Hello all, new member! I have a situation...I was operating our new (140 hrs) cat-309, extended the boom to reach some ditch debris and when it reaches full extension the hydraulic baptism occurred. So, upon examination I find one of the auxiliary bar clamps for the hard pipes is freely moving around, the clamp held this bar by clamping to one of the two lines I sheared off with the edge of the arm pivot where the ram connects and the hard pipe has 3/4 of a spiral corkscrew look. I spoke to a friend who was service manager at a John Deere construction firm he suggested that since it was an auxiliary circuit it likely was put on at the local cat shop prior to delivery. Cat can see no way that they left a clamp loose and have suggested the machine had a tree strike that caused the damage, I was the only operator on this job and there was not a strike of any kind, I'm also the "manager" for the dirt work side of our operation. they also want $6000 to fix, need to replace 4 hard pipe sections according to them... I agree with the corkscrew, but only one other was slightly bent, maybe the cat yellow was scuffed. The owner of the company is understandably upset, The first insult to a very nice machine. Here is the question; have any of you had a similar experience with bolts loosening on new equipment????
It can happen from time to time but not common in my experience. Loose fasteners is what the daily walk-around, fluid level checks, and greasing, is supposed to find. If you provide the Serial Number I can look up whether or not the AUX lines were factory-installed. These type of attachments can be specified when purchasing which saves the dealer having to do it.
I would like to see pictures from different angles of the damage.
I have a Cat 307.5. My thumb and plumbing was added at time of purchase by the Cat dealer. I blew an O ring at 1 connection first day. Dealer came out and replaced and found none of the new plumbing had been tightened correctly. Also had duck foot shovels on my bucket. When working with lifting heavy trees somehow the thumb pinch points flexed enough to catch one of the shovels and bent the thumb at the tip. Dealer picked up the machine, reworked the thumb and reinforced the thumb ends so they won't bend. All free. So I guess it depends on the dealer. Battlefield in Ontario Canada.
Sounds like my dealer. They have went above and beyond over the years. OP - X2 on the pics. I'd like to see the damage.