Hello folks. I’m looking at purchasing a Caterpillar 426 Series II loader backhoe. Working hour meter currently at 5,497.0 and going up as the owner uses it. A good man on this forum (Cmark) just used the serial number I posted to figure out that it has a build day of January 15, 1991. The machine appears to be in very good condition for its age with the current owner stating he is the second owner and has had it for 15 years. It has 4 wheel drive, a full cab with heat, plug in heater, general purpose bucket on loader, and E-hoe with an amulet clamp/thumb. I am not a contractor and won’t be dependent on it for income in anyway. I will just be using it on my 81 acre hobby farm. I’ll be doing trail work, moving clay and topsoil, digging small to medium stumps, drainage ditch work, etc. Im not worried about speed, I like to take my time and enjoy the process. I have heard good things about the Caterpillars. Any experience on reliability? I appreciate your time.
I failed to mention I have owned many loader backhoes in the past. Mostly smaller ones. From several of the TLB series Kubotas, to Bobcat 300B, to Deere 310J. (I do not consider myself an experienced operator, that is for sure!) This time around I’m going with a full size again, but trying to keep the price down. I generally buy a piece of equipment with low hours, get a good amount of work done with it over a 6 - 18 month timeframe, and then sell it and try to get all my money back. Or close to it. Has worked out fairly well. With the exception of one Ag tractor. But the buying and selling is getting old though. I’m thinking it may be time to find a not too expensive, reliable machine and keep it. I have not owned a Caterpillar yet. Would like to hear of any experience with operating this model or similar, reliability, etc.
Well, my transport guy said something like “It’s a big b*****d.”. He was right! Thanks Mike!
No experience but that is a good looking machine for it's age. Congrats on the new Hoe! Looked them up and saw one for sale in VA with 14,000 hours on the clock. Most I saw with the hours you say this one has are much uglier than yours.
I have run series II machines but not owned. I've had a both "B" series and "C" series Cat 416s. In fact, I still have my 416C (which I bought new in '97) and it has over 13k hours on it. IMO they are great machines. The series II machines are the second generation of the Cat TLBs. As you can see Cat copied the case over-center, twin ram boom design for the series I & II. The "B" model got the "banana", or excavator boom. The 426 is practically the same as the 416 but has a bit more depth/reach and slightly more HP (but same engine). Keep an eye on the torque tube of the loader bucket. They tend to crack where they are welded to the loader arms. The B and C series have issues with the pin/bushing sets at the bottom of the boom (where the boom mounts to the swing frame) if not kept well greased but I'm not sure if series II is the same. The rear axle (front is as well) is a ZF wet brake affair. Good axle but brakes can be very noisy, especially if you don't have the right oil in there. I've had to replace the rear brakes 2 times so far. They seemed to last about 5k hours. I've done the work myself both times. It requires removal of the rear axle and then disassembly to get the brakes linings changed. Can be done by a shade tree mechanic if so inclined. You will know that the brakes are worn out if the pedal goes soft (brakes will work but pedal will slowly keep pushing in as if there is a leak in the brake hydraulic lines -because there is) and you will eventually bleed all brake fluid into the rear diff. This is because, when the linings get thin enough the brake piston will travel so far it goes beyond the seals (the leak I mentioned) and this allows brake fluid by. Support for Cat machines is widely regarded as the best in most areas of the country. I have never had problems getting parts (though, in my experience, even Cat is now having COVID related supply chain issues from time to time). Every machine has it's strong suits and achilles heals as well. Having lived with Cat 'hoes for the last 20+ years I'd have no problem buying a series II, B or C machine.
Thank you for the responses. Interesting. It appears to be in good shape. I received it in the dark last night so will get a better look at it sometime today. We have had some mild temperatures lately so I’m actually hoping for some colder weather to freeze up the ground. Suppose to be -9 on Monday. But my family company leaves New Year’s Day. You can only weight so long to try it out!
My family company left for about three hours to visit other friends and relatives. So I had a chance to fire up the 426 and give it a try. As with all equipment, it is going to take some time to get use to it. But everything seems to work well. I was able to easily dig a large Ash stump out and place it into a burn pile, then fill the hole in and level everything off by back dragging. So far, so good.
gasifier, Congrats on the new to you hoe. Looks great! I can tell you first hand, you are going to love the Amulet thumb. I installed one on my NH backhoe about a year ago. Well made unit. Happy tractoring!!
Thank you. Appreciate it. The Amulet came with the machine and I know, from looking at them in the past, that they are not cheap. So I was happy with the final purchase price with the thumb included. Thumbs/clamps are awesome for soooo many things.
Can I suggest that you continue posting all your experiences, repairs, improvements, etc, with your new acquisition on this thread.? It will provide great information in one place for anyone who has to travel the same path in the future. Like this one........... HeavyEquipmentForums
Sure will. I am in the middle of trying to find a parking brake cover for the inside of the cab. A triangular shaped piece of plastic with three holes for mounting. I believe it is part number 9R1584. I thought I found a source but they listed no price. Had to fill in my name and e-mail and request a quote. ? Anyone with any info on source/price, I would appreciate it if you let me know. When I put my serial number into the Cat website it comes up as a 259D skidsteer track loader. D’Oh! I have made contact with Milton CAT in Syracuse and some place on the net called AVSPARE? to get a price.
My local dealer parts account shows it is available in the York warehouse.
Cool. Thanks for the info! I’m glad to see the price is not bad. I’ll see what the closest dealer and other guys say when they get back on Monday.
You should be able to sign up for an account online. I look up my own parts, order them online and then just go to the dealer and pick them up.
Yes. I did that the other day. But for some reason I didn’t see a price on the part. ? Not sure if I did something wrong or not. But I’ll get it figured out. It’s just an aesthetics thing. But I always try to fix anything wrong on my machine. Thanks.
I am with you. I like things to be 100% if I can help it. My machine's cab was in rough shape but I got a good deal on her so it is worth it to me to fix her up. Everything worked when I bought her. Just had some issues I know I could fix. My thought process was to buy a machine that everything works for a good price that needs some TLC. This way by doing all the hoses, repairs, cleaning, and maintenance I would know what I have and be familiar with it. When all is said and done I will have a machine in good cosmetic and operating condition for about 2/3s of what a machine in better cosmetic shape was selling for at the time I bought mine.
This is a great theory/idea but purchase price will be critical for this formula to work out. Buying parts is always expensive. If you were to "part together" a complete machine it would likely be, at least, 100% more expensive than buying the assembled sum of said parts (as in a completely assembled machine) and you'd still have to assemble it. In my experience one really will only save the money spent on labor (assuming that one does the work himself) and we often over look what our time, and the hassle, is worth. Unless one is just looking for the enjoyment and satisfaction of doing the work, it's usually a better value to buy something that's already in great shape. Often, the advantage of buying a lesser expensive machine (that requires some "TLC") is that one can afford the price of entry, can hopefully get some use out of it, and can bring the machine up to par over time.
I don't disagree at all. For one, I had the time since I bought the machine before I actually bought the land I intend to clear with it. Also with the prices of lumber and the rampant inflation I am not building any time soon. Second is, I enjoy working on mechanical things. It is my therapy. My goal was not to bring a machine back from the dead or build one from parts but rather find one in good mechanical condition that runs, drives and operates but needs some attention. I knew the costs of parts before going in. If I paid for labor then yes I did the wrong thing. The only thing wrong mechanically with mine was one boom cylinder was dented and needed to be fixed professionally. All the other cylinders I resealed were done as PM not because they were leaking or did not operate. I replaced nearly all the hoses so far and have a few to go. I paid on average $30 per hose. I happen to know the hose maker and paying cash gets me a giant discount. If I was going to make a living with a machine I certainly would not buy a 30 year old model. I would get something newer and turn key. Downtime in this case is costing money. For me I wanted a simple, old school, all mechanical machine. Electronics fail and you need specialized equipment to communicate with them. I also do not like all the admission controls, they just add more stuff with the potential to fail.
Hey folks. My Caterpillar’s seat works well sliding back and forth. But when turning it seems to be quite a chore to get it around. Hard to go from driving position to hoe operating position. Almost like it is all gummed up. Any of you experience this? Could it just need some lubricant? Maybe a spray of Liquid Wrench or WD40?
Grease it.
Is there actually a grease zerk? Never greased a seat before. Sorry for my inexperience. LOL
My C model, and the B model that I had prior, does not have grease fitting for the swivel of the seat. I use PB blaster on the seat rails (the part that allows the seat to move fore and aft). I have never had any issues with the swivel.
My experience is mostly with John Deere models, their seats are different. Usually just a knob you pull up and that releases the seat to turn. So this is my first Caterpillar Backhoe. It has a long lever on my left when I sit in the seat. If I’m remembering correctly, pulling the lever all the way back allows the seat to slide forward and backwards. Bringing the seat to the all the way back position allows you to then push the lever forward and then spin the seat. The spin function is definitely having problems. I’ll try to find where to grease or maybe spray it with a lubricant. Spraying isn’t going to smell very good for the rest of the days operating in the cab though. I’ll wait until the end of the day. LOL
I have a 426 that is probably 3 or 4 years older than yours. I cleaned lubed and got my seat in working order. I attached a couple pictures of the swivel mechanism from mine. I figure yours is probably very similar. These are from underneath. The swivel is basically two plates with a bolt.
Interesting. Thanks. I’ll see what I can do.
I'm fairly certain that there are ball bearings for the swivel action between those (2) plates. If you can separate them and clean the surfaces out, that might be all it takes (unless the issue is in the locking mechanism). I mentioned using the PB Blaster for my C model seat...Before you go using anything like that, it is important to note that this is a very dusty environment. If you lubricate with any oil based product it will collect dust and dirt and require constant lubrication.
Maybe a dry silicone spray lube would be the right thing.? I’m sure that’s what the O&M manual recommends for seat mechanisms, door locks, etc.
There are no ball bearings. There are hard rubber pads that it slides on. The pivot is a bolt and washers. I had my seat torn down to all the parts. Best to use a dry lube. Grease or oily lubes will attract dirt. Yours is so stiff you may need to use a penetrating oil to get things freed up. Then clean it off and switch to dry lube. The best thing is to remove the seat and take it apart, clean everything, remove the rust and reassemble.
Hey folks. I blew a hydraulic line today. Managed to crawl up under it tonight and found what I thin is the culprit. I hope this is it anyway. Hard to believe this rupture blew that much fluid out. I was able to drive it back quick when it went. But the steering was just starting to get hard when I got back. Anyway. I have a Tractor Supply, and a NAPA. I’m thinking I’ll go to NAPA. Any suggestions on hydraulic fluid from them? Can I go with the standard or should I go with there premium brand? And would that meet CAT specs? I’ll have to read whatever I find in stock at the store there. But wondering if you guys have experience with this. I know I have bought hydraulic fluid from them before for my Kubota tractors, and for John Deere 310 J too. Have I mentioned laying on a tarp on the snow, up under a 16-17,000 lb. TLB at night, when it’s 6 degrees outside is not my idea of a good Friday night?
Some NAPAs make hoses but ask around to find out who does hoses in your area. NAPA stores typically do not do a very good job. I bought my oil at the Cat. dealer. I was looking to see what meets Cat spec at Tractor Supply, O'Reilly's or Advance Auto. Only 1 of them carried some Cat spec and it was the same price as Cat branded fluid. If you lost enough fluid that stuff stopped working you will need a couple pails at least. I think the machine holds 12 gallons or more.
I have always bought my hydraulic oil at CAT. I used to use DELO 400 in the engine but when I moved to CO it was just easier to get oil at Cat so I've been using CAT oil (in my CATs) ever since.
The closest CAT dealer is 122 miles away. I was hoping I could use NAPA or Tractor Supply brand. Will it work? Should. Right? Not a good idea?
I just got back from a dealer in Canton, NY. Cazenovia Equipment (used to be Laberge and Curtis) has always been good with hydraulic repairs. I decided the 20 minute drive will be worth it. Plus there is a little store that has great breakfast Puzza on the way! LOl. I have had them do many repairs for me over the last 25 years. They made me up a new hydraulic line and looked up the Caterpillar specs and cross referenced to what they sell. This is what they say will work well. They said a local company uses this in their Caterpillar Wheel loaders as well.
Oil requirements are called out in the manual. Since your machine was made so long ago it is likely that those specs have been superseded by newer spec oil. Sometimes this is because of the evolution of the product (different requirements of the newer engines or other components), and sometimes it is because they oil MFRs have upgraded their product. A call to the dealer might be in order to find out what is currently recommended for the individual compartments of your machine. There has also been a lot of information about oils (I think there has even been a discussion about TSC oils, etc.) on the HEF site. Do a search. I can't speak for your closest Cat dealer but the ones that I have experience with (both in CA and CO) had drop boxes for their customer who were not close to stores but within the franchise area for said dealer. The drop boxes that I have seen are locked metal cages where the dealer can drop ordered parts at a remote, centralized location (like on a route) where their customers can pick them up. The cages are locked with either a combination or a Cat key lock. Maybe you can inquire at the dealership to see if they have something like that.
I would guess that most name brand oils will work in your engine. I'm not sure if 10w/30 is the best for your conditions. I have always used 15w/40 (>13k hours on my 416c so far- with religious 250 hr intervals) but I am not in your area. That being said, there is a certain John Deere oil (maybe 303 (?) engineered a long time ago for Deere engines of that era) that has born a lot of lawsuits over engine failures attributed to that oil (Or so I have heard). If inclined, here is a link to a YouTube video: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...=vN72Peg0z4s&usg=AOvVaw19Dqvko3ZvHazcG70P0x0t
This is for my 426 but I would imagine yours is the same since they are only a few years apart in manufacture. The important thing is to make sure the oil has a high zinc content and will keep water in suspension.
If you were at a John Deere dealer I would have bought the HyGard. It meets the older TO-2 Caterpillar spec. and is made to keep water in suspension vs. a milky sludge like most motor oils turn into when water is present. I am no expert and others will chime in with way more experience and either tell me I am wrong, right or it doesn't matter. I was driving myself nuts when I was trying to figure out what to run. Since the Cat dealer is in my area and was roughly the same price I went with that.
This is not for my engine. It is for the hydraulics. Separate system. Here is a picture of what my Operation and Maintenance manual says for Hydraulic Oil.
Manual shows refill capacity of hydraulic tank oil is 9.9 U.S. Gallons. I bought two five gallon pails. Poured 1 and 3/4 in. Then after I fired it up and worked loader and backhoe a little, then I dumped the rest in. I’ll check it again through the site glass after I have worked it a bit to include stabilizers.
So. Another “few” questions for all of you. After fixing the hose and filling the hydraulic tank with fluid, I started the backhoe up. It had been plugged in for about 2-1/2 hours at that point. All I had time to do was let it run for a bit while I picked up all tools, tarp I was laying on, and get empty buckets and other junk into the garbage area in detached garage. Then I just had time to move it from where it was parked to where I normally keep it near the barn. This level ground area is close to barn door which is good for plugging it in when it’s cold. Then it was time to take off for other family stuff. When I was moving it the backhoe seemed to be easing or weeping to one side. If sitting in the driver’s seat, and looking back at the hoe, it was slowly easing or weeping to the left. Now, that same side is where I replaced the hydraulic line to the directional cylinder. Is there something else that keeps the hoe steady from going side to side? Could a pin have broken? Or something similar? And then that created more stress on that old hydraulic line? When the hydraulic failure happened I heard a somewhat loud ping or bang. Then the fluid started spraying. I just thought that was the initial rupture and fluid under big pressure hitting the underside of the cab floor. Now I have been working with clay. Because it’s so cold, some of the clay is freezing to the bucket. So this is just a guess, but there has to be a good bit of extra weight in the clay on that bucket and arm. 40-60 lbs maybe? Just guessing. Could be much more. Not sure. But. Maybe it will all settle out tomorrow after I have had a chance to slowly use the hoe by moving it to both sides after it is warmed up in this cold. But while moving it, it seemed to slowly seep to low side of machine. Which was the low side of hill I was driving on. Let me know if you have an experience with a hoe doing that while moving and you think there is something else wrong. Or not. Thanks again.
From what you have written I think that what you are experiencing is called "drift". Make sure you cycle the hoe for a bit to make sure that you have purged all the air from the system. If air is not the issue I would guess that the swing cylinder/s may need to be repacked. A fairly common issue with these machines is that the nut that holds the piston onto the rod end will sometimes come loose. When that happens the hoe will "wag" back and forth with gravity like when going over rough terrain. If everything is as it should be the 40-60# (and probably a lot more) would not cause the hoe to drift when traveling. IMO, the most common cause would be swing cylinder seals (would be fixed with rebuild/new seals, etc.) assuming that you have purged the air.
Thanks. I’m hoping it just needs to be worked to get fluid all through everything and air back to the tank. Will find out tomorrow. Looks like it won’t be as cold as last few days. 20s in the morning. Yea! I do need to get that frozen clay off the bucket. And out of front loader bucket. Ugh!
How many members on this site? Anyone know? Curious here.
The “drifting of the hoe to one side has stopped now that I slowly worked it first thing. Apparently had to get the fluid through everything and force the air back to the tank. Learning something new each time I use it. Thanks again.
I should have looked at the manual before I stated 12 gallons. I have gone through 2 buckets and still need a little more to top it off. I also have been replacing all my hoses and repacked or rebuilt every cylinder. So I have lost fluid during this process. Not really concerned because once done I will have more or less flushed things. At the very least the old fluid will have been diluted significantly. The fluid that was in there was clean and not showing signs of water. Have you had success with your seat?
Haven’t done anything to it yet. I have been working on a good size dirt project and trying to get as much of it done as I can before any deep snow comes. If we get a big snow storm, I’m afraid I’ll be done until things dry up after spring thaw. I can still get it around okay, but it’s gummy. Hopefully I’ll find the time soon.
You actually use your machine? I thought we all bought them so we can work on them and post our problems here. We keep going from cold to warm. Getting annoying. Once mud season is over in the spring I need to get up to my land and start clearing for a house and a rifle range.
LOL I have been fortunate enough to have some colder temperatures that froze the top of the ground up. Not much frost down very far. But just enough to keep me up and traveling just fine. Moved a good bit of clay and dirt over the last few weeks. I forgot to check the hour meter when I got out of the 426 this afternoon, but I know I have put a good amount of hours on it the last couple weeks. Several regular days off and took an extra one when conditions were just right. Hoping any significant snow holds off for 3-4 more weeks. Is that too much to ask for this time of the year?
I had to go out to the barn so I stopped at the 426. When I bought it there was 5497 hours. And now there is 5533 hours. 36 hours of work in 11 days since getting it. Not bad for this time of year.
You can clean up that gauge face with some toothpaste. Mine were so cloudy they were near impossible to read. Since I had the dash at the house while I was welding I took an afternoon when work was quiet to polish them. I did not go crazy. I just wanted to be able to read them.
Thanks for the tip. I’ll give it a try. What I don’t get is the scratches. ? It looks like scratches anyway. How do you scratch up the surfaces of your gauges? I Yi Yi. LOL
Some idiot probably scraped them when they had ice on them or something. You can try sanding them with 400, 800, 1200 and then polishing with rubbing compound and finally toothpaste. You can also use a headlight restoration kit. The scratches won't go away by polishing but things will clear up. The sanding will get rid of them. I made a small polishing wheel by chucking a bolt in my drill and wrapping a rag around that so it would polish. Made it go quick. I hate not being able to easily see gauges. Hour meter is not crucial but temp, and others are.
Some big buckets were moved today.
That leaning Ash tree in the picture on the left was torn out of the ground two days ago. It was in a place I need to put stuff and too close to several other trees anyway. I left it laying on the ground with roots exposed. Today as I went to put it on the burn pile I thought to myself. I wonder if I could save that by transplanting it now. It has been cold, below freezing the whole time. So maybe. So I dug a hole and manhandled it into place. Then while holding it upwards I managed to get some big chunks of clay and topsoil around it enough to hole it upright. Then used the hoe to bury the roots. A couple things going for it is it was in hibernation mode. The clay/dirt I put over it is full of frozen water. And it’s right on the pond’s edge now, so it should get plenty of water. I beat it up pretty bad though. Some bark roughed up. Roots roughed up. Hopefully it makes it. We will see this spring if it can survive it.
The joy of working with clay in the cold! Once every couple hours a fifteen minute cleaning helps. What a workout with this heavy duty bar!
I have managed to put 73 hours on the CAT …… Not bad for a little over three weeks in January.
We used to put diesel fuel in buckets that were frozen up like yours. sometimes wood too. Then set it on fire. Worked like a magic charm.
The 426 did not want to start today. Tried it a couple times but then decided I needed to get some other stuff done and try this on a day when it’s not -33 at 6AM! So I pulled both the batteries out and brought them into the garage to get them both charged up 100%. And it’s 48 degrees in there too. So that will help. Currently 11 out there now.
You might consider a couple things. One is battery warming blankets and the other is adding a charging port. This way you can put the batteries on charge without having to open the battery box. If you use heavy enough cables it can act as a jump start point. When I worked at a dealer in the 80s we serviced the Ford diesels. Pushing a big rack body into the shop was not fun so we made jump start rig. We took a hand truck and mounted 2 huge batteries on it and a maintainer. It was kept plugged in so the maintainer would keep the batteries topped off. When we need to start a truck or even a car we just wheeled the setup to the vehicle and connected the cables. Boom car would crank. You could put a plug like tow trucks use so you just plug it in, start the backhoe and unplug. At some point you should measure the voltage drop on your starter circuit. Make sure you do not have a loss due to bad connection or corroded cable, etc. This is easy and you will know if things are 100%. In my case is cranked and started fine when warm but a bit slow on a cold crank. Cold as in sitting overnight, not arctic winter cold. I had voltage drops of 2.5 volts on the ground side and almost 1 volt on the positive side. Cleaning connections made it less but it was still high. New cables solved the problem. Cranked like a new starter and batteries were installed. Cables looked fine but obviously not. I did not cut them open.
Cold like that would have me looking for more than just warm, fully charged, batteries. If your machine is equipped with (2) batteries (part of a cold weather package) you should also have a block heater and -33F qualifies as a good reason to plug that block heater in. Battery blankets would also be well advised and maybe even on the tranny and/or hydraulic tank......Or just park it inside a shop.
Thank you for the advice. I just saw this as I’m out here. The CAT is breathing again. I brought both batteries in last night and charged them up full. I also fixed the ends on two smaller wires that connect to positive and negative of batteries. And, when I took the batteries out, I noticed the positive lead on the rear battery was not tight. After I cleaned everything and hooked everything back up it started right up. I had just plugged the plug in heater in about 1-1/2 hours ago. I believe it was definitely a connection problem. Two new eyelets, one on each of those wires, and then having the right tools and getting things clean and tight seems to have made the difference. Now I will see if those batteries keep getting charged up as I run her. I’m currently trying to chase a wire to find out where it goes. First time I’ve had both panels off together. Learning. At 18 DEGREES.
Has two batteries and plug in heater, and starting aid under the hood controlled from switch in cab. Just found out I had some connection issues. Fixed them. It is up and running.
Running in the barn, locked the loader up high so I could get in closer and check things out. Working out back a little later moving a pile of branches and junk rounds further out away from several good size White Pine so I can burn it up.
Light duty today. Scraping down the snow we got the other day. About 2-1/2 to 3” I guess. Just enough to be a pain in the ars. If I don’t keep scraping it down it just gets packed down into ice. Apparently 1-3” more on the way. Joy!
I wanted to thank you for the idea. At first I didn’t think I would do it. But I decided i needed that clay out of both buckets so I could continue to move more while it’s frozen up. Try to get it done before spring when everything will be too wet. Worked like a charm.
looks like a very nice rig you have there. I ran a 416 of the same vintage, straight boom 2wd extendahoe. It was a good rig and pretty new at the time.
Hoping to get some work out of the 426 the next two days before the next snow storm comes in. Wednesday through Friday they are predicting 6-12”.