Hello, I recently bought a 2018 Cat 305e2 with ~1800 hours. Machine is working great, but had a couple questions. Pardon the rookie-owner questions, but I don't have another 305 to compare it to. 1. When I track in 2 speed on hard/flat driveway surfaces, the cab shakes the crap out of the front window and mirrors. To the point, where the mirros won't stay in place, I have to readjust all the time. Is this normal? See pictures below, the sprockets are in good shape, and tracks don't seem to have excessive wear. 2. Minor issue, but the knob highlighted yellow in the image, doesn't seem to do anything. Is there a gas shock that needs recharging? Thanks for any/all feedback. CC Thanks everyone! I love this forum! Jesse
Not sure why, but our 2011 Deere 50D shakes worse when walking than any other machine we have ever owned….really bone jarring. I had to walk the machine 10km recently and it was a very uncomfortable ride! This is in low speed! High speed travel is worse. Roller flanges to “rails” have good clearance. Sprockets show little wear. I am stumped as to why such a rough ride. In our case however; the tracks are extremely worn and the rubber feels very hard… Since the machine just sits on a pad and feeds a wash plant we will likely run these tracks until one breaks.
Not sure about your seat, but ours also seems to have failed. Tightening the knob has no effect. Haven’t investigated to see how the mechanism works….
Compact rubber tracked machines like mini's and CTL's with cabs just get loose and rattle over time. When they are new they are nice and tight however around 3-4K hours things get loose just like we humans do as we age. How many hours? As far as the knob I think all manufacturers put one on the compact equipment seats like the "door close" button on an elevator - both don't really do anything.
Good day Most of that type of vibration originates from the rollers. Kind regards Uffex
Thanks everyone for the feedback! Uffex, I'll double check those rollers, they appeared to be in good shape when I bought the machine, but I may have missed a flat spot or something. I'm up in Northern Minnesota (US) on a small acreage with too many DIY projects to list. By this time of year (Nov), unless you have a septic going bad, most of our dirt-work is done for the season. I bought the machine, so I'd be ready to tackle projects in the spring! I've been looking for this size machine for 5+ years, and it seems by spring, these mini's are hard to come by. Some projects I plan on tackling in the spring: - trenching power to a garage - digging a root cellar - purchasing/using a Rut brush cutter all over the property - build more boulder walls!
Track tension plays a minor roll in tram vibration, as does track tread pattern, but, regardless, a crawler machine will always shake everything on hard pack or improved surfaces. There is just ZERO suspension on them. It's just the nature of the beast.
Very normal. All comments here are valid but the E2's were particularly worse for cab shake from new for some reason. Being an ex Cat Rental it should have the updated front window where the wiper motor secures to a steel section of the window frame. The early ones mounted the wiper motor to the glass and had a habit of showering the operator in broken glass when tracking with the window stowed above the operators head. There are things you can do to reduce vibration slightly. Fitting softer cab mounts off a skid steer and shimming/packing out the front window handles to increase pressure on the rubber seal to mention a couple. If you're interested in more details let me know. Or you could just not track in rabbit.
Good day The attached may be of interest. Kind regards Uffex
Thanks again Chrisso, HeyMccall and Uffex for the feedback. I'll probable come up with something to shim the window, since that is definitely the biggest issue. I may look into the cab mounts and some new rubber tracks at some point too. I plan on having this machine for a long time, it's worth it to me to try to fix some of these minor issues. Cheers Jesse
I found plastic safety signs work best for window shims, ie those "no smoking" and "forklifts used in this area" signs. They used to go missing frequently around the workshop when these machines were new. It was great because it gave the safety folks something to focus on while leaving me alone. Remove the handles one at a time and place them on the plastic, trace around the handle and cut it out. Drill the bolt holes, reinstall handle with new shim and check for slop/play with window in the closed position. You want to remove it all. Then do the other side. Then look at the two little brackets at the bottom of the big front window. Install 1 or 2 M8 washers in a manner which spaces that bracket away from the window frame and hence "pushes" the window forward towards the rubber window seal. Then with a 13mm spanner, loosen all 4 window stoppers and wind them in. Raise the window and lock it in the stowed position above your head, wind each stopper down till it touches the glass. Lower window, turn each stopper down a further quarter-turn and tighten. Easy peasy. As for the cab mounts, buy 4 x 305-4339 Mount As. and change them 2 at a time. With 2 people you can fairly easily change them two at a time without disconnecting hydraulic lines or lifting the cab off completely. As mentioned it's not a magic fix that removes all cab shake, it just stops the shake from being so violent.
Hi, following up on this, albeit a few years later Looking for a winter project!! I ordered the 305-4339 mounts you recommended. Does anyone have service instructions on getting access to the 4 cab mounts (2018 Cat 305e2 H5M06087)? The front two are easy, but curious what the easiest/fastest way to get to the rear mounts? Thanks! Jesse
Update: I got the front mounts removed. Had to be a little careful with some electrical connectors on the front of the cab, that I didn't overstretch them, when I lifted the front part of the cab. Then I removed most of the cab plastics to expose the rear mounts. Those are exposed from the top side, but still not sure how to access the underside of the rear mounts? Do I simply reach from the outside of the cab, once I have it lifted up? Any recommendations? Waiting on cat parts to get here... Random pics of the process:
This is an engine damping pad. Some engine models also have dedicated damping pads for the cab.
See my pictures above, they are used on the 305e2 cab. My machine already had those same pads installed, but I replaced them anyway, because the new rubber is much softer/plyable. I'm hoping this improves the cab shake issue. I'll report back when I'm complete. -CC