New project on the side. I have a 580B Case. When i bought it, it came with the rubber pads for street use. Most of my use wil be in dirt / mud. So i was thinking of getting a set of the cleats. Looking at the cleats, i missed a set on ebay for $54, due to the fact that i couldn't sit and watch them. So i was thinking about making a pad for my street pads. It looks like the rubber pads bolt to the main part of the stabilizer. So i was just going to get some flat plate, weld some angle iron in the shape of the cleats and bolt that assembly to the street pad stabilizer. 4 pieces of angle per cleat would provide the h pattern. This way i could always remount the rubber pads to teh stabilizer plate or mount my iron cleats to it. Let me know what you guys think.
Its not the big of a difference. The flip over 2 sided pads are useless. They never stay cleat side down, the second the stabilizer starts to raise, any dirt or weight flips it right over to the rubber side. Very rare I ever bother using the cleated side. Maybe if its icy or slick, other wise the rubber is fine.
In the mud and dirt, where I stay most of the time with my 555E, the street pads are not any good at all. The tractor would slide all over the place when using the hoe. Yes, you do have to climb out and flip them over relatively often when mud weighs them down and they turn over.
Guys, I think you miss understand me. I am not going to make a two sided pad. I am going to take the street pads apart, remove the rubber side and install a cleat that i will make myself. It will be like a regular cleat, or so i think. I will post pictures when i have them made.
Welcome to the forum VirginiaAgent. Phil
I didn't even notice that he was a new guy. These forums are really great, good people who are willing to help
Now that i think about it when we had the L the street pads were almost always used since theres no way of locking it so they wont flip. Now with the M you can lock them either way and iv noticed dad has been keeping them locked with the cleats down. But i agree the street pads should work just fine by themselves.
Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums VirginiaAgent! :drinkup
tresslers, I know exactly what you are talking about, I've got he same issue. Asked a mechanic about what to do and he told me how to make a set of cleats. Take the pavement pads off and use them for a drill pattern on 2 large pieces of angle iron. Bolt those 2 pieces on to the stabilizer pad. Weld 2 pieces of large angle back to back. Now fit those in between the 2 pieces already bolted onto the stab pads and weld, you've got a cleat; the bigger the angle iron the better,(within reason). I have a real clear set of simple plans in my head, hope I have described those plans clearly and hope it helps.
That is almost exactly what i plan to do with the exception of welding the angle iron on a flat plate for support. It looks like a proper cleat has the angle iron edge facing the front and back of the machine with a bar in between them. But the holes on the stabilizer foot run along the other edge. I really need to get some pics up to help explain. Maybe next week.
tresslers, glad you understood me. That is a very good idea to put a plate underneath, it will make it a lot more sturdy in the middle. I know what you are saying about the direction on the factory cleats, but I don't think it really makes any difference, as long as the actual cleat part isn't running parallell to the backhoe. If your cleat is running at angles to the machine, (which it is because of the angle the stabilizers operate) and you have perpendicular angle iron running at the ends, that's all you need. It will really slow down any movement of the hoe in any direction, which is what we want. Please send pics, I've got just a few more pressing projects on mine and then I need to tackle that before the summer.
The cleats will be a side project right now my machine is in 5 pieces and i have to find the time to put it back together. I will post pics when i have them made and installed.
I was just taking some measurements. It looks like the best option is for a 16" x 16" plate. I have some 3" angle iron to use for the cleats. So there will be 2 pieces of 16" and two pieces of 10" to fit between the outside angle. Then just drill it to line up to the existing holes and that should make a nice set of cleats that will be about 3" deep. Can anyone tell me the depth of the stock cleats?
Here's a picture of one. Phil
Is that about 3" Phil? I am going to try and set mine up in a similar fashion. I will post pictures when they are made
Actual depth of the cleat is 2". Looking at the picture, pad is 17" high and 16" wide. Phil
Thanks Phil, So a 3" cleat will be close to the origional