I picked up a Ford CL65 skid steer this weekend. I'm not using this professionally or anything. Just looking to take care of some projects around the lot and maybe lend it out occasionally. The engine starts and runs fine. The pump and all hydraulics work fine. It moves forward and reverse fine. However it's very old and hasn't had a lot done on it so I'm looking for advise. 1. I have no manual or service info. I can't seem to find anything online either. 2. There doesn’t seem to be hardly any info online for this unit so I'm worried I won’t be able to find parts. 3. It leaks hydraulic. It's coming from directly under the middle so I'm thinking it's the pump, but I'm not sure. It leaks quite a lot. When operating it'll go through 5 quarts in a hard working day. 4. The hydraulic hoses are very worn. The outer rubber jacket is cracked and peeling off all of them. Should these be replaced now, or just wait till they break? Where do you get hoses? Are they universal or tailored specifically to the unit? Are they expensive? 5. It's hard to start when cold. The guy I bought it from used a puff of starter fluid in the intake. It has glow plugs but the guy didn't know how to turn them on (or what they were for). 6. There's some odd modifications to this unit. The start switch is in an outdoor electrical box that obviously wasn't original. The seat is a fairly new boat seat. The engine radiator has been installed on the roof above the engine with a 12V always on fan. It blocks the line of site when backing up. I'm thinking this needs to move. The cage is intact, but the pull down roll bar thing seems to be missing some bolts (maybe some parts?). So basically I'd like to get some information on the unit and some general advise regarding what I should look for, what I can just leave until it breaks, and what almost certainly needs to be done right away.
It was made by Thomas in Canada but uses a different engine. Ford wouldn't sell a Kubota engine. Engine is a Shibaura that is affiliated with Perkins but may be hard to find parts for. It is the same as an early Thomas T233 Plus except for the engine. The later T233 HD was a much improved machine. The hydraulics should be common and there's several hoses or lines that could leak underneath. I had a steel line rub through underneath on my skid steer. You need to pull the belly pan and take a look. First thing I'd suggest is NEVER lend it out! Something goes wrong or breaks and guaranteed you'll be the one footing the bill and have to fix it. Thomas Equipment (parts) may be able to help with some parts but your machine is a 1983-1986. Leaving stuff until it breaks is just a bad idea and it sounds like this machine wasn't maintained very well and a lot jerry rigging of things. Hopefully you didn't pay more than scrap price for it. Thomas in general were good simple machines and a lot better than most people give them credit for. Most people knocking them other than for parts support never spent any time in them. http://www.thomasloaders.com/index.asp
I just ordered a service manual I found on eBay. That should help. So am I safe ordering parts for the T233+ just so long as they're not engine parts? You say hydraulics are "common", so am I usually going to be OK taking a valve or a cylinder off and finding a comparable replacement at a local tractor repair shop (or perhaps they'll be able to rebuild said part??). Sorry for what are likely simple questions. I've rebuilt engines and done extensive repair and restoration on cars and trucks, but skid steer repair is a whole new beast.
I think you should contact the link I provided. They are likely the most knowledgeable on these machines. I don't know if there are any other differences between the Thomas and Ford labelled machine. Drive hydraulics were name brand and not Thomas/Ford specific as far as I know so a good hydraulic shop should be able to help if you have problems. Seals shops should be able to match cylinder seals. One thing a lot of people neglect is greasing the double U-Joint on the engine to pump coupling. If the control levers are jerky could be because the u-joint is going out. A hyd. oil sample to have tested would be a good idea to see if something looks abnormal.