Hello everyone, I recently bought 2 977 cat crawler loaders, I've wrote about them in the Crawler loader section... With that deal I also got a Hein Werner C12 Excavator. I never had a chance to get it going but it's complete and should run if it's anything like the two 977s were. It appears to me to be a fully hydraulic machine, no shafting or clutches like my old Bantam used to have. It also sports a 4-53 detroit for power. What should I be on the lookout for with this machine? I saw it operating a number of years ago, not sure how long it's been sitting.... Here's a few pictures. Thanks, Toby
Not sure about anything to look for other than the obvious leaks and maintenance stuff. But it would sure be cool if you could get it going again does it have a bucket and related cylinder, linkage etc? Some old guys I use to work with said they were good machines and had lots of power.
Yup, bucket and cylinder and linkage are all sitting there under the bushes behind the grapple. The tooth bucket is there too but it has become part of the landscaping... I'll fish it outta there too though... Hopefully it'll be a good machine too. There are no huge stains or puddles under it so hopefully no major leaks...
I have a 14 set up as a excavator it has the 6V53. Man you talk about slow, but the hydraulics are realy smooth and the bucket curl has lots of power. If you do get it running make sure you are carefull where you try to take the machine as far as hillsides and dirt piles because they use a crane type undercairage and will throw a track realy easy "ask me how I know" . If I get around to it I'll post a picture of mine.
I still run one of these old c12's, Only real trouble i have had is the bolts in the swing box work them selfs loose and the ear's where the boom mounts to the car body are weak, with the gear pumps though they are slow but powerful.
here is my old 14
Thanks for the info guys! That's a nice looking C14 you have there! It looks like you've got an auxiliary circuit going up the boom, is that something you added yourself or did the machine come with it? If I can add one to my machine once I get it, I'd love to add a hydraulic thumb or a rotator for the grapple... I'll update you once I get time to go and get it. Cheers, Toby
It was already there. The outfit that I baught it from used it to run a hammer, so I had fo find a bucket for it and then make it fit. When I first got it going I used to have a lot of fun watching my friends try to run it, they looked like a monkey trying to have its way with a football
I'd watch out for vermin. You've been warned there were 92 rats in it. What if they've multiplied since?
In all seriousness that is a nice example of old iron. Any idea of the age?
No idea, but once I get it home I'll try to find out more about it... I got called back to work so it'll have to wait until my next time off... Gotta love having something like this to look forward to!
The cab is on the wrong side, unless you're left handed...
Well I had a day off yesterday so I went and got it... Went there the night before with a battery but I couldn't get it started before the battery went dead... So Yesterday morning, armed with a fresh battery, a can of ether and determination I went back. Had the old girl running in about 15 minutes. Tried my hand at the controls, they are somewhat similar to the old Bantam I used to have, and managed to walk it out of the weeds... That's when the right track came off of the bottom rollers. Luckily it stayed on the sprocket and idlers so I just jacked it up and the track was back on. When I went to load it on the lowbed it blew 2 hydraulic lines just as I was trying to pull myself on, and I got a shower of oil. Went and bought 3 new lines, one spare just in case, and tried it again. This time all was well and I got to learn quickly how to load this unfamiliar machine over the side. With a modern hoe with joystick controls it's no problem at all but with this thing it sure was wierd, and having a grapple flopping around at the end of the stick made it that much more difficult. Amazingly I got it on the lowbed without falling off or hurting anything or anybody... We hauled it home and all I did was drive it off the lowbed, didn't have time to test it out, that'll have to wait until the next time off. Here's a few pictures of the fun. Cheers!
Hmmmmmm.... Can't seem to upload the pictures... I'll try again...
Aha!!! Success! Here's the last few.
Hello again everybody, I'm planning on putting a hydraulic thumb on this machine. Would anybody know what would be the best way to add the extra valve for this mission and where to get one that would work? It has a single spool valve block for the swing, a 2 spool valve block for one travel and one function I'm not sure of right now, and a 3 spool valve block for the other travel and the remaining 2 functions... Would it be easiest to swap the 2 spool valve block for another 3 spool valve block like is already there? They are the same releif pressure according to the manual... I have some hydraulic cylinders I salvaged off of an old International crawler loader that I'd like to use for the thumb... Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!
did you get the machine running and operating good? im looking at purchasing one like your c-12 how do you like yours? i understand kind of slow but maybe a good demo machine
Hello Gladstone, Yeah, I got it running great! It really didn't need anything to get it working, a good cleaning and some routine maintenance is all she needed. I've been using it to move logs around the mill with the grapple and I absolutely love it. It's really strong, it lifted a 30" diameter, 20' long fir log at full reach with no problems at all. I haven't installed the bucket on it since it's been too usefull with the grapple. Yeah it's a bit slow but that doesn't really matter to me, I'm usually not in any kind of hurry. It's also really simple, no computer or electronic issues to worry about. I'll add a few pictures for you to enjoy. Is the one you're looking at a C-12 or C-12HD? I believe the difference in the two is the HD stands for Hydraulic Drive as some on here have said... I can honestly say I'm glad I bought it, it won't be leaving any time soon!
How is this machine working now?? I am looking at purchasing one that has some engine (DD 4-53) problems. When you say slow - do you mean ground speed or boom and bucket speed or swing speed or ALL the above??
She's doing very well, I just used it a few weeks ago to set up a tree for a movie crew. Initially I was going to use my EX200-2 Hitachi but it didn't fit through the gate where they wanted to go so the old girl happily did the job. I'll attach a few pictures. It's slow as in not as fast as a modern machine, mostly the travel, but not bad. I'm still learning how to use the controls but I'm sure once I got the hang of it it would be plenty fast. The detroit engine is bulletproof, and this one actually starts without ether unless it's close to freezing. The other thing is it's very simple, no computers to mess with which I'm very happy about after the computer ordeal I had on my EX200-2. All in all I think it's a great machine and I'm very pleased with it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th7T6CFrWfI Here's a video I took walking it to the site, it's not running wide open in this video because it hadn't run in a while and I didn't want to just open it right up until it warmed up some more, it will go a bit faster at full tilt...
Well, I can see how you had time to film while crawling. That thing really does crawl. On a more serious note, did you really transport that with the bottom perpendicular to the bed of the lowboy?
Yup, we did, we had one of the tracks come off when I first moved it out of the hole it was in so we didn't want to run the risk of having the track come off either loading it or turning it... And it was all rural back roads from where I bought it to where I live... But if it was me I would've detached and drove it on straight...
Mine is very similar, a hoptco 500. make sure you get some grease in the pivot point for the air lines!!, it's on the backside under boom pins.
Jim, Thankfully no air lines on the C12HD, just a cable, not sure what it's for... It's seized up whatever it is... I'm guessing it's a brake of some description. Got any pics of your Hopto? If so we'd love to see 'em!
Swing brake?
hein werner I need track pads/links for my c12hd e me thanks [email protected]
well with the 14s there is a button that makes all of the pumps work the boom in case its got too little power for somethin
Hello All, Ive got a 1972 Hein werner C12hd for sale. Runs and operates. Please contact me if someone is interested in buying it. Were selling it for $6400. We're located in northern NJ. [email protected] thanks
Well I just found another one! It's sitting in Langdon, Alberta. Wife and I were looking at houses and found it sitting right in the middle of town in and amongs a bunch of other stuff. I didn't want to risk getting shot so I didn't trespass to take a close look at it, I'm trying now to track the owner down and see if he/she wants to part with it. Would anybody here by any remote chance know who owns it? I asked around while I was there but nobody knew... Hopefully I can add it to my collection too... I will go back one of these days armed with the camera and bring back a few pictures... There's apparently an old time implement dealer who knows all about it, unfortunately he wasn't around when I was there...
Had a C-14 a and used it a lot. The curl on bucket was more powerful than my Hatichi EX 270. The 6V53 could not be killed, although pumps nearly broke me. And the tracks were a challenge, especilally wtih both front idlers completely worn sloppy. Expect a few more hose failures. My worst was hose for track under turntable and above skid plate. 70 gallons of oil to float in also.
The other day I mounted my fancy new gopro camera on my C12HD and went fishing for logs... Thought I'd share... It was a year since I ran the old girl so needless to say my operating skills are somewhat lacking... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZAAPL6qbWc
Looks good, they got moved. Say I have a C14 and I'm putting a heater in the cab. I'm trying to figure out if the hoses are hooked up right to the motor. Does your machine have a heater? If so where is the hoses hooked up? Not much info on this out there. Thanks, PK.
Hi Kelly, First of all sorry, I completely forgot to look if I had a wiring schematic for you, I'm out of town again now but I PROMISE I will look next time I get to Squamish.... I do have a cab heater in my C12HD, and it is hooked up at the front of the engine, I want to say one is hooked up by the balance shaft near the water pump and the other one is hooked up lower down, but I really don't know for sure now, and unfortunately I can't sneak over and take a look... There is one close to where I live in Calgary, maybe when I get out of camp I can zip over there and look at it, maybe even buy it from the guy. I read your post, sounds to me like you do have it hooked up correctly... Sorry I can't be of more help right now.
Thanks Spitzair, that would be great. These hoses are connected at the thermostat housing. They are also all connected by two Y connectors. This makes both the supply and return tied together. Can't figure haw you can get any flow that way. Thanks again, PK.