I was tidying up the files on my computer and realised that I have literally hundreds of photos detailing some of the various repairs we had done, going back maybe 10 years, so I thought some may be of interest. I'll generally post them without any narration, but if anyone has any questions or comments, feel free. Please don't go too hard on any technical safety breaches you may see. I've been doing this for well over 30 years and nobody's died and nobody's gone to jail yet. (Actually, that's a lie. Someone did go to jail once, but that's another story.)
Love it. Keep them coming. And we’ve all done things to get it done that weren’t necessarily approved but as you say no one died. Cheers
2nd pic … The famously dreaded milk crate... just waiting to scoot out from the unwary. Replaced by a chair …
By the looks of the corrosion that'd been cracked for a while before it finally let go......a bit like this one.
I'm still feeling the affects of the %$#@! milk crate rolling out on me and it was lower than that one. Feels like I twisted my rib cage. Hurts to sneeze or if I have the hiccups. LoL
"Mate, you got a spare Franna in the morning?"
Thos thread shows potential for a bunch of hold my beer posts
What's a Franna?
See the “New Ride Part Deux” thread in the cranes forum....
Yep, went to that one just after this one. Kinda proves it is usually worthwhile to keep my mouth shut and listen.
The inventor's name was Francis and his daughter Anna.
Ahhh....
I've worked on plenty of 992's and have never seen a failure like this. I have welded up several cracks in the lower hitches.
That's a Letourneau loader if I recall.
It was indeed, an L1850. It happened on a mine site in Northern Chile where we had a fleet of Cat trucks, so the boys shot down and grabbed a load of photos before the mine and the LT guys had chance to shoo them away. That's how I came by the original photos.
I wonder how many tens of thousands of hours were on that?
It was a relatively new machine as I recall. Certainly less than 10k hours. What made us laugh was that we lost a deal for a 2nd 994 at that site because of poor availability of the customer’s existing machine, then this happened to the L1850 that was bought instead.
I put the last one in especially for hosspuller and welder dave.
What was wrong with the jet ?
Main bearing oil seal replacement and two yearly clean and antifoul. The port side just got the cleanup. The seal was OK.
Oooh, an embarassing 797 engine whoopsie. What happened..? Didn't they chain it down..?
Apparently not. I came back from a late call that night and that happened right in front of our shop while I was taking my coveralls off. Saw the aftermath while I was walking out the gate to go home.
At least the engine didn't tip over. Now that would have been expensive ......
What was the deal with the permanent custom tow bar?
Love all the pics! How much was that cooler worth ?
It's actually a push bar. The machine's a reclaimer mixer and the bar is to push along the water/emulsion truck at a steady pace. The customer wanted something permanent but stowable for transport.
It looks like a section of an AMOCS radiator leaning against the back of a 980 ish size machine. We repaired some fire damage to an 825H and I think it may be from that. Not a clue on the cost I'm afraid.
You're missing the apprentice on the end of that torque wrench!
Mmmmmmm...... Capsure GET. Best thing since sliced bread if you're a mechanic who has to change it on a regular basis.
My what big teeth you have
I don't know what your ground conditions are like Nige, but around here, most of the time it's bone dry and the locks can be a bit of a battle to remove after they get packed with rock dust. Our boys find that giving them a good old rattle with a needle gun and a soak in water to be a good strategy, but whatever, still easier than the J series equivalent.
You got that right. Anything's better than having to swing a 14lb hammer and try to hit a pin driver held by what appears to be a drunk....
How did you know I was holding the pin driver !
That reminds me of growing up holding a pin driver or a shake bar as we called it for dad swinging a 20 lbs on things every time he would hit the punch he would yell stop moving damit oh find memories
This was after a fairly extensive fibreglass repair and paint to the hood.
Round here we call them a Chicken Bar, for the blokes that are too scared to hold one without a handle.
Reminds me of a job I was on as a shop apprentice. Had a mid-sized excavator in for carrier rollers and bucket pins/bushings. I was under the machine, changing out the carrier rollers while the shop clown was welding out the bushings. He never bothered to clean the grease out first. He was completely oblivious to the 10 foot high flames coming out the bucket pin bore until someone yelled at him. Lucky he didn't burn any grease lines or hydraulic hoses off the arm.
We used to weld a 3 foot or so piece of cable 11/8 or 11/4 dia. to the punch for a handle. Pretty much eliminates the shock to the hands from a miss aimed hit with the hammer d.d.
We had to break holes in an old concrete floor for posts. I held the the star drill and dad hit it with a maul. I think it called single jack and it two people were hitting the star drill double jacking. There sure were some vibes going through my hands, but got the job done. That was a long time ago. Today I had to dig with my mini excavator some trenches for the electrician. We had to hand dig for two hours to find the other electrical line to a hog confinement building. We started early but it was a hot and humid day to be doing that. He had a heart attack a few years ago and I am 70 so the dirt didn't fly to fast, but we got it done.
I had the honor of holding a star drill for Grand dad, drilling holes for blasting. (In boulders) Made me a nervous wreck at 14 yrs old! Additional honor was helping light the fuses, I lite mine, was outta there faster than a demented Jack Rabbit!
Were the pic's of the Cat Excavator taken at the Cobaki Lakes development?
Cat 972H front axle repair.
Used to change a lot of shift cards. Not so much nowadays, they must have finally got all the bugs worked out.
A pictorial on how to do a careful, conscientious, job!
That date stamp 1978? Long lived beast!! Nice cutting edge on the grader blade. Shop is WAY Too Clean!! Nice layout.
Blackwood Hodge, aka Deadwood Dodge. My that brings back memories of Terex scrapers and rear dumps from another life.
We used to have Blackwood Hodge in Edmonton.
Soil compactor scrapers need a good bit of maintenance in abrasive ground
Cooling pack off something
Looks off a Motor Grader
Cat 375 ?
Let the contest begin to figure out what it's off. Winner gets bragging rights.
Is Blackwood Hodge a Cat dealer?
Not that I ever saw.
In the UK John Blackwood Hodge was the main agent for the Terex-GM equipment line. Anyone with an interest regarding machinery from that era could spend hours browsing through the "Blackwood Hodge Memories" website. Here's a sample - https://blackwood-hodge.typepad.com/home/2020/04/index.html
This is probably a Volvo Kidney looping Gear pump (duh) Ferguson tractor restoration
More ADT shenanigans
Machining a draft arm
Always wondered where our fourth dining table chair went-Cmark ran off with it.
Chairs and milk crates make several guest appearances in this thread........
The milk crates I use to stand on in the shop are OSHA approved.
The D9R wasn't in great shape. It broke several of the ripper frame studs and cracked some welds inside the bevel gear case.
Oh **** Hurt Again
Must be a early 9R. Bob
9H. :facepalm:
I crushed my ribs on the entrance of my skid steer when a milk crate shot out from underneath my feet. Hurt for 3 days.
I had one go rogue on me, gone like it was gone powered by Demons. I had a scar centered on my rib cage for years (caused by a 73' GMC hood hoke.
9H's doing damage there must not have been an uncommon occurrence. Twenty something years ago I hired a contractor with a D9H and it had just come back from the doctor with the same symptoms. All new bolts holding the ripper frame on, and I am told the arse end had internal cracks that had to be welded up.
More axle action
Can't remember the details but it looks like it's going to be expensive
Back end of a 9H is nothing but heavy and painful.
A few extra piece parts.
Might be expensive..but in the ultimate end a whole lot less expensive that a replacement and atleast now you know what you have. I am a firm believer in fixing what you have of possible!
Seeing that axle on the blocks reminded me of a conversation I had with a service manager not too long ago. Seems they can't teardown or assemble a final drive without putting it on a rotation stand. They even made an adapter to be able to install loader axles on the stand. The conversation went something like this. How long does it take to put an axle or final on that. Him, usually one to two hours. Me, you aren't charging my client for something as unnececsary as that. Him, we don't do them any other way. Me on the phone to my client, they are trying to screw you over big adding time. My client, load it back up and do the job when you can and send me the bill.
I've always been a big fan of Cat ELC and this is why. The insides of your cooling system should look this clean.
Good to see the cast iron impeller, not that other type with the bonded hub
Dig those tracks out people
That should be grounds for dismissal. Appalling.
Yes and no ,I’ve worked with contractors that worked you to the last minute and wouldn’t give you time to clean tracks
They must be winning some nice jobs to not worry about stuff like that. No disrespect but do they wear the cutting edges into the frog as well ?
Do you work for yourself, an independent shop, or cat house?
In the past, all of the above. For the last 10+ years my own repair business.
You do very well and have a good clientele by appearances. I tried the first two, even worked dealerships a couple tries, ended up burnt out as tried too much too often too many hours and made too little. The late 70s/80s even the 90s were not user friendly for mechanics.
and check your final drive oil
Just SLIGHTLY Dry!!!
Yea but it was not leaking so why chance it by putting oil in there!
Old school and new school. Probably calibrating something.
Re-usable or not? Discuss.
Definitely needs to be resurfaced or shims cut in. As soon as you see that fretting in any spot and not clean machining marks you know that liners moving. If you shim it, cut every hole.
Minor depressions as that magically leak MASSIVE quantity coolant when at operating temp. Too easy to deck and shim.
I vote for a good heavy layer of Flex-seal! https://www.flexsealproducts.com/ Enough of that and I guarantee no coolant will go anywhere! Ducking and running!
I used to do the feel test or the finger nail test. What the future plans are for the machine would be helpful information to have in this case.
Youll get about 1000 hours out of the head gasket if you leave it as is. If you're lucky.
depends how much the customer is willing to spend and how long you have to warranty your repair job
On one like that a first cut for shims, pitting at the edge is the worry. But the whole job depends on who is doing the cutting and what tooling they are using. Personally I like Monaco over the Kent Moore for common portable. Just saw a bad job done on a C15 block that lasted about 75,000. Not a smooth cut and slightly uneven. just my two cents.
those are some ugly pictures. the operator wondered why his mach. was`nt pushing right
Why deal with Cat? One part number ladies and gentlemen....
Engine in a box!
Problem can be getting that number. I have been in there trying to get a cutting edge for a 30 year old machine that at the time predated their computer records. What is the S/N on the blade I was asked? Well it fell off before we owned it. Sorry, no number cannot help. Went to aftermarket supplier. Took one minute.
Vandals Cmark?
Vandals, DMiller.
Sadly we too still have that side of humanity here as well.
Yes, we sometimes work for the other team as well..........
Same as Volvo, complete engine rebuild kit supplied under 1 part number, makes life so easy. but you will always get the one penny pinching person who doesn't need this and that, so they even do complete gasket kits or part kits under single numbers as well, it's just getting to those numbers that can be fun.
3406 timing advance repair. Not all 3406s have one and there's a couple of different designs but they are all susceptible to the flyweights (circled) breaking. On a bad day the broken bits will get jammed in the timing gears and typically break the oil pump mounting lugs.
Or someone forgets to torque the timing advance after pin timing, bolts shear and things go to hell on a B.
Another day, another dirty evap core
A cloudy day, but here's some of the local scenery. The Pacific Ocean off Australia's Eastern seaboard in the background.
Gorgeous view Cmark
Interesting photo of the new bucket teeth. Someone got their use out of that tooth... Must be doing a lot of rock work ? That the reason for the ribs inside the bucket ? And what's the reason for the rebar across the teeth ? Cmark ... Thanks for sharing..
Rerod does not appear to be 'attached', suspect a trash/dirt chipper.
Rebar used as a long punch. Slides through the holes in the adapters.
Cmark how do you use your time do you travel around taking stuff apart order parts go to another place work on something else while your weighting on parts? How long does it take to get parts? I work on mainly trucks right now i have to always be thinking if i tear in to a truck what if another one has a problem witch is needed more. I spend alot of my day on the phone every day how do you charge for this?
Not my question but parts mark up usually. It is a bit tough sometimes when you are wanting to take care not advantage of your customer. An older truck here just had a bad electric window regulator. $550 so I called them and put in a hand crank deal that cost about $150. I was not personally doing the work but saw the poor condition seals later. Call and order all the new seals - weather stripping to go around that. They only sent one side of the lower window to door seal for $145. I just charged them $145 and attached a copy of their invoice. Let them know who is screwing the pouch. Glad the parts man messed up and only sent one of four. They can buy their own parts but I will not do warranty work on customer supplied parts unless it is an apparent installation problem.
Firstly, as most of you know, we work mainly on Cat equipment. Now whatever anyone says about Cat's service or prices, the Cat parts system is second to none. With SIS on the laptops in the service trucks, we can look up part numbers and get P&A in minutes. I've tried dealing with the others, Komatsu, Kobelco, Hyundai etc. and it can take an hour just for someone to phone you back and then they will usually want to email you a picture to confirm they are talking about the right thing before they order it, even if it's available. Typically, if a customer wants us to work on anything other than Cat I will explain the foreseeable issues before we start and if possible, get them to organise their own parts. The issue of getting parts to the machine is dictated by the needs of the customer. If a machine is down and parts are available at the local depot, and the customer wants it, we will happily drive to collect them. In the area we usually work it should be a round trip of 1 to 4 hours maximum. We charge the travel time at a lesser hourly rate, plus mileage. If parts aren't local, 90% of time they're available next day by 9:00 am and in that case, yes, we will try and look at another job in the meantime. The key to keeping customers happy is communication. If you can only spend a couple of hours on a job, let them know your circumstances before you start. If you're in the middle of a 3 day rebuild and you get a call for a breakdown, explain exactly the situation to both parties. I don't know what it's like in your area but most business owners I know won't have a problem with you leaving their job for an urgent breakdown for a little while, and explain to customer B before you start that you can't be all day on his breakdown. Minimising lost-and-downtime in a field service based business is relatively easy, but needs discipline. As much admin work as possible relating to a job should be done on site in chargeable time. You have to be tough on yourself and your employees. A lot of guys will want to get back to the depot ASAP and sit down with a coffee and do the paperwork. Not in my business. Parts ordering, writing service reports, filling out oil-sample forms, any admin for the job needs to be done before leaving site. Even if the site is closing and you get kicked out, park on the street outside and do it. As long as it's related to the job at hand, it's totally justifiable to put it all on the bill in my opinion. On the flip side, if you do have to break off to make phone calls relating to something else, make sure you document it and, most importantly, make a point of telling the customer that you've taken a half-hour or whatever off his bill. Most of the time they won't even be aware of it but they will be impressed by your honesty. Besides, you never know who is watching you through the office windows.
Do you charge by how long it actually takes or by how long it says in the book? I know a lot of automotive repairs go by what a book says but sometimes a repair goes a lot quicker than expected and the dealer doesn't pass any savings on to the customer. I also know there's unexpected stuff that can be charged extra. When I did landscaping and a job went faster than expected I'd take a little off and the customers were usually appreciative. Some customers wouldn't be happy if you did it for free though.
Usually there isn’t a “Book”, or at least not one that independents can get hold of. Actual hours + Parts is how I’ve always seen it done.
There's no such thing as book-time in field service. Too many variables.
Class 8 Truck inframe averages 40 hrs give or take depending on engine. Add 22Hrs for front structure.
It makes sense to charge by actual hours. Is warranty work the same or they only allow so much time?
If you asking about warranty time at franchised dealers then all have variations of the same theme. The Link-Belt and Komatsu dealers that I worked for had a rate negotiated for the repair. Say your revenue rate was $76 and hour, your warranty rate would be somewhere around $48 and it didn't include any travel time or mileage. The customer gets that bill. In some cases like up dates they gave an amount they would pay per each project. Cat was different is many ways as there seemed to be more set amounts per job. Product improvements didn't pay enough to chase them so they didn't get done unless a wrench was already on the job doing something else. Campaigns for safety items nearly always got done and the money was decent. I've known service managers who got fired for not getting those scheduled and done in an expected period of time. Warranty work is not set up as a profit center and most dealers absolutely hate doing it. The other part of it is the paper work. It works like an insurance policy. The customer is supposed to pay for it up front and then the manufacturer reimburses on their own time frame and at their own amount. Most dealers are set up to just do the jobs that are justified and paid for on previous claims, then they wait to get paid, sometimes for months.
A bit more ADT Rsend action. From memory, the suspension rubbers changed part numbers which required modification to the equaliser beams.
Graders are actually pretty great machines
Versatile anyway......
I love running those things, hat working on them. Those plastic fuel tanks get in the way of everything.
Yes. They're not that hard to unbolt but almost impossible to handle if they're full of fuel.
The gouges in the tapered spline are nothing to do with me
Same 9H I recall. Pre cup erosion. ELC FTW.
This was taken in 2014. They were definitely call Capsure back then.
Hard to tell from the pic, are the gouges in the tapered spline from a torch?
Yes. It's like a dagger through my heart
Even from the latest GET catalogues it seems as though the nomenclature of Capsure/Advansys are used interchangeably. Would you like to chime in on HMC's thread in the excavator section about Capsure GET for medium-sized equipment..?
Nice to know the damage was human caused. I'd hate to think of some steel eating virus to have to contend with in addition to the human eating ones
Nice bolt head imprints in the D9H final drive outer case. tctractors would be shaking his head at that one. I suppose it matches the workmanship skills of the oxy or air-arc gouge on the hub.
Grease worms, Eat steel like candy!!
While I do not work mainly on Cat equipment and you are on the other side of the big fish pond Cat parts service here is most excellent. Your statements on how you deal with customers has helped me. While I have a lot of work going away I have been more realistic the stress relief is great. Just hope customers respect that and come back from wherever they went.
While you make jokes about that I have seen that in crankshaft bearings on an an old John Deere 2 cylinder, also a 2424 IHC. They had been parked for many years. Looked like termites had been there. Read up on that and compounds in old motor oil and other contaminants can be acidic at times. No virus and nothing new.
So what is up with the 963? Which BTW I wish could get my mitts on one for around six months!!!
CMark that's an interesting 963 as it has what looks like a landfill 4n1 bucket on the front however it appears the bucket also has hooks for slip on forks. Can't imagine how the forks would work with the trash bucket. Our 953 has the same weld on hooks on the bucket for slip on forks which has a similar bend on the left side hook as your 963.. On further look that 963 doesn't have trash pads or striker bars so it wouldn't be a proper landfill arrangement from Cat. That coupled with the fork hooks on the bucket has me scratching my hairless head.
Demolition work perhaps? Glad to see this thread rejuvenated!
I'm wondering about the track loader as well. I see a bar with a chain apparently holding something up plus an oily final drive cover. Some transmission issues maybe?
On second look is that a single hook on the bucket for pulling out chained loads at the landfill?
It is actually an honest-to-god 963C with the factory 1733790 waste handler arrangement. The chopper pads and striker bars were always an additional attachment on landfill machines. The bucket is an extreme service 5Q7746 which is in very good condition, all things considered. It has the full compliment of hooks which, judging by the paint, look to have been welded on possibly by a dealer. The trash guard is a customer addition.
The story is the 963C was purchased several years ago broken down. The owner has someone pull the pumps and motors for repair who, for whatever reason couldn't finish the job. It has been sat since then until he got in touch with me. As it stands, the gantry affair you can see is supporting the back of the engine. The pumps, pump drive box and motors are on pallets. Several more buckets and boxes of bits accompany it. The main problem is it has been sat out in the weather. Hoses are deteriorating and we think that contamination from whatever went wrong with the pumps has gone through the system, plus the hydraulic tank cap was missing. It's a project.... I'll try and post a few more photos here but HEF gets so slow sometimes that it's painful to use. I'll probably put most pics on instagram and maybe youtube.
Cmark, do you have your own shop where you do machining? Do you have a bunch of employee's? Your work is impeccable!
Thanks for the compliment. Yes, I have my own shop with medium size lathe, milling, welding, component rebuild facilities. In the past I've had 5 employees, a couple of apprentices and some subcontractors to help out at busy times. I've scaled back a bit now though.
Very impressive the scope of work you do and in the quality of repairs. I have a slow hyd. leak and am dreading that I'll probably have to pull the belly pan again. The swing pivot repair I did with a boring head in a drill press is working great though.
Zero tail swing 314E. Counterweight off for everything. *facepalm*
From a maintenance perspective the best thing for that POS would be 5 gallons of diesel and a match, IMHO........
If it's only 4 bolts to remove the counter weight and you gain that much access if doesn't seem that bad.
Provided you have another machine available close by with the capacity to lift the 4-ton counterweight I'd agree with you, but on how many small construction sites might something like this be the only machine operating.?
Wasn't machinery supposed to become SIMPLER over time?????
Did a main harness on one of those. Even with the counterweight off it sucked.
Like Nige says the worst bit is smaller machines like this are used in the main on smaller sites on their own or with other smaller equipment, an idea would simply be to make it either hinge or demountable on a ram so at least it's self-sustainable
I wonder what kind of damage can happen when people put those weights back on and don't torque up the bolts properly.
Yup. 2100 ft lb torque wrenches are not part of the normal tool kit of most mechanics.
A 600 Ft lb torque wrench works with a 4 to 1 multiplier but how many people have that set up?
I thought that machine could doo a "Reach Around" on itself.....
Answers on a postcard to the usual address please.
Bigger machines have the ability to remove their own weights…
We torqued slewing ring bolts with 2 multipliers stacked together and I think it was 80# on the torque wrench. Was quite a job to hold all that up when tightening from the bottom. d.d.
Yeah, you'd need a good sized loader or something else to safely lift an 8000lb. counterweight. You'd also need a helper. Machines like that should come with a way to more easily remove or at least move the counterweight out of the way. Hyd. or an electric winch maybe that holds it in place and then a few bolts that could be tightened with a 600 ft./lbs. torque wrench.
Surprisingly enough on the one I had to deal with one time, only paint damage. Found the bolts, cleaned the holes out and put it back on. Hyundai 330 from memory, fresh from the dealer.
The old 6V6080 widowmaker. 18.5:1 Outlawed due to unfortunate incidents like this one. https://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/Documents/Safety/MSH_SIR_133.pdf
A dealership near here had a counterweight fall during removal recently. Killed one and injured another. Story I got was the lift mechanism was not connected to the counterweight and when they undid the bolts it dropped and caught them. Sad deal all around.
I remember that incident. I was in Chile at the time and it got to us via BHP Safety.
First I heard of that one. We had one of those at the quarry that we inherited from some other part of the company. As I recall I had to replace the output drive a couple times due to it failing. I thought it was a handy tool for torqueing piston nuts on hydraulic cylinders. The way I used it was by clamping the eye of the rod to a very heavy table we had in the shop, believe the top was 1 1/2 or 2 inch steel plate, used a 30 ton twin ram hydraulic ram to clamp it tight. Then used the 6V6080 with just the attached arm against the table top or for longer cylinders had it resting on a very large jack stand. Also used a large nylon ratchet strap to hold the ram from twisting. Did have a few idiots try to tell me to use a 1/2 inch impact wrench to power the 6V6080 while running nuts on or off!
Counterweight loaders are an option that cost extra. I've not seen any installed on anything smaller than a 65 ton machine. I knew a guy who got on the release side of that big multiplier. Ended up with a compound fracture on one of his legs. Using one generated the same type of anxiety as pressing a sprocket off a D9G.
The most anxiety I ever had was rebuilding an 850 Hitachi track adjuster. Compressing that huge spring in a shop press and installing the nut had me puckered right up.
I do
Me too! Also have a torcup pneumatic torch wrench
Wow, is it really outlawed by OSHA or MSHA? I have one that might've possibly twisted the anvil in two pieces...somehow. I wondered why they came with a spare in that little black cloth bag. I can see how someone could be injured with it after using it... Good lord, I just looked at some recent selling prices of them in the the thousands of $. I gave $250 for mine...
Neither. It's banned by BHP who, amongst others, set the de-facto standards here in Australia. You can still buy it from Cat.
The approved method. (One of them)
Hello Vetech, if you get the chance, what make & model is it, and how do you rate it? I need to get one for exactly this scenario (reduced tail machine radiator cleaning access). Cheers.
It’s the same feeling that you get when disassembling or assembling a D11 recoil spring. At the time the weight goes on the cylinder you’d rather be somewhere, anywhere, but right there.
When I search for 6v-6080 it comes up in the predicted text window but returns 0 finds. Possibly they are out of stock or discontinued now?
There are still some out there. This is what I can see from here in Australia.
The 6V-6080 is still available but it is 18.5:1 ratio and that’s not the one Vetech was talking about. It’s also horrendously expensive. Cat also do a (from memory) 6:1 ratio torque multiplier. If you’re doing stuff like counterweight hardware then that might be the one you want, paired with a torque wrench around 350-400 ft lb. I’ll dig around and find some details.
Thanks guys. Yes, around 6:1 would be the ticket.
The cost benefit of using a low ratio multiplier coupled with a 3/4" drive torque wrench is offset by the weight of the rig. Even holding the widowmaker and a light 1/2" torque wrench upside down is still a two-person job and after just 4 bolts you get a sweat on.
The smaller 6V-7820 Cat torque multiplier is 6:1 but only goes up to a maximum of 1200 ft lbs of output torque, so that would be too small a capacity for counterweight bolts. This one's close. Max 1850 ft lbs. - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144407635781?epid=1823823022&hash=item219f5da745:g:MokAAOSwZa9e7XmC I've used Norbar multipliers before - https://www.htlgroup.com/product/bolt-torque/manual-torque-multipliers/ I would also suggest investigating the comparative cost between a torque wrench & multiplier setup versus something like a pneumatic HyTorc. That would only be valid if you always had a compressed air supply available though. Hytorc do have a battery-operated range of torque guns up to 5000 ft lbs, the only caveat would be the price. https://hytorc.com/lithium-series-ii
That's excellent info there Nige, thanks. You get a good set for the money with the Sealey set, it is enough rating, the only thing is some of the Sealey kit is variable quality. Some of it works, some not so great. As it happens I'm at there hometown right now, Bury St Edmunds.
I've got a smaller 4:1 and a 6500# 6:1 repurposed from the Jesus nut for a chopper. But I sometimes just use a slugging wrench. I figure a hammer at 100 ft.lbs at an easy swing, 150 ft lbs at a hard swing per pound hammer weight.
I'll get a pic of mine today and post it. It's been a while since I've used it, but I believe it's a 4:1 ratio. Back when I was with a Fiat-Allis dealer in the late 80's, Fiat's multiplier was a 28:1
I use a pneumatic for U bolts and suspension-to old to be ******* around with that manual stuff.
Before we went Hytorc on them we had a 35:1 multipler specifically for tightening the bolts between the frame and the front axle on 994 loaders. Damn dangerous thing it was too. The spec on those 36mm bolts was 1100 ft lbs plus an additional 180 ± 10 degrees. We reckoned it came in somewhere close to 3500 ft lbs.
The battery operated torquing tool is nice but if you're doing something large that is torque and turn it wipes out the battery quick. I'm still partial to pneumatic tools for that reason.
Wish I had known of HyTorq units LONG Ago, the Nuke had and used them everywhere. The other torque method was heat in a hollow stud or bolt, then rotate to a lower torque figure and allow to cool back, UNGODLY Tight once cooled or as the machine and fastener temps matched.
did it that way on KW Big Six suspension.
damn near lost a finger almost two when a snap-on barrel ratchet popped just before break over at 305 on cummins mains. collided with belly support mount. 35years ago, winter time is hell on that digit.
In the power station we used a hydraulic stretcher on engine/generator mounting bolts. Basically put the pressure on, turn the nut back down to the flange, then release the pressure.
Very similar to the heated stud system and the reactor head stud nut tensioner system just larger scale. Head stud tensioner, would have four of these working 90 degrees apart to speed up process, 96 stud/nut sets.
50 years ago, on a visit to GE's Schenectady turbine plant ... The turbine case bolts were hollow for a calrod heater. Young pup me, was impressed then ...
A lot of tension rods on big hydraulic breakers are torqued like that. Torque to x amount of ft-lbs, then heat the rod and turn it a specific number of degrees.
Any of you folks ever work with supernuts? P&H 4100 shovel has twelve large and 4 smaller ones holding each track frame on. I had one of the smaller ones, probably about 2" shank size, break while I was torquing it. It came rocketing out of the hole at about mach 2. Glad I could feel something was off and got clear of it a few seconds before it let go. The big ones on the side have got to be around 4 or 5 inch in diameter. Bet they'd embed themselves in the pit face if they came apart
Never worked with one but do recall seeing pictures of them years ago. Interesting design. I guess if you are paying attention while tightening all those pusher bolts and notice them not getting tighter you should figure out there is something not right!
Watched machinists torquing fasteners on the intake pumps section segments hit a rough spot, bolts began failing almost as fast as started setting final value, 1 1/8" supposed to be Grade above Gr8 and stretching/snapping like playdoh. Turned out were inferior and MAYBE grade 3 but Stainless, NO Head marks, ordered wrong by stores personnel. Three weeks on getting correct ones and then had to inspect EVERY use of those.
Finally made it back here. This is my multiplier that I keep on the truck. It's an oldie but goodie! 3/4" input drive and 1" output drive
Sold my old Williams to a Co Conspirator that worked Macks, played Row Boat setting Camel Backs many hours, did not see a further need for myself.
have used them offshore on drawworks drive motors and mudpump crankshaft main bearing caps
Got one of those as well as a smaller 1/2" input and 3/4" output. Probably bust it out every week or 2 for a job.
I have the same one.
We had two different versions of that one. Believe one was 3/4 in 1 inch out the other was other one might have been 1 inch in and 1 1/2 out. Biggest problem with those was lack of backstop so needed good solid point for reaction arm and good clear are to swing the input wrench.
Looks good quality, cheers.
We have one and it will stand up to everything
I see one here for sale, but I have a question: on these multipliers that look like a large ratchet (without a 90 degree reaction bar etc) how do you stop it rotating on the underside of a machine where there's nothing solid to prop it against? Simply stuff a longer pole over the handle to reach the turret? Cheers. Edit: I ask as the accident article on the 6V6080 involved a crowbar stuck in the tube to extend it in this way, and kshansen mentioned the lack of backstop.
Do you have a link.? Most multipliers have as a minimum a short tube to act as a reaction bar with the capacity to add extra tubes slid over the top of the basic one. (Not scaffold poles or some other random bit of bar though.)
Sent message Nige, thanks. The one I'm looking at looks exactly like vetech63's Williams X4. Has a 2 foot handle that could easily take a scaffold pole or a random piece of pipe
Probably not recommended procedure I have a four foot cheater of black iron pipe we use for our multiplier on 2 occasions there was nothing sturdy enough to prop it against and I used mule tape to hold it
I wouldn't have a problem doing that either, provided the tube in question was pretty thick-walled and that the tube ID was a nice snug fit over the reaction bar of the multiplier.
Sometimes it takes more time to correctly set up the multiplier and reaction bar than it does to actually torque the fastener
We bought one for breaking loose the bolts for the variable track gauge on our 345, and you are right. It works well, but takes a bit to get it situated on each bolt.
Just keep in mind that every element of the bracing will store energy, so don't go light on the tube.
The are a pain. I have a wrecking bar I've used that has plenty of spring action. I have used a chain looped around the multiplier and something at a right angle from time to time as well but you are talking about multiple people holding it all in place and possibly being in the line of fire.
Bear in mind that the reaction arm has the full torque load on the end of it and if you extend it, it becomes a big spring. The 6V6080 has a built in ratchet to control this energy. Extending the reaction arm of a ratchetless manual multiplier is going to get you an audition for the next shake hands with danger video IMO. Reading the incident report, it seems like the ratchet didn't work for whatever reason and the guy lost control of the torque wrench.
If one only knew the total amount of incidents each year from wrong use of a multiplier. The common table saw-30,000 plus incidents a year from Kick Back and major limb loss. Radial arm saw-wrong blade and have a tendency to climb the cut-No one sells a radial arm saw anymore IIRC.
All that energy has provided me a couple of short terms of excitement in the past. I feel lucky to have made it through my career with only a few broken bones, deep cuts and bad burns. I would still rather use the multiplier rather than a long pipe or a slugging wrench to get the proper torque on a fastener.
Not to get too far O.T. here but mention of the radial arm saw reminded me of a friend from years back, Ed, who got a hell of a deal on one of them. He went to look at it when he heard it was for sale. Guy that had it just plane hated it and even showed Ed the problem with it just so Ed would not be upset when he got it home. Guy selling it stuck a board up against the fence and started saw an proceeded to push the blade into the board! Ed did not say much but said he paid the guy and loaded it in his truck and told him he'd see if he could figure out the problem. As a guy who was a mechanic for the quarry many years before I worked there was known to say: "If the tools not right the man's bright!" That guy is one I wish I had been able to work with but I only got to know him while I was working shoveling spillage under the bucket lines in the mill. As I recall he retired the same year as I met him at that quarry in 1969!
That's if you can even get a torque wrench or torque wrench and multiplier in some places. The air disc brake calipers latest rendition have 6-3/4" bolts attaching caliper to brake spider 350 lb Ft on the bolts. A 3/4" ratchet won't fit between the head of bolts and the suspension mounts/springs. So I have a custom made square extension 44" long that fits over the square end of a 1 3/16" slug wrench, to loosen and tighten those six. No other way.
Had some bolts on equipment at the quarry like that! Some times you had to get the tools out to do the job then check to make sure certain cars were not on the property then remove or install the bolts. Then put the tools away just to be sure someone did not walk in and see them sitting there and ask questions.
They can just ask away-doesn't mean I'm going to answer.
Sears would buy the motor head back to get it out of the world. They sold a ton of those saws. I had one from FIL, and one day I was digging in a new water line and the customer had a sears radial arm saw similar to mine in a nice shop. Bingo! I asked him if he wanted another, and he was thrilled to get it and I was happy to have it gone. When I got the plane out of the way I called him up and he came and got it. That was a win-win. One thing you can do with them is to pull the motor, and build an adapter plate for a router. Now you have a great tool for cutting dados in shelves, much faster than setting up a dado blade on the table saw and you can tool it up nice and make precision shelf sides. You can set up a stop system on the fence.
I will look at adapting a router to the radial arm saw stuffed back in a corner that I will not use anymore. Cam
Anything you would ever want to know about a RAS is here.---> https://forums.delphiforums.com/woodbutcher Joe H
That requires a log in to see. Not going to doo all that.
looks like they doo pretty darn good work:
Doug, all they want is your email and a user name. They send no spam and it's a great site full of old farts who know more about RAS than you can imagine. Joe H
How about RSH?
I'm sure there are hundreds of groups for that. I've been looking at a couple on facebook of RVs for sale in TX and AZ. Need a big bumper pull to live in while I build a house next year. Did it once before and it's way cheaper than renting a place local, even though their miserable to live in. Joe H
I lived in an RV full time for a while. I'd do that loooooong before I ever rent an apartment.
Did it in Utah, that 1" of insulation is not quite enough. Winter or summer. But it's way better being on site & looks like rent in the area I'm going is minimum of $1500 month now so won't take long to make a trailer a break even investment. And when we finished it made a nice guest house, not too comfortable but for a guest a week was good. And then they left. Joe H
I did it in 35 below. Wasn't always easy but it was an alright experience. That said, I wouldn't do it again. Not at those temperatures anyways.
I did also. Early 60s in Merritt BC. Minus 30 in a travel trailer was brutal. One winter was enough for me. Come spring I couldn't get back to Vancouver Island fast enough. Born here, raised here, travelled to over 90 countries and never found another place I'd rather live. Got to say some are pretty close tho. Vietnam springs to mind. d.d.
Never been to the Island before. I'd love to move back to BC but the cost of living in the interior has gotten crazy.
BC used to stand for bring cash. Sadly it’s getting to be the same everywhere.
I left BC the day after I finished high school. Fully intended to ride the oil boom in Alberta to the bust and then come back. Still hasn't happened. The flat lands have grown on me over the years. Kinda like the flat, straight highways and being able to see 20 kilometers in every direction.
Am I reading this right that Radial arm saws are being recalled?
At one time Sears would pay $100 for the motor if you sent it back. Ended long ago I believe. Only Sears saws, not all RAS. Joe H
Yes. Imo Sears destroyed the ras market with their junk saws. I have (and use) 2 DeWalt GE 16" radial arm saws.......no comparrison (other than the name) to a homeowner saw. Ed
I like that picture, Cmark. I like the lancing action, his work truck tool boxes, the pickup tray, and especially the hardfacing work of art
Thanks John. All part of the 963C project. This is another contractor I sometimes work with.
In case anyone wondered what the inside of a 963C hydraulic tank looked like.
That landfill **** does like to attack the aluminium.
Must be my imagination, but it appears cleaning that filter screen requires disassembling the tank? Say it ain't so. Joe H
If you're referring to the perforated tube in the centre of Post #282 I'd say that's a baffle on a return line to the tank designed to slow the oil flow down somewhat and prevent aeration of the oil in the tank.
Not that much difference visually but everything has been stripped, cleaned and resealed. Ready for the lid.
Like the red paint marking the fasteners!
If they're marked then you (or anyone else coming behind you on the next shift) know exactly where you've been. The only way to work IMO.
Hate to admit it but I seldom did that but for 99% of the work I did I was the only person doing it. One habit I did have was if part way through installing a component and getting called to some "emergency" was to leave wrench on the fastener I was installing so I knew where I left off. When doing a valve setting on an engine I did use the paint method to keep track of where I was.
Now it's a green or red blob of plastic.
Did that on every fastener on the C15.
We always used to paint mark bolts on new equipment pdi’s. Each of us in the shop had a different colour so the service manager could tell who was responsible if there was a problem later on or if some critical fasteners got missed. Just a quick and easy visual indication. It works really well
I recall a tour of a Cat engine factory many years back where the socket that the head, rod and main bearings were torqued had a pad in them so they would leave a dab of paint when socket was put on the fastener. Of course one could fail to tighten the nut or fastener but at least you would know they were close!
Yes, it's a sponge pad. One shop was having problems enough to switch to Huck bolts....no mistaking them.
Cat 320C lockout solenoid. What a toilet...
Looks like an ignition source.
Using the kidney loop machine to flush the hydraulic cooler.
Home built Cmark? Old 963 getting full reman? What a mess on the Ex, do they not understand Cleaning is a Necessity not a option?
What is the white sealant?
Yes. Home made. The 963C is getting a complete re-hose following a pump failure. It's Cat's standard sealer for split tanks like this. It has a peel-off self adhesive back and it will squeeze down to almost nothing. It works well.
Can commend the workmanship I can see in the photo. How bad did it cook the Hydro unit?
Is that final drive cover broken ? Sorry if I’m stating the obvious or if it’s been mentioned already.
Thank you. I come into the picture part way through the repair on this one. Full story back in post #180.
No, it's all OK. Must be a shadow?
Maybe just oil from pulling the suns to move it.
Would SO MUCH love to get hands on a 963 or 963B here for about a year. Honey Locust, grown over in cedar fence rows rotted away save the stored steel in the trees to push out into Brush Piles, a couple ponds to situate, grade work to accomplish. The old 7G was just NOT up to the task without major malfunctions each and every usage time. Parts too hard to come by or required too much time in conversions.
Bought some abrasive hose cleaning projectiles today. Some of the steel tubes have internal rust from being sitting around.
I didn't know that was thing. Might come in handy someday.
Large scale heat exchanger maintenance product here. Power stations use a lot of similar product lines for cleaning tubes, have adapted as Cmark notes to hydraulic lines that get a corrosion issue inside.
I never knew there was such a thing. Man I could have used them!
The 963C is slowly coming together. Parts availability delays are eating up the weeks. The engine and pumps are pretty much ready to drop in.
New day, new problem. Looks like another ET update to be paid for.
Never ends, always some Little adjust electronics wise.
It's a tight squeeze.
Not ever understood necessity to cram ten pounds of stuff in a five pound size box. Real estate on HE is NOT required to be Downsized to be functional!!
The people who design this equipment have no plans on getting their hands dirty or wounding them. They simply don't care about the aftermath of struggle built into the design. Their little pinkies are to remain clean never soiled. Only real real thing that matters to most of them is having 7 shots below par at the coarse.
Seeing all this outdoor major overhaul work makes me wonder how many days do you lose for rain or too damn hot weather?
Quite a few is the answer. Fortunately, major overhauls in God's workshop are an exception. The customer is aware that this job is going to be subject to other work and weather. Obviously with regular field service work, as long as the service truck can get on site then the job gets done.
Cmark, what do you run for a truck down under?
The weapon of choice is typically a small Japanese cab over with a service body. The Isuzu N series is popular. My truck is an Isuzu NQR450.
The 963C is finally back together. One of the last jobs was converting the bucket pins from sealed cartridge to conventional style pin-n-bush. I had to get creative by turning a dummy pin and fabricating a platform for a mag drill in order to drill a grease hole that would break through the bore to intersect with the relief on the outside of the bushing. Next job is to run it up for a couple of hours and take oil samples. If all is OK, install the belly guards and it's done.
Nice work
Always appreciate your work well done!!
That would be a good option for a 988B as those have the same type of lower bucket pins.
I think the the grease fitting where you put it is better than on top of the loader arm like on a 931B. The fitting is recessed and the hole is enlarged for the grease coupler but it still gets packed with dirt you have to dig out every time you grease it in addition to having to lift the bucket to dump it for access. Another good idea and PIA idea at the same time. It looks like you tacked the bolts so they can't come loose. Good idea to only tack them. If you put much more weld they'd probably snap like glass.
I did consider drilling the grease hole through the top, however..... what I'm doing is basically emulating the design from a later serial number break and this is where the grease hole is located. I reckoned that smarter men than me had decided where to put it. I didn't feel like overriding their decision and risking a breakage.
As far as the welding the bolts thing. The bore has been permanently modified by welding and line boring and I didn't want someone in future to come along and remove them.
SOS all compartments and see how it's looking.
How many hours were on the machine before all this work?
9K approx.
That seems kind of low for that much work or is that about normal?
These early C series track loaders tended to have powertrain failures around these hours. Later machines had the hydraulic suction, cooler and return lines re-designed which was an improvement. It had a major pump failure and got taken apart. It then got left out in the weather in pieces with the cab off for several years. We took the opportunity to carry out a complete re-hose.
Brutal set of teeth
I'm sure sitting half taken apart for several years added quite a bit to the bill.
That would make things interesting I'm sure! Sounds like a guy on a motorcycle forum I'm on. He bought a bike with plans to do a major customizing project. Had it stripped down to just a frame with engine hanging in it. Then lack of time or interest it sat for a couple years. Now he is wanting to sell it, just boxes of parts and pieces. Seems he is asking the price a complete (assembled) bike would go for.
How on earth do you get an orifice tube blocked with sand? And before anyone asks. Yes, it's supported on a jack only. Please rest assured that I did a thorough risk assessment beforehand.
Looks like sabotage to me. I bought a loader once that had been working in timber milling and it was sabotaged by Greenies. They put something explosive in the fuel tank and buckled it, and filled the transmission with sand.
That is just weird, sand in a AC orifice tube
Makes me wonder if the Dessicant package did not explode in the receiver.
Somebody left an a/c line open for a few days and a whirlwind went past?
Are those aftermarket heat shields on the turbo and I assume the muffler? Did the screen stop the sand from causing major damage?
I initially considered this, but this particular system doesn't have a receiver-dryer. That leans towards my best theory. The machine has recently had a sandblast and five-gallon overhaul. Customer claims the A/C wasn't worked on at the time, but I have my doubts. Not sure about the laggings. I had a quick look in SIS and can't see them, so yes, they may be aftermarket. The screen on the orifice tube undoubtedly kept the sand from getting to the compressor. I cleaned out the line from the condenser to the evaporator and got a load of sand out of that. There didn't seem to be any in the condenser though.
Had better have a Receiver Drier on it, is standard to all systems.
Yes, fair enough. It does have a receiver dryer in the suction line to the compressor. I used the wrong terminology. What I was referring to was the standard Cat inline dryer which can dump dessicant into the evaporator if it fails and what this machine doesn't have.
Could be one of the reasons you don't go crazy sandblasting.
Well then, maybe some bonehead sandblasted right through an aluminum a/c line somewhere where it hasn’t been found yet
Excellent thread, Cmark. I’ve just come back after over a year - no reason, just kept forgetting to tune in. Going back a bit we recently bought a 6v-8020 specifically to strip CTL finals. There’s a nut in there needs torquing to around 3400Nm. A regular thing for us is counterweight removal and on a 320 I use a 4:1 and to be honest we’ve never had too much trouble, just accept that it’s a three man job for a quarter of an hour to torque four bolts, which is all good if there’s three people about. love seeing your work. I didn’t realise how much the pump set up on a 963 changed between the C’s and D’s/K’s. I did the implement pump on a K and lifted it out through the cab floor which I think you’d struggle to do on a C by the looks. It had a disintegrated swashplate pivot.
Another day, another toilet.
Hey Cmark, what do you do when the cylinders of starting aid/ether are seized onto the threads of the adapters? Both the one on my 973c and the champion 740a grader are stuck on there. The threads aren't reverse threaded like a propane tank are they?
Do you ever get tired of working on the extremely dirty oil covered and neglected stuff?
All the spin on ether cans I've seen are standard right hand thread the same as the disposable propane cylinders. Have you tried a strap wrench?
Wow. It's been over 20 years since I worked anywhere cold enough to need ether. I'm pretty sure they're RH thread but I could be wrong. I suppose the first thing to do would be to carefully drill a hole in the can to let any ether go, then attack it with pipe wrenches etc.
Yes.
I went at it with filter wrench, and crushed the cylinder and spun the adapter, so grabbed onto the adapter with channel locks and thought i was an idiot if the thing was backwards threaded. I don't got the strength i use to, pretty bad to say that when im 32, but my back has made a wimp out of me once again. Must be nice not to need ether lol. I'm sure the can is completely empty, i was using the crap out of it last winter. Every morning for 4 weeks straight, and im sure it ran out within the first week last winter. Placebo ether.
It is right hand thread. Maybe some penetrating oil and heat if the canister has been destroyed. Can you take the assembly off and let it soak in pentrating oil? My back really limits what I can do. It aches if I'm on my feet or too long. My spine is glued together with bone cement but the aching is in the sides of my back. I don't try to lift anything very heavy.
I am far from an expert, but you might need a second can of degreaser for that one.
I was thinking a barrel of diesel or ATF.
Plus a zippo
I can't quite remember the circumstances but we're obviously pressing a seized pin from a saddle. Looks to be maybe 25T size.
Cat had an ongoing problem with their M series wheeled excavators radiator hoses failing at a vulcanised joint. At the time, there was a worldwide shortage of these particular parts. My customer was running several of these machines, and even though they were still under warranty, it was enough to justify me fabricating a small quantity of repair sections to keep them running.
Just to prove that I don't always work on giant turds
Ingenuity seems to produce a better product at times. Appears a improvement on cost cutting design.
Didn't we all end up in the toilet belly's of giant turds? Never got one 'Clean', always a barrel of skid pans filth and never ended oil seepage/dripping/oozing.
I've always made a major effort to degrease and pressure-clean machines in the area where work is needed, it sure makes life easier for all.
And it's gone....
And ALL Clean underneath!! A great many days I could only wish had my own 963, really was a loss when sold the Fat Allis HOWEVER could not work it long enough to pay for having. Was also Too small for needs, about median between a 941 and 955.
I’m intrigued by the long ramps on that trailer. Are they hydraulically raised? It would appear as though they do not fold in half
Pretty much a standard configuration of ramps here and yes to hydraulics. Some trailers have bi fold ramps mainly for loading machines like compactors etc. I had these made for my truck.
Was that your 276 Bidirectional? Made in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada? Or Europeon made?
Canadian and a darn good tractor too
Ever have any problems with the axle housings by trying to lift too much with the loader or three-point hitch? They came out with a truss bar kit to keep the wheel end drop-box housings from spreading which helped, but naturally some owners just used them for jobs they weren’t designed to do.
Never had any problems with the drop boxes but was totally aware of the issues. This tractor started life in Australia with a reach mower at the Brisbane Airport which the previous owner removed and had been fitted with duals all around. He fitted the 3 point linkage. I got it with 2 stub axles but thought if I had any problems with it then I'd fit axles with planetary hubs off a loader of some sort with similar gear ratios. The other advantage of this would be to lower the centre of gravity as I didn't need that amount of ground clearance.
A lot of dairy farms used bi-di’s because they are like a swiss army knife, only with baler twine usually wrapped around the inside of the wheel hubs and quite often most of the problems were caused by a lack of maintenance
The 276 was a tractor away ahead of it time. Available with them was 3 point and PTO at both ends of it. No other Nth American made tractor had that. Sorry to have hijacked you thread Cmark.
Next patient into the healing corner.
At least the models are getting newer........
Sigh. If only it were also true in my personal life....
Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it.
Not so much the enjoyment of those new models, but the expense to lose that older one!!
I can relate. A few years back I tinkered with one half my age. Must have been some software issues or it needed updates…..I stick with something closer to my level of vintage now!
Newer models are great till the novelty wears off and everything becomes just as worn out and loose, then the expense starts to show up with newer models wanting far more expensive maintenance. They all seem to make the same noises with age as well, starts as a low grumble and turns into a high pitched whine after only a few years.
Hard to deal with Whining, Machines or Women.
High frequency hearing loss-God's gift to the married man. Now that the loss is in the mid range frequencies as well the joke is getting a little stale.
Nearly all my loss is Mid range, the Alarms on Ovens, washing machines, timers, alarm clocks and even radio in cars. Got my hearing aids, heard Cicadas again, then found my favorite music sounded wrong, is no winning with hearing loss.
Here we go again.
Hydro failure Cmark?
Look at it this way. It'll keep you out of the pub......
That pic makes me nauseous.
Or maybe it'll be what sends him to the pub...
A slightly worn out oil ring!
Worn Slick!!
Hundreds if not thousands of hours left on that.
Yes. The left drive pump playing up. On these machines all the pumps are mounted in a stack so the entire drive unit has to come out and be dismantled on the floor. Cat, in their wisdom made the decision to make the fuel tank a big plastic thing which sits snugly underneath the pumps. You need to be stout of heart to attempt the job solo.
What a mess
Thats how a simple concept for a machine evolves into a nightmare
Japanese make it cheaper faster to assemble, do mot *** as to repair side.
The question sometimes arises of how to prime a new hydraulic piston pump. Here's a typical example of filling through the case drain outlet.
I wonder if the people putting these machines together have some choice curse words the same as the people trying to fix them?