them. Now I won't be able to finish it till next week:Banghead On the bright side, no leaks on the ones that did fit and no more ghosting on the swing tower after rebuilding the valve bodies and no more jerky motion on the boom and tower.
Got the dash panel repaired and back in today and much to my surprise, all the gauges and idiot lights worked except for the shuttle temp gauge which isn't hooked up. I'm going to convert it over to read oil pressure with a dual gauge and light sending unit I got from Equus. The fuel gauge went to full (the tank is full at the moment). It is going to take a while for me to run enough diesel out of the tank to see if it moves down or not. Does anyone know if the fuel tank sending unit is bad if the gauge usually reads full, empty or doesn't move?
On mine if you remove the wire for an open circuit the guage goes maximun full. Short the sender wire to ground and the guage goes full empty to the bottom.
I tested the gauge on the bench and it moves like you described. When I put in the dash and turned the key on the fuel gauge stayed on empty until I started the engine then it moved all the way up to full. I'm guessing the vibration caused some movement in the sending unit. I will drive it around a bit this weekend and see if the gauge moves up and down. If it does I guess I can assume the sending unit is bad. Hope not because on this unit the engine has to be pulled to change it out so it will just have to stay broken for a long while before I do that work.
Blown bucket hose Amazing how much oil can come out of a blown hose and how far it can shoot out. I knew they needed replacing but figured they might hold long enough to play around with it. Got 6 stumps dug up before one of them let go. Luckily it blew a hole facing away from me. On the bright side, there won't be much rust on the boom for awhile
Let me congratulate you one being able to dig. That's the whole point!! After all the time and labor you've put into this thing, a hose is a drop in the bucket (or a squirt in the woods, as the case may be.). I'mn not quite that far yet, prabably another week - I don't work too fast. I've run into another snag that I need some help on. I rebuilt the brake system, and found that I'm missing the center swiveled lever and push rod for the differential lock. Items 33 (D65371) & item 36 (D65373) page217 of the parts manual. Coleman says these are not available. Could you take a picture of yours, and measure the length fo the lever for me? I can fabricate them if I can figure out what they are. Thanks in advance.
Unfortunately I don't have those items on mine either. Mine had a rigged up system that didn't work. Whomever tried to fix it just ran a long rod down to the lever and didn't realize the lever has to move up to work. So the swivel link and rod are gone. Hopefully someone on the forum still has them hooked up and get measurements for us. I can guess at the lengths but that is a hit or miss and probably take a few tries to get it right. I'll see what I can come up with at the salvage yards.
It was fun to play with it and see it working finally but it still has a long way to go before I am comfortable with it. Got to start working on getting lights (front and rear) installed and wired in next and then on to all of the loader bushings and pins and welding up some cracks. Hope to see yours up and running soon.
You're doing some nice work to your machine. I am kind of in the same boat. Had a 580B thrown in with the deal on my acreage. Do you have any updates? How has it been treating you?
I completed the work I needed it for and sold it to a guy 3 miles down the road from me. Sold it for what I put into it, $5400.00 in parts. He asked me to help him with the extendahoe so we pulled it apart today to replace the cylinder seals and the wear slide plates. At least I can always borrow it if the need comes up! So far she is running fine and he loves it. I do kind of miss it thoe
Let me see if I've got this right. You rebuilt this 580 over the course of two years, used it for two months and then sold it???
For what he had into it in parts. Either something was terribly wrong or GWS enjoyed the labour so much he'd do it for free!
That is correct. Accomplished what I needed it for and got to learn quite a bit about heavier equipment than I was used to. It was going to be sitting for most of its life if I kept it so I sold it to a friend down the road. I can still borrow it if the need comes up so not a bad deal I think. I even got to learn how to remove and install the extendahoe yesterday. Not as bad as I thought it would be. Must admit we used a small crane on a 1 ton truck but it worked perfect for out in the field.
GWS, I sure do respect your tenacity. I would have taken the easy way out and rented one. I like runnin' them farm more than wrenchin' on them. My hat's off to you!
You should buy a boat
I had originally expected to keep it but discovered that it was going to be sitting a lot and also it is a bit destructive to use around a place. Spent a bit of time filling in tire ruts and stabilizer holes. I am thinking of looking for a smaller version backhoe that I could get better use out of. I don't need to build roads or fill up dump trucks but I do need to do some digging and filling in of low spots and small to mid size tree stump removal.
Use it to do what you need then sell it. I'll never sell my 580c the frame would have to break in half and blow out the diff for be to even think about it. Maby a new 580 n in trade haha