I was hooked up and locked in to brush cutter attachment. I noticed while using it there was more movement on the deck that I was used to. The left side of the attachment is off the boom but still locked at bottom. The right side is engaged and locked. I can’t seem to get it hooked back or the other side unhooked. Locking pins will not retract.
Do you have a manual or automatic release? If you have a manual release with (Black) handles, I sometimes have to use a cheater 3" pipe about 36" long and put it on the manual handle. This getsi it unlocked. Te next time you have the attachment off, make sure you grease the zerks on the 2 levers, as they need to be greased quite often.
I have the hydraulic quick coupler. One side of the bucket coupler is completely detached and the other is attached and the pin is engaged. It is in a bind so the hyd cylinder doesn’t have enough power to retract. Thinking about blocking the cutter deck up so I can get as much pressure off of it as I can. Maybe crack the lines on the cylinder and try to jack the pin out of the engaged position. Kind of a pain in the butt. Just got the machine repaired after three weeks down and used it for 3 hours now working on it again.
My previous 289c machine had the hydraulic quick couplers. They worked great as long as you kept them clean and greased. I have a bush hog mower deck also and its long and heavy, making it easy to put it in a bind if you are not on level ground.
GREASE. Seriously though take the attachment off, grease it, hit with a long punch with it in the locked position. Then unlock as far as it will go, push the lock button back into lock and hit it some more.
The problem is that the brush cutter deck is loose on one side and locked in on the other. The lock pin is in a bind on the right side and the left side won’t retract to allow getting both sides engaged.
Sounds like it's bound up more than just stuck. If you put the front end down on the ground will the coupler unlock?
No sir. Unfortunately you can’t get out of the cab with the boom raised slightly. I was going to block up and keep adjusting the machine and deck so I could level the deck and try to get it out of a bind. Then with it blocked up get under it and see if I could knock around on the pins and use a power handle in the latching mechanism to try and get the pins retracted. Basically I am locked at the pin on the left side out at the top and completely locked in top and bottom on the right. Broke a finger on my dominant hand and haven’t been able to do much.
I definitely wouldn't crawl under it without supporting the deck especially if the deck decides to pop loose. But you could try tilting the front of the brush hog down onto some blocking with the boom all the way down and then see if the locking pin retracts.
I did try that. The hyd. mechanism is so sluggish it wouldn’t pull the pins. The side that is totally locked in has to retract first the way the linkage is designed and it is in the biggest bind. Definitely going to take some persuasion. Trying everything while sitting in the cab is difficult. Hopefully I can get another hand to help me. Just glad it wasn’t a rental machine……
Post some pics of the cutter, the coupler and the pins.
Will do.
Ok. Didn’t get pics but got the cutter off the machine. I let it sit in a “relaxed position” overnight. Greased the pins up good. Jacked the corner of the cutter up that was not engaged correctly to level everything up bestI could. Used a power handle in the 3/8” square hole in the linkage on the drivers right side linkage to try and cycle the linkage on that side. Moved it a little not much. Noticed there was sticks and debris between coupler and mounting surface of attachment. Pressure washed it out as best as I could. Started the machine an manipulated the boom until the side that wasn’t engaged moved into the position it needed to be in to lock up. The pins retracted. Now I am getting low battery voltage message and while the machine is running the alternator doesn’t seem to be charging. This thing is about to go down the road.
Probably the alternator. We had to replaced ours on our 299D2 (1200 hours) I bought this one on Ebay. Worked Great and was easy to install.
That is a way better price than Cat... We've had to replace both our 279D's. Went with aftermarket both times probably the same unit bought through O'Reilly. Price was similar.
Thanks for posting. It was the alternator. Tried to get it rebuilt locally but all parts are back ordered. Bought a cheap one off internet. Hope it lasts. Cat was $962.