anyone run a liebherr loader? are they sold in the U.S.?
I know they are sold here, I've seen them from time to time but not frequently.
i stumbled across their website today. ive heard liebherr but never seen any of their loaders.
There's a nice one in this thread...
thats a heck of a paint scheme. thanks for the post Wulf.
They are sold in the US, but the dealer network is sparse. Most of the ones I have seen on jobs as demo machines have been sitting over at the side b/c none of the operators wanted to run them. Their biggest claim to fame is their fuel efficiency. They claim to be 30% better on fuel than anyone else. They accomplish this by using a hydrostatic powertrain. All of their loaders up through their largest machine are hydro's. They also have a mid-mounted cooling package similar to Case's D and E series. Probably the reason they are not better accepted in North America is the lack of dealer support and the fact they operate differently with their hyrdo transmissions than a conventional torque converter/powershift machine.
They make the smallest of Deere's wheel loaders. A friend has a 244J and lots of stuff inside the cab says Liebherr on it.
Are they still helping Deere produce some of the larger Deere dozers? I know Liebherr was in the past (750C/B's).
Err, I'm not sure if Liebherr made the 750Cs and Bs -- I think that was Deere alone (and to this day, the 450J-850J are still Deeres, I think). THe 950J and probably-soon-to-be 1050J are Liebherr models, as are the track loaders (with the possible exception of the 605C. farm_boy -- are you familiar with who designed the 605C?).
how do hydrostatic transmissions work in large machines like wheel loaders?
they are WICKED nice machines, but the problem is getting parts. my father deals with them and he had to wait 3 weeks to get a part for a liebhere and the machine was down for 3 weeks
I don't really know on this one. I would think that Liebherr had a hand in it since the cab and interior looks just like the 655C and 755C, but I am just guessing here.:beatsme
I looked at the post that Wulf refered me to. That particular model looks like a real purpose built machine. It is a shame Liebherr does not have the sales support to grow in the U.S.
The 605C has the same undercarriage and engine as the 650J. The rest is Liebherr.
Liebherr has used this technology on their loaders for 20 years or so but I understand they currently have an engine driven piston pump which feed two hydraulic motors which in turn drive a transfer case and then out to conventional differentials. There is a nice general description on their website, interestingly on the machine I checked, the engine sits in the 'forward position' in the loader with the pump mounted at the back of the machine. http://www.liebherr.com/em/en/77880_77882.asp
thats an interesting design. i wonder if the torques are the same as a conventional torque converter/powershift transmission. i have seen large hydraluic motors work and the torque thoes can produce is unreal.
Here are the avaible wheel loader models from Liebherr in the USA: http://www.liebherr.com/em/en/18910.asp
Welcome to the forums! That was my feeling as well, but I just couldn't figure how Liebherr benefits from it. Perhaps the 650J UC is so good that Liebherr wants it, too?
could anyone help me find liebherr L541 wheel loader service manual?
IF you need help on the L541 loaders send me a pm, I have worked on them when I was employed with Liebherr Innes
I hope the ones in Scotland gave better service than what ours has, I could just about write a book on it. Beautiful loader while it was going, which wasn't that often. RnR.
They weren't too bad apart from the ZF transmissions on the early models, later ones had the beefed up trannys and were pretty reliable, however the travel pump needed to be set up properly or they were a waste of time. Innes
We bought one new and we were very happy with the performance of it and everyone here liked operating it. It now has done 11,000 hours, the transmission has been replaced four times, it pulled a tooth off the pinion on the front diff, we think it has a chipped tooth on the back diff, the travel pump is being rebuilt for the third time and as you would know, they are not cheap, the travel motor seals let go and filled the transmission full of oil, the gears in the splitter box broke a couple of teeth off, plus a few minor issues. While the company stood by it to a certain degree, the inconvenience and downtime put a lot of pressure on our business, because at the time, it was our main machine. The engine is the best part of it, but to me, it seems the driveline from there on, was too light for the machine. A few of the later models out here still seem to be having a few issues. RnR.
Hi RnR, Not a good history,I can understand your frustrations as I've seen most of the problems you experienced but the diffs didnt give us many probs, I seen some get noisy if they didn't have (LS) limited slip oil in them ,the ZF tranny black box was protected with (I think) a two amp fuse but was located beside the other fuses and I have seen them with the wrong fuse fitted and they would fry very easy,another important thing to look out for is the bucket stops,if not set properly they can cause weld cracks on the loader arms.
I have had experience with Liebherr wheel loaders here in Spain. Overall its a good machine, the hydrostatic trasmission has advantages and disadvantages as every new system. The fuel consumption is awesome, and the machine is extremely responsive. Manteniance of the travel hydraulic engines has to be exquisite, otherwise the service life of it will be 8000h or less and replacing this part is very expensive. Another issue is that due to the nature of its trasmission, if you are going to use protective chains in the tyres, you must have them in all 4 tyres instead of a frequent configuration of installing chains in the two front wheels. My two cents...