I can’t engage the boom latch on my Case 580K because the boom won’t quite reach the vertical position even with the boom cylinder piston fully retracted, it probably needs another 10 degrees or so to reach full vertical. Is it possible that in it’s previously rough life someone put a boom cylinder on it that was a few inch’s to long? The cylinder is 39 and 5/8 inch’s long measured between the flat surfaces of the packing glands. The Case parts catalog only gives a piston throw measurement (33 and 3/16 inches). Any thoughts. :beatsme Thanks. pops
can't figure out why some one would put a longer one on there. there is a trick to get it to lock if your not used to locking them especially if your not used to it. So the unit was never locked in the upright even when ya bought it? I would just call the the guy to bought it from and ask if that what was done . who knows maybe they had a spare from another machine and used it.
Are you new to the Case hoe? If not, then I'm afraid I don't have any advice... if you are, the Case boom lock isn't your standard, "bring the boom up, engage the lock, left go" type of lock -- you need to bring the boom up quickly (throwing the lever back all the way), and as the boom rises past the point where you get stopped if you go slowly, engage the lock, then lower the boom quickly. If you just try to bring the boom up slowly, it won't reach vertical.
cat320, the boom doesn't come nearly close enough to the latch to have it engage. I didn't measure it but it needs to come in several more inches to engage. It did work at one time because you can see the wear marks on the latch and boom latching points. My guess is that at some point the cylinder went bad and rather than repair it they may have had a spare cylinder that was a close fit and used it. The person I got it from got it from a firm that went out of business, so thats a dead end there. pops
POPS, what he is saying is you need the boom to 'over travel' in order to lock. You have to bring it up fast and just as it over travels (toward the lock) you push your boom lever out as if to put the boom back on the ground. It is a Level In and Lever Out operation. It is not smooth until you learn it. Then it will become second nature.
Gents, thanks a lot for the information. As a novice backhoe owner the learning curve increases. Is it the momentum you build up bring up the boom quickly that gives you the 'over travel'? I'll give it try tonight, this sounds like a more than a one beer experiment.:drinkup pops
Exactly! I will use the word momentum in the future. that describes it perfectly. Momentum gets you the over travel you need.
Momentum is only one part, and it alone will not get the boom to the lock. You have to also get the timing right of when to quit pulling in on the boom lift lever, just as the cylender reaches the end of the stroke, and push the lever away. This combined with the momentum will push the boom forward to the lock. Try it at about 1/2 throttle. It is very hard to do at an idle, but with a bit of practice you can. If you try it at full throttle, you will either SLAM the boom into the lock, or you will cause it to bounce back down. That is how to tell a novice on a Case. The reason is to transfer weight of the boom forward on the machine, which makes it more stable when roading. Bring more than one beverage, and try it till you figure it out. Once you get it, it is simple. Good news is that the boom is robust, and I haved never seen anything break while learning this operation. Good Luck Pops:drinkup
It's kind of unintuitive -- and really hard to describe in words. I'm glad some real hands got to chime in! Think of it like... if you baby it, it won't work; you need to get the boom moving FAST (but still safely). This is one exception to the rule that muscling something never works.
That fitting on the right looks awful close to me, what do you think?
I found this on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VODrqANCHwQ You need to pull your lever towards you to raise the boom. Once the boom is pointing straight up , and while it still has momentum coming towards you. You need to push the joystick staight away from you as is you were putting the boom back down. If you catch the boom in the over center position (coming towards you from the 90 degree position ) this should make the boom come towards you and latch. If you dont throw the joystick away from you when the boom is in the over center position (coming towards you from the 90degree position) the boom will just go back down away from you. Have the throttle set up a little high until you learn how to do this. Good luck , doug
Gents, SUCCESS, thanks for all your help. And before anyone asks I'm hoping to get an operators manual, obviously there is an awful lot about this backhoe that I don't understand. Plus I still have a little bit of the 12 pack left.:drinkup pops
Excellent! Well done.
Maybe I'm a little twisted, but I always liked to see how gently I could get the boom to lock on the rented 580's . It's a decent enough locking system though. The lock on the NH were borrowed for while was just awful, it had a little electric actuator to release the lock, but it never worked right. You always had the shake the bucket or reach out the window and use your foot to make it release.
Now can you unlatch it?
I guess i should of said momentum . but it is a little bit of a trick if you never did it before
Yes, and as soon as I fix that broken cable it will be even easier. pops
While your fixing the cable .Fix the rod or pipe that need put back in the clamp there in the picture.Good luck!:drinkup
You can do it..........
Can you share the secret of unlatching it before we look really dumb trying out hoes as a total rookie.
Push the boom lever away from you and the boom will come closer. At this time hit the foot lever ( or whatever lever your model has to pull up the latch) then pull the boom lever and your boom will go away from you and the lock. After your boom crosses the highest neutral postion( the point were when you raise the boom as far up as it will go under normal use) then you do the opposite with the stick to control the boom. Up is down and down is up. As stated earlier in this thread to lock the boom takes some momentium. Have the boom down about 1/2 way with a medium throttle and pull up on it and when it reaches the highest point then push the lever and it will come up even more and lock. Hope this helps
Hey DigDug, thats my video!lol. Im Diggerkid on youtube. hope the video helps!
Once you do it a couple of times you can do it moving forward and looking forward, do it with your eyes closed, and lock it without making a sound.
I have had my 680k for about 4 years now (I love it and it is my big baby) I just use it to potter around the farm doing digging jobs.. I watched the guy who I bought it from lock it in and I knew there was a technique to it ut one I never managed to grasp... so now I am off to fix my broken cable too and try this locking the boom in thing... fortunatley it never travels any distance so I always used to just rest the boom down when I was done.. thanks for the video - I think I will get it now.
Great topic! 580K Latch boom and use loader for a bit. Look back and the boom is unlatched. It seems the latch notch is worn a bit and pressure causes the latch to pop up unlatching. The only way to remedy that I see is to grind the latch to remove the wear and get things back square. Any thoughts on this?
My backhoe is an L series, but I think the Ks were similar. If you choose to grind on it, just know that the hoe itself is a cast piece that doesn't play well with welding rods. I'm not sure what part you intend to grind on, but if it is just the latch, i wouldn't think they are that expensive replacing it might be a better option. When I have to drive somewhere very far on my backhoe, I reach back and bump the boom lever out a little so it puts a little force on the latch and keeps everything from bouncy around so much.
Having the outriggers and loader down when latching (or unlatching) definitely helps with bouncing around. Being level or slightly nose down will help with having a smooth latch. Having the stick up / out some will help with over center momentum. Is possible to use an outrigger to ‘lift’ the hoe over center but here you have to remember (as it’s ready to go over center) the boom cylinder action becomes - down is up and up is down - or the two cylinders will be fighting each other. It is a fun challenge to see how quietly it can be latched. The comment from JBrady on allowing the boom to lay back slightly into the latch, does cut down on bouncing and jiggling noise. That took a few trips to figure out. Most importantly, enjoy the machine. You will get better with each run….unless the outings are six months apart! Then it will almost be a ‘start from scratch’.
Not welding on anything. The contact areas where the latch mates is worn heavily. I’m considering grinding only enough to “flatten” the contact areas. No weld needed.
My Case 580sk boom will come back and lock but will not extend when pushing lever. Just happened all at once.
Really need to start a new thread and maybe a better description of what you talking about.
I always just use the stabilizer to push the boom back far enough to latch