I have to load our D6R that burnt up this spring. What's the easiest way to release the park brake?
Pull the final drive axles. Good luck Bob
That's the accepted method but be warned it means from there on in you have no brakes ............... might be worth trying to get at least one shaft back in once you have it on the lowboy.
I was hoping there was a simpler way! Thanks for your reply!
Pulling the axles is pretty straightforward and not that hard to do.
I thought there used to be Cat tool that would manually release the brakes ? Maybe not for the "R" generation of machines ?
Just a small HEADS UP about pulling axles/sun gears out of planetary final drives to move dead machines. 1- As previously mentioned, you have no control over the machine when it starts moving unless you have a machine and cable on both ends of it. If you haul it over a hill you can have a runaway. 2- Watch out for any thrust washers or buttons that might fall loose and drop into the planetaries with disasterous results. Especially on Cat hystat loaders. 3- A rarely encountered but possable event. Failed planet shaft bearings. As soon as you pull a sun gear, check the engaged planet gears are tight on their shaft bearings. If they are loose they might have been relying on the sun gear to keep their teeth in mesh with the ring gear teeth. Once the sun gear is removed the planet's teeth can walk out mesh with the ring Gear's teeth and come down tip to tip jamming and breaking the ring gear. Later Bob
Bob Thanks for the heads up on those issues. I can see how that would be a possible problem, and did not think to mention it.
....or chains....
Well I was assuming that the OP would be chaining it down to the lowboy anyway. However with no axle shafts installed all the weight of the tractor is going to be on the tie-down chains not partly on the chains, partly on the drive train.
Mind if I ask how the fire started? electrical, fuel, oil leak?
I hate hauling things with no brakes. I put many extra chains on in that situation. I have seen some unfotunate events over the years, and learned at the misfotune of others, so I have never had an issue of my own. Seen a D-9H self unload over the rear of a lowbed going up a steep hill and the 17' wide U blade did not quite clear the post on the 16' wide gate it was going through. It was just enough of a jolt to break the chains and away it went. Fortunately no one was hurt, and damages were minimal. We used to own a 988, 87A model, and it had no park brake. One day the lowbed driver left with it, and came back about 10 minutes later, looking white as a ghost. It seems when he got to the main road, he had to stop on a pretty good downhill, and the loader broke the 4 chains it had holding it from going forward, and it climbed partway over the gooseneck of the Cozad. A little more steam and it would have climbed right up onto the cab. Since then, we have chained it plenty good, and have hauled it in the hills on grades up to 26%, both uphill and downhill. In the steep country like that, it would get at leats 6 chains pulling forward and 6 more pulling backward. Never had it come loose after that first time. It is gone on now south of the border, and the chaining instructions past on to the new owner, as he was clueless when he picked it up. with only 2 chains pulling each direction. I explained that it would be on top of his cab by the end of my driveway, which at the time had an 18% downgrade ending at a stopsign. I am glad to not have a yard there anymore.
I was being a bit facetious there, Nige. I've moved one without drive shafts in, but if the blade is still on and hard down it helps. As the man said, though, definitely extra chains. By the way, are you ex-Levertons?
Pulling the axle is the way we move dead equipment and we move alot. They are easy to push and pull around, just use and extra person with an 8x8 to use as a brake if needed. Also, put a note in/on the machine stating there are no axles in it and if hauling it just put blocks infront and behind to help stop it from rolling while loading and unloading. We had a 963 take off when it was being unchained. It rolled across the yard and into a bunch of excavator buckets that stopped it after enough piled up behind it. We have a burnt machine we are dragging into the shop on Monday, An 836G.
No, but a cousin of mine used to work for Bowmaker long before they were taken over by Finning .........
Electrical, under the cab, sounds like battery cable started the fire.
I believe it takes oil pressure to release the brakes, so if the machine is not running then pull axles is the only way