Starting a new thread on the L350 Overall it has been a pretty good machine. Current problems If it sits very long it looses its prime and you have to pump it up to get it to go. It is using 1 to 2 gallons of oil per day, the cool thing is it burns it very clean, no exhaust smoke and the turbo is clean. Yes we did check for leaks and the antifreeze is clean. Alternators don't seem to last more than 1000 hours. I am purchasing all the extended warrantees they offer and I recommend the same to all owners.
Good to hear your having better luck with this one. How many hours now? Where is the oil going? :canada
Coming up on 4000 hours It has to be burning the oil. I forgot VOLVO has ordered us a new engine
Were going to need some pictures of it working, after all we didnt see much of the L330 working!
Well it wasn't new a reman. We are back in buisness.
Thanks for the update, I was beginning to wonder if you'd had enough and jumped in a river or off a high wall, the sort of luck you were having. 4000hrs jeez seems like only yesterday that you took delivery. Not wanting to wind you up but out of intrest what sort of warranty do you get with that replacement engine?
Seems odd that of all the problems with the old 330, the new 350 would have engine trouble so early. I have had really good luck with Volvo engines, but do not have any of the newest ones. I hear every manufacturer is having some kind of trouble with their emissions engines Good luck on the 350F
This is what I call a down fall to a single point linkage.
Volvo says we had the bucket tilted over and was pushing on a solid object. That is BS cop out to me. To me it is a problem of a week design bucket and strong hydraulics.
Does this mean no more volvo's?
Do you think the cracked windscreen with a head mark on it gave them that idea Only jangling your chain, . I am real sorry to hear about the continuing problems that you are having with your Volvo shovels. I know a lot of people this side of the pond who will be completely gobsmacked ( shocked) by the problems you have encountered.
What are you trying to say AtlasRob?
If it had been caused by pushing in a tilted forward position, shouldn't it have gave way in the other direction? I.E. the back wall of the bucket would have been pushed in instead of pulled out?
I think it is safe to say that the Volvo shovels ( along with thier ADT's and to many, thier exc also ) are regarded as the dogs bits over here. I believe ( personal opinion ) that a lot of owners this side of the water would find it hard to believe that anybody could encounter the run of bad luck you have had, not with one machine thats bad, but two, thats real bad luck. BUT, that is only my opinion. :drinkup Maybe I should have put " I am sure " in place of " I know "
I here what your saying but the operator that fell asleep and dug the bucket was on the 330 loader not the new one. The old bucket was built stronger with more steal. The old 330 was sold to a rock quarry and they hate it, same problems we had with the leaks and transmission! If you look closely the cracks show progressive fatigue. This loader has the power to lift the back end and mash the front tires into the ground when loading (and that is taking it easy). The bucket carries 12 to 14 tons every trip and it moves 5000K tons per day average. When we get it fixed I will get some more pixs showing how much it carries when heaped.
June of 2006, brand new L330. Happy customer. May 09. 3 years later. 2nd loader. Umpteen thousands of dollars and man hours of repairs. Umpteen thousands of dollars of downtime, wasted time of employee's standing around looking at whats broke now, where's this leak, writing reports and waiting for the repair man. Coalburner, these guys have had 3 years and thousands of dollars of your money to make this right. How much longer are you going to put up with this? I just re-read this whole saga from beginning to end and I'm steamed just reading it, and it isn't my $. I'm not one for lawyers, lawsuits and court, but this qualifies. I'm working on a upgrade at a coal plant right now, and have been watching those guys with their loaders, and they use them all the time. Seeing the amount of coal you have to move, you don't have a lot of choices, you need something you can count on, and Volvo has had 3 years of your life to give it to you. Add up all your downtime, repairs, your employee's time for looking at the problems, extra fuel for 2 loaner machines to do what one big one will, your time for dealing with the problems, cost of $ in both machines, and the numbers will shock you to death. Yeah, machines break, but I think he's got a court case.
I hear other users want more lead in the back of their 350's too. After the last pics, i would say u have a proving ground. Somebody should be a bit more polite and give you bether answers. Users like you are testing the limits of the construction...And the 350 are aparently not constructed right in all details. Maybee follow u bether up and be happy for the testing you are doing for them. As u say, u are running the loader in conditions nearly impossible to test in normal proving grounds....
Any updates on how the L350 is treating you now? Brian
Money Pit!!!
Cmon!...details
Surprising.......... I have heard nothing but praise for these machines from many operators across several industries. I know that each of the businesses I have approached have expressed approval and claimed they would definitely buy the macines again!
We have to call the dealer often for repairs. The last one was intercooler. We could hear the leak. I thought it was the turbo or waste gate problem. Seems like it's always leaking something. The main problem with oil leaks are the O-rings on different things and it happens too often. I like having it when it's running because it sure cuts down on trips. If I'm dressing a coal pile and sloping stock piles I'd much rather run the 980F. The 350 is a little harder to service too (we do our own oil services) Coalburner got us a brand new shop with pumps and bulk tanks for the service work so thats going to help a bunch.
Our 2004 Volvo 220e with the big spade seems to be a lemon too. Always breaking down!! Just had to get a new motor aswell! However, our 2006 220e with the straight edge seems to do alright. It rarely ever works as hard as the other one though.
Another thing that creats a pain is parts. Some parts take weeks to get. The the computer our machine says it's seeing very light duty. About the only thing we move is crushed coal. I'm sure there are some good Volvo machines out there we just didn't get one of them. The 330 we had was still eating transmissions after it left here. The new owners let it go back. The dealer said it would not sold again and would be used as a rental.
well the saga is over now, details will follow after legal review.
I'm looking forward to hearing it Coalburner
I can say a hose burst and sprayed on a heat source and it burnt to the ground in 15 minutes.
The only good thing a Volvo loader is good for IMO is a anchor. I'm sorry to hear about the problems you had with all these machines, but when I worked in a quarry we demo'd some of them and I didn't like them at all. But one of them did have a heated seat and that was a good thing.
Yikes! This is truly appalling to get so many major issues at so few hours, and then to burn itself down after all these issues... good riddance, but I feel very sorry for your unfortunate series of losses. I would never have thought that Volvo's [recent] loaders would have so many issues. Makes me glad to have bought a CAT rather than a Volvo loader.
Volvo must have got tired of it breaking and remote activated the self-destruct sequence. Time for a 988H:woohoo
So how many hours did it finally make before it bit the dust? What's next?
Sounds like a on-going thing with Volvo. We have a 220 E with a 7 yard spade nose. Within the first month we had to replace all the shanks in the bucket with some heavy Cat shanks and teeth. Tore all the stock ones out. Now keep in mind this loader works in a sand and gravel pit, not a shot rock pit. We use the 988 in the shot rock. After that the weak point was the back side of the bucket, right where coalburners ripped apart. Solution-fab up an old 980C Cat bucket to fit. I for one hated to run it though. It didnt have any power to the boom. About the only place you could get a full scoop was in a loose sand pile. I made the suggestion to put a 4 yard bucket on it since that was about all you could get out of the pit face! I heard yesterday from one of our mechanics that the engine block cracked at only 5000 hours. It had a new transmission last summer. New head last winter, and like was stated before, waiting forever to get parts. Sometimes the lower cost just isnt worth it in the long run.
Didn't know if Coalburned posted pictures so I'll add the last ones taken here.
Who lit the match Billy, you or coalburner!!!
LOL!!! You couldn't pry it outa me or him with a thumb bucket Besides, I was home when it happened and I have witnesses:angel I was on the back porch having a cold one 4 miles from the plant but i did hear the tires blow up. Now i don't know where coalburner was when the thing went up. :beatsme
Love the third pic with the 988H lurking in the background.
I never even noticed. Even with all the problems I didn't like to see it go out the way it did. We had to drive around what was left of the Volvo day and night, kinda made me feel sorry for it. I can say one thing for the old girl, she could put the ponies to the ground. No telling how much that machine would push in a slot but it was a bunch
Hey Coalburner, I'm sitting here reading through the posts and I realized that I bought your machine. I think the serial # was 1008... I couldn't believe it when I clicked on the photos and saw that it was the same machine. The truck that hauled it was so long that we lifted the loader up in the air and he backed under it to get out of our lot. It was a real mess, I'm glad I got to see the photos from the other side.
she looks only good for being melted down for scrap from the photos what you going to do with it if you don't mind me asking
The Rollouts, Transmission, and Cylinders will be rebuilt. They are all examined carefully to determine hardness of parts, fatigue and so on. Then they will get new bearings, seals, dyno etc. The bucket and boom are also in good condition so they will be sold as good used. Any good sheet metal will be sandblasted, painted, and sold. Beats paying at the dealer. Most of the machine as you said will be scrapped.
yes thats the machine. SR# FV1008 I also have the oerators Manual and service records if needed. edit: Good luck getting the bucket pins out. Each time they were removed here they had to be cut out.
I won't need them, I appreciate it though. Already found that out when our 10 ton jack didn't even move them. I figured it would be easy with a new bucket. We're going to use a bigger jack when we have the time to finish dismantling.
I hope your able to get them out without distroying the pins but it never happened the 3 times they were taken out here.
Billy P This is a little off the subject but is your power plant a fluidized bed boiler because the picture of your stack are sure clear.
Yes it's a fluidized bed boiler and runs less than 5% opacity
That machine have worked really hard.
Kinda off subject, But my local mill had a nearly near volvo loader (atleast a 220 size or up) will check on that. It burnt just like this one did if not worse a month or so ago. Hated to see it burn. Good looking machine. Now there is a new 9**H cat there.
Sorry to hear about your machine. Loosing ours was a blessing because we replaced it with a 988H. As of now we have 4200 hours on it and very few problems.
I find it difficult absorb all this bad luck with Volvo Loaders I have had a lot to do with Demonstrating Volvos ,there have been odd one that has not performed as good as could be expected, however when you take into account the Operators treatment of those particular machines one can understand that they have been abused, there is use and Abuse, There is acompany who have been only Cat machines for over 60years have they have disposed of all there cat loaders. Put in all Volvos, they now have some fairly high hours on Volvos they speak very highly of Vs the fuel saving alone is a Major advantage the operators are finding they do not get as fatigued sometimes you get areal dog and sounds as tho this machine is one of them
I have worked on most all construction, logging and medium sized mining machinery for somewhere around 35 years. The phrase that really aggravates me from any manufacturer or dealer after "I never seen that happen before" is the "use it and don't abuse it" phrase. Having been on the end user side I always say you design machines for the worst operators, not the best. Having worked for more than my share of dealers, you have to expect the worst and work with your customers to make those machines last as long as possible. Having followed this thread from its previous beginning I can only say the writers posted items they actually had problems with and most had photos to back up their stories. I hadn't detected anything but frustration in the bulk of the threads. I would suggest that you choose your words carefully or you might do more to aggravate those who read these posts. I think everyone here would agree that there are hard luck products from all manufacturers. Most of us don't have the choice of what we are working on and really like the hear of any and all problems that others have had to work through, no matter who the manufacturer is. Whether you bust a boom, break an engine or transmission, can't keep tracks on a MTL or have continued problems of all sorts on one or more models of any manufacturer's machine, I for one would like to hear about it.
Damn John, you could have been a great dad for me! You have an incredible amount of experience with heavy machinery, and you also have a good morality to go with it. It's a pleasure to read what you post, I hope there are many more things I can learn from you. Thanks, Logan
JOhn C with all due respect There IS a phrase called" Use and Abuse" I have had this happen to my own earthmoving Equipment . Put a another operator on and your problem is solved personally have been in earthmoving and costruction for over 56 years (NOW co in 3rd generation of family) have time and time again perfectly acceptable machines are given a bad name by people who abuse them. i dont say that this is the problem with the volvo L350 concerned with this post. it does make one aware that there could be a number of causes,maybe was crook casting , John you say you have been around machines for 35 years if you havent seen machine syou dont like the terms used well possibly you have not been as far as some of the contributors of these posts however having said that YES the terms used by many dealers is used very loosely and oft times unbeleivable yoiu do looose confidence in them cheers
coal burner what is the material you carry in this bucket and how much does it weigh per bucket ful
coalburner, it is stagering how quickly the confounded things burn we put fire equipment on all machines i guess it will help if we have misfortune to have one burn
Seriously? You get 3 guesses and the first 2 don't count. It was the bucket spec'd by volvo or the dealer anyway.
lpnt65 I was only counting my time specifically in this industry. I have a few years at sea to go with it and my family has also been in construction for three generations. My comment on the use and abuse phrase is because I have been on both sides of the sale of equipment and have been accused of it specifically by dealers when I was running the shops at a couple of small coal mines. No one should use it unless they can prove it is my thought process. It most cases it is just a way to blame bad design on the customer and in my case in particular I was able to prove otherwise as the manufacturer came in and bought back the machines with the lousy designs. I can also say that coal mining is a tough business and any machine sold into it should be designed for those "lousy conditions." Bad operators are a fact of life and any owner that allows them to exist in their company deserves what they get. I'm sure you are not accusing the owner of the subject machines in this thread of abusing them, are you?
John C I am certainly not accusing the contractor of abusing his machine all i am saying Is that abuse does happen. as far as coal mines are concerned we Had loaders load and digging out magnesite and had heavy duty buckets on machines and had no problem with Buckets or broken linkages One was A Fa 945and the Other VolvoL350 the weight of material is usually a Factor I have inspected Cat DW21 working New Zealands Benmore Dam They were absolutely Cracked welded up crack again Why Because of the weight of Material they were Carrying Yet They were only carrying a Half load but because of weight thedy were grosslyt over loaded
sounds like you should have used their fire resistant hydraulic fluid
Its been awhile since I've read anything worth comenting on. "Build a machine for the worst operator"? I think the morons that contractors are putting behind the controls in these machines should be a little better trained, and not by an ignorant boss who knows nothing but how to tie a neck tie and push a pencil but by someone who is actualy proficient, someone who understands what the machine was designed to do. Someone that can make a machine pay for itself and not distroy it. I do not believe in building a machine for a fool but for a operator.
Iam with you on that one an operator can make you or brake you..........
Generalizing I know, but ............. Most of the so-called "operators" I've seen recently (say the past 5 years) I would have classed as "lever-pullers" a few years ago. They know what all the controls/levers do and that's about it. And again I will say I'm generalizing . I have come across a few good ones, some of whom were really good, and I probably remember each & every one of them by name because they were such a rare breed. What struck me also was that most of the dodgy ones fell into the "I know everything, there's nothing you can possibly teach ME" category.