I have a IHI 35N. I have been clearing some large boulders from the side of a hill. I'll grab a boulder from the downhill side of the hill and swing it to the uphill side. While I swing the boulders uphill I can hear what I can best describe as a groaning sound, and I can feel a little vibration, nothing extreme but just enough to be noticeable. I can't remember ever loading the turntable like this so I'm not sure if it's normal, or if it's a sign that something might be on it's way out. I only get this sound when swinging large boulders. It's smooth and quiet when swinging small to moderate sized boulders for this machine. Does anyone have any insight to this? I have another hydraulic issue. My hydraulics have recently started leaking down. I cannot see any external hydraulic leaks anywhere. What would most likely cause this? An interior leak in the control valves?
I hope they didn't happen about the same day. It sounds as if your swing box is overloaded or on its way out and with the spools not holding the load like they were recently makes it sound as if the motor in the swing box has sent presents downstream in your system scoring the spools and housing
No they didn't happen about the same day. My hydraulics have been leaking down for a little while now. When I said recently, I meant within the last year or so. I'm sure the swing box is overloaded, so I was wondering if that groaning sound is normal when you overload it. What are spools?
Oh OK. The spools are what is shifted to change the direction of hydraulic flow and are what is actuated to get different functions flowing. The swing motor may just be at max capacity add in a little bit more leakage at the valve plate and you will make some noise. Very similar to driving a hydrostatic transmission, to get that initial movement or surge or when it is heavy loaded. Similar groaning?
I don't have any experience running equipment with hydrostatic transmissions so I couldn't say if it's a similar sound. So are spools the pistons in the control valve? At this point I can live with the leakdown, but I like things to work properly when possible.
I suspect your groaning sound could be the swing bearing starting on the way out. Try having someone stand by the machine when you are swinging the larger boulders and have them attempt to identify where the noise is coming from. The get them up on the machine next to the swing transmission and repeat. All this needs to be done with care ................. however they should be able to identify if the noise is coming from on top (swing transmission/motor) or from underneath (swing bearing) the machine.
I will probably just keep running it until problems become more obvious, and hopefully something doesn't grenade and destroy something else.