The batteries have died in my 1964 D6B and I need to jump start. It has an electric starter and glow plugs (no pony motor). What is the correct procedure for doing this?
Is it a power shift or direct drive? If it's a direct drive it's fairly straight forward. You'll want to lift any attachments (blade, etc) off the ground and chain it up. Then hook up a suitable tow method, put the transmission in a higher gear, have an assistant start pulling and when you get moving, engage the clutch and she should start fairly quickly in warm weather. If you're more interested in jump starting with booster cables you'll need to round up at least 2 12 volt batteries, assuming it's a 24V system. Hook these batteries together in series ( + on one of the batteries to - on the other) with one jumper cable, then hook another set of jumper cables from these batteries + to the + on the crawler, and the - from the other booster battery to the - on the cat and then start as normal. Once she's running, unhook the booster cables and away you go. Hope this helps! Have fun and be safe.l
I'm not familiar with a '64 D6, but if it's a 24V system, regardless of the year model, if it's flat slap dead, that's always a tricky deal if you're trying to jump start using a 12V jumping vehicle/system. The best thing you can do is charge the batteries with a typical electric charger and see if they even respond to a charge and go from there. Flat slap worn out dead batteries are always a challenge for jump starting. If they take a charge from a charger, thumbs up. But if they don't, they're probably in need of replacement and will drive you crazy trying to jump start them.
If you can't get an electric charger to it, to jump 24v with a 12v vehicle you can hook up the cables to one battery directly to the battery just the way it is marked and let it charge a while, then switch them to the other battery. Make sure the vehicles aren't touching. You can use two vehicles by hooking one to each battery directly. The best thing is to use another 24v machine if you have it
Thanks for all the replies. I was concerned that it might be a positive ground, but traced the positive terminal to the starter. I keep it in my barn on a remote piece of property and hadn't been able to get there all summer. Tried to start it this weekend and she was completely dead. Guess I need to invest in a solar 24v trickle charger.
Got another battery related question. Both batteries were fully charged and in good shape last May. Now 4 months later they are completely dead. Is this normal for warm weather? I could accept it if it was winter.
the easiest and safest way to jump start a 24v system with a 12v system is to use a multimeter and find what 2 poles produce 12 volts if they are not completely dead, it might only read 8 volts but the other combinations would be negative or 16 volts for example. then hook up positive to positive and negative to negative and hope the 12v system has enough juice to turn over the 24v system, you might let it sit for a little while in hopes to charge up the 24v system a little bit. or jump it and use a battery charger simultaneously. as for the dead batteries after 4 months, they shouldnt be dead dead but not able to start the machine shouldnt be a surprise. id try to charge them up or jumpstart the machine and run it so they charge up then hook a load tester to the batteries individually and see if they are good or not. then replace all of them if you can, or just the worst one.
I would not expect healthy batteries to be dead, keep the tops of them clean, moist dirt can drain voltage and make a habit of using the ground disconnect switch
Where would the ground disconnect switch be on the D6B?
I have a 1961or 62 D4 and the switch is on the dash, not sure about the 6, maybe under the seat where some of the early D8's were. Somebody will probably know and post the location
Using my Google Foo I have discovered that what would normally be called an ignition switch is called the "Master Disconnect". Is this the same as the ground disconnect?
Yes it would be the same, the ground switch has a flat removable key with 2 prongs, it switches off the batteries from the machine. Pic worth 1000 words, here's one on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cat-7N0718-...=BI_Heavy_Equipment_Parts&hash=item33734f33ac
Batteries drain faster in hotter temps than they do in cold temps. A new battery would still start after sitting a summer, but if these are old then it wouldn't surprise me if they were completely dead. The other possibility is leaky diodes in the alternator, since the alternator is usually the only thing with power to it on equipment. If the ground is disconnected, that would eliminate any current leakage through the alternator.
The disconnect switch on the D6B is dash mounted from memory.
Solar panel is a good idea. Most decent solar panels put out 24 volts.
I bought 2 $15 12v solar chargers from Harbor Fakes and put one on each battery on a Cat I haven't been using this summer because of the wet weather. I'll know this afternoon how well they've worked.
Mitch, dieing to hear how the batteries held up on the solar chargers
Well, one battery was 11.79, and one was 10.29, but the chargers were putting out 19.5 unloaded. I didn't have a battery tester with me, so the jury is still out, but I think my batteries are bad. I thought they were when I put these things on, but I thought this would be a good test. If you park it where there is power, I have had great luck with their 12v battery maintainers. http://www.harborfreight.com/automo...ry/battery-float-charger-automatic-69594.html These things work great, and are even good for recusitating a dead battery sometimes, by leaving it on for a few weeks. You would need two of them, and can just put one on each battery. Good luck, Mitch
Hell, I didn't think even Cat® batteries were THAT good, but yes... it has been unseasonably warm here. .. OCR... lol
Ok, Old Coot, I usually follow you pretty good, but you've lost me this time...
Lol... Oh no, I haven't, I know exactly where you are... Well, I'll leave some lit candles along the way, in case you start losing the sun ... :cool2 But, you're doing fine, just keep going... OCR... lol