On my way to work everyday I had been passing a loader on the side of the road for sale. It looked good from the road. After a few days I decided to stop and take a closer look. It's a Dresser 175C. Much to my surprise it looked fairly good. Lots of life left in her from first glimpse. The seat looked worst of all. more pictures and details to come...
That's a nice looking Dresser boone, are you thinking about buying it?
Thanks ATCOEQUIP. Dad, my brother and I have been pondering buying one of these for years for the family farm. Since my granddad past away years ago, the farm is getting a little out of hand with some thickets, thorns and unwanted trees...the pastures are growing up. We've "kicked tires" on several over the years, but just never found one we really liked. They were either worn out or too expensive. When I saw this one, I thought it was worth a look. Who knows it might be in our price range. After checking it out, the sprockets looked good. The rollers and pins have some usual wear on them. It has the IH466 in it, but it's not the original one. The owner didn't know what happen to the first engine. :beatsme Dad and I went by on Saturday, two weeks ago and made some closer inspections. I called the owner and got some additional info on it. So far so good. Here dad is jotting down some serial numbers.
The bucket looks to be in good cond. with some wear - and if the rest bottom is in as good condition as those pads appear to be , there is a lot of life there
The pads did look good. The bucket teeth are all there, but a bolt is missing out of two of them. We plan to replace the missing bolts. The Saturday we looked at it dad and I both agreed it was worth pursuing. The owner's price was within our price range so we setup a time to meet on the following Monday to take it for a test drive. The day we met with the owner, we ran it in the lot next to his business. It ran great and didn't smoke. The clutches appeared to be working well in forward and reverse. I put the bucket down to make sure it would spin the tracks and it did. The steering pedals felt good and it turned well. The hydraulics seemed strong. The bucket cyclinders seals were slightly damp with oil. The machine wasn't beat up at all. The pans underneath were wet so we couldn't tell what might be leaking around the hydrostatic transmission...if that's what it's called. I made the guy a low ball offer and he didn't take it...didn't even counter :Banghead I said I would pass and sat on it for about three days. Dad and I decided that it wouldn't be there long even at the asking price and so I called the man up and made another offer closer to what he was asking. He countered to meet in the middle and I declined. Waited a couple of hours and then decided to take it. I don't enjoy haggling, but looking back, it was fun. I haven't been this excited about a big toy in a long time. We made arrangements to pick it up the next Saturday. We contacted a friend of ours who has a large farm and several big trucks. We hired him to haul it. He has an '74 IH dozer TD-15 :cool2 which I believe is the same size as the 175C loader. I could hardly sleep the night before. On Saturday morning we met at the farm. He was prepping the truck and lowboy. You can see in one of these pictures the TD-15 in the background.
Good for you ! A little oil in belly pan does creates a big mess - do some good preventive eyes open maintenance - Then go clean up the Farm - Yes 15 and 175 are sisters so your Friend should be able to give you hand if needed
OneWelder, that's exactly our plan. We started this past weekend taking all the panels off. We're cleaning all the grime up under the seat below the battery compartment. The hoses and brake pulleys were completely covered in dirt, sticks and rocks. It's a wonder the pedals worked as well as they did. I wish I'd snapped some before and after pictures. I'll post some pictures of the after as soon as I get some. I forgot my camera this past weekend :Banghead You wouldn't believe what we've pulled out of this thing. Our plan is to do maintenance before we put it to real work on the farm. :bouncegri
I have seen the battery cables chafe on the seat frame etc. on the TD-15c and it is not easy to find the short unless you are watching for smoke so make sure that the cables are taped off and insulated properly while you are working under there.Ron G
loading day... Here are some pics the morning we loaded it. The first pic is me getting it out of it's For Sale spot and over to the truck. If you noticed in the previous pics of the truck, the low-boy doesn't have full ramps. This made loading and unloading a bit more work. We backed the truck up to a slight embankment and used the loader to make a dirt ramp. Backed it up on the trailer with no problems. Don't mind my niece, she supports the green machines.
That is a sweet looking machine boone. Those old Dresser's were some tough old loaders, and the C version had some design improvements over the B version, torque converter for example. That looks like an old Phelan trailer. And I could swear I've seen that truck before.
Hey Boone! Thats a nice machine you got there! Congrats! Good Luck! BZ59
RonG, the battery cables are something we're trying to be careful about. I would imagine 24 volts get's pretty hot. We've taken the seat frame out. It doesn't really slide now and we're going to get it working. I noticed on the postive side of the battery cable it has a plastic sleeve over the red insulation but the sleeve is worn through in one spot. Hasn't rubbed through the red insulation on the wire yet. We'll need to protect that. Also we noticed that from the key power switch there is a negative cable going directly to the starter. It's rubbed through in two spots. It was also routed through one of the brake pedal mechanism. So every time the brake was pushed it was sandwiching the negative cable. This was doing three things: 1) wearing a hole in the cable insulation, 2) wearing a groove in one of the oil lines, 3) preventing the brake from being fully functional. We re-routed that cable to a safer spot. There are few other naked wires we've noticed since we've gotten the floor pans up and that we're going to re-wire.
Thanks ATCOEQUIP, I've wondered what the differences were between the B and C. The IH/Dresser design seems to have been around a long time. I did lot's of searches and found some really old loaders that look almost identical to this one. We did a serial number search and found that it's an '87 model. Do you know of any other design improvements they've made in the C? You might know our truck driver...super nice guy!
Unloading BZ59, thanks! I'm going to need a class on how to efficiently clear land with this thing. Here's our unload spot. This is at my parent's place. I didn't really get a good picture of the ditch. Our expert operator (truck driver) unloaded it for us. He made it look easy. We'll do our maintenance here and then truck it over to the farm once we're ready to use it. Check out the video on youtube: YouTube - Unloading Dresser 175C
Nice machine. That trailer looks a little light for that machine.:tong
Bowed Yeah, looks like she got a bit of a bow in the deck. What does the machine weigh in kgs mate. Is it bigger than a 951 cat? We're allowed 15 metric tonnes on a tri axle on a spring suspension here ( a little more with airbags)
I believe the trailer is rated at 50k lbs (22.6k kg). :beatsme These specs are from the 1977 model spec sheets (cescoused.com). The CAT 951 general purpose weight was 27.2k lbs (12.3k kg, 12+ metric tons). The IH-175C general purpose weight was 31.7k lbs (14.4k kg, 14+ metric tons). Both weigh more if equiped with ripper and various other options.
Naaaah - looks like a 20 tonner to me (maybe even 18). That's a pretty light trailer, friend.:tong
Could be a 18/20 tonner i'm not sure. In it's previous life, the trailer was used to haul an excavator which was always side loaded/unloaded. It was in much rougher shape before the current owner got it.
More pics... This is our fancy work area and our modified belly pan floor jack.
Whoa dude! I love the pics, but I have to ask; do you have a safety prop on the lift cylinder while the loader arms are raised like that???
and more... We've drained the radiator and the engine oil. Still have to drain the hydraulic and transmission oil. We were trying to turn one of the engine oil filters so that we could get the old numbers off the filters. We buggered it up a little...it was on super tight, ahh well we're going to replace it anyway. From the color it's a wannabe CAT engine.
I gotta ask again because I'm serious; do you have the safety prop installed????
ATCOEQUIP, we do...it's just under the lift cylinder on the track. We got the manuals today and that' actually not the right spot for it, but it works. I think the prop arm should be up above the lift cylinder. It's been up for a week like that so far and it hasn't moved.
Oh and we've also verified that the weight is on the prop.
sorry for so many pics... Here's a shameless plug for PB blaster. We've also rebuilt the battery box and put oak battery clamps in. The batteries were just sittin' there before with nothing holding them down.
Whew! Thank you...you scared the bejusus outa me! The only reason I was emphatic about it was...you titled the thread "my first track loader", and it's a simple oversight that could be made by one who has "their first". Great pics dude.
and more New hour meter is on it's way. The old one didn't work and was sitting on 3401...who knows how many it had on it. Hard to see, but some rewiring in the second picture. Some of the hot wires were baring a little too much skin for us. Tool box didn't shut well, so we took it off and fixed the hinges. Now it closes all the way.
Man, you are making me sick. I just can't believe how good a shape that thing is! What a find, that is sweet.
I'm glad to hear you say that. We're hoping we did okay. So far it looks in decent shape.
Here's a rear shot of what was covered in sticks, dirt and little debbie wrappers. Couple of the hoses look like candidates for replacement. Maybe the pedals can move a little better though. I didn't get a picture under the battery panels...it was worst of all.
almost out of pics...promise When we dropped the belly pans there seem to be almost 8" of sewer garbage that fell out. We scraped and pulled out what seem to be 100lbs worth of the stuff. I ruined a couple of tshirts in the process. We didn't degrease any of this, but nobody will see this much anyway...
Sprocket
Remember the old raggedy seat? TADA! My sister recovered the seat. She's full time mom and part time upholsterist.
Last one for tonight We're planning to paint a little on the undercarriage...stay tuned. May be a couple of weeks before we get to that.
:usa
Hi boone, Great project, great pictures. Even though you are finding a few little things to fix I would say the previous owners took good care of your pride and joy. Trash in the belly pan is pretty standard, nobody wants to drop a bellypan for a 9/16 wrench.
Wow,I have never seen all those parts before....LOL. Great job!!Also,if you are brave at least look at the brake cable,maybe feel it would be a better word to see what condition it is in.They are a pain to change and now would be a good time possibly with everything clean.The cable goes back to a clevis and linkage under the fuel tank which should come off to change it.Not a very good system in my opinion.Lookin' good!!Ron G
Question... Glad you like 'em. :scool Thanks for the advice RonG. I'll check the cables and linkage. Do you know if they make shims for these linkage points? If so, does it require pulling the pin? There seems to be a lot of slop side to side here.
I have seen shims on bucket pins and so forth but not on lift or roll cylinders.Ron G
no need for shims on roll cylinders replace bushings in linkage if sloppy it is good to clean out belly pans once in a while it lets trans run cooler = you may be able to see future problems and with an open engine compartment leaves and twigs can build up becoming an oil soaked potently fire hazard
LoL, I once found a short combination 1/2 & 9/16 - 12 point box end wrench when I removed the belly of a 175B! I've since lost it somewhere. Damn...I liked that wrench! :Banghead
oil you wouldnt want to know what Id do to have that machine!! However I have a TD15 and on these things it is impossible to drain engine oil without making a MESS, cant stick a funnel in there, its just a soaking mess.
We just got our CaseIH engine oil this week. Haven't put in yet. Maybe we should have waited to clean after putting the oil in. Nice IH pinesd. :cool2 Did you restore it yourself? I'd love to see more pics if you have any of it
Bosch injector pump question Not sure what the model number is, but could anyone tell me what's inside this plug (circled)? Would like to stop a fuel leak here, but am afraid there are some parts that might pop out of this once it's removed. Is this safe to remove without parts flying?
I am going to speculate that it is a strainer.Someone will be along shortly that really knows.LOL.Ron
Can't remember about a strainer. There is a spring in there that's the return spring for the lift pump piston. I don't think there's much problem taking it out, just be mindful there is a spring going to be pushing on it though.
That was my other option...lol.Mind is a terrible thing to waste!!Thanks ATCOEQUIP.Ron G
u guys are lucky on the belly pan. someone welded them on my d75s. try getting that clean.
Thanks guys. Doesn't sound too painful to put back in then.
Here's the best forum I know of for IH/Dresser construction equipment. http://www.redpowermagazine.com/forums/index.php Register and look up a poster named Rocko, he's an IH equipment mechanic, very knowledgeable. Looks like you scored a real nicel 175, should do every bit as good as a Cat 955. Best of luck to you, Alan627b
That's a great website. It's interesting to find members of HEF over there as well. I've been lurking there for several weeks and finally registered last week, but haven't been able to start a thread or even post a reply. I think the administrator has to approve new members and I haven't been approved yet.
Another question I wanted to throw this out there to get some of your opinions. We're still changing out some minor things on the 175. As we've been working on it and moving it in and out of the barn, we've noticed that while cold starting, it appears to be flooding out. It BILLOWS white smoke from the minute it starts turning over. When it finally starts to fire, it sounds like it's missing and the smoke turns from white to grey to black. Once cranked it will smoke black for about 7 to 10 seconds and it eventually clears up. It doesn't do this on a warm start. The turbo spools up fine and it revs fine. We're just wondering if this is a sign of fuel seeping past the injectors when it's off or oil passed the rings. :beatsme The coolant isn't leaking down so I don't think it's leaking into the head. We've been turning the fuel off when it's going to sit for a few days without running and this doesn't seem to help. Any ideas?
We've had a major revelation within the last month on the 175. The old saying of "if it's too good to be true, it probably is" definitely has a ring of truth to it. All was looking good with the loader. With just a few items on our check-list of things left to do, progress came to a screeching halt. We found a major problem. We've been running the tractor a little with the panels off keeping an eye on any leaks and what not. One sunny day with the loader arm up, dad noticed the side of the block having a wet sheen to it. Upon closer inspection, coolant was coming straight out of the side of the engine. Yep, a nasty crack in the block. This was the kind of thing that would have been a deal breaker had we known about it when we bought it. Oh well, we'll deal with it. We immediately started thinking reman long blocks...4 grand, no thanks. Got to be something else. We've mulled other options like Devcon, welding and lastly metal stitching. Should make for an interesting winter project whatever we do. Anyone have any experience with solutions for a cracked block?
How the heck did that happpen in Alabama?? Nice to see those freeze plugs did their job. Did you drain and fill with water then get a cold snap down there? Looked like she was running good in your first video to me.
Judging by the lack of paint near the crack, it could be an old injury that has leaked for a while. Unless it also is cracked internally, you might try running it like that. If it only leaks a little, topping up the antifreeze might be an option. I went through the cracked block thing a few years ago. It was a rare 4 bolt 396 Chevelle block that had a few nearly inaccessible small cracks in the lifter valley area. I did find a place near Toronto that specialized in repairs of that type. I think they heat the entire block and then weld it using special rod. If the only crack is the one that shows, welding yours might be possible without taking it apart - given an experienced welder and the right rod. An internet search will turn up lots of info on welding rods and techniques for this type of thing. This last suggestion may sound crazy and please forget where it came from. But if you can V out the crack a little and make sure the surface is very clean, a generous application of JB Weld may do the trick. I've seen JB Weld seal a leaking intake manifold for many years.
Yeah, so much for freeze plugs...those must be an urban legend. We're sure the crack was there before we purchased it. Hasn't been below freezing here since we bought it. The picture was taken after we wirebrushed all the paint away. The paint in that area was flaked and followed the cracked. The crack only leaks in a 6" section when it gets up to operating temperature and since we haven't run it much we haven't noticed a big loss of coolant. One mistake we made was not taking the engine shield off and inspecting before we bought it. But the injector and hoses cast a slight shadow such that if it's hot, it's hard to tell the block is damp. It was direct sunlight that helped to reveal it. We took a few things for granted given how good it ran. It still runs extremely well and appears to be a good machine, this is just a setback we would have rather not dealt with. We're keeping our fingers crossed for no internal cracks. So far there's no evidence of coolant in the oil. We've got everything stripped off now we're just trying to decide on what to do next.
Boone, What part of Alabama are you in? If you are in North Alabama, Tom Fredricks at Fredricks Importing 256-773-0570 may be able to help you with your block issue. He has developed a process for repairing blocks that he has had great success with. Hope this helps Scott @ Artec
If there is no antifreeze in oil - do a temporary fix- and run it - keeping your eye out for a replacement = then you have time to sort things out If you did the the stitching you would not have rebuild motor
Welcome to the Forum 72ih354. Do you work with Artec Tractor out of Nauvoo?
CM1995 Yes, it is Artec Tractor & Equipment (Hwy 5 between Jasper & Nauvoo, Al). Been "lurking" HEF for some time. Seldom find questions that others have not answered. As for calling Tom, he's not in his office this week, too busy at the SEMA? show in Vegas. Scott @ Artec
72ih354, Fredricks is not far way...maybe an hour. I called and they did mention Tom did the block repair but he was out for the week. I inquired about the process and the man did say he thought it was pinning. Their website says the repair is warrantied for life. Sounds attractive. The patch idea is sounding tempting. Just got the quote from locknstich and it was $588 for parts and shipping. We were hoping for the $300 range. We've already ordered Devcon cleaner and some titanium epoxy because there is a small crack just above the big one. Fortunately, it doesn't leak even when hot. Since we'll have plenty of Devcon we're thinking of cleaning the big crack really good and sealing it up. Maybe this will buy us some time to figure out if the engine doesn't have other major problems before we sink several hundred into it.
Welcome to the forum 72ih354. :usa
atcoequip HEF really appears to be a well maintained forum! Most of my experience is with tractors and small equipment, so I may not have a great deal of information to post. We sell Blue Diamond attachments, and at one time sold quite a bit of used equipment to Aaron. I did happen on your yard August 08 if i recall correctly during major road construction /detour in Knoxville. I regret not having time to stop and meet more of the Atco staff. Do you still have the "screaming yellow" RHD shop truck? I am interested in showing my boss the details of your 12/24v jump cart, but I can no longer find the link. Where did you hide it? Later, Scott @ Artec
The Devcon or another similar product may well be worth a try. Before trying the Devcon, you might want to think about whether using Devcon would prevent you from trying another more permanent fix later on. Devcon might, for example, interfere with adhesion of a weld or . . . Just a thought.
Yep, there's a lot of great people here from all over the world, and some darn fine moderators that keep this a good forum. You will occasionally find a question about tractors and small equipment, so hang around. We haven't forgot about you guys. Yes, we've purchased a good number of machines from you, it's just right now, there ain't much purchasing going on because sales are dead, but I guess you guys know that feeling, the attachments is what's keeping us going right now. And yes, we still have that screamin' yeller shop truck. If you want info on a member, simply place your cursor on the members name and click. It will take you to a page where you can contact the member and also check posts and threads of the member. Here's you a link to the monster garage booster. I just serviced it up today getting ready for the dead machines of winter. I'm curious to here about the block repair process that you mentioned.
Nice pics, nice job, i hope to be a good machine for you!
most automotive parts stores sell a ceramic block sealer. the stuff works really well according to my racing buddies. they use it on aluminum headed iron block race cars. follow the directions and it should seal it from the inside. worth a try for sure. Joe
Here are a few pics of the block repair using Devcon Titanium putty. Right or wrong, whether it works or not, here's what we chose to do. It's not pretty, but hopefully it'll work. The purpose of the groove and the semi-holes are to provide as much surface area as possible for adhesion. Also, some allen set screws were added to keep the upper and lower portion of the block from moving. pic1 - the operating room pic2 - upclose of crack and screws pic3,4 - the surface prepped and cleaned before application
Steel galvanized screen was sandwiched between two quarter inch applications of the putty along most of the length of the crack. The cure time is about 16 hours. Time will tell if it works or not.
Interesting!
Please keep us posted!
It's cured for 11 days. Put a little paint on the wound and got everything back together yesterday. Temp was about 50 outside. Thought we'd have a little trouble getting it started with all the air in the lines, but it fired right up. Ran for two hours and no sign of any leaks. I'll keep you posted on how it does.
nice.....
Within 6 hours of running the machine over the course of three days (couple of hours each day) the fix has failed. The coolant is streaming from under the epoxy at close to full throttle. I figured we had a 50% chance of this working, but I didn't figure it would fail this soon. What a disappointment. Some on here have mentioned block sealer, but the coolant filter/dispenser is of concern. There are valves to bypass the filter initially, but would this stuff work it's way into the filter over time or does the sealant setup quickly? Swampdog, your previous comments about considering a more permanent fix later was right-on. We do have a good contact for a welder that can do the job. This may be our next move assuming we can get all this stuff off.
the ceramic bolck sealer that i talked about......you put it in and get it hot then drain the system and leave it open for a specified period of time for the stuff to cure.........then fill her up with a/f and run it to see if it has sealed the leak. Joe
Sorry to hear of your situation here, and I sincerely hoped that the epoxy would hold as I am sure many others here did also, If I may add some insight to the situation, the reason the epoxy failed is because the epoxy is very brittle when hardened, add to that the heating and cooling of the engine block and expansion and contraction of the parent material and presto! here comes the leak again! I've fixed many gearboxes and such over the last 15 years in my welding shop and found that if there is not much strain on the gearbox, braze will work in the crack and seal it up nicely! the trick to a good braze job is to make sure the parent material is heated to a sufficient temperature that will keep the braze from cooling too fast. and I must say control the rate at which the braze and repair areas are cooled!! Vibration, expansion and contraction is your worst enemy here, otherwise if it is time for a short block, I believe any block from a 1466 IH tractor should work, I believe they are the same engine. Downing tractor in Wisc. should have a block that does not cost too much.
That's okay Monte, it's all part of the fun. We had hoped for a better outcome but weren't too surprised. We have taken the epoxy off the block. We were surprised at how easy it chipped away. It's extremely brittle. Came off in about 5 chunks with a screw driver and hammer. Weren't too impressed with the adhesion given the fact that we thought we had the surface pretty clean. A welder that we talked too indicated that cast iron gets impregnated with coolant and oil and can make it difficult for even a weld to hold unless you do the whole preheat furnace procedure. And on top of the whole vibration, contraction and expansion part, even if it welds we're not too optimistic that it'll stop the leak. The guy we've talked to says he'll know pretty quickly as to whether it will weld or not. I'm not sure of his technique. Plus we've got the whole problem with the crack going into and out of the freeze plugs. I'm not sure if we can get a good seal around new freeze plugs. The block sealer that zbo2 mentioned might help with that. We're fearing an engine swap is in the future. I'll check the place you mentioned. There's a short block on ebay for $999, but can't tell much about it. If we went short block, how much would machine work cost? We're thinking a long block would cut out a lot of time and possibly headache. Surprisingly, complete used engines have been easier to find. I've been in contact with ceparts.com and blountparts.com. CE has one out of TD15 that's almost identical (based on pictures) to what we need. Blount has one out of a 412b scraper. Eldridge supply (mostly combine engines) has several 466 engines. The advantage to a complete engine would be spare parts. The one's out of the TD15 and 412 are running about $3800 to $4000.
It just plain stinks when a person gets stuck with a headache........but thats the nature of the beast I guess. was just thinking this morning about your engine and everything.......and not to say you would consider this, but a 466 IH engine has nearly the same bell housing as does a B series cummins.. I'm not sure what the difference is exactly..you'd have to ask my brother for that info, I'm not much in the know when it comes to repowers. but I do know that Pat stuck several B Series engines into 1466's and 1486's and our two Olivers 1650 and 1850. neither of our Olivers have turbos but the IH's that he did ended up with turbos and several of them pushed about 150 to 170 HP depending on the Customer. I guess it all depend on the engine mounts and all the extras as to wether or not it would work in your loader. A Little over a year ago when I bought my 953, I went to Green Bay and was there originally to look at a Dresser 200, needless to say I was a bit dissapointed by the needs the machine had but we did come home with the 953 intead. Right now I'm sort of just toying with the idea of still buying that dresser, but I need the price to drop considerably first, It is deffinatly a "project" loader. you can view this unit on the Fabco Website. Good engine but needs just about everything else.
pin it I'm new to the forun but have found our post very interesting. My father is a diesel mechanic of 37 years. you could pin that...(think they call it cold welding) drill tap thread in the material til it breaks, repeat. you could find info online, cummins had problems with 053 blocks of the 5.9 and alot have been fixed that way. good luck. Jim
We'll probably stick with the 466 to keep it consistent with the manuals. It seems to be a pretty common engine. One thing we've been impressed with on this machine is how easy it's been to work on. I may be eating crow if we replace this engine, but most of the things we've done have been straightforward and easy to get to with regular tools. I found the "Dresser 200???" thread where you gave a post inspection report of that bad boy . Too bad it isn't in better condition. I don't see too many rear engine Dressers like that around...looks like it needs a little TLC for sure. How do you like your 953? Do you move dirt mostly or clear with it or both? We've definitely considered pinning. That's the route we originally intended on going. But the parts alone are $600 for the pins, taps, spotfacers and misc parts . Also we're not sure what other problems this engine might have if the block is cracked and we hate to dump $600 in it and still have to replace it. Of course the same could be said for a used engine. Choices, choices...thanks for the luck. We're going to need it!
About two years ago we had to take care of some compliance work that the state had just mandated for feedlot runoff, Not that we were out of compliance, but rather the state had set new standards for water quality. We had a grass filter strip and level spreader to install as well as new containment structures to ensure that manure did not enter into "waters of the State" (MN says: any dry run or ravine with directed water flow or waterway channeled by man made or naturel occurances is considered waters of the state.) we ended up with an estimated 7,000.00 for level spreader and misc. feedlot work. in addition to some pit silos (bunkers) that we needed to build costing approx. 3,000 per hole. total cost 9,000.00 est. so off we went to Greenbay to look at that Dresser, I did like the dresser and the way that one could see everything, and the pedal steering was a big plus! but sadly it was in rough shape and I needed to be able to depend a little more on it than just this one job. We started looking at the cat that I purchased. and everything that I liked about the Dresser, the 953 had, good visibility, strong motor, no leaks, decent tracks. the only thing the Dresser had was more HP. and longset of eight digger teeth on the bucket. (mine had straight cutting edge). So I guess if the question is do I like the Cat? yes I do like it very much, it was a sound business decision and seems there is not too much in the way of troubles thus far. I do have a bit of a leak right now on my injector pump and as of yet I still need to locate the source, but currnetly I am still waiting for the injector pump guy to examine it and etc. All in all I have had very good luck with it! well built I think, and seems to handle all I can put it to. As for moving dirt, yes I do move dirt with it and I can set grade as well. it takes a little longer because you don't have the tilt and etc. but if you are familiar with running skidloaders you can easily adapt to the 953. The background I had for running skidloaders taught me a lot as to what to expect from the Cat, it's just that the Cat is so much bigger and much more attention to detail about your surroundings is a must! Lately I've been working with farmers to clear brush and trees, taking care of line fences and etc. I tend to like the clearing work a little more and so maybe forestry is more in my blood than digging basements. :usa best advice I have for new track owners, and I don't mean to single anyone out here but, don't try to push over the world! cuzz you can't fix stupid! be carefull and keep the eyes open!!
Wow, sounds like you made a good economical choice given all you had to do. People at work think I'm crazy for buying a track loader and think I could have hired the work done for the cost of the machine. I know I'm crazy, but at $80-$100/hour the money starts adding up. Plus the idea of using the machine will be a welcome change of pace from my day job. We can probably pay for the machine with the work we have to do and can resell and possibly break-even...even though our current plan is to keep it assuming no other major problems. We weren't really biased towards any make/model. Like I said in the beginning we've looked at several over the years but just never made the leap. We wanted something within our budget, big enough to get the job done, dependable, local dealer who had parts and a big long crack in the block. JK about the crack! Cat would have been our prefered choice, but the good ones were too much $$ and the ones here locally were about like that Dresser 200...wore out. I believe the 175 should meet our needs fine. There's a big used construction equipment dealer in South Pittsburg, TN that we meant to check out, but never made it over there. Thanks for the newbie advice, it's all very much welcome. We're not new to clearing, but we are to clearing with a track loader - other than watching others do it. From what little we've done I can already tell that the view from the seat of the machine is totally different from being off the machine standing back and looking at a leaning tree. My concern is leaning trees, tangled trees and dead stuff raining down. I wish the 175 had sweeps and a cage, but we'll just have to take our time, have spotters for the big stuff and keep our eyes open. I'm looking forward to the spring when the weather warms. There is a fence row with a thicket of cedars that has it's days numbered.
All things considered I would say that even if you don't recover your costs immediatly (even with the new block our whatever) your loader will pay for it's self faster than you think. take for example the trees you wish to push out, how much would it take to hire? then how about the next time your neighbor or someone happens to be talking with you and oh!!! I have a loader that can handle that! Know what I mean? buying equipment is like an investment in the stock market, (except for last year of course) the longer you keep it the more you will earn from it. As for my Cat I was able to recover the costs of purchase within three months of the purchase just because of the amount of work I had, then this year a neighbors house was getting built and "hey could you kinda bring your loader ?" judging from things, I think that 175 will get used lots!!!! As for the block well.....run her till she pukes...... it'll give you time to save for the repairs. you still do have a really nice machine there and I think once the engine investment is made and paid for you will be glad you bought it! just my 2 cents heres a pic of mine http://www.Grunexlandclearing.com
Funny you should say that. We've already had one family member and two friends approach us with clearing work. We're having to turn them away because we don't know what we're doing yet and second we'd like to clean the farm up with it first. Our family member tried to talk us into "practicing on his place" but we said summer of 2010. He ended up hiring another outfit who came in with a JD 700J dozer and an excavator (not sure what kind) at $85/hour each machine. They worked three days. Granted those are newer machines with professional operators, but that's a lot of dough. He still has some more work and wants us to do it this coming year. Of course we'll have to give him the family discount. But I definitely know what you mean...there's money to be made with it. Nice web site! One thing wrong...you need more pictures of your Cat
not sure of the age of your machine right off hand, but 85 an hour seems to be almost rock bottom for that sort of work, and I think others will agree with me that 85 is probably about the bottom end of pricing for most of the country........of course I could be wrong, but commercial Ins is expensive and wages/ workman's comp and etc. I do not believe that Ins rates vary that much just because of where one lives.......... oh well. Yeah I know I need more pictures on my site! hard to take pics when the camera lense fogs in the winter and all you get is a glare from the sun on the snow! Just Kidding, I'm still working on the site and trying to add things and updates as best I can but progress is slow on that matter. anyway keep us posted on the 175 situation, always glad to hear followups:usa
Here is some discussion about the same kind of crack problem. You might finds some useful ideas. http://www.antiquecaterpillar.net/ACF_v2/showthread.php?t=16880&page=1&pp=10
Thanks for the link. I'm surprised at the successes of JB weld. I'm sure in some applications it works fine. We went devcon because it was a "commercial" grade product and figured it might have better all around properties. Perhaps it's too strong in this situation...not as flexable as JB weld. The welder had mentioned he might come this week, but with temps in the 20's and 30's we might have to put it off. Those numbers don't sound like good cast iron welding weather.
What a weekend! So Friday, the welder came. It was a blistering 58 degrees - warmest day of the week. We put a heater to the block the night before and it warmed up to the touch by the time welding began. It looked like it welded nicely...he made three passes grinding after each pass. He used a 7018 rod. We noticed a vertical crack had formed on the left side of his weld after he left. He came right back out and ground it down again and re-welded it. Said we might have to call him multiple times before we get it right. Said he could weld all around the freeze plugs if it didn't work or he could even weld a plate over it.
We put a couple of gallons of coolant in the system and left for the day. We decided to put the pump and all on the next day. When we arrived the next morning ready to put the pump back on what we noticed wasn't good. We noticed little drops of green coolant in the bead. We couldn't see any cracks in it with our eyes, but you can really see them with in the pictures. Notice the three tiny cracks below the block plug. The arrows in the pic2 show the pockets of coolant that we noticed. Also it looked like small traces of oil had run down the block. We're not sure where that came from. :beatsme
We were almost in disbelief of seeing any coolant oozing out cause we hadn't even cranked it yet...didn't even have pressure on it! We wiped it clean and tried to forget we saw it. We sprayed it down with cleaner and dad started painting. Pic 2: Few minutes later I start pouring the rest of the coolant in the radiator. We were horrified by what we saw next
We wiped down the paint on the freeze plugs. There were cracks in this thing we couldn't even see. We figure this thing is toast so we went ahead and assembled the pump and lines. pic3,4 we got everything assembled and she fired right up...such a shame it runs so good with such a major problem. You can see here the amount of coolant running out...look in the belly pan.
I would be horrified too. What does your welder say about it now that there appear to be many leaks? Does he do a lot of welding repair of cracked blocks?
Here's a video I took of it after we got it running. Sorry for the poor quality of it. YouTube - Cracked block
Haven't talked with him yet. He welds for a living and came highly recommended to us. We felt he did as good as anybody. He told us this may or may not work, so we knew going into it there was no gaurantee.
Are you sure he used 7018 rod? Doesn't sound right for cast iron block.
Just my opinion, I don't think your going to have success with an arc rod. The arc rod will heat up the iron block while laying weld, then as the iron cools and contracts, the high strength metal of the weld material will not be able to handle the contraction, and it will crack. Probably the best way to weld a cast iron block is with a brass type brazing rod and gas torch. The maleable brass material can handle expanding and contracting way better than arc rod metals. Plus it makes a good bond with the parent metal. Tricky part is the antifreeze in the block. Even if you drain the block, the residual antifreeze film on the metal will turn to vapor when it's heated to braze and will contaminate the weld area. Very tricky problem you have there. Best of luck with it.
I'm sorry to hear that the welder used 7018 it will not make any difference either if he used DC current. He should have used Nickle Rod or Braze. the reason being is that Cast as many know is porous and if you look under a microscope at a cross section of it you will see the tiny "bubbles" of carbon it is these tiny bubbles of carbon that have caused the leaks that you are seeing right now, and why there is no adhesion from parent stock to weld bead. another factor is that since there is no way to completely dry the inside of the block the moisture got into the weld causing a cold joint and no penetration. I'm afraid there is only one option now at this point, as far as welding is concerned. If you like to try again, have the welder grind the side of the block flush, magna flux the block to locate the largest cracks, and braze the entire area, then repeat for larger passes until the entire area is brazed..........there is still no guarantee, in fact your chances of a successfull weld this time around are even worse than if he had brazed it the first time. YOu will absolutely need to preheat that block to at least 150 degrees, and you will want to cool that block down very slowly!!!!! flux the heck out it before brazing and cross your fingers!!! It's too bad they don't make blocks out of white cast, it is much easier to weld as it has a lower carbon content, and for this reason is much more stable under heat and resists cracking ten times better than Grey cast. Other wise if you are at the point of new block, then give me a private message and I can check around for you to find one.
I'm pretty sure it was a 7018 steel rod. I can see how the bead would crack as the arc bead is pulling away from the cast and the cast is pulling away from the bead when it cools. He did peck the whole time, but didn't control the cool down. Also, the welder did mention that as he began welding there was some residual coolant that started coming out so he did torch the block a bit to dry it out before continuing. Pardon my ignorance, but if he brazed it wouldn't the block have been just as likely to crack. Maybe the bead would have been less likely to have cracks for the reasons you guys mention that the nickel rod would be more maleable when cooling. One other reason that makes us want to punt on putting more time in fixing this particular engine is the fact that a crack up close to the head is also leaking. We had originally put some devcon on it in case it ever did leak...we hadn't noticed it leaking before. As the engine was running this weekend, water was puffing out from underneath the epoxy in that spot. :Banghead Thanks for helping to explain some of this guys! We're filing all of this information in this write-up for referencce and maybe it can help steer someone in the right direction should they have a similar problem. What we need help with now is trying to decide on which way to go with a replacement. It seems we have three realistic options: 1) Complete used engine. We've located a couple that have everything including the trunnion. We'd have spare parts and would be much less labor involved compared to option 2 or even 3. Negative is we'd be limited on it's history, condition, and overall health until we got it running. We'd have to take the seller's word. One of the ones we found does have a 30 day warranty. 2) Long block. This would give us peace of mind as far as the block being remanufactured and all the internals torqued and assembled correctly. We know our existing parts (pump, turbo, starter and everything work fine). Price is close to that of a complete engine with a core of $2000. Not sure if they'd take our core. That makes this more expensive and little more work. 3) Short block. We have the place and tools, but we'd have to rely on our own ability to get everything assembled and torqued correctly. We’d also be assumming all of our internals are good. On top of having to get a machine shop to rework the head and maybe reworking the crank. The cheapest option of all, but a lot more labor and lot more time involved. 4) New engine. This isn't realistic, but for giggles we called the Komatsu dealership and they have a brand new engine for just $10,600! :jawdrop Which would you guys do? Monte, thanks. The more eyes we have out there the better. I'll send you a PM.
Weld a plate over the whole mess, cover up all that junk what the hell its junk might as well try it! Personally I would have removed the freeze plugs, I would think that the junk along side the block and freeze plug would contaminate the weld. Drill holes in freeze plugs to avoid steam build up. just my .02 cents
Only other thing I can thing of is having the block hot welded but that process requires engine disassembly.
Have spent most of my life rebuilding something or another and FWIW, here are a few things I have found out. Forget #1; you already have a used engine. #'s 2 and 3 are viable options, but not knowing how deep your pockets are I would suggest removing the existing engine, stripping it, and finding out just what's inside. It's hard for me to take something apart and not bring everything involved up to spec: i.e. crank, bearings, valves, etc. etc. If yours has good innards and only needs short block, now you know. If on the other hand head needs reworked, pushrods worn bent or broken' timing gears shot-well, you get the picture. Without the aformentioned information at hand, your making an informed decision is impossible and becomes a guessing (wishing) game. My 2 cents...
Yup, tear it apart and see what's what. Then decide if #2 or #3 is what you need. Get a factory manual so you know whats good and whats bad.
Agreed, used engine is what we've got and we sure don't want another one like it. We'll probably begin taking the hood and radiator off this weekend. We're leaning toward #2 right now. We don't have deep pockets, but we're splitting the cost and we dont' mind paying extra for the assurance of having a good block with good internals. We only want to do this once!
We got a little bit done on Saturday...stripped the engine down. Got everything off except the starter and oil filter assembly. We're planning to remove the engine this coming weekend. Gonna need a bigger tractor for the engine. The little kubota L2550 got a little light on the front-end lifting the radiator assembly out.
If you plan on welding a cast iron block like this 7018 is not the rod of choice. There are special welding rods made for gray iron. These rods are high in Nickel content and quite expensive. Drill a small hole at each end of the crack. Have the block warm, as in preheated. Start in the middle and weld in both directions alternating left to right. Take your time so as not to let the iron get to hot from the welding process. Excessive heat causes expansion which causes the cracks. Iron won't stretch like steel when it gets heated.
I am dieing to know where you are at with your project? Airedale
Wish I had more to report. I'll tell ya where we're at. Last Saturday it was near 30 degrees and spitting snow and we just decided to stay indoors. We're too warm blooded for this cold weather! We've drained the oil but that's about it. We haven't removed the engine or head yet. I have made several calls all over the country in regards to a replacement engine. We're leaning towards a rebuilt long block and have found about three places that are in the running. Abilene Machine in South Carolina has a 468, non matching casting number, out of combine that they could build for us with about a 7 day turnaround time. RF Engines in Michigan can also build us a 466 with matching casting number. Prices are comparable. Also Bootheel tractor parts can build us a 466 with matching casting number. They offer the best warranty of all, year parts and labor, but they are also the most expensive. All these engines are out of tractors so we're looking at probably swapping oil pans, possibly oil pick-up and oil pumps...among a few other oddities I'm sure that we'd find as soon as we're bolting it up. I've also found a local engine block out of an IH tractor that could be rebuilt if our head and crank are good - we haven't inspected ours yet. Lastly (and we might be crazy for considering this) we've found a local salvage yard where I asked the owner if he had a 466 engine available. He said he actually just bought a 175 at auction from the Birmingham Airport Authority (I'm sure they weren't the primary sellers). He placed a bid for the loader and several other pieces of equipment and ended up getting most of it. He said the 175 did have the 466 and came with paper work stating that the engine was rebuilt not long ago by Tractor and Equipment, the Komatsu dealer in Birmingham. He said the loader had been vadalized that's why they were scrapping it. He said the radiator had been punched out, several hoses and lines cut and batteries stolen. He said the engine didn't appear to have any damage done to it. He made out like it ran, said the fuel system was in place. Said he'd take $2500 for the engine. He hasn't picked the loader up from the airport yet, but he said when he gets it we can come look at it and hear it run. We were hoping to go look at it this Saturday, but it's not looking like he'll have it by then - won't know for sure till Friday. If not this Saturday, perhaps next Saturday. He said the machine was restorable, but he was planning to part it out. Sounds promising, but we're a long way from knowing it's true condition. Even if the engine is unusable, there may be other parts from the loader that we'd be interested in.
boone: Thanks, for the update and good luck but, please keep us posted on your progress. I just found one of my pickup's with a flat tire it's 19 degrees we have over 30" of snow on the ground so I understand not wanting to work in the cold weather. Airedale
Boone: parts is good!
Now I feel like a complainer. Parts are indeed good. The guy hasn't gotten the loader yet, so another Saturday wasted...I'm kinda glad...it's too cold anyway. It's looking like next Saturday if it dries up to where he can get. He said part of the reason he hasn't gotten it yet is it has been too wet where it's parked to pick it up.
Boone, Where are you located? I'm pretty sure I've seen the Pepper farm truck that hauled your machine. Ron
Hey Ron, I'm located between Huntsville and Athens. Not too far from Culman.
Well, Aside from the block, and It's like you would know it would fail (Hell, who does?) you made a good choice of loader. The 175s can outwork the new machine their size and beat the 955. Parts should be available from you Komatsu dealer from what I believe. Any way, good luck and have fun.
hated to see you pull that engine, liquid glass with copper in it may have fixed it, but you had already pull it by the time I got on the post.
Yeah, we've had good luck with our Komatsu dealer. They assured us they could get most anything for it we need. The parts probably aren't too much more expensive than CAT or JD parts. Someone on the redpower site recommended sodium silicate, but I haven't heard of that with copper in it. That stuff might have fixed it for a long time. You probably don't hate it as much as we do! But, hopefully the route we're on will decrease the chances of us being caught out in the middle of nowhere on the farm with a major coolant leak. Plus, pulling the motor is much more fun!
Um,Ive never heard that anywhere... If I had a choice between pulling a block and welding/patching a fix... Well Id go for welding the block. BUT, If you had the choice between the loader or block, Im pretty shure you know my choice. That's just my opinion.
boone, I don't know where you are with your project at this point, but the last I heard, you were looking for a replacement engine or block. But would welding now still be an option? I am wondering if a successful job of welding could be accomplished with the engine pulled and disassembled, so the block could be properly prepared for an ideal welding procedure. I am no expert on welding a block, but I am guessing that it is just short of rocket science and very challenging to do it right. I am thinking that if the block were totally separated from all other parts, and the old weld completely ground out, and the block cleaned out, baked out, and pre-heated, and welded with the proper rod, welding heat, and technique, you could weld it successfully.
It's possible to hot weld it at this point, but we'd have to get the freeze plug holes reground and new plugs pressed in...unless we welded a plate over the whole thing. There's another crack at the top of the block close to the head that I haven't posted a picture of yet. We'd have to be 100% gauranteed this thing wouldn't leak after it was welded before doing all of this work...taking the injector pump on and off a couple of times was aggravating enough...much less the engine. The main reason with going rebuilt longblock is the warranty and peace of mind. Could it be fixed with less work and less money? Most likely, but we're just ready to get a new block and all of this behind us. No other updates...she still sits the way she is in the last picture. We're on hold waiting for the guy with the 175 with the 466 in B'ham.
You have made a good decision. That block in the crack area should have been sand or bead blasted and magna fluxed to reveal all the cracked areas before any welding was done. From the looks of it and the freeze plug locations it would have been an exercise in futility. All crack areas have to be drilled at the crack ends before welding...There may have also been spider web cracking in some areas which magna flux would have revealed. Cracks like that are next to impossible to repair. With the new block, you will know what you have and not have a butterfly or two....wondering when the next shoe will drop and you have sprung in the worst possible location,,,,,,,,,,,,
My first track loader I also have a 175 c and have done all the repairs that it needed myself. I have followed this thread from the start.I can not believe that some one destroyed this engine because they did not want to spend the money on antifreeze!!!!
Agree However, even if the system is drained..the block area along that crack line and below holds water after draining...Good low silicate anti freeze is cheap corrosion inhibitor and freeze protection compared to the mess that was created by a lack of good judgement..........or just plain stupidity..I find it hard to believe the nitwit that sold it didn't know about it...............................
Cast Iron welding..... it is an art. Many an excellent welder cannot do cast without it cracking or holding. Proper procedure is to heat the whole block (disassembled) hot, then it is gas welded with a cast iron rod. We have a couple of guys in IL that can do it without fail. I have had 2 big block chevy heads welded by him. They were blown out with parts of the chamber burned through (blown alcohol piece). They held. I also had the block out of my 64 Oliver welded by him. It was a freeze crack just like yours (not as bad). I only had to remove the engine. He welded that by heating the area only. I also believe success has to do with cooling rate of the piece. (I also tried the jb weld route first wthout success) Best bet to find these guys is to talk to the guys that are into old tractors. That cast stuff is irreplaceable. It must be saved. BTW, I cannot start a thread yet? How long does it take? Wags
I think you would have been better off dropping a rebuilt 4-53 or 4-71 detroit in your rig, I helped a guy put one in a 1455 case track loader last year, its about the same size rig as yours.
This is definitely a great example of how much trouble can be avoided by a small amount of preventative maintenance. Also how much trouble can be avoided by a buyer by looking a machine over really good before buying it. I'm convinced that the seller knew about it, although I think he justified not telling us by offering us every opportunity to work it, run it, and look it over. I fault him for not taking care of his machine but fault us for lack of due diligence in inspecting it. Dad and I can't help but laugh about it now...figuring this will make a great story for my kids one day when they hear about the time grandpa and I bought our first track loader. Wags, it takes 3 posts and then you can start a thread and post pictures...welcome! Scott, is a 4-53 or 4-71 cheaper, more plentiful? I can't imagine it being any more so than the 466, which is pretty tried and true from what I hear.
Hi boone, its probably a little cheaper and a little easier to work on but there is nothing wrong with a dt466 either. So I wish you, your loader and your family, the absolute best, Scott :usa
Gotcha. Thanks for the wlecome. I am trying to get a thread started. I have newby questions too. Wags
Intermission I had almost forgotten what the sun looked like. We took advantage of a gorgeous day and ventured down to Birmingham to try and catch a glipse of the 175C that the salvage yard had purchased from the Airport Authority. No luck, the yard was closed and no loader in sight at their yard or around the airport from where they have supposedly purchased the machine. Actually, we knew they hadn't picked up the loader yet, but we were curious about the place and we're hoping to stop in and talk with them but they were closed at 10am. :beatsme However, we did spot a 175C at Tractor and Equipment. Since TEC is right next to the airport, we had to stop in and see what they had (and stretch our legs). They had a 175C in the back that had seen better days. Almost looked like it had been rolled or something. Some of the metal was bent up on one side. Had 54xx hours on the meter. They also had several 475A's. Can't tell if the D475A was a refurb or not. They had probably 3 or 4 used ones outback. I can't get over the size of those machines!
TEC on the way to the airport, I've been by there many, many times. Boone have you called Finney Tractor on Pinson Valley Pkwy? The are located a block north of Thompson used parts. I have never dealt with them but they always have some older equipment for sale and they move a fair amount of parts through the doors. Regarding the loader the Airport Authority had, knowing how that board operates it is either a gem that has very little hours on it or it has been destroyed - above and beyond the vandalism. I can't understand why they would have one in the first place since they contract all of their construction but then again it doesn't surprise me either. It would also not be a surprise that they rebuilt the engine prior to selling it, shop foreman probably got a nice Christmas present that year from the parts house. You may also want to check with Kimberling Truck Parts. They are located right off I-65 and 18th street north. They have decent size bone yard and deal with a lot of municipal trucks, they may have a 466.
That's the place CM1995. I figured you might know this area pretty well. Didn't know of Finney - I'll give them a call this week. Thanks for the info. There's a lot of unanswered questions we have about the loader from the Airport Authority. I initially thought it strange that the AA would have their own track loader, figured they'd contract most of that type work out. According to the salvage yard in Trafford the security is so tight for them to get in there to get it makes me wonder why it would get vandalized in a secure zone. Seems like there would be a lot of easier targets elsewhere. If they scrapped the loader for a punched out radiator, hoses and stolen batteries I'm betting it's junk. Although big entities often do things that cost conscious individuals don't ointhead. Unfortunately, we're almost out of patience waiting on it...been almost a month and would probably be another month before they'd get the engine out of it if it checks out okay. We'll probably still go down and look at it regardless if we pass on the engine or not. We might be interested in some of lift arm cyclinders. We're probably going to go with a longblock from Boothill unless something pops up here closer. I'll give Kimberling a call as well.
Update Gave up on the salvage yard and the mysterious airport loader. We may be missing out on a fine piece of iron. I called once a week for at least 5 straight weeks and it was always "still haven't picked it up yet". :Banghead Maybe business is so good they don't need our money. Called Finney on Monday but they didn't have a DT466. Said they'd check around, but no word from them. Decided okay, enough is enough it's time to order the engine. Called Bootheel tractor to order a longblock but we insisted on it having the same cast number. They said our cast number wasn't in their system... ...a month ago it seems they could get one. The cast numbers may not be that big a deal, but since we're limited on knowledge of the 466 and most of what they have are from farm tractors we figure we'll play it safe and get one with at least the same cast number. Called Abilene and they DO have a rebuilt long block with matching cast number! Just ordered it! The plan now is to take our engine out on the 27th. Dad and I both have lots going on in April so we'll pick up the engine in mid April and plan on installing soon thereafter. Feels good to be making some progress again.
:drinkup
it's good to see you back to making progress again Boone! I've personally dealt with Abiline machine and have only good things to say for them. I've never had any trouble with the parts I've bought from them....good luck on this motor, and hopefully before too long you'll be making smoke again.....:drinkup
Can't wait to get the smoke rollin Monte! Just got a confirmation email from Abilene on the motor. Identical cast numbers and pretty close on the serial number too. The one in the machine is SN: 467TC2U079xxx (TC = Tractor Crawler?), the one from them will be SN: 467TT2U10xxxx (TT = Tractor Tire). Here are a few more details they provided: Block is align bored and the deck resurfaced, and the sleeve counter bore is recut. Reconditioned Crankshaft Reconditioned Connecting Rods & New Rod Bolts New Pistons & Sleeves New Rod, Main & Cam Bearings Remanufactured Oil Pump Reground Camshaft & Lifters Reconditioned Cylinder Head Remanufactured Oil Cooler New Gaskets & Seals No valve covers No oil pan And last but not least, painted red :tong
hey thats great! seems as though not too much work to swap parts to the new motor. My brother just got done swapping a 466 in another tractor this past week and he had good luck with that as well!!! As for here ...had a bit of bad luck..but nothing to really get upset about.....was working with the 2-155 last week and somehow or other the draft control on the lift arm linkage or something messed up and pushed the lift arm cylinder out the back side of the lift arm housing. Luckily we had a friend who owned a 155 for parts and managed to get the housing and contents for not too big of a price tag. We'll get that back together soon...maybe start another thread with pics.....seems everyone here just loves to see pictures......
Ouch!! Seems that would take a lot of force to break through the back side of the housing. Definitely need to see some pictures of that! Like you said, everybody loves pics...myself included! Got another email from Abilene today. The motor shipped from Kansas to Baker in South Carolina...that's where we'll pick it up next month. Dad called the local diesel shop and we're going to get the injectors pop tested. They seem to be fine, but figure while we have them out...why not? $7/8 per injector.
yep.....might as well get them tested...... it's easier to do it now than later...
Saturday - Removing Engine Good news! We all still have 5 fingers on each hand. Dad and I turned the wrenches and my brother operated the boom on his tractor. It was an early and crisp morning. Weather was a little cool, but warmed up to upper sixties midday. No major problems except for one stubborn bolt. Here are several pictures of our day...enjoy. We removed what was left on the engine - the valve covers, front cover, and oil pump. The front trunion bolts were difficult to get to, the socket wouldn't sit square on the bolt head. The bolt where the socket is pictured is the one that gave us grief. Took us an hour to get it out. Used a torch to heat and lots of PB Blaster. Finally with a 2 foot pipe on the end of our pull handle it started to give. :cool2 Removed the dowels in the trunion which was alittle tricky. We used a come-along to hold the torque converter up as we slid the trunnion out. Our first attempt was unsuccessful because our engine leveler was too high...couldn't turn the crank. Success! We were initially worried about using a tractor and a boom because of some power lifts being jerky. But we really didn't have anything else to use. But my brother ended up doing a good job and the tractor had smooth hydraulics which worked well.
more pics... All this for a crack Laying her down to rest. Not too much sludge in the oil pan. The bottom end of the pistons looked like brand-new. Maybe all pistons look like this :beatsme This is a surpise we found on the corner edge of the oil pan. Leads us to believe this engine has been tampered with in the past. It's welded on the other side...looks like this might leak.
last pic Hopefully late April and we'll have an engine to put in. to be continued...
good job with the pic's......
nice looking machine Thats a nice looking track loader!
That's a shame such a good machine had such a horrible problem. I've seen several times in the past when people would try and weld or glue something together that will never hold. With a heavy duty diesel engine like that your much better off getting a reman. engine or block. And if you've got a big crack like that who knows what the inside looks like. I hope your able to find a good replacement block or engine and even if it does cost you a hefty chunk of change you'll make it back in no time.
update Thanks for the encouragement guys! After dumping $4060, the "new" remanufactured engine is sitting in front of the loader! My parents went to Baker Abilene in South Carolina on Monday to pick it up and drop off the old engine. Dad and I made some progress this weekend. While we had the engine out, we decided to replace the big oil cooler lines that go to the front oil radiator. They were a bit blistered. Figured now would be a good a time as any. They were a pain and took a bit of time to get off, made and replaced, but we feel better about have new hoses ($143). I have a few shots of the new engine, but it's still mostly wrapped in plastic. The pollen is really bad right now and we'd like to limit what get's in the engine. From the looks of it, Abilene did a great job. I'll have some better shots when we drop it in (hopefully next Saturday). Today, we got the trunion/bell housing mounted and oil pick-up and oil pan mounted. We have one little set back and that's with the rear main seal. The one that came in the gasket set with the engine doesn't look nearly as heavy duty as the one we knocked out. We don't feel comfortable about putting this one in. We'd rather have the best seal they make on the rear for obvious reasons. Meet your new home... I was haunted by the old crack when I peeked under the plastic at this. Can't tell if the crank is new...probably reworked. We gave the oil pan a bath. We'll paint it all Dresser yellow after it's running.
It'll be like an new machine after you have that installed, you'll have to make a video of it running after it's done. On Monday I'm going to make an offer on that little IH 100E trackloader.
On the old Int. (ihave not done major eng. work on this model ) That I have rebuilt eng. on I built engine stand and ran eng in BEFORE installing - some eng. models DID have seal problems on rebuilds, also you can torque head reset valves fix any leaks , oil or water. - As well as time pump Not that much work if it saves you from pulling engine again- Drill four legs than bolt to engine , weld crossbar to bottom of legs to prevent engine from rolling over , also need rad. support
Hope things work out on the offer for the 100E. Let us know how it goes. I'll try to get a video up when we get it running. That's not a bad idea at all. I can visualize the setup. I sure hope we don't have any seal problems. That's one reason we're being so careful on the rear seal. Don't want to take any chances. Oh, I also forgot to mention we had our dipstick tube rewelded since we clipped it when we were working on the crack. We also straightened the front grill and had the cross supports rewelded. It's primed and ready for paint.
yup! take it slow and do it right. would maybe look into oem rear seal if you haven't already done so. As you said better to be safe than sorry. Your engine from here looks like it will do the trick. :usa
have just been browsing all of your threads congrats on your purchase. pity about the block being cracked, tip for you when welding cast when grinding crack or broken parts carbon is brought to the surface and must be filled off with hand held file. then pre heat and i prefer to mig weld. ihave a 175 with 4-1bucket unfortunatly it has 7in pitch chains that are driving on the pins sprockets are built up with grouser bar and mig welder . did you pull the head off the old engine interested to know if bore was worn and if there was any cancer on the head. look forward to see it operating.
Hey Monte, we ordered a seal from the CaseIH place. Hopefully it's not the same as the new one we have. They didn't have one in stock so we couldn't compare and the parts person didn't know what it looked like. One guy on RedPower tends to think it may be the same. One problem is we have borrowed a seal installer and don't want to keep it any longer than we have to. Thanks for the tip alan. We were curious about the head too, but didn't bother taking it off since the other engine was already on order. Not sure if this is a sign of it's condition or not, but 5 of the injectors popped right out, however it took 4 days and over a half a can of PB Blaster to get the last one out. It was rusted in...sign of water? :beatsme City Diesel in Decatur has our injectors and they're cleaning them for us.
it's a funny thing about aftermarket parts these days, sometimes something can look really cheap and do the job wonderfully and other times look really well put together and yet still fail miserably. All boils down to personal preference it seems
Update Haven't done much. The rear seal has been a setback and a headache. Got the new seal from CaseIH, it's practically the same as one in the gasket set. Bummer. It seems there are two types of seals, expensive and really expensive. The expensive seal goes on dry housings for tractors and trucks and the really expensive is for wet housings, any application with oil in the bell housing. The really expensive seal keeps engine oil out of the torque converter and oil in the torque converter out of the engine. We've ordered a seal from Komatsu ($166). Sadly, before we were enlightned we installed the AG seal. We'll have to tear the housing back off the motor. Oh well, we'll chalk this up to inexperience. Also, got the injectors back. Not only did they clean all of them, they rebuilt them too! We gave them the green light to rebuild any they found bad, but didn't expect them to find any. Guess we were wrong. They said all of them were bad ...of course. So we'll have practically new injectors. We've already nick-named this thing, "Money Pit".
Sorry I didn't join up here before now, I've been hanging out over at red power for years. I could have saved you the trouble with the rear seal as I went through the same thing when I bought my 175B. The one from Komatsu is the only one that will work. I think you will be well satisfied with the machine once you get the new engine back in. I have since sold mine but it was a real workhorse. It was also my first crawler but I bought it DOA for $2500 with a supposed knock in the engine. It had a 175C cab on it and I thought it would be easy to find a 466 since they are used in many different apps. When I got it home and checked the serial # it turned out to be a 175B, and an early one at that, with a DT361. The best quote I could find for rebuilding was $5000. I did find a used engine at Construction Parts in Goldsboro N.C for $2900 which they ran on a test stand for me and that's what I went with. I didn't have enough lift capacity to change it myself so had to pay $1600 for a mobile mechanic. The radiator core was junk and that was another $2000 to have reworked. Then, the starter, alternator and injection pump needed to be done. All told I had $10,000 in it. I used it around the farm for 3 years and sold it for $6000 because the right final seal was leaking bad and I didn't want to put anymore money in it. I then sold the old engine for a grand which only left me in the hole for 3K. Not bad for the work I got done and the risk I took with a first crawler being DOA. I've got the crawler bug bad now though, so I'm looking for the next project. I'm afraid the 175 is going to be a hard act to follow. I looked at an Allis HD3 over the weekend, but it was almost like a toy in comparison.
Awesome thread! Hopefully we get to see some brushclearing soon .
That's okay, late info is better than no info. Glad you joined when you did. Sounds like you did all right on that 175B. That's an interesting story. You're brave buying one DOA. Sounds like the price was right though. Before dad and I bought this 175C we found an older model Cat 951 that had a knock in the engine and a broken track tension spring. It ran and would load itself, but was in need of an engine among many other things I'm sure. Can't remember the exact price, but it was much higher than you paid for your 175B. We were too scared of that 951...we've never replaced the engine in anything bigger than a garden tiller...5 hp briggs at that! Little did I know we'd be pulling an engine anyway. So I'm anxious as to how this transplant is going to turn out. So far it hasn't been any worse than I expected. As long as the transmission holds up, I think we'll be happy with what we've got. Projects are definitely fun. That's all this thing has been (a project). I was hoping to be on the farm by now working this thing. To tell you the truth though, even though this thing has been a bit of a headache and money pit, dad and I have both looked forward to each day we've worked on it. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't have wished for this and if I depended on it for my livelihood it'd take all the fun out of it. One thing is for sure, I'll be happy camper when we get this thing rollin'. Hopefully so pdm! :tong This whole experience has been made much better thanks to you guys on the forum!
I've dropped some pretty large trees with dozers never with a crawler loader. Does it work the same way? Find which way it leaning. Dig three ways around the base. Build a little ramp up the push side. Push with caution looking for a main root going under equipment?
Assuming the same weight machines it's easier with a loader. Easier to dig around, and deep if it's a big old oak or something and you can push higher on the tree and get more leverage. Usually the dozers around a job are much bigger than the loaders with a lot more grunt.
just a note to say hello and welcome from another Minnesotan PDMC enjoy the forums it's a great place to be!
Yello there monte.I checked out your landclearing site Monte looks great and excellent job explaining your abilities. I work out of Rochester so very close by to yah. Did some flood control jobs around that area for the last few years so I bet I've seen yah around.
Hey guys im new here and cant start a new therad so ill just post my problem in here.... I have a 1978 international 175c and it has a reverse problem, it will take forward and run strong but will not take reverse untill the machine gets good and warm approx 30 mins of work time. we have had a service man look at it and he said pressure is a litle low at 220-240 psi however it takes foward fine at cold start up... we have cleaned suction filter and pressure filter both were very clean and still have the problem please help
Hi jason, glad to see another 175 owner on the board. Wish I could help with your problem. I'm sure someone on here or redpower might know. Keep us posted, I might be fighting the same type issue in the future. Finally got a Saturday to work on the loader. It was one of those Alabama days - hot and sticky. First order of business was removing the rear main seal we had previously installed. We mistakenly installed the AG/truck seal not knowing there were two types. The one on the left is the double lip, double spring, National seal for wet housings. The one on the right is the AG seal, minus the wear ring. Bolted the seal installer guide to the crank and slipped the new seal on. Put the seal driver on and started turning the nut. I don't know how you'd do this without this tool. We were fortunate enough to be able to borrow one from a good friend. Installed front cover and motor mount yoke.
The flywheel threw us for a loop. We'd get it on and get all the bolts in but two which wouldn't be lined up. Come to find out that the distance between a couple of the bolt holes are different, which is hard to see with the eye. The flywheel only goes on one way. We finally had to use a caliper to measure bolt hole distances so we could match up the flywheel to the crank. Guess this is for balance. I don't remember the manual mentioning this. My brother and his father-in-law dropped in just in time to help. Everything went pretty smooth except mating up to the torque converter - this took several tries. We finally used some long pilot bolts to marry the bellhousing up to the torque converter. Once we got everything lined up, including the teeth, we pushed the motor forward and together it went. Talk about a sigh of relief. It's safe to say, alot easier taking out than it was putting in! Dad's quote was, "next time we're hiring this done." One more day of assembly and I think we'll be ready to test fire...
Almost there Just got in from working on the loader. Ran into a couple of snags and so we didn't get to crank it today. We'll need another day at least. I'm beat :sleeping
Everything is looking good. I just noticed that your turbo is in back of the exhaust outlet whereas mine was toward the front. It's interesting the subtle differences there are in these machines.
Fantastic thread! Your so close now! Keep up the great work!
Boone, great series of posts. I recently bought a really beat up 175B, unknown year. Engine/transmission/undercarriage appears to be solid. After about 2 hours of use, we found the radiator is leaking and we knew when we bought it the starter was cranky. How much do you think the radiator weighs? We have to pull it as our first big project.
I'd say about 400lbs. I had to use my forklift to handle mine. It was $2000 to recore, and that was before copper got so expensive.
Thanks guys... congrats on getting your 175 goldtrigger. At least you got to use yours before your first big project I'd say yellowrose is probably right on the money with the radiator weight. We used a Kubota L2550 with the same boom you've seen in the pictures to lift the whole front assembly out minus the oil cooler. It's about all the litle Kubota could lift...heading up an incline was steer with the brakes. One thing to watch if you remove the front with a chain or cable is to watch the fan clearance. We were afraid of driving the radiator into the fan when installing. Mainly because our chain lift point was closer to the front which caused the radiator to tilt backwards just slightly. I have a pic if that doesn't make sense.
Radiator Lift Boone and Yellowrose, thanks for the information. That was what i suspected. I have access to medium sized Kubota so we should be able to lift it. Problem I have now is the starter has completely failed and we may have trouble getting the bucket up! Getting the starter out with the bucket down is going to be a real chore!
You can take it out from the bottom by taking one of the belly pans out. Make sure the battery is disconnected (hopefully your disconnect switch to the right of the seat still works) then take out the bolts holding the starter to the bellhousing, then once its out disconnect the wires. When reinstalling, connect the wires first, then put it up in the hole. At least that's what I did. The used engine I got came with a 12V starter with the tag painted over. It didn't take too long running it on 24V before I was in the same position you are in.
Yellowrosefarm, thanks for the info. I haven't looked at the belly pans yet, guess i will figure out how to jack the Beast up a bit and see what the underside looks like. Hopefully, they aren't welded on as some have reported.
With a little shoveling and a tarp, I didn't have to jack up the machine. Just try to put all the tools you think you'll need within reach. Crawling back and forth to get tools isn't much fun. BTDT
Great suggestions Yellowrosefarm. We preinstalled the starter, but had to take it off before installing the engine. Once the engine was in, we went in from the top with the starter. But there should be plenty of room underneath to do it. We've used plywood, floorjack and an impact gun to take the pans off/on. Maybe you'll have goodluck getting the pans out. The only one we had trouble with was the front little pan...still can't get it off.
looks real nice
We will take a look Sunday or Monday. It is so blasted hot here now, we have to go at it at day light and quit by about noon. One option we have considered it using my 4 ton winch on the front of my truck with a doubler, coming over the top so-called ROPS on the Beast and pull the bucket up and blocking in place. Problem will be scuffing the winch cable and picking up the truck vs the bucket. First option will be to try one last time to get the starter to engage, then come in from the bottom, then the winch.
goldtrigger. if you have a tractor with remote hydraulics connect hose to lift cylinder to lift bucket. i would first turn crankshaft via the fan might have to tension belts .engine stops in same spot on flywheel (1 in 4) , teeth more than likely rounded if starter spins but does not engage. a 12 volt chain saw sharpener will clean teeth up on fly wheel and a new bendix drive for starter motor hope this helps alan
alandownunder, you were correct. we turned the crankshaft with the fan, it kicked over and after several attempts, we finally found the sweet spot and she started. We have her braced up now and once she cools down, we will pull both the starter and the radiator. She overheated after about an hour, boiled the radiator out. So we have another problem. Don't you just love this old equipment! Boone, we figured out we can get in from the bottom, but we are working on dirt. Like you, we have a lot of junk in the bottom of the pans.
good to hear she fired up, did you check the radiator to see if water was circulating in radiator, i had a cat30 that kept overheating turned out to be the impeller stuck, the fan was turning on shaft she got hot enough to drop the valve seats. alan
Alan, not sure. The fan is turning, all looks good. Radiator has a leak, which seems to be the problem. Boone, we have taken over your thread so I am going to make my own thread today and show a picture of by Beast. Thanks bearing with me.
Goldtrigger, no problem at all. Thanks for the update. Glad to hear you got it started and the bucket up. That will make working on it much easier. It can take a good while to get that junk out underneath. Having the engine out really helps you get everything but I wouldn't recommend it Does yours have a shroud around the fan? Ours doesn't and I'm not sure if it comes with one. Not much has happened on our end. Been busy with other stuff. We're on the lookout for plate that goes over the optional crankcase breather hole located above the oil cooler. Our application uses the top breather. We forgot to take the old plate off the other engine. :Banghead Also the oilcooler on the side of the engine has a different size fitting and angle and so we've had to round up some brass fittings to replumb it. Unfortunately, the pipe coming down to the cooler is rigid so we might have to change this to something more flexible. Hopefully, we'll be back on it this Saturday...we're wasting good weather.
Boone, hopefully we do not have to pull the engine. That would be as drastic as what you have gotten into. Right now the plan is to pull the radiator, have it rod and corred, change the water pump and thermostat and do what we can for the starter. As Alan has said, when we move the flywheel, it starts, so it may require pulling the engine, but that will be the last resort as the engine runs great right now.
Saturday update - at long last! We worked on the loader last Saturday. We had about a day of work left to get it to a running state. Dad had worked a couple of days prior putting on what was left. We ordered the breather plate from CaseIH and it came in Friday - just in time. Dad was able to plumb up the different oil cooler without any major issues. He also got the injection pump, lines, and fuel filter assembly on Friday. One thing we badly needed to install was the oil pressure sensor, but couldn't get the 1/8" hex plug out of the block. We were so close to starting we could taste it. I don't think we could take another disappointment on this thing without it being on the sale block. Please let it run. The batteries were hot and fully charged. We put the breather on, and temporarily fitted the exhaust. After putting fluids in, we kept asking, "are we missing anything else?". We bumped the starter for a few seconds without throttle to get the oil pressure up. It turned over which was a good sign. We bled the fuel system twice. It needed a little persuasion but she fired up!! Here's a video of the first start. Had a minor glitch with one of the fan blades hitting the flywheel. When installing the front-end, we bent one of the blades. YouTube - First start of new DT-466 longblock. We cranked it several times and ran it for maybe 10-15 minutes total on Saturday. We didn't move it or try to drive it. We ran it enough to find a few minor coolant leaks. Unfortunately, we'll have to remove the oil cooler to fix one of the leaks. We'll have to remove it anyway to put the oil sensor in a new oil pressure port. All in all we're relieved and pleased with the way it runs. I'll feel good when she's broken in a little. Just 4 things left to do: Install oil pressure sensor, fix coolant leak on the oil cooler, paint engine, and change out gear oil in the rear hubs.
There is always something to complicate things.You will have a great machine when completed.You are over the hump.That is a good engine and you probably have a loader that will last you forever now and I'll bet that you can get your money out of it any time you like now.Nice going!!Ron G
Thanks Ron. I hope so. We're pretty excited at the moment with the way things are. We're planning another work day tomorrow so maybe we can finish everything up and take it for a spin!
Got a lot done this week. In the quest to find a longer, flexible oil pressure hose, we ended up with a lawn-mower oil pressure kit. Five bucks and it includes a six foot flexible nylon tube with a brass coupler. It works great and was just the right length and flexiblity. Also fixed the engine oil cooler leak. Cranked it up this morning and ran it for a bit. Put the belly pans back on. Took the valve cover off. Adjusted a couple of valves we found to be a little tight. Retorqued the head. Found another oil leak off the injector pump. Fixed it..we hope. Shot the engine with a coat of paint. We'll probably be painting the whole loader in the next couple of weeks.
A piece of friendly advice: scrap the nylon tube and get a piece of 1/8" OD copper. The nylon is cheap allright, but it will fail sooner or later. It is susceptible to abrasion and will wear thru if and where it touches anything, including the compression nuts and ferrules.
Second that. Your local "real" auto parts place should have the copper tubbing and ferrules on hand.
I would like to disagree about using copper tubing for a gauge. The vibration, especially from a crawler, will cause a fracture in the copper eventually. Will usually break right at the fitting. I don't think the nylon is very good either.
Funny thing is we originally went to the JD construction equipment dealer who made our hydraulic hoses in search of a line. Parts man said he had a flexible hose that would work, but it was a bit oversized and double steel lined...way overkill. He agreed it was overkill and he recommended the kit we bought from the Toro dealership. In retrospect, it might have been worth it. Replacing it with steel or copper may get on the todo list. This will get us going at least.
Not meaning to give you a hard time at all, just that I've done it with copper and nylon and the nylon lasted a lot longer. It's amazing what a terrific squirt gun that little copper line is when it breaks.
The nylon does appear pretty tough. Here's the oil pressure line and shot of paint. Before: After:
Looks really good. Hope it digs as good as it looks!
I've had really good luck on many machines with the 1/8th nylon tube run inside 1/4 inch nylon airbrake tubing. You should be able to get enough for $5 at a TRUCK parts place. If you get stuff like that at an auto parts place they think it is special and charge a mint.
final update Been busy the last few weekends wrapping up our todo's. Changed out the foul smelling gear oil in the rear hubs and flushed each side with 5 gallons of diesel. They were both about 3 gallons low of oil Finished final assembly today. Painted the whole thing...I know :crazy since we're just going in the woods with it but figured we've done this much work. New decal kit from Quipcal. I'm sure it will never be this clean again.
We had to get it a little dirty... The carnage Hope everyone has a happy 4th! :usa
THAT is your reward,beautiful!!! You might be able to sell the pics.Very nice.Ron G
Great thread! Sweet machine! Quick question, what did you do for prep work before you painted the machine? ken
:notworthy That looks really good! Some of us who've been following this thread have become attached to it. Please post some working pictures from time to time. :usa
If you get bored I got some stuff you can paint if you can make it look half that good.
LOL! You guys are too kind. Of course I wouldn't show you the shots with the runs in it. As far as prep work goes, we had removed most of the sheet metal anyway, removed the lights and masked over the labels we didn't replace. Used a heavy dose of degreaser, pressure wash bath, scrapers, oribital sander for the rough spots, and brushed the dirtier areas with mineral spirits just before paint. We rushed to do it all in one day. The rest we just looked the other way and painted over. If we were really going for show, we would have sandblasted, but...it's a loader. We used Komatsu paint, with which we were very impressed. It went on well, had a good finish and only cost an arm. Thanks joispoi, I'll try to oblige with some picture from time to time. Our next resto project will be the diesel tank at the farm and getting it cleaned and ready for fuel. I imagine this thing will be rather thirsty. Anyone know what we should expect her to burn an hour?
We actually had a new 175 on demo for three days back in the late 80s (?) digging basements. I don't know which model in the series, whatever was new in that time period. Dad like to put in long days and that machine would really put out the work. He had no problem pushing 80 to 85 Gal. a day through it.
Wow, that's looks great! Glad to hear you got the ol' girlup and running!
Gulp! Actually that's about what I was expecting as far as fuel consumption. Was hoping for less, but I'm sure it'll do a lot in a day. Thanks for the info Komatsu. Thanks upbrakie!
Boone, she looks great. Tracks look good and she appears almost new. The seat work and dash work are fantastic!
Thats a real tidy looking 175, credit to you,s , good loaders they are, I spent some time on one and they go well. Reckon a 4in1 bucket on the front and some rippers on the back would just finish it off. Cheers RDG.
Just found this site yesterday and I have spent all morning reading this thread. That is a good looking machine and around here they have an excellent reputation You did a great job
Well Done Boone! got to hand it to you , yer machine looks good! and I'm sure you are really gonna enjoy working with it!
Great job. You must be very happy. Thanks for posting the step by step re-build. Would love to see photos of dirt overflowing from the bucket. Baz
Thanks guys, it's been a pleasure sharing the experience. We'll be taking it over to the farm in couple of weeks. Will try to get some action shots.
Like Bofts, also a new member. I've spent most of the day reading this thread from start to finish. Excellent job. My expertise is in Hydraulics, machine shop work, welding, etc. I could see where some of what you did was not going to work but everyone has to make their own mistakes.... how else would we learn ? Looks like all your hard work is going to pay off and there's no substitute for hard work and determination it's part of what makes America great ! You are an inspiration to what America once was ! My hat is off to you !
Wow, thanks Kap! The work is finally starting to pay off. We took the loader over to the farm this weekend. The 175 holds 80 gallons. We had about a quarter of a tank. We put 55 gallons of fresh fuel in the 175. We topped it off with the fuel out of the old farm tank. Fuel in the farm tank is probably 4 years old. Figured diluting a little at a time won't hurt too much. Not sure how long diesel lasts. Using the old pump definitely gave me some excercise. Dad attacked the fence row by the barn. Nothing too big in here. Took about an hour. Before - this was taken a couple of weeks ago while my brother was in the process of bush-hoggin'. After - Friday evening, cleared this row in about an hour. Early Sat morning with rain on the horizon. Thankfully, it didn't rain. We got 7.5 hours in on Saturday.
cont... Next, we started attacking this long fence row Before During
cont... Piling the brush Picture taken from opposite side. The pile to the right is the resulting pile of the pictures above. We finished the long row trees. We also cleared the thicket that the loader is pointed at. I didn't snap anymore pictures the rest of the day and sadly didn't take an end of the day picture. ointhead But you get the idea.
Boone, you will have a fine bon fire after that drys a bit. We are back in a burn ban here in Lampasas County, probably will be till October. Sure looks nice and green there!
Read the whole thread, great story, pics and videos. I never wanted a crawler loader before, but now I wouldn't mind having one like yours. I am sure your story has led to many old trackloaders being bought and fixed up.
Looks great. Looks like Dad is having a great day. I have a Grapple Rake on my wish list.
We have several big piles of brush that will make for some big fires! We had a wet spring, but the summer has been a bit dry. That's actually made it good for getting into some areas that are normally wet. We still found some sinking wet spots that scared us but we were careful not to press our luck. Our triple grouser pads don't provide a real good bite. Thanks norite! Maybe the thread will help someone avoid some issues we had too. When you buy yours we want to hear about it We've been having a blast on the loader. Dad and I try to split seat-time, when I can get him off it We both really enjoy it. All in all I can't think of a much better all around tool or a funner way of clearing land. It's amazing what you can do with this thing in a day...even when newbies like us are using it. Unfortunately, the tree branches have taken out their revenge on the new paint job and it doesn't look so new anymore. We've been working most every Saturday with it and putting about 10 hours a working day on it. The landscape is really transforming. Glad to report the engine is running smooth and strong with no oil leaks that we've found. Doesn't appear to be losing or burning any oil. The transmission and cooling system are working great as well. The hydraulic fluid is a different story. Both bucket curl cylinders are back to leaking...one really bad. It also appears we have a hydraulic leak underneath which is probably around the pump somewhere. It's getting to the point where it's expensive to add fluid and we're afraid if something becomes disconnected underneath we may start a fire or burn up a pump before we know it. We still have some work to do on the farm, but we're planning to bring her back to the shop within a week for some inspection and maintenance. We'll be trying our hand at rebuilding the bucket cylinders and trying to find the leak around the pump...hopefully it's just a hose or lose connection. I had some pics but the site's pic resizer isn't working yet.
working pics We'll see if I resized these correctly...here's a few working pics of one Saturday. Nothing too amazing here. Close-up tipping out a small cedar. Pushing to the pile. A grapple rake would be very useful. My brother was cutting the same day on his M8540. If it weren't for him we'd probably have lost several hills to vegatation this year.
This ditch had mostly thorn trees all along it and the hill had several saplings. Glad to see those go. Zoomed-in. Zoomed-out. All I have for now.
Great pics! Looks like it's coming together...
Boone, great pics. Take a look at my thread. We are digging away at a pond. What fluid do you use for your tranny? We use Car Quest 303, which they say is the equivalent of 10 weight oil. We are not sure it is pulling as well with it. Talk about oil leaks, can't seem to pour enough engine oil in the Beast. And as most guys have said, these things are fuel hogs!. About 20 gals diesel for 3 hours work.
loader wish my D75 looked that good. guess that wont happen this old man is just too lazy. pushing same basic stuff mine uses 6 gallon of fuel an hour. needless to say it doesnt get much use anymore. i does come in handy though if something BIG gets in the way
Boone do you have trouble with kudzu stuff? I guess it takes over anything that doesn't move. and no easy way to get rid of it
Sorry for the late response. My wife and I have been out of town taking advantage of a long weekend. My favorite part of your pictures are the mean puffs of black smoke! I'm sure it sounds as mean with the straight pipe on it. We use IH oil in the engine, but for the tranny we're using Tractor Supply's Traveller brand. They claim it's Hytran compliant. It's a bit cheaper than Hytran and seems to be working well so far. Our fuel consumption has been better than we expected. We expected the worst. We're only burning about 3 gallons an hour, but we're only about half way in the throttle with it. We don't bog it, it has plenty of power even at half. This motor really screams when you pour the coal to it. stinkycat, there is plenty of kudzu in this area, but luckily we don't have much if any on our place. I'm not sure that's kudzu on the trees on the picture...it looks similar though. Your right though, it takes over everything and it difficult to get rid of. I've seen entire hillsides covered with it including trees and utility poles. Nasty stuff. We're bringing her home tomorrow to start tending to the hydraulic leaks.
I just spent the last hour and a half reading this thread! WOW! Very impressive to say the least. Really like how you kept us updated and with many clear photos! Great job!
Hydraulics Thanks 7GP. Got a saturday to start diving into the hydraulic leaks. The first one we're tackling is located under the battery pan. It appears the high pressure steel line going from the spool valve to the flex line to the pump is leaking. Cranked it without the battery pan in it and operated the boom. Shot out like a water gun...definitely the steel line. Draining what was left in the tank before removal. While removing we noticed the bracket that holds the line stationary was broken and so the line had too much free play. It was being hammered against a bolt head. At the tip of the arrow below you can barely see a hair line fracture. It seems the bolt head wasn't content in any one position. We were going to replace the whole line with a new one until we found out what Komatsu wanted for it - $600 . My guess is the fittings are what make it so expensive. Think we're going to have it welded. Maybe we'll have better luck welding than we did on the block. Just curious what type of weld would you guys use with what rod?
My first choice would be to TIG weld it- second and just as good if you have a capable person would be to gas weld with a torch- I do not mean braze as that can crack when there is a lot of heat or vibration
I had a similar leak on the pipe that runs down the loader frame to the 4in1 where it had worn through at a mounting point. I had to repair it in a hurry so welded it using a torch with mild steel rod. Still good five years later.
Boone, agree with Baz, mild steel with gas. Watch the heat!
Thanks for the feedback guys. I wanted to make sure if the welder mentioned some other technique other than what you guys mentioned we wouldn't be in the dark about what would work best. Ended up taking it to the same guy who welded our dip-stick back together and who also reinforced the bars in the grill. We were impressed with his work before. He ended up TIG welding the pipe and did a good job. Of course we had to paint it. Looks almost like new...beats $600 for a new pipe from the dealer. We installed and it seems to have solved the leak!
Hydraulics Part II Time to repack a cylinder. I'd only read about doing this. Have seen several pictures of it done on this forum and Red Power. Pictures of mile long cheater bars loomed in my head. Several people had recommended the JD or CAT dealer to do it for a few hundred bucks. But we're all about saving money. Worse case, we could always take it somewhere to tear it down if we were unsuccessful. So, with that we dove right in! Fortunately for me , all the help to do the disassembly job lined up on the weekend I was out of town so I missed out on much of the fun. I had my brother take a few pics of the disassembly so I thought I'd share. The problematic cylinder was the right tilt. While using the loader this summer, it kept getting worse and worse. We could literally see the fluid spraying out of the end of the barrel during use. If fluid was getting out, dirt was probably getting in...not good. A drip when not in use always kept the boom wet too. The crew included dad, my brother, his father-in-law who was here from Lakeland, FL. My dad's cousin also dropped in and lent a hand on the cheater bar. Man-handling the 4.5" cylinder was a 2 to 3 person job! In retrospec we could've left the barrel on, but dad wanted to get everything on the bench to see what we had. My brother reported that is all came off without much trouble. Once they got it on the bench and removed the piston cap, the rod slid out without major problems. So far so good.
disassembly continued The nut was pretty intimidating! The biggest socket we had was 2.5". The nut was 2.75" Ended up borrowing a 3' pipe wrench from a friend and attached a 4 or 5' pipe. It took three men on the pipe to break the nut lose. Since this went smoothly and all the help was there, dad decided that doing two cylinders isn't much more trouble than doing one. Went ahead and took the other cylinder off too. It's leaking a little but not as bad as the right side. We ordered the complete seal kit from Baum. It was $217 + shipping for both cylinder kits. We were careful to get the right part number because Baum said it was special order for them and they won't take a return on it. :beatsme
Kit arrived! Seal kit came in from Baum on Friday. At first glance we thought it was the wrong kit. The biggest part in the kit isn't used in our cylinder and turned out to be an extra. In fact there were 3 extra pieces in the kit that we didn't use. Here's a breakdown of the cylinder in the manual. We found the correct home for all the other pieces in the kit! They're all laid out from left to right as shown in the manual. The outer piston packing ring looks to be sintered brass. We left the piston outside in 40 degree weather for a few hours and heated the ring up in a pan of boiling water for 5 minutes as the manual directed. The ring slid on with no problems. The rod wiper had to be pressed in. We could probably get by with using a hammer on it but over the course of the engine swap we've been in need of press one too many times. So we broke down and bought a 20 ton press from HF. It worked great for pressing in the rod wiper.
Assembly Dad, myself and my brother put everything back together today. The new outer piston packing ring seem to stand up a little taller than the old so we were a bit concerned that getting the rods back in might be a struggle. Turned out not to be so, the rod slid in without a fuss. Torquing the nut down went about the same as removing. Unfortunately, it was raining and we didn't want to get the cylinders wet so we backed the tractor into dad's workshop and put the mojo to it. We used small plates of metal to keep the pipe wrench teeth from digging into the nut.
Finished Once installed, we fired her up and let the tank burp a little. Didn't see any initial leaks so we're tickled. True test will be when she's run a few hours in 100 degree weather. That's about all we've got planned till spring except another valve adjustment and deaccelerator adjustment. There's always something left to do on this thing
Good JoB! Ive been watching your posts! Inspiring!! Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the comments Fred. Figure if people keep checking out this ole thread I'll keep posting our loader projects to it.
Boone Sure looks like you have put a lot of work in your loader. Wish we had your place to work on mine. We have pushed a ton of cedar the last few weeks; 10 or 15 acres. Monday night we had a catostraphic failure. Something popped in the left rear planatary hub while Walt was pushing cedar. He nursed it back up on the road but we will have to fix it on the ranch. I went out yesterday and tried to break the track, no joy! The pin on the master link is bent, probably will have to be cut out. Today the temperature has dropped 30 degrees since daylight, so probably won't get back to it till next week. Any idea where to find gears and seals for the final drive?
Hey Joe! Bring it on up to Alabama. I'm sure we could tear something up on it! I hate to hear the trouble. We were just talking the other day about our undercarriage and breaking a track. Made me cringe. Hope we don't have to. But where there's a will and cutting torch there's a way. Were you using a ram to push the pin through or a big sledge? Don't know about gears and seals. You might try FP Smith in California. Haven't bought anything from them but we found they have a pretty big supply of IH/Dresser parts.
Boone, So far I have just tried a big sledge. The pin is slightly bent and may have been welded in place. I need to get the pad off to see for sure. Still too cold to work outside. Thanks for the tip on FP Smith. Once we get inside the hub and see what the real problem is, we will start looking for parts. Our big fear is that the main gear coming from the transmission may be stripped. If so, the Beast may be done for!
ingenious way of holding that cylinder rod fer sure when you took that nut off!!! I like it!!!! I think you can add drawbar to Atco's list of special tools in his thread. I've used drawbars myself in many instances where you just have to have that tough piece of iron that won't bend. IE bending rods straight as you are making a field repair on a piece of broken equipment on the back forty. Good job and I am glad you remebered to put something to cushion the rod end I'll bet that bit of insight saved you guys a ton of headache when you went to put the cylinders back on..
Boone you sure have done an awesome job with your write ups and pictures. I sat and read every post on this thread. I am also looking for a loader to go with my D4D. All I have been finding is dogs. Looked at a machine at a local auction house with 5400 hrs but when happened upon the same machine at a business the hours mysteriously changed to 3000. Keep posting I enjoy reading your thread.
Goldtrigger, I'll be anxious to hear what you find in the rear hub. Please keep us posted. Maybe it's not as bad as it seems and Beast will live! Monte, that drawbar is sure handy and it ended up being the perfect fit for the rod end. Not sure what we would have done if it didn't fit. We were fortunate on that one! How's the 953 running these days? Thanks jd1364. One good thing about this thread is it helps us remember what all we've done...the list is getting too long. The novelty of it being our first piece of heavy equipment has kept it exciting though. About that auction machine...seems some sellers will do anything. It's a buyer beware world. Goodluck on the loader hunt!
Well, I'd have to say the 953 has not let me down yet so I guess thats a good thing, I've been using it off and on all winter. I was told by my current customer yesterday that we're going to be getting into a new phase of my current project so the Cat will be up and runnning more and more from here on in. This project has been a lot of hand work so far this winter, but I don't mind, ya gotta take the good with the bad to get the work sometimes.
Glad to hear she's treating you right Monte. :usa Weather warmed up to 65 on Saturday so we decided to crank the loader up and give her a little bath. Our plans were to wash her down and get her ready for a valve adjustment but we got a little sidetracked on an unexpected discovery. We removed the engine belly pan to look for any new leaks and to make sure the main rear seal wasn't leaking and it wasn't. Engine wise everything is looking good. Still a bit of a leak at the injector but it's liveable. Wasn't too terribly dirty when we started I drove her back in the barn and we were going to start taking the hood off. But we discovered a puddle of oil at the back of the machine under the fuel tank It was coming out of the hydraulic steering booster Since we still had the battery pan out, the booster was no problem to remove. Feeling confident about our last cylinder repacking job we figured we'd take it off and put a seal kit in this one. :cool2 At least this one didn't require two people to carry. Looks like it's going to need a new hose too.
Steering booster seals The piston rod support (or cylinder cap) was held on by a snap ring. The seals didn't look like they were in too bad a shape...wasn't crumbly nor torn.
HELP - Steering Booster Cylinder We need some help with this last pic. This is an odd looking cylinder to me. When we disassembled the piston from the cylinder, there was ONE 1/4" ball in the hole of the piston. When we started reassembly, the service manual says there should be TWO balls in place in the piston. It's a mystery as to where another ball would go. There is only one 1/4" hole in the piston. Does it mean that two balls go into this one hole in the piston? That seems strange! The one ball that is now in the piston is very tight and would require force to remove it. Does anyone know if there truly should be two in the piston? BTW, the cylinder kit for this from Komatsu was $70! Manual points out two balls (part #18 if you can see it) The red arrow points to the hole in the piston.
I feel pretty dumb...it's one steel ball per cylinder ointhead
What caused the confusion was what the manual stated in section 17.2: "Flush out the oil passages in the valve and in the piston. Be sure the two balls (18, Fig. 68) are in place in the piston." It made it sound like there were two in a singular piston :beatsme
looks good
Thanks CBS. The steering booster is rebuilt with a new kit! We ended up replacing all three hoses. When we first bought the loader we replaced one of the pressure hoses from the dealer at $31. This time we had the other two made at Warrior JD equipment. They make great hoses at a great price. The pressure line was $10 and the drain line off the booster was $6. Good news, she still steers and no leaks. There was some discussion awhile back about the questionable oil pressure line we put on the motor. We ended up buying a braided 3000 psi line to replace the nylon oil pressure line. Little overkill but we never were comfortable with the nylon and couldn't stomach the idea of losing our engine and labor to a $5 line.
You guys do bang up work for a bunch of rookies. Nice job.
Haha, thanks d9gdon. Rookies is right. She should be in good shape this year. While we have it close to our tools we're trying to get it in as good a shape as possible.
Last weekend we went over to the farm to do some light dirt work with my brother's tractor. He's straightening a couple of ditches and fixing some washed out areas. Also picked up a few big rocks that we don't want to find with the bushhog when the weeds start coming up. As warmer, dryer weather approaches I can't help but look forward to getting back to the farm with the track loader. I started looking back through some of the pics from last summer I had taken and hoped to find some good before and after shots. I found this one that might give an idea as to how we've opened up the view a little. Before (last summer) After (last summer) - camera shifted back and to the right a little. Follow the tree line in background.
Last weekend I walked the place with the camera and took a few shots. Can't believe how the dirt has stuck to this root ball. This is where an excavator would be handy to dig off some of the dirt. Guess we could have a little with the loader. Check out the old steel wheel grown into the tree. We cleared the above tree so you could see the old cabin (below). There was also a brush thicket in the foreground. You can see the rootball to far left...almost as tall as the cabin. Lot's of rocks in this area too...don't like rocks.
Boone, this has been an excellent post, I literally spent the last hour and a half or so reading it straight thru. You've done excellent work both to the machine itself and reporting everything back to us, I know that can be very time consuming in itself. I have one question for you... the DT466 engine in your machine, what makes it different than a DT466 from say the millions in 80's school buses and flatbed trucks? Have they really gotten that rare or is the block cast different for the offroad machinery somehow? Literally, those things used to be everywhere around here but I suppose with the increased price of scrap these days they would be a tempting morsel to the scrap hounds... :S
I am no expert on the DT466. But I think any 80's model DT466 engine would've worked in our application since we only needed the longblock. We had everything off the old engine to put on it except the side breather plate. There's plenty of those engines out there. We only looked at tractor and contruction salvage places so that greatly limited our search there. Most of the truck engines were higher priced and came with a longer warranty so we didn't bother going down that path. We simply stuck with the casting number we knew would work. Thanks for the comments, BTW.
Head Lights Last summer we came close several times to ripping our headlights off of the loader with stray branches. We debated on just removing the lights altogether since we don't work it at night. But since the lights work and the previous owner put them on brand new we thought...let's keep 'em on...they look nice if nothing else. I researched buying some off a scraped machine but didn't have much luck. Even called FP Smith and was shocked at the prices for headlight brush gaurds. We decided to have some made instead. Didn't want to spend a fortune and so we told our welder to give us an estimate before he started his torch. He actually cut us a super sweet deal for $25/each. They turned out pretty meaty. He did an excellent job. We've inserted a stud bolt next to these in the plate so it doesn't swivel when it takes a lickin. Dad has pretty much finished up everything else: adjusted valves, decel brake pedal linkage and put new oil pressure line on. All that's left is put the hood, exhaust, seat frame and pans back on.
Beautiful fab work...
Thanks Derek, here's a shot of it mounted.
We worked all day Thursday on the loader...mainly putting things back together. Here are shots of the new braided 3/8" oil line we bought from Grainger. This replaced a little nylon line we bought out of lawn mower oil pressure kit. The nylon fitting was seaping a little around the connections. Because of that and based on some feedback here we scraped it.
Something we completely missed last year and something I'd recommend to anyone who's just bought an older loader. Go around and check the fluid levels in the all the rollers. We breathed easy when we found them all full. Next, check the fluid level in the idlers. We loosened the plug with it up then drove it forward so the hole is parallel to the ground to check the level. Filled with SAE-30W. We used a small tube attached to the oil can. The front left idler was pretty low! The rear hubs take gear oil, this one took 80W I think. We forgot what a pain putting the seat frame back in was. But she's now ready to go back the farm as soon as the weather warms. :cool2
There will be no other IH in as good condition as yours if you keep at it.Every old machine has oil leaks that you more or less live with considering age etc but that is unacceptable with you and you are to be commended.What an example you set for the rest of us. The problem with most of us is that the machines are busy and cannot be removed from service for maintainance or more likely there are other machines that are tying up our resources that need it more so the older machines get put on the back burner and it never gets done until they fail completely and have to be repaired and hopefully some of the small stuff gets attended to while they are in for service. Some of the old TD-**s were very capable machines and those of us who have run them in the past admire you for preserving the memories.Ron G
Thanks Ron! It's not perfect but good enough for who it's for LOL! Glad this thing helps bring back a few memories. Thursday, I was thinking of something you said early on about the brake linkage. We adjusted the pivot brake linkage pedals Thursday before we put the battery box frame back in. Not the best design. The cables were in good shape, but we found one of the pulleys was digging into the casting on the top of the transmission case. After we adjusted according the procedure in the manual it worked much better. After we got her buttoned up, she was pawing at the ground. Went and popped a medium size tree out. It's a "beast" as Goldtrigger would say.
Me thinks I will send my Beast down to you for a couple of months of tender loving care! I am not sure it would even survive the trip.
Hey Boone, Great thread, I spent a couple of hours reading it yesterday! What an inspiration! Keep on posting, John
This really is some amazing stuff Boone, and thanks for leaving the good, bad, and ugly in. I've tried to follow stories with missing parts before, and they are not very helpful to those that are headed down the same path. The mistakes of others are only easy to follow if they are left in place. (revisionist history sucks...) B-) You have done an incredible job with that machine, you should all be very proud. Jim
Goldtrigger, congrats on getting your final. Hopefully you'll be up and running soon. Look forward to seeing your progress. Been really wet around here this weekend. Got around 10" of total rain this month! Not sure when we'll be heading to the farm with the loader. But we'll probably be working higher ground when we do. shopteacher and jlillie, thanks for the comments. I've tried not to hide much of anything. This thread is the only place that records all the work we've done besides a spreadsheet with what we've spent and parts we've replaced. Got tons of pictures. Have tried not to over do it. Hopefully people aren't getting too tired of hearing about this thing. :bash Maybe the mechanical stuff is winding down. Maybe I can document some better action shots and land clearing pictures from this summer and the past summer. One thing is for sure, can't wait to pull the throttle back and watch the smoke roll...
I do not see how you could possibly post too much! John
Boone, Send some of that rain back west. We are in an extended drought. It hasn't rained significantly since Hermine came through last summer. Fortunately, the pond is still holding water after we dug it out with the Beast. Went out to the ranch last night to call Turkey and start the Beast. Got two Toms to answer just at sun down! I have started the Beast every week and exercised all the hydraulics; it is sad that it has started and run up so well during all this down time. All the parts and seals are in and will start on it this afternoon!
Glad we have rain, we'll need it come July and August. Wish you guys had some of it though. We were planning to put in two 12' gates over at the farm on Saturday as a "truck" entrance. Mainly for my brother's dually and 5th wheel. Also, so the truck and lowboy will have a decent place to pull in. Last year we had to cut the fence off the road at the flatest spot we had. The trucks had a bit of climb getting back out on the road. But too wet to do anything on Sat.
Hello boon, I have to say, I think this is one of the finest threads I have read on HEF. Your abilities to reason, to try different methods, and to 'use what you got', are top notch... :thumbsup And... You excel at writing, too; probably one of the best blends of story and pictures I have seen. I'm a bit embarrassed that I didn't see it sooner, but I only noticed it because of the post you made in the '955K leaking cylinders' thread: Yup... and I had to read it from start to finish, just as some of the other members said they did. Reads like a good book.... OCR
I left the 'e' off the end of your name, too... :Banghead OCR...
Yep, I agree. I noticed that. I could be a nice guy and fix it for ya. Naa.
Wow OCR and Atco, thanks!! I'm speechless and my head is about twice as big as it should be. You guys crack me up! And don't worry about the name. My granddad gave me that nick-name back when I was knee-high. No one knows about it except family and you guys...ssshhhhh.
Look at it this way boone, you not only have pics of your rig to show folks, from start to finish and beyond, but you have the whole thing logged with a heck of a lot of good conversation. √
Yup... your quote is 99% right, ATCO... √ Oh you noticed???... and can fix?... :tong You are welcome, boone. OCR And, I promise I won't mess with your name again... lol
Ok you old scissor billed hen pecker...I see that you left the "e" off the end of boone in the "so called" quote of my post. For the record, I didn't forget the e...you did. Bah ha ha hahaha
Jeez, I'm glad his loader doesn't have a cab on it. He'd never get his big head tamped into it. Now get out there and burn some of that new paint off of it, ya rookie. Is this a parade tractor or a farm tractor? 'Nuff said
LOL! I'm glad somebody's keeping me in check! Hey, we can't help it if we like to look good while we work hopefully we'll be burnin' paint soon! Stay tuned...
Weather and schedules finally all lined up. Got the loader back at the farm! Dad, brother and I have spent a long weekend doing all kinds of jobs. I have a lot of pics and will try to post them up as time allows. Got an early start at 7am Thursday morning. We hired a local dirt contractor to move it. The loader had about a 15 mile journey over to the property. The Mack truck pulling it could really move out. The owner said it had about 460 HP. Said he wished it had about 100 HP more! The local farmer's coop delivered us a fresh tank of fuel on Wednesday (210 gallons). We had drained the old farm tank of it's stale fuel. Last year we ended up using 5 gallon cans to fill up the loader each day we worked. That got old on top of making a mess everytime we filled up. The only bad part now is the labor involved in pumping it. Backing away without making too much of a mess in my grandmother's yard. Time to put this thing to work!
Hey Boone....looks too good to get dirty. Yep, the downside to tracks. Everywhere I go it makes a big mess on my gravel and shale roads even with 50 point turns. Hey! How do you insert text between your pictures? I tried for so long and finally gave up.
It can get a little tricky...try this thread. It explains how to do it better than I could:
Thank you....big help and so easy now that I can see the pic attatchment in the post.
Tightened up a couple of our piles and started some fires. Used an old towel soaked with diesel to start the fires. The piles were probably dry enough to start without though. Got rid of several of the old piles, made several new.
Month or so ago we had the county come out and install a new 40' culvert in place of the old narrow 15' entrance way. The county engineer's office will come out and spec it and tell you what size you need. After that you can pay someone else to install or you can buy the tile from the county and they will install it and cover with creek gravel at no charge. Not a bad deal. The tile was around $18/ft. Setting and aligning the gate posts took the longest time. We set the posts about 3' deep. Used 3 bags of quikrete per gate post with couple of gallons of water poured in the hole between each bag. The gates are 12' each. We tapered back to the road with a 24' offset. Once we got the gates hung, we hit our rythm on the posts and planks. Towards the end, we had a guy stop and ask if we were a fencing company needing any work. We politely told him, he'd have to do his own. We'll eventually build this area up a little with more gravel.
Nice looking entrance! Sweet deal on the tile.
Boone: I think you are going to be really glad you got rid of all the grease on the track loader, with fires burning like that and the need to push up ...........sparks.........and well anyway you get the picture. I burned about a dozen piles a week or so ago.....and was thinking same thing (glad the machine is fairly free of grease!)
Boone: here's a pic of my ole girl..............not as pretty as yours.....but it works nicely.....three years so far of ownership and only one hydraulic hose blown. (aside from normal maintenence) It's got it's issues as well.....but we try our best to stay on top of them. this picture was taken in third week in Febuary when I was still tearing down a barn.......it was a real good day fer sure because I was finally done with the floor and the bull work........ from here on in it was all seat time. We were saving the lumber for resale so it had to come apart a bit at a time by hand.
Thanks OldandWorn! It's much better than the old entrance way last year where we had to cut the fence and climb a hill getting out. That's a sweet picture Monte :cool2 She's looking good! Those tracks look like they mean business! I like it. There's been times I wish we had some double or single grousers. Mainly backing uphill. Yeah, I haven't ventured too far into the piles after they've burned for fear of fire. The neighbor drove over early one morning after seeing me push and shared of few horror stories of catching dozer's on fire. He said he burnt a D6 completely to the ground one time. Said an ember from a fire he was pushing too was pulled in on the side and got in the bottom of the belly pan. He said he's caught several others on fire but managed to put them out before the machines burned. After talking with him, I stayed far and away of the piles. It made me remind dad we needed the fire extinguisher out there!
the tracks and pads were put on last year with the idea that I wasn't going to be working flat and level all the time......... I was really glad for the singles last week or so when backing out of a few holes that were to be used for the root balls and rocks we managed to push out. It got so soft down in the bottom you didn't dream of sitting still for too long because the clay was pumping so bad. If I'd had double grousers like I orignally had I'd still be in that hole! lol The thing that bothers me the most is the idea of having to push the piles together and catching the gust of wind that brings the sparks up all around. I usually wet the machine down thouroghly before even attempting to push fires together.......it takes a lot of water, but well worth the effort I think.
We made the entrance wide enough to get a truck with the loader through, but also so my brother can get his rig through. My brother has a couple of old tricycle tractors that he takes to shows. But this one is his pride and joy. The back tires are loaded and widened and it can walk about every hill we have on the place. The cutter is a Woods DS96 (8 foot). He sustained one flat tire while he cut this weekend. Thankfully it wasn't one of the rears. Front tire came in contact with a deer antler. Tire shop was able to patch it for him. Our farm tank didn't stay full very long. Notice how I parked myself in the shade taking pics while he pumped. LOL!
nothing like a little workout before the real work begins........lol call it "stretching" Seriously though.... maybe check out craigs list for a 12 volt pump, it sure made a heck of a difference here.
We were talking about that. The old diaphrams in the pump are leaking bad. If we go to replace it, we'll probably replace it with a 12V pump. It's not so bad on filling the tractors, but that 175 will flat wear you out when it's empty.
Clearing pics Making the way through the jungle
Next, we started on this little clump. Most of what you see standing is smack in the middle of jagged surface rock. We cleared a good bit of it last year but moved off it because of the rock. Now we're back to finish this job. The worst part about this area was the slope and the rocks. :Banghead The slope wasn't bad, but the rocks were jagged and sticking up just enough to make ledges. Getting sideways on sloping surface rock and trying to turn was about like riding on ice skates.
More rock hidding in the brush. Best way to tackle these were to go up the hill and peel them out.
Dug a big hole to put the rock in. This was much more fun than pushing rock.
I figured I'd hit water, but I was able to go deeper than I thought. It started bubbling up out of the ground when I hit about 6.5 or 7'. I didn't stay down in there long for fear I wouldn't be able to back out. Hope it's big enough for all the rock! Just big enough.
All done for the weekend!
Great pics! Looks like some fun was had.
Really nice pics boone! Can you imagine if we were still using film camera's. If I tried digging a hole like that on my property I would end up with twice as many rocks as I started out with. One of my cliffs down by the river. No vans yet though. :cool2
Thanks Scott, fun indeed...tiring too lol! Wow, that's what I call some ledges O&W. Do you get many rock falls? Looks like some of those sheets could slide off any minute. Having my little digital camera makes it so convenient to stick in my pocket and use when I "think" I have a good shot...most times I don't so I just take pics in volume and hope that statistically I'll have something worth showing! Glad to hear your not living in the van yet
Yeah, I delete most of my pics after going crazy with the button. I've only had the property for about 1 1/2 years but no major rock slides yet. There is about 600' of this stuff and I'm constantly picking up smaller rocks off the road. A large stump fell one time that required the front loader of my hoe to move it out of the way.
G'day Boone, Eh mate great read and I mean all 21 pages of them too. After reading this thread I do want want to start on my ol' MF50B hoe but looks like I'll need to wait yet another month as when a drill grabbed at work I broke 2 of my fingers. Also I can't say I've any of those track loaders over these parts but I really gotta take my hat off to ya for one great rebuild job. Cheers Bryan
O&W, it's amazing where those trees will grow. Looks as though some are growing out of the rock. G'day Bryan. I'll be on the lookout for a thread on your MF50B! Just be sure to nurse those fingers back to health - pity about the accident. I remember when I was younger, the man who installed the septic system where we lived used a ** 3165 (??) backhoe. Reminded me of a Ford 2000 or 3000 tractor outfitted with a backhoe, much heavier of course. He hit rock while digging for the tank and he had that machine rockin' all over the place. It was old and wore out, but it must have been a good hoe. He used it everyday putting in septic tanks. He never hauled it either - drove it everywhere he went all over the county. Planning on an early date with the loader tomorrow. Have many project to do with it yet.
Saturday started early. Some of the tin on the outbuildings was looking a little ragged. Went around adding a few screws. On the loader, we tightened a couple of bucket teeth, greased her up and refueled. It was a long hot day but the loader performed flawlessly. We spend most of our time digging trenches to hold big rock. Ended up fairly fortunate by not finding rock in the holes. This one rock pictured in the bucket was one that I broke off on the edge of the wall. It decided to come out of the wall between the tracks. It got jammed between the track and the wall. Once I got out of that pickle I hopped off and took a break. Sorry I didn't get any pics of the bucket overflowing.
This was the biggest rock we've unearthed and been able to push to date. We're constantly amazed at what this thing will push, but this was truly a battle of the titans here. Got it to the hole and laid it to rest.
That is a Huge Rock!!!
You could feel the thud when it hit the ground too!
Update from this past Saturday... Started 7am. Another day of what feels like abuse of the machine - digging up rock. We've have an isolated little strip of land that's covered in rock. If we don't get rid of the rock where a bushhog can get at it, it'll just grow up again and our clearing will be in vain. More rock == more trenches. It rained Friday so the dirt was prime for digging - also cut down on dust. Started on my 4th rock hole today. Decided to make this one much bigger and wider. Even with sometimes 2 yds in the bucket it still took longer to dig this hole than I thought it would. My only complaint about this loader is visibility. Hard to see how much of a cut your digging. But, I'm finally getting the feel for it and more efficient at digging these holes.
Getting deep now... Didn't get too close to the edge when pushing these up for fear of the wall caving in. Have a few more to push in here, but this should allow us to get these a bit below the surface when we're ready to cover.
We've gone from this... to this...the walnuts were about the only trees worth keeping...they're ugly so we may end up letting them go, but for now we're keeping them...just a few more rock to go Starting to shape up and look nice.
Out of all the days we've been clearing and the rock we've been in, I haven't seen one snake...until today. At one point I was spotting for dad. After he pushed into a rock pile, he came back out with something hanging down out of the bucket. I looked a little closer and saw it was a female chicken snake that the bucket had cut in two. Hated we killed her. She was pregnant with two eggs. I saw what may have been her mate a few minutes later coming out of the same pile. He was probably 5' long. Wasn't aggressive at all. While I was watching him from a few feet away, a field mouse or mole scurried by my feet...made me jump a little.
Ewww snakes, thats a good read thanks for sharring boone. muzy
Boone, There are quite a few other trees growing out of the rocks not seen in the picture and it amazes me also. That is one big rock you have there! Were you able to move it to one of your holes? I'm starting to trench for power on my property and the rock collection is growing. I'm not sure what to do with them at the moment, other than pick some places and start piles. An old dump truck or dump trailer sure would come in handy for moving my rocks around. Have you thought about starting rock piles or boundaries instead of burying them? Your machine could pass as a model in a kids dirt pit in that one side view looking down in the hole.
My sentiments exactly! O&W, finally got that gigantic rock into hole #3. It was mostly downhill to the hole after the loader got up over that edge. It was push a bit till it dug in, flip, push a bit, flip. Everytime it flipped and landed, my brother who was on his tractor a few yards away would turn and look. Said he could feel it land everytime. The location we're clearing is kinda the center-piece of the property so we're trying to go for a clean look. Rock boundary wall wouldn't be a bad idea. Dunno, I couldn't wait to dig some holes with this thing, so just figured this was a good excuse. I took that one picture from atop the dirt pile. I thought that was a neat angle. In that same pic - notice where the barn swallows let us know what they think of this kid's toy being in the barn?
Tuesday, July 5th - got to the farm at 5:30am :sleeping. As oppossed to playing in the rocks, we're going to tackle a project that we've put off for quite a while now. There's a ditch between the house and the barn that has a few small trees (sycamore, thorns, cedar, and a willow) growing up. The ditch has such steep sides, it's just awkward to get at by hand or tractor. Enter the 175. We'll use the loader to shave the banks and cut a new slope. Dad and brother will be spreading the dirt with the Kubotas. The main reason we've put off this little ditch project is that the stream that runs in it is spring fed and so even in the dryest of times it still has water in it. It's not extremely dry now, so I'll just have to be extra careful. Here, I'm standing on the culvert to the road that leads to the barn. The land out from the culvert has a small pool of water for where the cattle would drink (if cattle still roamed here). It's somewhat sloped already and the ground is extremely soft - we're not touching this. We'll start out further down and take it all the way to the little hedge line where the road is. Getting a good start on the cut. You can probably see the glare of the water to the left of the big pile in the middle. The 175 was hungry and dirt was on the menu! Got into a bees nest in the clump of trees to the far right. As soon it shook, they came after the loader. I thought I was on their menu, but they left me alone.
The dirt spreaders: The slope should be mild enough... About mid-afternoon I got started on the other side. The other side's bank wasn't near as high. Couple of spots I almost got stuck. I could see the ground out around me pushing up as the weight of the loader was pushing down on top of it.
So here's a before and after shot of the last 50ish feet or so to show how much dirt we moved out. We got so close to finishing this in one day. Little more cleanup to do. When it dries a little more we'll put the finishing touches on it and maybe sow it in some Kentucky 31.
Nice work,it is fun for me to see things getting done as nobody wants to let me near their equipment anymore .Ron G
Thanks Ron, I like to see it again too...it reminds me of why I'm a little sore the next day I'm glad this thing is finally putting out the work! In a few more days of work like this, it will have paid for itself.
Boone too bad on the chicken snake, she would have been good to have around the property but there's probably more. You guys will need to adjust your grade over the fill holes you pushed the rock in over time as the dirt will settle between the voids of the rock. No big deal as it's pasture, just watch the settlement and drag a few box blades of dirt over the depressions as they appear. Good thread, keep it up!:drinkup
Looks like great work! You have real dirt! We haven't seen any water in so long, it would be a miracle to dig down and find any water at all. Cistern is dry, spring is dry, pond is rapidly going down. In another week or so, it may be dry to. Even the rattlers have gone away, looking for water! Good thing we pulled the cows out early this year. If we can ever find time to fix the Beast, we could push some more cedar and maybe build a catch pond to start a place to hold some more water, assuming it starts raining in the Fall, which it will. I am in Florida for the next 10 days, then back in DC for 7 days. We may get back at the Beast to begin reassembly about 1 August!
Honestly, I hate snakes, but your right, some are good to have around. My grandad always allowed a huge chicken snake in the milk barn to keep the mice out of the feed room. There's plenty around here. Saw 3 more on Tuesday. Two chicken snakes and one water moccasin. Two were victims of the equipment and the other chicken snake escaped as far as I know. Also saw rabbits and big gopher rat...probably plenty of other creatures I didn't see! Good point, it will probably be awhile before all those voids settle out. I've only filled one of the smaller rock holes. When we fill the rest, we'll keep an eye on any depressions that form especially after the rains. Good thing is we have plenty of dirt stockpiled. Thanks CM!
Thanks GT. The dirt has been great. This land has always been nice and fertile. The slope we cut was exactly where my grandparent's old garden used to be. Some of the best tomatos and potatos you'd ever put in your mouth. Hope you guys get some rain. We've been fortunate to have a fair amount of showers about everyother day here for the last week. Some of our early spring weather has been very severe - tornados in April. I lost a bradford pear tree during one of our last wind storms, but that was minor to what some people have lost. You might remember on the very first page of this thread our farmer friend who helped us haul our loader home - used a white international. Here it is after the tornados went through in april... He lost his house, shop and damaged every piece of his equipment. Thank the Lord his family was safe in a storm shelter. They're about to start rebuilding their house in the next couple of weeks. Helps me not to take anything for granted. Anyway, sorry for the tangent. Hope you have safe travels. You wouldn't happen to be down there for the shuttle launch would you? Looking forward to you getting the beast up and going!
Boone, What A great thread! I have enjoyed reading it. I recently bought a 250 C this was very intresting and informative.
Boone, I went out to Pleasant Grove west of Birmingham last sunday to go the FOP shooting range. We are many miles south of you and the destruction from the April tornados is really surreal. I had seen the media video and pictures but those don't compare to seeing in person. I mean even the grass is gone and large oaks are stripped of their branches as far in either direction your eyes can see, where the tornados went through. The trees that were stripped of all their branches but still alive are putting out leaves, it's mother nature at it's finest and very strange looking to boot. It's very fortunate your friend made it through considering the destruction portrayed in the picture and I hope he has the insurance and the funds to rebuild what he lost.:usa
Yep, I had to work on a machine just north of Brookwood Alabama about a month ago. Was driving down Lock 17 rd and came across a stretch about a half a mile wide that looked like a giant brush cutter sat down on the ground and tore it all to pieces. Twisters are mean critters.
Thanks for the comment 250c and welcome to the forum. Congrats on your 250C! That's the big, big brother to the 175...I can only imagine what you could do with that machine. Got any pictures of it? CM, I know what you mean. The storms were even worse south of us where you were talking about. I only live a few miles from the path of the one that went through up here in Limestone county. The destruction is unbelievable. It's hard for me to comprehend the power in those storms and how so many actually survived based on the destruction. Thankfully, my friend did have good insurance that should cover most everything. Willie, the brush cutter is a good description. The tornados up here went through a path of the big 3-phase metal tower TVA power lines and tore them down like you ran over it with a lawn-mower. Anytime it thunders now, I'm looking for cover!
Boone I'm still feeling this machine out but I plan on building a tank (that's texas talk for a pond lol) to start with. As for pictures I'm a tech-no-dunce but my girl friend has a 15 year old that might help me out.
Last weekend the loader did a pond job - filling one in. Long story short, my brother bought a few acres a few years ago that had a dry pond on it. Since the banks and soil type were hard packed with bit of rock, he decided to forego using his tractor and have the 175 trucked to his place where he could make quick work of it. I only have the after shot, but this gives you an idea as to how much dirt was in the banks. I think he only had 12 truck loads of dirt hauled in and he just about has it filled.
New Teeth! Our old teeth were getting a little worn and short. Called Romac Industrial parts in Georgia and gave them our part number. Got the Esco style dirt teeth, lock and pins. Ordered 4:30pm Thursday, arrived next day at 2pm. Knocked the old pin out. Slid the tooth off. Knocked the rubber lock out. Most were in decent shape.
cont... Insert new rubber lock Slid on new tooth and drove new pin in place. Old vs New. The new teeth are 7" and the old one's were about 4.5". All done.
Looks good,be sure and save the old caps,you never know when you will need one.Ron G
Boone, you have the best looking 175C in the business. Where do you get the paint? I am in Florida this week and DC next week but back on the beast 1 August to put the final back together. My bucket teeth are welded on and worn out. Guess I could cut them off and weld new ones on!
+2....even the bucket is almost perfect. The top of my hoe bucket looks like a train wreck from people lifting things the wrong way.
I'll be interested to hear how the new ones work out. My teeth look about like your old ones but I still haven't done any digging yet. You mentioned "dirt" teeth, is there a different tooth for rocky soil like mine?
Will do. Since they were somewhat reasonably priced ($21), we even ordered an extra tooth with lock and pin in case we break one. Hopefully, that wouldn't happen. We'll probably use it in the dirt for awhile before we get back in the rock.
Thanks GT. We got our paint from Decatur Tractor and Equipment Company. Part # was 1400002H2 Dresser yellow. It was $34.80/gallon and we ordered two gallons. Used about a gallon and a half on the loader. It was very good paint. We didn't put any hardeners or thinner in it. I would highly recommend it. We're lucky with only two of our outer shanks being welded on. Once you get the teeth off, you'd probably have no trouble replacing as long as your shanks are in good shape.
I'm interested to see how digging compares as well. These are made in Korea according to the parts guy. Price was right though. There are several types of teeth available. They do have a rock chisel tooth, tiger tooth, abrasion tooth, ripper tooth, etc. The teeth we took off looked to be the same type tooth we put on and it seemed pretty strong in the rock we were in. Protecting the shank is the main thing as those can get up into some $$.
From 34 k feet over the Gulf on my IPad! Enroute home for a day or so. Will try to find the paint and shoot some at the beast before we sell her! Next Sunday enroute to DC for real job! Doubt we screw with the teeth. Too much gas to burn the old teeth off. We'll see how it goes once the drive is functional!
That should be in the top 10 list "How I Know I'am Addicted To H.E.F." thread. If you get the beast looking too good, you may want to keep it! :cool2
No way to keep the Beast. The Boss Lady has put a contract on the Beast! Be gone ASAP! We just have to get her back operational so we can get as much for her as possible,
Goldtrigger if you get the "beast blues" feel free to come look at the 250 I think the Cove is only 23 miles from Gatesville
250C, You can't be that far away. The Beast is northwest of Topsey about 5 miles!
A new guy here. I bought a 955K and finally got a manual and parts book, but I am having trouble finding a used Recoil spring assembly. The spring is broken in several pieces and the rod that is between the grease cup and the front idler has been cut and lengthened. I thought it may be easier to find a complete assembly. Any directions?
Rock and Dirt is a good place to find dismantled equipment and parts - http://www.rockanddirt.com/search?m...el=955&distance=&zip=&submit.x=26&submit.y=13
If you haven't tried yet it might not hurt to give your Cat dealer a call. Our dealer has a dismantling program and they are networked to various cities. It usually costs about half of new but they do come somewhat guaranteed. Sadly those kind of parts may be hard to find in good useable condition.
MRB, here's a few dismantled machines too - http://www.machinerytrader.com/list...TID=3&Manu=CATERPILLAR&Mdltxt=955K&mdlx=exact
boone have you ever estimated your fuel ussage?
I'd say around 3 gal/hour the way we run it. We can run two 10 hour days and and the end of the second day have around quarter of a tank - that's burning through about 60 gallons. Fuel consumption has been much better than we expected.
as mentioned in another post there are many kinds of teeth availible....generally dirt teeth are longer and thinner.........rock teeth will be shorter and much bulkier sometimes even round pointed...
Boone, Your machine looks awesome!!! I bought a TD7 and am in the process of getting new rollers, pins and bushings, and sprockets. Also want to throw some fresh paint on it soon. However I live in Washington which tends to have wet winters. I have a shop that has a lean-to off one side that is big enough to park the dozer underneath but I would have to enclose it. Would you advise against painting in the winter? It's usually about 45-50 degrees outside this time of year. I was thinking about laying down some visqueen, since the shed has a dirt floor ( to keep the moisture down), and starting up the kerosene heater. Then degrease it, sand blast and repaint. I don't know how much more complicated it would be. I've never painted heavy equipment before. I looked at the place you got your "Dresser Yellow" paint but it doesn't look they ship out of state. And that part number for the paint doesn't lead me to any other distributors. Do you know of any other sources for the paint? Thanks, Zack
Thanks Zack! Congrats on your TD7. I'm no professional painter. But based on our experience with this, I would not recommend painting in 50* weather. We painted this machine in hot July with high humidity and it took the paint at least a week to cure. We didn't have much of a paint booth, but it worked pretty well. The barn we're in has plastic under the gravel so that cuts down on the moisture coming up above. Sounds like you have a good idea on laying visqueen down under the machine. Here was our paint booth the day we layed it on. We had stripped all the decals and masked everything off... We pressure washed it and tried to degrease it as best we could with the limited time we had. The old paint was in pretty good shape, so we used that as our primer. The paint has stuck really well. You should do well if you sand blast it too. Here's a shot of dad in action. He painted the parts that look good. I did paint the bucket and the undercarriage. Funny, most of that paint has worn off by now :beatsme Hopefully your local Komatsu dealer will have the paint mentioned. That'd be the first place to look. I'm not sure where else you could get it. I want to say the first batch of paint we bought ended up being the Komatsu yellow which was a little bright for the Dresser. Had to take that batch back and get Dresser yellow. Make sure you check the color before you leave with it where ever you get it.
Looks like new with the new paint.
Okay thanks Boone. Looks like I'll wait and just rebuild the engine this winter. Not a whole lot of dirt I can push in the winter without just making a mud hole.
Hello Boone, you'll NEVER guess what I just came across!!! YEP!!! A 93 Dresser 175C with a 4-in-1 bucket, 800 hours on an "overhaul", and it's even in MY area, AND in my price range!!!!! Imagine that!!! I have read this entire thread, and I'm VERY scared, and VERY excited, at the same time! After seeing the problems you encountered, well of course that's the "scary" part! HOWEVER, seeing the "end result", that's the "exciting" part!!! I'm going to check it out though, this COULD be the machine I've been looking for, since it has the 4-in-1 bucket, as I would REALLY need that option!!! Anyway, I will let you know, but I may just wind up with it, needless to say this thread has given me MORE than enough stuff to "look at and consider"! So maybe, if nothing else, you're "misadventure's" may help me to avoid the same!??! IF I keep my wits about me!!! Thanks SO much for posting ALL of this! Your loader looks STELLAR!!!!! Best wishes, JD in Missouri
We enjoyed restoring it and making it look new. The new decals really set it off too. All the cosmetic work made us feel better about everything we had invested in it. Goodluck on the TD7 Zack. Keep us posted on your progress.
That's great JD. Maybe this thread hasn't "scared" anyone too much. As most anyone who's probably on this forum knows, owning any heavy equipment isn't for the faint at heart. Sounds like you're really doing your research and so that should pay off for you. Look it over good. The 175 has been good to us since fixing most of it's demons. We've put almost 200 hours on it since putting the new engine in. We've found parts are available at our local Komatsu dealer, but they are expensive. We would definitely buy another 175 again, but our radar would be on high alert when buying another one. Goodluck with it and keep us posted!
Thanks Boone, this was a VERY educational, and enlightening, thread for sure!!! It has given me a LOT to think about, consider, and watch for, when I go looking at different machines. I totally understand how you, and your Dad, overlooked the crack in the block, because the "tractor ran so good", and thus did not look too closely at the "physical" traits of the motor. I'm absolutely sure there are MANY who are "guilty" of this same "oversight". In fact, I would honestly have to say, I would have most likely done the same thing! Who would have thought this tractor would have had so many "issues", considering how good it looks, plus the fact that you DID drive and operate it, and it performed so well, at that time!??!!??! It's just one of those things that more or less proves "we are only human", and thus we make "human errors", what matters is whether we learn from them, or not! I'm so glad to see it's working out so well for you now, and that your "demons" appear to be behind you now! I am VERY impressed with the results of your work, i.e. the repairs, cosmetic work, etc. that you all have done to this machine! I would really like to have a "good" 175C with the 4-in-1 bucket, so we'll see how it goes. There is another guy on here, that also has one for sale, that I'm going to look at as well, so hopefully I will wind up with one. It's the closest thing I can come to right now, as far as having both a "dozer" and "crawler loader", all in ONE! I can't afford to buy both right now, so this would be the "next best thing", at least IMHO! Thanks again Boone, I will keep you informed, and please keep us updated as well, I sure enjoyed all your wonderful pictures as well, thanks for sharing them with us!!! How big a farm is it that you're working on? Are you "taking over it" for your late Grand dad? Looks like some beautiful country!!! There's nothing quite like "farming", again IMHO!!! I can't imagine doing anything else! Take care and best wishes! JD
Thanks JD. I couldn't have said a lot of that better myself. We make mistakes and all we can do is learn from them and try to not to repeat them. Honestly, I'd be scared to death to look at another machine for fear of missing something. It'd be really hard to catch every issue with a machine. Looking back, one thing that should have caught our attention was the antifreeze was low (at least not visible from the rad cap) when we first looked at it. That should've been a red flag. But the owner had also had the motor replaced not long ago and so we thought for sure he had a good motor in it. Anyway, all that is water under the bridge now... The farm we are working on is 106 acres. My brother and I "bought the farm" from the family and so we're just trying to keep it up. The year before we bought the 175, my brother and I, with the help from a hired hand, reconditioned the old red barn you've seen in many of the pictures. We replaced a lot of the footers, jacked it up and put new supports under the loft beams. We also rebuilt one end of a shed that the winds had damaged and we replaced the floor in the old corn crib. We put up new metal on the back and rebuilt the big sliding door. That was a project in and of itself that I wish I'd documented with pictures, but i didn't We hadn't intended on using it store the loader, but it's made a perfect home for the 175. It just fits! My grandmother has lived on the place for probably 75 years. My grandparents were small dairy farmers. I'd spend summers over there helping grandad with the cattle. Working corn and hay. They never made much money on the farm, but they had a decent life and they knew how to live from the land. Lot of hard work. I don't think my grandad would've wanted to do anything else. The old place is more of a hobby right now for my brother and I. Dad has been gracious to help and plus he's really enjoying the loader! We may put some cattle on the place one day. There is only 30-40 acres that'd be tillable, but we're increasing the pasture land every saturday we work. I really hope you find a good machine and get a lot of enjoyment out of using it! I love seeing other pictures of other track loaders working. Hopefully we'll see some of your on here soon.
That's really great Boone, I am really enjoying keeping up with this thread, and I too HOPE I will have some pictures myself to post on here soon! I've narrowed down my search to possibly one of the 175's, or the Fiat Allis 14C dozer. I had a chance to check out the 14C with a heavy equipment mechanic, that is a friend of mine, and he was VERY impressed with it! The undercarriage is basically brand new, it has under 50 hours on it, that includes everything from the chains, grousers (pads), rollers, pins and bushings, idlers, sprockets, etc., and it has the self lubing pins and bushings on it, which is kind of nice. It runs great, it looks pretty darn nice as well, and my mechanic friend said I'd be "crazy NOT to get it", especially for the price, which is only $10,000.00, plus it's only about 50 miles from my farm! However, I am still wanting to check out the 175's, so I am going to wait until I see them before making my final decision. The guy with the Cat D6-9U turned out to be another one of those people who just likes to waste other people's time. I just now finally heard from him, he never sent any additional info, pics, or video, as he had promised, and now just says that "it's probably not a good machine for me", which just tells me it's probably not as good as he claimed, oh well! Anyhow, thanks for all the great information, pictures, and history, about your farm, that's really great what you and your brother are doing! I'm so happy to see people getting back into preserving their family farms, and heritage, that is just outstanding, and my hat's off to both of you!!! As soon as I get a machine I will start posting pictures myself, and God willing, it will be SOON, as I am VERY far behind already! Take care, and please keep the great pics, and updates, coming, I for one, never tire of it!!! Best wishes to you, JD
Hey Boone, I was hoping maybe you could answer a question for me, do you know if a Cat 951B is the same size, and horsepower, as the Dresser 175C's??? I appreciate your time and help, and the barn looks GREAT, good job you and your brother did on that as well! I really enjoy your pics, and threads, keep 'em coming, HOPEFULLY I will be able to start mine soon! I'm try to push myself to make a final decision this week, otherwise this could go one indefinitely, and I just have WAY too much to do for that to happen! Take care, and I hope all is going well! Jeff (JD)
Hey Jeff, 175 is a bit bigger than the 951. Cescoused.com has some spec sheets for some 1970's models. Looks like they only have the C model listed. I'm sure the numbers are ball park for B series. Someone else could probably weigh in on specifics... A 1977 951C weighs in at 27.2k lbs and has a 3304 @ 95 HP. This model has 15,710 lbs of breakout force. A 1978 175C weighs in at 31.7k lbs and has a DT-466 @134 HP. This model has 24,575 lbs of breakout force. Back in the 80's dad hired a guy to clean up his current property and the guy had a 951C. It was in great shape and that guy could really use it. It could take down any tree he wanted. He cleared and graded ditches with it like a pro. The guy also had a CAT D5 but he only used the 951 for the work he did for dad. For the work we've done at the farm, I wouldn't want anything smaller than the 175. Maybe once everything is cleared up a smaller loader would be fine for maintenance work, but bigger is better if you have the projects that warrant it. Unless you have plenty of time. Sounds like the Fiat Allis might be a good buy if it's in as good a shape as it sounds. Parts would be the only thing I'd be worried about on that machine. Who supplies parts for Fiat's HE? I've enjoyed all your comments! Best of luck finding and purchasing your tractor.
Thanks so much for the kind words, and information, Boone, I was just curious about the 951's, I was trying to figure out if they were comparable, I would have to agree that "bigger is better"! My biggest "debate" right now is whether to go with a dozer, or a crawler loader with the 4-in-1 bucket, since they both have their advantages, and draw backs. I have narrowed down my choices to about 4 machines, the FA 14C dozer , a Dressta/Dresser 175C w/4 in 1 , Case 1550E dozer with only 2800 hours, and even a Komatsu D85E-12 dozer I just found, that is only 75 miles from me, and has 1600 hours on a rebuilt motor, transmission, and torque converter, plus it just had the right final drive replaced, and it has 80% remaining on the UC! It's quite a bit larger machine then I was looking for, with 225 hp, but for the price, and low hours on the rebuilds, in addition to being very close, I'm wondering if I should consider it?!?!? I also believe parts would be much easier to get for this Komatsu, which is a big "plus" as well, I can buy it for $20,000.00, maybe even a little less, if I can talk him down some. Anyhow, regarding parts for the 14C, I have been talking with Nelson (Animal), he also has been very kind and helpful, he said Case/New Holland should be able to get me parts, and I have a Case dealer close to me, though I have to still find out if they carry, or can at least get, the parts for "construction" equipment, since they are an "Agricultural" dealership. At any rate, I do feel better that I have at least narrowed my search considerably, and I still hope to make a final decision by weeks end, God willing, and my brain doesn't explode!!! It sure would be great if ONE of the machines just "jumped out" as the "best deal", but in all fairness, they ALL have their "positive points"! Actually this is probably a good thing, since I feel confident that which ever machine I do chose, will be a "good deal", I just have to try to figure out which is the "best" for my overall situation. I can't wait to get something, so I have to keep my "urgency to buy" under control, so I don't go off making too "hasty" of a decision, just to get something! Well, I guess that's all for now, thanks again for all the great info, and for your continuing support, and assistance! Hope you have a wonderful Monday! Jeff (JD)
At least you have several choices! I'd like to play with a 4 in 1 for awhile. I'm sure it would be handy for several chores like lifting and moving trees. Probably best I haven't used one...might really want it. One of my favorite threads on this forum is about a Case 1550 dozer. Goes to show you that when buy used and plan to get a lot of work out of it, anything can go wrong and usually does. Good thing is, there are several Case gurus on here. Depending on the shape of that D85, I'm sure it could move a lot of dirt.. Would hate to pay the fuel bill on it though. Part of the thrill is the hunt. I know what you mean about keeping your "urgency to buy" under control. I know something will pop up that fits the bill for ya. Goodluck JD!
Good day Boone, Hey I know, and read, that entire thread posted by "EddieWalker" as well, holly crap Batman, that was BRUTAL!!! It was VERY impressive from the standpoint of what he accomplished,:notworthy but it was also VERY "disheartening" as well, considering what the poor guy went through!:Banghead It also sent up a barrage of "red flags", so to speak, just reaffirming that we all need to use EXTREME caution, due diligence, and DEFINITELY put our "thinking caps" on, prior to "making the plunge"!!!:duh:exactly The fact is, unless one is on direct "speaking terms" with the "Almighty", and "He" personally tells you the machine is "good to go", this really can happen to ANY of us!!! I gotta say, I have about chewed all of my fingernails off worrying about making the right decision myself, praying that I select a machine that really is in good mechanical order, and hopefully avoiding finding myself in the same boat!:badidea On the other hand, I have a GREAT deal of respect for those of you who have gone through those unpleasant, "knuckle busting", and "wallet draining", experiences, and didn't "cave", but persevered to the end!:salute Boone, I have also been operating under the "delusion", that since I narrowed down my search, that the choice would be "easier", NOT!!! If anything it's actually become harder, because each one of the machines in question has it's good points, and draw backs, silly me!!!:spaz It's just like the proverbial "kid in the candy store", I want one of those, and one of those, and those,..............., and here comes "Ma", "now Junior, you can only have ONE! :crying WHY???!!! Oh well, here we go again, the "saga" just goes on, and on, and on! Have a great one Boone, I WILL decide on something, eventually! Best wishes, JD
Take your time, Shopping for em is almost more fun than running em.
Hello Boone, well I'm going to go looking at machines again tomorrow (Friday). I'm going to check out the Komatsu D85, a Komatsu D53, and a Cat 977H that I also just learned about, that is in my area. I'm a bit hesitant on it though, because of it's age, although I will just have to see how it looks and runs. It also doesn't have a 4 in 1 bucket, which I would really need if I'm going to go with at crawler loader, instead of a dozer! How's everything going with you? Doing any "digging" lately? Hope everythings going great for you, I will let you know what happens tomorrow, should be pretty interesting, maybe?!?!?! Take care! JD
Agreed Scott, I still "window shop" from time to time even though I sure don't need another one. JD, best of luck on your hunt! Hope you find a treasure! Haven't been doing much here in the past month in regards to the loader. My wife and I were just blessed with our first child - baby boy! So I've been learning to change diapers and all things associated with a new born. Have been enjoying the little one as much as I can. Everything else has taken a back seat to that. I thought working on the loader was hard work...Haha! We did get in a couple of work days at the farm a month or more ago. I'll try to round up some pictures and post an update when I'm back at my home PC.
Congratulations, he'll be flicking levers in no time. B-)
No doubt Jlillie. I'm sure he will...I can hear it now, "Don't press that button!", "Not that lever!!", and when we get home from the farm, my wife saying, "How'd he get that dirty?!" LOL!
Few pics from the last couple of months. Haven't had to do much wrenching on the machine thankfully. Just keeping her fed with fuel. The only thing we've turned wrenches on are the shanks. Everytime we go to refuel and grease, we check the shanks and tighten any that might have a little slop. We've been trying to keep them nice and tight and in the process of torqueing some of the old bolts, thye break. They’re easy to replace. The replacement bolts were bit too long but they were all we had in the truck the morning we were tightening them. Heavy duty wheelbarrow. Tore down the old garden tiller shed and dumped on the burn pile. It was wet enough to set some piles on fire.
The section we're in has a bank of rock on it...what a pain. Again, trying to get these out of the way so we can bushhog it. BTW, the new dirt teeth have held up well against this stuff.
Takin down trees the easy way.
Looks like you are having a lot of fun Boone...and congrats on the little one :thumbsup That's an interesting looking ratchet you got there. I can't wait to push down a tree or 2.
This is the latest section we've cleared. We’ll use a rock rake on the tractor this winter to clean up a lot of the small rock. This section will continue to be thinned but the hardwood will be left.
Thanks OldandWorn! We're pretty excited about the little one! That old ratchet is a snap-on (probably one of the first). My grandad bought it at an auction years ago. It's a 1" and we have a 3/4" reducer on it. It's come in handy for some of the big stuff on the tractor!
Work Day Took off on Vetran's Day to get some work done over at the farm. Plan was to use the loader to continue in the section we were in while dad and brother worked box blade and rock rake on other sections that needed some TLC. It just happen to be the coldest morning of the season...27 degrees at 6:30 on the way there. I had some concern that the 175 wouldn't start with it this frigid (this is cold to us southerners). The two tractors had glow plugs so they fired up fine, but the 466 had no such help. We opened the sliding door to the cold dark hall of the barn where the loader was sleeping. We unlocked the dash and turn the key. She was reading around 24 volts. Bumped the starter button and pulled back on the throttle. After about 3 revolutions she hit on all 6 and didn't even stutter...we were amazed. :notworthy I worked on the same section (compare with picture above). Still needings some polishing, but we're getting there. It's amazing where we started and the transformation on the place. This is one area of a picture I took before we got started: to now:
Before we got the 175 out, we lit up a couple of brush piles while the frost was heavy and there was no wind. We have many piles, but didn't want to start any more than two with the weeds being brown and dry from frost bite. On the way up to the far side with the 175, I noticed at least 4 deer watching me very closely. I thought of your picture OldandWorn! This was pushing the limit on the zoom of my little camera. You might see two of them here. I'm ready to get off of this bank. This pile went fast. They were pushing the last of it up and making barrier around it so it didn't get out.
At the end of the day, we parked the loader back in the barn. My brother and I had some fun with this picture. Reminded me of a book cover for some Stephen King novel.
Farm Fuel Tank Another thing we did today, was start a job we meant to do about a year ago. Our winter project will consist on giving the old farm take a new lease on life with a new heart.
That machine has too much push power to be running around on its own. I really need a fuel tank at my place as hauling 5 gallon cans is getting old. When I bought my loader I had the seller give me a full tank and I have only burned a few gallons so far, most of which was tracking the machine a couple of miles back to the property. I have been wanting to install a drain valve in the plumbing at the bottom of the tank and use it for filling my 5 gallon cans for the trench project, then filling the tank back up just to keep fresh diesel in the loader. The undercart on the poor thing is all rusted up and it even has grass growing on the top of the tracks. You are so lucky to have a dry place to store your loader. I tried this for the first winter but it just wasn't practical and it was too much trouble just to start it up.
We got real lucky with the space in the barn. We have about 2" of clearance between the door and back of loader. About 1" clearance between the exhaust stack and loft floor. We had to take about 4" off the ground floor so the rain cap would miss the top of the barn door. It's a tight squeeze!!! That's not a bad idea...use the 955's tank as your temporary supply and let gravity do the work filling your cans. We've only used 400 gallons this year so far but the old pump diaphrams are really starting to leak. The old tank really needs to be fully drained to get out a layer of sediment that's built up over decades. We're leaning towards replacing the pump with a 15GPM Tuthill Fill-Rite. Anyone have any advice, good or bad about the Fill-Rite??
Funny I thought it looked more like... crap mental blackout... children's books with the dozer that saves the day in the big blizzard... anyone? Anyway, I haven't had anything worthwhile to add to the thread, but have been following it, you guys are doing a great job on that thing, looks like you have some fun little projects for it too. Thanks for sharing boone :drinkup
the tuthill fill-rite 15 gpm is an excellent pump. i would call it an industry standard. i started with a used one in 2002, and wore it out. bought a new one in 2006, and it's still going strong, on my mobile transfer tank. boone, i have really enjoyed this thread.
Haha, you brought back a blast from the past. "Katy, a brave and untiring tractor, who pushes a bulldozer in the summer and a snowplow in the winter, makes it possible for the townspeople to do their jobs." Had to look it up as I don't remember it, but in the process of searching, I found a book written by the same author in 1939 that I had all but forgotten reading as a child. I loved to read "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel". Remember that one?
Thanks for the feedback Lindsey97. I'm about 90% sure that's the one we'll go with. As much as we'll use it, it should do us fine for years as long as it holds up in the weather. Since it'll be stationary, we'll probably make a little cover for it to keep the rain off it.
I can't remember those books but you reminded me of "Year of the Jeep" or something like that? As a young boy I wanted so badly to find an abandoned Jeep in the woods and get it running again which was the storyline in the book. :cool2
Haven't heard of that one O&W. I'll have to look that one up. These sound like great Christmas present ideas for my new little one.
Haha, yeah, a few years ago (maybe nore than that now) my wife got me a book that had all three from that Author in it. Can't remember the name of the third one and of course I have no idea where the book is at the moment.
Hey Boone! That is a nice machine you got there! Congrats! Truckload | Delivery | Courier | Movers
Hi, That is a good piece of equipment. Little boys like them to play on the field. AK
When the kids get a bit older... 7-8 range, Stephen W. Meader has several books depending on their interests. The one most in keeping with this thread is Bulldozer ISBN 1-931177-02-3 I read this book several times from the library as a boy and later found a copy for myself at http://www.southernskies.com/
Thanks canadaload and Alberto and welcome to the forum! Looks like a great book Scott. I read the synopsis from southernskies. I'll have to add that to the wish list.
O&W, I think I read the book about the Jeep too.. the main characters found it in an old barn, got it running, then hid it back in the barn and finally wound up buying it at auction. Does that sound like the same book to you? I think you were close on the title too... I Googled it and you were right on! Year of the Jeep by Keith Robertson. http://www.amazon.com/Year-Jeep-Keith-Robertson/dp/0670793574 Steven Meader wrote a number of books in the same vein as Bulldozer.. young man makes his way in the world with a bit of luck and hard work and honesty. Not bad ideals to instill in young people! T Model Tommy also runs along that line.. Bulldozer made a lot of people want to be D2 owners... worked on me too and now I have one! Alan
That is the book Alan although I don't remember much other than they found it in a barn and eventually got to keep it. I actually drive a Jeep but buying one at a dealer isn't near as exciting as finding one in the woods.
The closest I've come is finding part of a T2 traxcavator in a pasture where it's been for 20+ years.. it can only be seen in the fall when the leaves go and the weeds die. I have to go get it one of these days since it might supply some parts for my D2 dozer. There are scattered parts of several brands of crawlers lying around, I think it was where a small company dismantled their worn out equipment at one time.
Anytime I take a country drive, my eyes always gravitate toward any equipment I see in an open barn shed or out in a field. I always wonder what the real story is on some pieces I see that look left abadoned. I'm sure there are some cases where a good machine was left to sit there and deteriorate to point of no return
nice looking loader
Thanks Dobbada. It's finally putting out the work we expected it to.
Hi Boone I just found this thread the other day and read the whole thing. It is a great read. Glad to see that after a lot of hard work everything turned out so well. Beautiful looking farm. That picture of the track loader in the barn with its lights on reminded me of a very old movie titled KILLDOZER starring Clint Walker. It was about heavy equipment coming alive and terrorizing its operators.
I've heard of that movie nova. Sounds like maximum overdrive. I felt pretty terrorized by our loader 2 or so years ago when we found out it had some major problems. But it's been an educational experience and the results on it and the farm have been well worth it. Thanks for the compliments.
Just in time for high fuel prices Very close to finishing up our little fuel tank project. I'll post up a few pictures of our past and present progress over the next few days. Two years ago when we first used the loader over at the farm we used 5 gallons cans to fill the equipment. We never failed to make a big mess over the back of the loader. The old farm tank had about 4 year old fuel in it. We hesitantly used a little out of it, but decided to pump out the remaining old fuel and use for starting the brush fires. We had the tank filled by the coop fuel truck last year and emptied the tank out by summer's end, but we still never cleaned it like we had planned and we were beginning to see a lot of sediment in the golden rod tank filter. With our "new" engine in the loader and my brother's newer tractor we figured investing some time in the old tank would be well spent in minmizing fuel issues with the equipment. Plus, the more we used that old pump, the more it leaked. It was time for retirement or a rebuild. The old tank in all her glory before we took her away... Took the old tank back to our shop and worked on getting it cleaned up. Having no experience with fuel tank pumps, we kinda scratched our heads over how the old diaphram pump was attached to the tank. Figure it must screw out, but there was no good place anywhere on it to attach a wrench. Slung a sledge hammer at it and what do you know, it spun a little. Pump started to turn by hand and came right out. The back of the old tank has sat on the ground for as long as I can remember. Figured it would be close to rusting through but it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, the drain plug on the back side had no intention of coming out without a fight. Took a while to break it loose. Several heating and cooling cycles, blaster and hammer pecking did the trick. Hoisted her up and drained decades worth of old black dirty fuel and sediment. We mixed a gallon of proForce degreaser with about a gallon of water and put in the tank and rolled it around the yard for awhile. Pressure washed it inside and out. Repeated the degrease and wash twice.
Using that old pump was about as much fun as doing push-ups. Figured we'd let modern technology give us a break. I ordered a new fill-rite 15GPM pump from NorthernToolWarehouse. Shipped quick and cheap. Came with pump, nozzle, hose, pick-up tube, elbow and even some tephlon. We'll buy filter and fittings here locally. After debating on whether to get the AC or DC pump we decided on the AC since the tank will always be stationary. The upfront setup work will be more as we have to run a wire from the old shop building to the tank.
Boone, there is a Northern Tool store in Birmingham, don't go there if you want to keep your money in your pocket, they have a lot of stuff you just can't live without... Fill-Rite is a good pump, it will give you many years of good service.
LOL, thanks for the warning! That wouldn't be at the Galleria would it? We've heard good things about the fill-rite. It's funny how many transfer tanks I now notice with those red pumps on it.
It's on Greensprings HWY right off I-65 in Homewood, at the Oxmoor Road exit.
why not put your diesel tank up on a bund? Or use old railway sleepers as a support base. Gravity feed is trouble free
Thanks CM! I have to admit Robin, we didn't give much thought to turning it into a gravity fed tank. Which is odd considering we don't like to spend anymore than we have to. Gravity is not only trouble free but a lot cheaper than a pump. Guess we just figured we'd keep it in the same old spot and position for sentimental reasons. That's the best excuse I can come up with anyway.
I have spent most of the afternoon reading this, and I enjoyed it and learned a lot. Your machine is excellent and I agree with everyone that you done a excellent job getting it up to par. Keep it up
Awesome thread! Just gave it an excellent rating. What I like most is that this is a family working together. Used to do everything with my step-dad. He's gone now but this thread brings back a lot of good memories. Can't wait for my son to get up old enough to take on one of these projects with me. Stumbled on this thread looking for info. on my Cat 943. The hydrostat is always slow to begin pulling when you start traveling for the first time. Runs great and shifts with no problem after it gets going. New filters! I think it is related to the charge pump but I'm not sure. If anyone can point me to a thread that will help I would be greatful! I am also needing information on adjusting all of the linkages. Did not mean to high jack the thread. Thanks!
asd
That's my dad's 1968 TD-25C just after he painted it, note the blade is still off. Picture is probably 20 some years old
We have a 175C now. They are built proof machines. Dad bought one in the early sixties. It was the first IH with a powershift. He used it for everything. Sorry bout the picture, it's the first one i've ever got posted, kind of in the wrong thread.
Boone i will start off buy saying great thread and great job on the loader. I have never run a track loader, dont even see many areound here, but i will say i have always thoufht they were pretty cool. Anyways good luck with your tank, and pump. Little tip, when fueling up take the gun and pull the lever before you switch the pump on, this way the pump is pushing liquid as soon as it turns on and will improve the life of the pump. I dont know if that is common knowledge or what, but I never see guys do it and i was taught that way a long time ago and our pumps seem to last forever. If this was common knowledge sorry for my ignorance everyone.
Thanks red_man! It's certainly been fun spending time with dad while doing all of this. Glad it brought back some good memories for you. Me too! That TD-25 is a monster and looks great! I'm glad you posted it here! I can still see the shine in the paint from the flash.
Thanks and for the tip too. I read the manual on the pump and it did not mention this, but it makes sense to do it. Most of the time I'm sure two of us will be around the tank when we're filling the loader or tractor so one can hit the switch while the other holds the nozzle open.
My dad used to load the 175C without ramps on his LoadKing lowboy, (he took the ramps off, got tired of flipping them.) It was about as high off the ground as your trailer. He used to back up to it at an angle off to the one side, (maybe two feet or so?). That way one track would grab the trailer before hitting the counterweight. Once in the air he would turn the machine to the side and straighten it out. It takes a pretty strong beavertail for this method though. It looks simple when he loads it anyway. I loaded the 175C a couple times that way before we got rid of the LoadKing trailer. Just another option.
Electrical In the process of wiring to the tank, we realized we had no ground wire source. Just like every little project, there's always more work involved than expected. The power at the old shop is from the 40's or 50's. Back then ground wasn't used much. There's no ground wire at the shop where we were hooking on. We didn't feel too good about this as the tank and whatever was touching it would end up being the ground if we had a short. We installed a ground rod right outside the shop door and wired this into our three-wire UF cable. The ground rod was about 8' in length. We hit rock a couple of times while trying to drive it in. On the third attempt we just kept pounding and it broke through whatever was in the way. Hopefully it wasn't a water line Got the rod all the way in. It's buried here at the step: We wired up a switch in behind the shop door which will give us power down to the tank. We'll install another switch at the tank. Covered trench down to the where the tank will sit.
Footing We wanted to get the tank off the ground and give it a stable footing. The back of old tank has sat for years on the ground while the front has been propped up on diesel soaked brick, rock, and sickle mower blades. Grandad always had old sickle mower blades around from his old hay mower. He was just using what he had to shim it. Worked for several years. However, we wanted to make the setup a little more solid. Dad and I dug couple small footings about 5" deep and mixed up some concrete and poured front and back pads. We couldn't help but think of grandad after sifting through all those old sickle mower blades at the base of the tank. I suppose those old blades had been there as long as the tank had and it almost seemed wrong to toss 'em. So we found a place for them.
if it was me I would make the base wider, looks like it may be unstable after filling the tank with expensive red! As always, better safe than sorry
The picture might be a little deceiving. Most of that concrete is about 5" thick. The skids on the tank are just shy in width of the base. We laid some block to get the back high enough to stay out of the ground and to give us some room for the drain. The red mortar was left over from a home project. We set 4x4" post on each side in concrete that will hold the roof structure we having going over part of the tank.
Brought the tank over. It's been degreased, sanded, primed twice and painted with about three coats. Used CaseIH grey primer and paint. We temporarily set the pump on to make sure we had plenty of clearance under the little roof dad put together. Start wiring. Everything is water tight with conduit. Installed a GFI outlet with a switch for the pump. We didn't realize the pump had it's own switch with a pick-up lever like on a gas station pump. So we have three switches for the pump! Installed the pump, filter, fittings and hose.
Finished Full tank! We filled the loader and tractor up today.
very professional setup but oh so much easier if you had built it on a bund, planted with local plants, and a lot cheaper but you do things your way I guess, good luck in all you do
Thanks Robin. The elevated tank is a great idea, however by the time you mentioned it this project was 85% complete so that train had already left the station. The setup worked great this weekend! Got a lot done with the loader. Sorry, I didn't see your post till later. I didn't have the joy of loading/unloading on that rampless trailer, but I could imagine it would have quite the pucker factor if you weren't using a berm or anything
I like your style.:thumbsup
Sometimes the 175C would jump one of the double grouser bars while getting the back end of the 175C off the ground. It didn't sound good, but it was a fast way to load. The old trailer was a 35 ton trailer so it wasn't too hard on it. The trailer was new in '68 and we sold it in 2009. My dad moves equipment a lot so it paid for itself many times over.
Last month we took the 175 out of winter hibernation, greased it and put it to work. I love spring time - everything was just turning green. The three things we did were tighten up some brush piles, filled in some rock holes we dug last year and buried a few more rocks in new holes. My brother brought his tractor over and went behind me smothing over the holes I filled in. Tracks were really diggin in to get up this hill
We finally filled in the large rock hole I had posted pictures of earlier in the thread. The stock piled dirt was beginning to grow trees it's been so long. It started to rain on us while filling and therefore I didn't take any after photos...didn't want to melt.
Boone you getting the hang of the old girl yet? That's good looking topsoil.
My oh My.....I almost forgot what good soil looks like.
Hey CM, I'm getting there. Some days, I feel like I'm in the zone and impress myself. Some days, not so much and wonder how in the world I got into this pickle. Lots of techniques I could improve on. Clearing has been going ok, just try to take my time and watch for falling rot. I leave a lot of the clearing to dad...he seems to enjoy that more. As far as pushing up piles, I've gotten pretty good and can stack it pretty high...and I haven't put anything through the radiator yet. As far as digging, I'm getting the hang of it. As far as pushing dirt and staying level that's a trick. I'm trying to use the seat of my pants and nose of the loader as a gauge. If the nose goes down the bucket goes up. If the nose goes up the bucket goes down...that type thing. Everyday I use it, I learn a little more, but I'm a long way off from landscaping with this thing O&W, it's been great soil for digging holes. It's funny, it seems we have huge rock or no rock at all and most of the huge rock are on top of the ground.
That just means you are starting to get the feel of the machine. A couple more 100 hours and it will start to become second nature. A few thousand more hours and you can go "autopilot".
Little in-field service and repair This weekend we performed a 200...er 208 hr service on the "new" engine. Probably should've changed the oil before now, but better late than later. Changed engine oil, filters, and fuel filters. We took all the side panels off and went over it pretty good. Took the floor pans off and greased all the pedal linkages. Checked the oil in rear hubs. It had developed a pretty bad leak end of last season on a line coming off the pressure filters. Simple o-ring replacement, but had to take the whole cabinet apart to get to all the bolts on the back side of the flange. Degreased and pressure washed a lot of that oil out and gave the whole thing a bath as the barn swallows have been using it as a toilet.
We got her buttoned up and broke in the new oil by burying a small pile of charred stumps and debris. I dug this hole like a dozer would and went twice as fast as my previous methods of taking a scoop out at a time. I ended up digging a hole almost twice as big as I needed too. Before: After: Other side before: After: The tractor and box blade should fix this up!
Another old time loader
That's a sweet looking 973 there Wolf. Looks like it's still earning it's keep on a job site too.
Nice old machine you have there, I like the old IH decals on them myself.
Nice Job restoring your machine. Thanks for taking your time putting up the information.
The old IH decals are classic. There's one nearby 175 that has IH decals and a chrome stack. Thanks, and your welcome.
Early morning in the country on Veteran's Day weekend :usa Humid haze - it's gonna be a hot one :yup It was bushhog weekend at the farm. The 9540 clocked ~32 hours in 3 days bushhogging this weekend with the 8' cutter. I think this is the first weekend my brother didn't get a flat on his tractor. The spring has been somewhat dry so the pastures weren't as bad as they have been this time of year. I did a few odd jobs while my brother cut - mowed the yard, painted the entrance way we built last year and some inspect spraying around the house. Second day, I got the ole girl out of her resting spot. Time to go push and bury some debris.
Dug 4 holes for rock and stumps. This was the biggest. It's amazing that with all the big surface rock in this area I didn't find any rock in the holes. This has been some of the best digging dirt. Little stream of water started to rush into the hole towards the end. I haven't covered this hole yet as there's room for a few more rock in it.
Good work Boone.:thumbsup Looks like the new technique is working out for you. I am currently working on a horse farm and have a few holes to dig tomorrow to bury some stumps and debris they have piled around.
It has been working much better CM. Lot's more efficient with less wear and tear on the machine! It was going so well, I started to dig myself a pool...did I mention it was hot? Happy digging at the horse farm. I assume you'll be using the '53? Take your camera!
Of course. Digging the first one. I need a new wiper blade, yeah I know. Digging the second one. There was a lot of fence wire mixed in the 3 piles which made it aggravating. The wire kept getting caught on my fork hooks.:Banghead How 'bout digging one for a pit still on fire...
Nice! Cool shots CM. Looks like you have good visibility...streak and all! :laugh I've had a bit of fence wire in some of the piles I've buried but thankfully nothing that gave me fits. The worst problems I have are the big rock that land in the hole in the worst possible way, straight up or where it's difficult to reposition them. We have about 10 more timber piles to burn and I'm sure we'll need to bury the remnants. I'll have plenty of practice with these holes by the time we're done.
This thread is simply amazing. You've done some amazing work here Boone and it's given me a lot to think about. I got a track loader recently too to clean up some land that I want to farm. It got logged about 8 years ago, before I bought it, so I have mountains of slash and stumps - enough to get one a bit discouraged Not only is there a ton of great info here, but everytime I read this thread I get the feeling it's all gonna be possible.
Hope all goes well with your clean-up project didjit. Sounds like your knee deep in getting your TL tilt cylinders rebuilt. I think you'll be pleased with all the work you'll be able to get done with the loader. Keep us posted on your progress!
This one should last a a good long time!
This is a great read!
Clearing around and covering in an old pond. This old pond hasn't held water or been close to wet in the last 20 years. The spillway must have washed out or the water was diverted elsewhere. We're filling in the banks and trying to level it as much as possible. Now that the trees are gone, just a bunch of dirt to move. We started cutting down the pond banks a few weeks ago. The rain came and we'll have to finish this another day.
this old man wouldnt know how to act in that good dirt. everything and i mean everything i have ever worked "played in" has been ancient dried up creek bed and plenty of rock. with the occasional outcropping of bluff
Thanks for the nice pics boone. Is the tree behind your machine in the first pic part of the pond area? Yeah jughead, I drool over the soil he has there.
Haha, yeah we've been fortunate. We've been "playing" off and on with this pond. When we get tired of pushing rock we go push some dirt in the pond.
The pictures of the pond turned our blurry for some reason so I didn't post them. In the first pic, the pond is actually straight ahead up over the rise as you look at the picture. The pond is "uphill" from where I took the pic...no wonder it's dry Actually, it was fed by run off from the hills around it and believe it or not use to hold quite a bit of water. In the second pic, the loader is in the same spot as the first. The pond is just to right of the picture frame. You can see in the foreground where we've been pulling the banks down and weeds are growing back up. The fresh dirt is where we did some clearing of trees and is the remainder of the bank. In the third and fourth pic, the loader is pointed straight for the pond.
Help!!! Hey boone- I love your pictures. Would you clue me in on how the get from "My Pictures" to posting them like your shots? I tried, but it appears that my photo size is WAY too big for the forum. I am not computer illiterate, but I'm not the sharpest bye in the bin. Thanks, and Regards, Clark
Try this thread, it will help you get your pictures posted into a thread. There's also some info about picture resizers too. Let me know if you still have problems and I'll try to help.
Boone.. I think yo maintain it very well that's why it looks really good even today except seat
Hello Boone- Just a word of thanks for your help on posting pics. I am now operating on a new level in the digital world. Regards, Clark
hello Boone , thank you for your thread, having just recently joined H E F , and just bought my first loader, your thread has been a great story from beginning to now, you are an amazing story teller.
Thanks wannabe! Congrats on your loader. What kind did you get and what are you going to do with it?
hello, new to the forum i have a cat 303cr excavator and need help replacing a new ignition can anyone tell me how to properly post this? thanks!
thank you, After a month and a half of kicking tracks and haggeling over price I became the not so proud owner of a john deere 450 c . It was an older machine but seemed fairly tight and ran out nicely . the thing will start by barely turning the engine over. After having it delivered to the farm , I ran it for a bit to see what the beast would do. pushed down a tree or two and buried a few rocks that were always in my way . I then set to work on breaking the dam to our pond ( the real reason for the purchase ) I felt a pop that felt like I had crunched a rock in the tracks. on close inspection I found a fresh cut grooove in the counter weight on the left sprocket . it was caused by the lower track rail rubbing against it.I moved her back to the shop and power washed it down , jacked it up and began my journey into despair. I was quick to learn that JD stands for just dumb . I think in that time period , john deere was hiring engineers from kindergarden. it seemed as if they were to take a bad idea and see how much worse it could be made. all in all, If I didn't love that kind of work , I could have a time bashing John Deere
Hello stequipment. After three posts you can create your own thread in the excavator section. I'm sure someone can help you out. Bummer - don't you love buying something, hoping to get some good use out of it and then you end up working on it more than the jobs you lined up for it. Been there. I guess they can all have problems especially the older ones. Your not the only one I've heard who had less than flattering things to say about those models. I'm sure you'll get some good work on it once all the bugs are worked out and you'll get even more satisfaction out of using it. Plus you'll know what you've got and can keep or sell it. Best of luck with it!
Lots of dirt work this weekend. We put some finishing touches on one side of knoll that was covered in trees and rock. The loader has proven it's worth in this area. We've pushed out rocks as big as cows and dug holes to bury it all. The pictures you'll see were once covered in trees. Under the trees were rocks, ledges and steep dips. The before pictures I'll show are after the trees and brush were taken out. Our goal was to make this bushhogable. We used two 8' box blades and a 6' rock rake. I went and bought myself a tractor earlier this summer. It's had it's fair share of issues which I documented here on a TBN brand specific forum. Here are some before shots after most of the undergrowth was cleared last year. Rocks were jettin' up out of the ground all over this area. Same shot, just down the hill a little. This was the first of about 6 holes on this side of the knoll...back when I was carrying the dirt out. After. There are approximately 6 holes in this area, including the big one's in my recent posts. The darker spots are where we got a bucket of rich dirt and used the loader to fill in some depressions.
Just below the cabin rocks were everywhere. I hated working in this. After. Another before shot looking left in front of the cabin. We added some dirt in this area to fill in some steep spots.
One of the big holes After. There were at least 4 holes dug in this spot before we filled in. I used the loader to cut a world of dirt off the top of this little hill. I'm finally learning to take a crown out and grade somewhat with it without making a washboard. I pushed it down the side to take the steepness out of this area. This area was bush hogable but it was rough and steep. Our 4x4 tractors would spin in some spots going up because of some depressions in this hill. Now the little Kubota can go side ways over the whole thing. This ending of this section has a been a long time coming. We sowed 60 lbs of Kentucy 31 fescue and hopefully we get a good crop.
Looks good boone. :thumbsup I will check out your thread on TBN.
the topsoil looks perfect for your fescue,good harvest guaranteed!
Thanks O&W. I sure hope we have good harvest robin. All we need is a little shower.
How has the rain been farther north? We have been soaked over the last month. One day a couple of weeks ago it rained 4" in one day. The rain has caused some serious delays on the project I am working on however we missed most of the soaking rains from Issac in Central AL. I was praying that Issac would take a straight turn towards the midwest and give those folks some water.
Mostly the same as you. We've had about 12-13" this month but most of was in the first couple of weeks of the month. Hasn't rain much to mention of in the last couple of weeks. We're getting some showers today. I was praying the same thing about Issac taking some rain out west. Sounds like it's dumping plenty on southern MS and LA.
Hey Boone. How much does your machine weight in at? I looked around and see it somewhere at 30k to 35k? Also I was wondering if you have used a Cat 953? Just wondering how a front engine machine compares to a rear engine machine. I was looking at your pictures and noticed that it seems like you guys are using the tractor to finish out your grading which looks nice. I currently have not figured out how to do my final grading with just my 53. Getting close but just not there yet.
Georgia Iron, it weighs about 32k lbs. I've never worked any loader except this one so can't say how it would compare to a rear engine machine. All I can say is visibility on this machine is not that great. The tractors have been great as we can kinda rough grade and loosen the dirt with the loader and the tractors can finish it out and fix any boo-boos. We had some pretty big storms yesterday. I rode over today and didn't wash out too bad. Just hope it didn't wash all our seed away
Yeah, it sucks doing work over again. I read about your tractor. Nice looking machine and a great price boone.
Seemed like a good deal for what I'll use it for. I've been doing my part to stimulate the economy. LOL My brother and I fast forwarded some plans we had to buy a bigger cutter and another tractor to earlier this summer. I think I mentioned earlier that it's taking my brother about 30+ hours to cut the entire place off with our 8' cutter. Doesn't leave him a lot of time to box blade behind the loader. The idea when he bought his tractor was to buy big enough for a bigger cutter and in a few years I'd buy a tractor to handle the 8' cutter - that way we could get the place cut off in maybe a day and we could spend more time with our wives...that was the sales pitch to our ladies. They've been very supportive of our equipment addiction. This summer, we decided why wait? Let's go ahead and get the bigger cutter which he could be using. After some research we settled on a Woods BW180. The best deal we found was all the way up in Paris, TN. We told our wives we're going to Paris! Their excitment dimmed a little when they realized we weren't talking France. But we made a day out of it - had fun. Coleman tractor had 6 cutters in stock, so we had the pick of the litter. We opted for the 6 airplane tires and chains at $10,600. They were all outfitted the same. They had to install a T-fitting on the hydraulic line before we left with it. They recommended we go eat and gave us a recommendation on a local dive that had some good ole southern country cookin. By the time we got back to the dealer, they were ready to load. I charmed them out of several Kubota hats for the kids and family. It was a hot day and my brother's '86 Ford 350 dually was workin'. It has an aftermarket banks turbo and was reading about 1000* the whole way home, but it made it fine. Here's a pic of yours truly and my brother at a rest stop to let the turbo cool a little. That's the story of the bushhog... We've cut the place off with it once and it worked great. With both of us cutting, we got the whole place cut in about 1.5 days...and that should get better.
Nice unit!! You could make a parade float outta that with without too much trouble. :beerchug
You shared nice pics. Thanks
We're planning to cut the place next weekend. Also burn some of our trash timber piles. In preparation dad went over and stirred them a little. They've really grown up with weeds and we'd be hard pressed to get into some to even start the fires. I got a kick out of his email he sent me: " Got the Dresser out and went up in the field and flipped over some piles...thinking that maybe they will dry out and we can burn them next week. (if we don't get rain) Flipped one pile and a big black snake came out on top of the bucket. Glad he was black! " We've seen our fair share of snakes this year. None poisonous so far...knock on wood.
It's been a bad snake year here too! I'm a few hours in the wrong direction away from you, but I think due to the really mild winter last year it was a good year for the snakes to make an attempt at world domination. Our horses have all been bitten this summer as well as one of the dogs. the horses just mostly want to sleep it off and stand in the shade for a day and look real lethargic after they get bit, but the dog sort of scared me. he goes everywhere with me and I was a little nervous. He's back to his old self now, so that's a big relief. I too needed a new bushhog to mow what I cleared and seeded last year. I'm pretty sure my old cutter came over on the mayflower and was really wobbly and rusted through in a few spots. A buddy called me one AM and told me that he saw one at TSC for $100. I figured he'd been drinkin... Anyway, I went to take a look and there was one with some bends in it, a broken weld at the back, and looked like it'd been used to mow once or twice with a $100 price tag on it. I was in shock... Anyway, it's a 6' cutter with what they say is a 60 hp gear box on it. I don't know who in their right mind would pay $2100 for something of this caliber, but after mowing about 30 acres, Id say that it mows at LEAST like a $200 cutter
Yeah, some of our brush piles have been sitting dormant for a couple of years and I would imagine that several rodents and snakes have setup shop. We may be evicting several this coming weekend. Nice find on the cutter! I'd say you already got your money's worth if you were able to cut 30 acres with it. The rock rake we have came from TSC. I think it's a county line...definitely not commercial grade, but good enough for the weekend stuff.
Boone and Fam, Great thread, great job. Read the whole thing. Always love it when setbacks don't hold people back. Glad you had the resources to forge ahead. Again, congrats. For anyone else wanting to restore an ole Dresser Track Loader, there's one for sale on the East side of hiway 431 at the intersection with the Bynum/Leatherwood cutoff. Don't know what condition. But after reading this thread....well....some of you with more capabilities than I have just might want to have a peek. -Loco
Good loader you got there Boone, Didn't read all posts but you mentioned dirt under the floor. Watch that the Center brake peddal is nice and free to move. AC's and IH's will neutralize the trans with the center peddal down to give you more HP in the hyd for lifting. If you have traveling trouble clean it before wrenching on it. Later Bob
Thanks for the comments Loco! Hwy 431 is not far from me, but Bynum/Leatherwood is a fer piece south of me. I'm always on the lookout for trackloaders in decent shape. Mainly out of curiosity. Like to see what condition they're in and what they're going for... Thanks Bob. The floor was pretty dirty when we first went through it. We've had the pressure washer after it a few times. Not sure how it all worked before...
Boone, who's the guy in the orange shirt? He looks like Robert. Later Bob
That'd be me...you mean a young Robert Redford?
Finally got a couple of days to mess around at the farm. Been so busy it's been hard to find time to get some needed jobs done. One of my pictures on a previous page showed some dirt work on a knohl where we sowed about 60 lbs of fescue. Here's an after shot that shows some of our yield. Not too bad for winter growth. The top still has a bit of bare spot from where we stripped the topsoil, but it's coming in slowly. Have a bit of erosion but the fescue should really take off this spring. We're working behind the cabin now and will eventually smooth and sow it as well. It's slow progress...covered in rock and steep drop-offs. If you squint you can see one of the tractors doing some scraping.
Boone you might want to try a fescue/winter rye mix. The rye will come up in two weeks and get the soil stabilized. Of course it will die off in May but the fescue should be established by that time. For erosion control this time of year I do a rye/fescue mix and it works well.
I'll remember that for our fall sowing. What do you suggest if we get the soil behind the cabin ready say start of spring/summer time frame?
Couple of Saturday's ago we decided to do some early spring cleaning in my grandmother's old jar house. Sadly, my grandmother passed away early last year at the age of 92. She really enjoyed watching our clearing progress. She'd lived on this place 77 years and I think she was glad we took an interest in it. We really wished my grandad could see the place, I don't think he'd recognize some of it. We've often wondered how he got by with only a chainsaw and a 6' bushog. Anyway, we've slowly been cleaning things out around the old house. It's one of those things that you hate to do, but must at some point... Figured we'd stretch the legs on the loader and get some use out of it while we had it out. We also filled up a truck bed full too, but it wasn't as easy to dump. While digging through the rummage, Dad found his old cotton sack he used when he was wee lad picking. He was showing my niece how they picked the cotton and how much cotton went in the bag. The joy of being in the country. Ye-haw, dump and bury your trash. This was in the partially covered pond, we'll cover one of these days.
If you had it ready in the next couple of weeks the rye will still come up. If you get it ready later I would suggest fescue or bermuda. Bermuda is about the only grass we can get to come up in summer other than ALDOT summer mix. Problem with the DOT mix is you get a variety of grasses/weeds as it's designed for erosion control. Lots of clover. I would burn it first, then bury it. If I had a penny a pound for the stuff I have buried...
It won't be ready in the next two weeks unfortunately. Bermuda is too much $$ for where it's going. We may wait till this fall to "finish" it out and sow it then. We'll use the rye mix too. A local firm is making a 4 lane out of the hwy I take everyday to work and I've noticed they're sowing something that must be the ALDOT you're talking about. It looks like it's mostly fescue, but lost's of other weeds in it too. Yeah, we'll probably burn that trash. I brought my torch that day, but the wind got up so bad that we were afraid of light anything off.
Little Welding Project Last year I made couple of concrete weights in 5 gallon buckets (~160 lbs) for one of our 8' box blades to keep it from skipping over rocks and such. The box is only about 800 lbs so every little bit of extra weight helps. The bucket weights were very effective and worked great about 80% of the time except when pushing into a brushpile or getting a box full of rolling dirt. They would tend to fall off the job so to speak. My plan was to take the box home to my shop and do some frankenstein mods to it. We didn't have a tractor at the farm with a front loader on it that day, so we used the 175 to hoist it up into the back of my little truck. I'd been wanting to get a MIG welder and this was just the excuse needed. I know most of you guys could do this in your sleep, but this was very new to me. Never welded anything before, but have always wanted to learn. When building my shop I had a couple of 220V outlets wired in the hopes of one day having a welder. Ended up settling on the Hobart 210 mainly because Northerntool was running it on sale with the free roll-around cart. Bought a few other accessories, including a fire extinguisher knowing my luck I'd need it. Used a fiberglass welding blanket to keep the slag off of my truck. I debated on using argon and plain steel wire, but decided to give the flux core wire a chance. Watched several youtube videos and tried to pick up some tips. Practiced on the backside of one the plates. Experimented with the voltage and wire speed settings for the .030" wire and settled on what looked like a good enough weld. The far right was with the welder pretty much maxed out on the voltage setting and about 60% wire speed. This was at least half inch plate. Got finished with these practice beads and thought, "not too bad"...sadly my welds kinda went down hill on the real thing.
I welded the top side first thinking I might make a mess of it, but it turned out better than the bottom side which will be seen. Top Before TopAfter Bottom Before Bottom After As I started the bottom side left to right things were going great, then about half way through I lost my groove and made a mess... I kept grinding part of it down and making passes, but it wasn't looking much better. It was a bit disheartening. I ran out of my sample spool of wire and called it a night. I guess they call this a fillet weld. I think I started going too fast. Should I have made a lower pass and then an upper pass then middle?
Last Saturday I finished it up with the two plates that will hold the bolts to the weight. The remaining welds looked decent. Sanded the rest of the metal and primed it. Painted it with a Ford saftey red which turned out a little bright.
Bolted down the weight. All total this should add around 200 lbs to the box. Ready for work...
Thanks for the pics boone. The first implement I bought was a box blade but I'm not sure how much use I will get out of it because of my rocky ground.
Your welcome O&W. I get a little carried away with the pics sometimes. I know what you mean about some rocky ground. The section we're in now essentially has a rock floor. We're scraping off the surface rock with the loader, but it's just rock underneath. It's a challenging area.
Have you come across Jody at "WeldingTipsandTricks"? He is very watchable and has lots of great video's. His website has the videos grouped so if you just want to watch MIG or other processes they are easy to find.
Yes, his was one of the many I watched. The main three I watched were Jody's "WeldingTips and Tricks", theprorancher's basic mig welding and miller's training videos mainly for horizontal fillet welding. Nothing beats experience which will come with time, but those videos gave me a start. It's funny, my twin brother did this same modification to his box about 6 months ago except with a slightly different setup because he used a different style weight. He did his with a big stick welder. Of course we had to compare welds. The winner will be whomever's weight stays on the longest.
I can't speak for your brother's, but yours will most likely end up as part of a Mars vacation shuttle or something before that would ever happen.
LOL! I hope you're right. That's one vacation ride I wouldn't want to take.
Did a few maintenance items to the tractor I bought last year. So far it's been a decent machine for the money. Sharpened the bushhog blades on the 8' cutter to get it ready for the mowing season this spring. We've been trimming low limbs on the trees that are within striking distance to the cab and canopy tops. Knocking off big dead limbs with the loader. I took a chainsaw and cut some of the trees in our piles so they could be tightened up. They are super dry. Should make a great fire this spring when it's safe to burn. These are the last of my pictures for awhile.
cont...
brought back a memory I recall doing this puzzle at a very young age many times in the 50's . Probably what uncovered or started my fondness of mechanical machinery.
Same here. At least in some small way. I still need to order those books before they go out of print.
nice pics boone. looks like you got a nice place around there, plenty of room for all the man toys. Thats what my wife calls them.
Thanks davis. Your wife has hit the nail on the head. The sandbox and toys just get bigger...along with the headaches when the toys break.
Thorn tree eradication I took this picture in 2010... and we're still finding them...
Sinkhole Found this hole a few years ago at the base of one of the hills. The opening is about 18" in diameter and always looked deep but I never stuck my head in to have a look see...afraid of what might be looking back at me. The news stories here lately about sinkholes in Florida have renewed my interest as this isn't the only sinkhole we have on the place. Kinda makes us think twice about the loader's 16 tons crawling around some of these spots. Anyway, thought these pictures might be worth posting.
Getting closer, the distinctive sound of rushing water... Goes down about 4'. This is the source of the water (upstream). Here's where it's going. It's splits off into three channels. Thankfully, this was the only living thing I saw...can you see it?
Thats something to see right there.. thanks for posting... to bad there were not veins of gold running up the walls..
Haha, no kidding! I would've jumped in that hole for that. :yup This was the little guy I was referencing in the picture above.
under carraige on your 175c new to the forum, been lurking as others have said, we have been looking for a track loader, as have some of the others on the forum. Came across a International 175C this weekend by chance. Stopped and took serveral pics, but can not post them as of yet. Couldn't help but think about this thread when I was looking at it. I've followed this thread for awhile, and was wondering what your undercarraige was like?
Welcome to the forum jms. I read your intro post in the new member section. Sounds like your at an interesting cross roads and have plenty of work to keep a loader busy! Our undercarriage is a mixed bag. I don't have any percentage numbers for you and I probably won't be using the correct terms for some of this, bear with me. The track shoes are excellent, good height on all the grousers. The sprockets are decent. For what we've done and have left to do the sprockets have plenty of life left in them. One of the idlers is like new. It must have been replaced in the past. The other idler guide bar is rounded off a little, but it's in decent shape. The rollers are worn pretty bad. They're cupped from the chains. The chains are the worst. They're worn down to the point the pin bosses are hitting the bottom rollers. BUT, we go slow and have traveled quite a bit in the 300 hours on the machine and the undercarriage doesn't show any more signs of wear from when we bought it and we've gotten a lot of work out of it. I'd be interested in seeing the pictures you took of the 175. There's a thread in the support forum on how to post pictures. Good luck and keep us posted.
Boone thanks for the quick reply, kind of wish the site had chat. I will try to poxt the pics, as soon as I can figure out how to ge them off my new phone, . and have posted 3 or more time. I talked to the owner today, he is going to send me the serial number on the machine. I forgot to get it when i was taking pics. :Banghead. It is a 84-86 model, it has 60% or more left on the under carraige or so he says. It all so has a rebuilt 466 with 748 hrs on it, had the hour meter replaced along with the rebuild. However I think the price is a bit steep at this time, it's great lookin machine, still has the original seat in it and it's not bad....no cracks or tears... Hope to stay in touch as much as possible.
The serial number will be handy for getting the exact model year. You should be able to call up your local Komatsu dealer and they can help you get the year. Maybe someone on here can help with that too. The only thing about these machines are prices for parts are high. So far we haven't had any major ticket items to buy from Komatsu directly. But small one's do add up. Having said that, we'd buy a 175 again. Do you know any history of the machine, that is if the seller is the one who put the 748 hours on the machine? If so, perhaps they've gotten the bugs worked out of it. It seems there is always some amount of initial maintenance that you'll have to do with a "new" used machine. But once you get passed that, with a little luck you'll get a good bit of service out of it. The 175 has been friendly to work on. The breakdowns and costs so far have been worth the amount of work we've gotten out of it.
well so much for the pictures,new smart phone seems to be smarter than the user. while trying to move/send them they/I deleted them... bummer. oh well, plan on going bacl to look at again any way, just hate losing things.... It will probally be a couple weeks before I can go back and see it, hopefully it will still be there. Haven't heard back from the owner with the serial # but it's been snowing off and on and is going to for the next few days...
Ah well, just think of it as a good excuse to go back and look at it. I'm old school I guess..still have an old flip phone. It takes pictures but like you I have a hard time transferring them. It just turned cold here today but hopefully this is the last cold spell we have.
short update good and not so good Good Boone would like to thank you for the info on contacting my local Komatsu dealer in regards to the serial #. The owner of the 175C called with the serial #, . Was told the starter had been replaced 2yrs ago, and has 2 new/2yr old batteries. 24volt system. Is 2nd owner and has had it 12-15yrs. Not so good I contacted my local dealer and they had actually sold parts for the machine. It is a 1978 model vs a 84-86 . The sprockets were bought/replaced in 2005. Some odds and ends but nothing on the motor. Contact was very nice and informative in regards to the machine, I asked if they did inspecstions on this type of machine, not really but they have a retired International mechanic that does this type of thing. If we get closer to pulling the trigger on it was advised to have him come out and go over it. Very nice to have an ace in the hole.....
jms, thanks for the update. That's coincidental about the starter. Ours had a near new starter on it when we bought it. Of course we didn't find out until we were pulling the engine...what a way to find out eh? If I remember right it had a Komatsu sticker on it. Probably cost a penny or two! Well, if the owner has had it that long, they probably know the machine well. All the grease points on ours were dry as a cow chip when we got it. Evidently, the previous owner didn't have a grease gun or didn't have the machine long enough to use it. That's great you found out the actual year. I don't think there were many changes on those machines throughout the 70's and 80's. Just subtle differences that I've noticed when looking at similar machines. However, sometimes I browse machinery trader and I get the feeling a lot of people are guessing on the year of these machines. Sounds like good insurance having a retired mechanic nearby who knows the machines. We have the same situation here. There's a retired IH/Dresser mechanic that lives here in town and he still works on these machines. He's rebuilt the transmission in a TD-15C for someone we know. It's good to know he's here in case we get stuck. I hope we never need him! :spaz
great thread, I just found this yesterday and read it all. Good job on all the rebuilds you have done. You will get a lot of pure enjoyment from using that loader, I owned a 955L for several years (wish I had it back) and really liked it too. You will find you can push yourself out of a soft spot really easy. You can lift a tree that you have pushed out clear up and drop it a couple times to shake off the dirt from the stump, and it will all burn. Also, I had much better luck burning a brush pile in a slot, and after raising the bucket out of the way using the motor for a fan to supercharge the fire, and wow does that ever work. You can also lift a corner of the pile before you start to burn and add your consumable fire starting agents under it which will ensure that you can burn the wettest of trees. The z linkage on your IH will have 50% more breakout than my old L did and it was plenty, by the way. Happy Easter..
Thanks for the comment and great tips oldirt. We really have enjoyed using the loader. We've tried to stay out of the wet spots but I have used the bucket curl to help me backing out of ditch. I've never thought to use the fan to feed a fire but I bet it does work well in a slot. It'll blow my cap off when I walk in front of it plus give me face full of dirt. We're having to burn our piles, tighten and then reburn. They're slowly going away, but it's taking more time than it should
ok.. try the fan trick, it works so well it is crazy. Used it a lot and it was spectacular to say the least. Once again, I can't stress enough how much better I can burn green trees by loading them into a slot, usually with wind blowing in the direction of the entrance ramp. you will not have much left to bury. I hate burying junk that I might run into again for some other project at a later date.
Pics from the day we knocked out a few thorns. This blow-down was getting a little frail.
Here's a before and after shot of a small thorn thicket we knocked out.
Video I had a little bit too much fun with windows movie maker one night. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cps_oJtmbc
Thanks for the pics and video boone.
nice pics
So how do you know if a HEF thread has grabbed you? You stumble across this one because there was not much happening over in dozers just before you have to fly out of town for a couple of days for a funeral, then when you get home you kiss the missus, let the dogs jump up once in anticipation of going on an adventure walk (somehow they think everywhere we go together is an adventure) and you say to the dogs firmly and seriously - "not now - I'm in the middle of something, how bout tomorrow". Great read Boone (that's my brothers nickname too) - mate I don't think you can have too many pics - love the land clearing and associated projects pics too Jimbob
LOL! Been a lot of good contributors that have made the thread fun. My wife and I just had our second baby boy in April. In those precious quiet hours of the morning before work, sometimes I slip off to the front porch with my coffee in hand and sit out on the swing thumbing through HEF on my ipod. Most times I find myself reading about the trouble you guys are getting into with your Fiats. Lots of great pictures, ingenuity and humor there. Now go take those poor dogs for a walk!
Don't worry Boone - they usually get 2+ walks a day just for them (I tell them it's just for them, but there's probably something in it for me too seeing as its all the way down the hill on the old steep road then back up the new road I made with the dry hire d6d) plus all the up & down the hill with the bush basher to get a bolt or o-ring from the bottom shed (on site hardware store) - my dogs follow diesel engines seemingly so weekends are fun for them (as long as I am being interesting enough! - dozers and loaders are their favourite, they just pace along with them until they trust I'm doing it right, then find a shady spot to supervise). Funny - 5.30am alarm - coffee machine - HEF - walk dogs - do some work on one of my dozers - day job - walk dogs - do some work on one of my dozers - food - HEF - reset. Another funny - having just read this 36 page thread over the last few days, it seems like only yesterday that you had your first boy - congrats Boone - time flys huh! Jimbob
They sound like the best kind of supervisor. You're not kidding. I keep thinking all the clocks in the house are broken...they all run fast. I've heard it only gets faster from here.
Few pictures of our weekend projects. The weekend agenda was bushog and a ditch project. Dad went over on Friday to do some odds and ends and was fueling up ole blue. He got a half a tank in the tractor when the nozzle started blowing air. Why is it you always think you have more than you really do? Discovered our supply tank was out. He quickly got on the horn to the co-op. Luckily they had a truck in the vicinity which came over within the hour and delivered us a tad over 200 gallons. Would have been a shame to get over on Saturday only to realize we had no fuel. ointhead The three little pigs getting greased up early Sat. The lofty goal was to cut the whole place in one day! About lunch time, the cans of hickory smoked beanie weenies were calling. Feeling good about our progress we pulled down to the house for some lunch under the shade of the front porch. I parked the tractor under the shade of an old maple, jumped off and was giving it a quick glance over and discovered the inlet fuel line to the pump was leaking. Not too concerned - I figured it would get me by on the chores at hand and I could order a new line this week. After lunch all the tractors were pulling away and mine wouldn't hit a lick. Thinking it might need to be bled of air, we started using the plunger pump which confirmed that I had a crack in the fuel line and was therefore out of commission. :Banghead What were the chances of finding a local welder to fix it on Saturday? Slim to none. I went up the road about a mile to a local welder only to find out he doesn't work on Saturday. Oh well, it'll be up to the Kubotas and we'll get our regular welder to fix the line on Monday. Hard at it... Good news - finished it up in one day although it was getting close to dark. Monday, our regular welder fixed the line. He pressure tested it, found a slight leak and he hit it once more. Got it back on and it's back in business. Just in time for some dirt work.
Hey boone, I have a good question for ya. On the right side of the seat, recessed just a bit under the panel in a small hole. There is a tube with a check ball of sorts on the end of it. Its about 3/8 od and when you push the ball there is a bit of pressure release. Could this be a trans vent ? Hard to imagine but its not refed in any of the manuals, surprise....
Hey barky, I believe that's a pressure test port coming off the spool. I don't have the manuals at my house and I'm not near the loader at the moment, but the trans vent comes off the trans dipstick tube. I have picture I'll dig up.
Yup thats the one. Well one mystery solved. I havent had the tin off around the seat area yet, I want to and get the grime blasted out. A few days ago I found the 4 way bucket had a odd sort of movement in it when closing. Further inspection revealed both hinge pins were broke at the grease hole in the middle. I made some new ones out of stressproof and some cobb bushings to tighten things up a bit. Getting there.... Thanks for the reply ! B
Everything little thing you do just makes it better. Yeah, our bucket pins are a little sloppy but good enough for what we're doing. It could use probably use line boring, but that probably won't ever happen.
Saturday after lunch I started on a crooked ditch that runs in a valley. We cleared it two years ago which left the piles you see in the picture. But we never shaped it up and therefore hasn't been maintainable with the cutter. It's starting to grow up again. The goal was to take the bends out of it and make it as straight as possible without excavating too much of the hill. I started clearing the original ditch and moving a couple of brush piles to get a feel for what we were working with. Some of the bends were a little deep from where the water has carved it out. Lot easier this go around since the big stuff was gone. Saw this baby snake - figured moma wasn't too far away.
A dozer with an angle blade or better yet 6 way blade would've been ideal for this.
Hey Boone! Nice pictures! It looks very nice and interesting! I'm looking forward to see more updates about your jobs.
Thanks glen. Maybe I can finish the updates tonight. Looking rough on Monday morning Bit of a curve in it I started making straight cuts into the hill. The tractors started coming in helping me move the windrows of dirt to the low spots. That ole weight block hasn't fell off yet!
The next few pictures are a hodge podge of before and mostly after shots. This was in 2010 after we cleared some of the bigger stuff Same spot in 2013 after Before 2010 Same spot 2013
This is the last of the bunch. This was Saturday about noon About 13 work hours later (Monday evening)
Nice lookin' place and great job- both on the machine and the grading.
Thanks labparamour! We finally got some rye down on it...just need a little rain.
Just a heads up for you IH/Dresser sort of guys, I was perusing the Dressta site looking for specs and possible repair parts for a unit for sale locally, they are building new manufacture dozers along the old Dresser styles. The TD (M) series is their new offer and has the old IHC/Dresser sized rails 7.5(190.5mm) pitch chains on the TD 14 or 15 M's. Does me no good with a Allis but thought I would share the info.
That's good info DMiller. According to serial numbers on our machine, the 7.5" pitch chains are what we'd need if we ever do an undercarriage job. Dressta shows that Tractor and Equip deals with their parts. I'm sure they're nice and cheap! There are several other IH/Dresser machines that use those chains as well.
Any updates to this great thread Boone?
Hello RC, nothing real exciting but here's some goings on... In September we leased the place to a hunter for the year with the contract stating we can still "play" in the dirt when we want. We just coordinate with him and it's worked out well so far. We've been over a few times but I haven't taken many pictures. You might remember on the previous page the fuel line on my tractor that I had welded up after a crack developed when the fuel line was bent - well, the weld failed after we got the ditch project finished. I don't have much luck with cracks and welds. In hindsight I should've learned my lesson the first go around and insisted the tube be brazed or soldered. Anyway, I took it back to the welder and the more he welded the worse it got. I ordered a new steel line but it took 12 weeks to arrive. In the mean time I ordered some barbed banjo fittings and fuel lline and made my own. I wrapped the rubber line in a fabric loom. I suppose I'll just keep it like this till it leaks. Just finished our fall cutting a month or so ago. No break-downs and I only almost got stuck once. Differential lock is great when you need it! We've been burning the fuel - just had our stock fuel tank filled up the second time this year. The co-op came over and filled the tank and dad met him over with the 175 out, but due to insurance and safety he couldn't directly fill the loader from his truck, so dad filled the 175 out of the stock tank while the fuel man filled the stock tank the rest of the way up. The loader has been doing great. It's been busy digging holes for our remaining brush piles. Here's the ditch in the background with the rye coming up. If anyone ever row crops this place, they'll be shaking their fists at whoever buried this stuff
I took an HD video digging the hole above, but I won't claim to be the one operating it - not my best work. I also almost buried my camera a couple of times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YLlRtovcao
Thanks for the update. i bet if someone does plant something there they will be a bit annoyed.
Must be nice to be in the land of no ground frost!! Up "here" we need to bury stone and log piles with at least 6 feet of dirt over the top of them. 8 feet is better. Otherwise the frost just pushes everything back to the surface over time. Andrew
Yes, thankfully ground frost it non existent here. Y'all can keep the cold weather up there. Ha! We're suppose to get a snow dusting tonight. Been rainy and chilly here all week.
Everything looks good! Why 12 weeks for that fuel line?
Dresser or IH or Navistar engine parts for the older machines are fast becoming hard to get. Have a friend with a 250 Dresser, nice machine but we had to wait for 2 months to get a exhaust manifold section for the turbo mount. All we checked on in yards were already cracked, his had just failed at a old crack. The replacement part came from Europe(Prague) and must have come by slow boat.
Farmtrac US has dissolved. The equipment is still being made internationally and parts are available but if its not here in the US distributor's warehouse it takes a couple of weeks to get here. Escorts is the parent company. The only explanation i got from the distributor (ITP) about the 12 week delay was that Escorts "hadn't released the part yet". Only thing I figure is that they had to make it?? It's funny, I also ordered a fuel shutoff valve in the same order and I got it in 3 days. Go figure. Thankfully we haven't had any big order parts for the Dresser that we couldnt get quickly. But like DMiller's example there are always parts that will be difficult to source. It really stinks when you need the machine and can't run it for a $10 part.
Yea for the older machines parts are definitely becoming rare.
Ok, I'm sorry, for some reason I remembered it to be a ford, I've kept up with this for years and just thought wrong on that. Makes sense now.
I have begun to see this same issue with HD trucks, hard engine parts are pretty common but soft parts as gasket sets and seals are scarceing out. Most everything I started in the industry on are now antiques and few companies are stocking pieces. The last 6V53 Detroit I worked was last year, some pieces just no longer exist for them, the distributor for DD stated the 71 Series is coming to a close soon too. Cummins distributor has stated the injection pump rebuild benches may disappear in the next few years, just not enough call to keep them active as the "E" engines came to being around the late 90's and they are old now too. Kind of scary seeing what got me to where I am becoming obsolete.
Not to mention the '74 Allis I now have and am currently wrestling with to keep functioning, I started in heavy equipment when this old girl was new.
Easy to confuse. One day while all three of us were cutting, we had a neighbor drop by to say it looked like we had robbed a tractor dealership. He thought the farmtrac was a ford too. It's the late eighties Ford 4610 model with a few changes built in 2007. Got it for a steal and couldn't pass up. It's got the old noisy 3 cylinder ford engine that's good for around 60hp. Guaranteed to vibrate your fillings out and make you go deaf in a day without hearing protection. I picked up some old ford suitcase weights at a tractor show and found that ford engine blue is a spot on match for color.
How is the Allis when it comes to parts pricing? Our local prior Allis dealer is sky high, but he usually has anything you need.
About the only place I can get parts for the old girl is Minnpar, and yes they are very high priced when I can get them. Two simple little items, the connective runner boots on the brake actuators are special order now, $215 EACH, are rubber, 2" at one end, 2 1/2" at the other and 5" long accordion, just nuts. The main u-joint assembly is only offered as such $460 and available IF they can get one from Fiat in Italy. I salvage a lot of pieces now, even to the point of buying the donor tractor. HD7G was a oddball at best, a late delivery in Allis timeline and not long lived. The 7GB had little in common to this old machine and as such are fewer and fewer spares about. I still own a Allis 180D tractor, is my forklift among other uses, parts thru the Agco Heritage network are getting thin for it too where my local dealer gets his pound of flesh, may be stepping away from both in a few short years.
Ouch! Yes, we've priced and bid on a couple of donor 175C's in that last couple of years. We figure if a major breakdown occurs a donor may be money well spent. But they all go for higher than we care to pay. Our Allis dealer also dealt in Deutz tractors which is what my granddad used years ago on the farm we're clearing now. We still have his tractor. My brother painted it and we put new tires and a new seat on it. That's about all it needed and we take it to a tractor show or two. It's still a very workable tractor, but it's retired. If anything goes wrong with it, we'd have to park it. Couldn't afford the parts. Back when were going through it, dad priced a signal light/horn stalk switch that was tore up on the dash. The price was as you say nuts. I can't remember the figure. It didn't get replaced. We'll just use our hands for turns and yell if someones in the way
Cook tractor in Clinton Missouri is pretty good for some deutz parts, course one you get into the real old ones it gets harder, but there still pretty good on most stuff.
Great thread! Took me all week to get through it, but great story. I just picked up my first crawler loader. I brought home a 955L a few weeks ago. My winter project I am dying to put in the dirt! I think I will enjoy the pedal steer much more than the 'ol HD-5B that I grew up on
I'm amazed at the parts you can still get for these tractors. Thanks for the contact on the dealer.
I know the feeling. I've been keeping up with your thread. Looks like you've got a good fixer-upper going. It was almost nine months before we actually got to use ours. Hope you get yours going sooner than that! There's one or two 955 owners on here, lol. You should be in good hands.
Planned a little work day at the farm. Grabbed a ham and biscuit at Hardees with dad and brother. Head over to the farm and it starts spitting rain. Get over to the farm and the tractor does not want to get out of bed. Not a good way to start the morning. :Banghead Oil cooler line sprung a leak. No tractor work today. Oh well, at least the rain stopped. Dad and brother start putting up a gate at the barn while I start stripping the oil lines off the tractor. They only make a 10 and 12' gate so we got the 12. It over extends a bit.
Got ole faithful out of the barn and greased 'er up. Time to go move some dirt, rock and dig a big hole. It stayed overcast and sprinkled on and off for the most of the day. The pile I was going to bury had a tremendous amount of dirt in it. I scooped several bucket loads of dirt out of it and used it as fill for a ledge that we're trying to smooth off so we can cut it. You'll see below the brown weeds are where a stair step ledge is located. I moved about 35 cubic yards of dirt here that will be used to take the steepness out. This will be an on going project. With several more yards of dirt to be moved in here and lots of landscaping todo once the tractor is in better health. Here's the source of the dirt and pile of rock and limbs that are about to get buried.
The burial Digging was decent. This was a looong trench. I guess you can slot doze with a track loader. Let's hope it's big enough! It all fit, surprisingly. Glad to get this eye sore below ground.
Thanks for the update Boone! looks like the track loader got a GOOD workout.
Must be nice to only bury stuff that shallow! "Here" there had better be at least 6 feet of dirt on top of it - 8 feet is better. Otherwise, the frost will just push it all up over time. Andrew
Indeed - I know it got a good workout, cause even my legs were sore at the end of the day. It's really been running solid last couple hundred hours. We've got 330 hours on it now. That's all the good I'm going to say about it though, don't want to jinks anything, lol.
Living in the deep south, I can't say that I've ever had to deal with that geological process. How does that work? Ice forming below the debris eventually expanding pushing it up and out of the ground? I saw a video on youtube of a D9 in texas digging a mass burial hole for cattle that was way deeper than the machine. Pretty incredible.
would love to work in dirt like that for a little while. cut my teeth "playing " in what seems to be ancient creek bed nothing but rock and a little sand. everything i do seems to require digging out rocks some of them huge. so big a pickup would struggle to haul. oh and the playing part is still true after 20 plus years still AINT an operator not sure if i qualify for a lever puller
We've been lucky on all of our holes considering the size rocks we have in such close proximity. There's one area that we can't get into to "play", er clean up because smack in the middle of a wet weather spring. We're too chicken to get it. Same here. But I sure have fun trying.
My little farm is Loess soil on the hill tops/upper sides, works to broken rock slabs on the low sides to the creek which is sheet rock bottomed almost to the look of concrete it is so smooth. Slabs tend to be 6" to 2' thick and anywhere from 2 x4' to 6x10' pretty well all flint or a flint mix and do not break well. Got a few I intend to use for landscape if the old 7G will move them. As to the deep soil it cuts relatively well for the first two to three feet then packs in tight, works the teeth on the loader pretty hard and breakout being degraded some from age gets a little dicey for pulling a full bucket load out. Have had luck using the 4/1 as a dozer to break through and then clam the spoil but takes longer than just digging in.
Boone, I'm looking at a similar 175C. Curious if youve had any issues with finding parts, high wear items, etc? I know the DT466 is a popular engine, filters, oils, etc can be had along with undercarriage parts. What about anything else? i.e. final drive parts, etc. thanks
Dhutch, we've been pretty lucky on parts. We found everything we needed for the engine swap no problem. Haven't needed any exotic parts...knock on wood. Seal kits, orings, hoses, all that is readily available. Pumps can be rebuilt. We had one steel hydraulic line that we needed to replace and the Komatsu dealer had it but it was $600. Probably available used , but it turned out to be fixable so dodged a bullet on that. The big parts like undercarriage, finals, radiators are all available but you have to scout them out, and they're used. If you start with a decent machine and not one that's been run in the ground, I wouldn't be too afraid of a 175c.
Boone, I had forgotten about the diesel and oil smell that was mixed in with the fresh earth smell back in the day. I also remember that Gene's wife would not let him come inside the new house that he had just had built for her because he stank after working all day. She insisted that he take his work clothes off in the garage before entering. She said that he smelt just like diesel fuel. I didn't know that diesel fuel had a bad smell unless it had gone bad from old age!
Still working a weekend here and there. Thought I'd throw up a few pictures of this weekend's work. Spring is around the corner. Some things are budding, other things are still quite dry. We took advantage of the semi-dry conditions and set three of our big piles on fire. We still have a lot of dry sage stubble in the fields so we made a fire break around all of the piles. Good thing we did. The wind picked up as soon as they started roaring and one jumped the break. It was out of sight from where me and dad were standing and my brother flew up on his tractor sounding the alarm (blowing horn) so I ran and got my tractor. There's something about brush piles and grass fires that gets my heart rate up fast! Next day, got the 175 out and consolidated one of the three big piles We lit these piles off first thing and did other things during the day. The smoke literately followed us all day. My wife and kids were visiting her parents out of town, but I still think she could smell me.
Here's what this pile started as Ended up with this. Hoped it would burn completely up, but we ran out of time to spend on it. You can see another pile in the background. We'll combine the two on another day.
It must be nice to have a few less laws in your state. If we tried to do that here in New Jersey we would end up in jail. I think a campfire is against the law here. Ron
Yes, it's been nice to not have our hands tied on burning. Technically, we should've gotten a burn permit, but we didn't. There are Alabama laws that now ban burning during certain windows of time during the summer months to help with air quality. That law doesn't affect our county...yet. However, if the forestry commission sees big plumes of black smoke, you better believe they'll come find you. There were a few small planes that came overhead during the day. Who knows, maybe they were watching.
My county just requires notification to the local fire department if the no burn ordinances aren't active, real dry times they stop all burns.
The open burn ban for the Birmingham area starts May 1 and ends Nov 1, several counties are affected. It is nice to be able to burn brush the rest of the year. Legally we can only burn vegetated debris and non-treated lumber. In the old days, land clearing fires were started rather easily, a couple of old tires and some diesel. Light the tires and push the pile over on them. They'll throw you under the jail if they catch you burning tires now.
Yup. We have a neighbor who can vouch for that.
Hehe, I just burned a 16 ft high by 80ft long pile of black locust. One of the FD guys deer hunts on my land and volunteered the F dept to come out for some fun. Worked out great, no hassels from anyone. I was very intimidated by the pile size and wouldn't have wanted to do it by myself. Im still clearing land with my 175C and will have another pile this fall. For me the 175 has been the perfect machine capacity wise. It does a great job of packing a tight pile that burns fully, rather than say a loose pile with a skid loader.
Ouch, that's some nice firewood being burned up.
Did you guys have a water tank or anything on hand in case it got out of hand? We had lots of farmers and landowners doing the same thing a couple years ago and nobody seems to want to take a few little precautions and keep some brooms, rakes, or some hose and water nearby. But on the other hand we probably wouldn't get any fire calls so to each its own. lol
Nice! The 4-n-1 would make it really nice for piling a bit higher too. Someone one here once said when we got the 175 running good that we wouldn't be disappointed and they were right on. It's been great machine for what we've done with it.
We did bring two shovels to beat out the grass fires, but the fire break we made around the piles did their job for the most part.
Hopefully I don't get kicked off of here for all of these pics. Here's a few pictures of a section of small rise that was completely overgrown 20 pages ago. Most of the clearing is on pages 20, 21 and 26 of the thread. This is one section that we cleared, but never fully completed. We've been working our way back on this little hill, sowing it as we go. This picture gives an overall orientation of where I'm talking about couple of years ago after we cleared the brush and trees. It was growing up again. This was taken late summer of 2013. Had a small brush pile on top of this rise and took the 175 pushing it to one of our burn piles. Didn't take a pic of the pile. Pushed it to this burn pile and used the tractor to push the little stuff that broke off or got left behind.
Bit of cleanup to do and bunch of dirt needed to build up some of the stair step ledges so we could bush-hog it. The hole I just dug will provide most of the dirt we'll need. Looking in the same direction, this is how much dirt we still had left after covering the hole.
Filling it Same shot after Using the loader to pack down some of our fill in the holes. Dad enjoying himself Background shows some early stages of the area we're trying to smooth out. Lot to be done.
We kept scraping the top of the hill and hauling dirt with the tractors. After this and some fun with the burn piles, this pretty much concluded day one. Next day, the mules were thirsty so we brought them to the watering hole. Start hauling buckets and buckets and buckets of dirt.
I box bladed while dad and brother hauled dirt. This is as far back into these woods as we plan to go on the far side.
The dirt was a little bit more moist and gummy than we'd have liked. But I thought it turned out pretty good. Dad getting his walking excercise in. He put out 80 lbs of fescue. Thanks for looking. :usa
Nice work Boone! Always enjoy your updates. What model is the non cabbed Kubota?
Certainly some beautiful hilly country you have there.
RCTech9, it's an M5140. Has the R4 tires on it with loaded rears. It's in the 50hp family. Dad picked it up in 2012. Nice little tractor and it does surprisingly well with the 8ft cutter. Thanks 245dlc. We're blessed to have it. It's our own little Smoky Mountains except without the mountains. This weekend it was more like, "Smoky Hills". I think I finally have all the ash out of my ears.
Good looking work boone. I was going to ask where the other orange came from.
Thanks O&W. I keep telling dad and my brother that maybe one day they can trade up to a Farmtrac :naughty We have a good time ribbing each other about who's tractor can do what. Dad also has a smaller L2550 that he bought new in 1985. It's good for poisoning the fencerows with the 50 gallon 3pt sprayer and other odd jobs. Some pictures of it are buried in the thread. Page 22 has pictures of an open station M8540 and the L2550. I was half-way looking for someone to notice couple of years ago that the open station M8540 morphed into a cabbed M9540. My brother regretted not getting the cab and bit the bullet on selling the 8540 to get a new 9540. Yes, we're tractor poor. I'm sure there's a Jeff Foxworthy joke, you might be a redneck if your tractor is nicer than your car.
Any new pictures Boone?
I sure don't. Between kid's birthday parties, work and other things I haven't been back over to do much. Next time we get over will probably be spring cutting in May. Speaking of pictures - about a month ago I started uploading a lot of the original sized project pics so I can share with a few family members. My poor little camera - I end up taking about 10 pics for every 1 that I post here. I've only uploaded a couple of the projects we've done so far. But, if you're interested you can click here to see them .
I've enjoyed your posts. Some of the scenery in your area is very similar to the hills here in my area. Just replace half of your dirt with grapefruit sized rocks and push up taller, steeper hills. Glad your trackloader is holding up well. I know the cracked block was a nasty suprise, but at least it was a machine that had parts readily available (and used a common engine). Good choice there! You have a setup that many people seem to want on this forum. #1: good tractor/dozer. #2: relatively low maintenance costs (after the initial shocker). #3: bought it at a decent price. #4: Have the opportunity to learn to run it without constant deadlines or trying to get the job done and get paid before you go broke. #5: Using it to clean and improve land that has family ties (that last one counts for a lot!) Congrats!
Thanks for the comments hillbillywrench. It's been a fun ride. During the days proceeding and following the purchase of the loader, I was doing some pretty serious research on the world wide web looking high and low for information on the 175C. Most of it came from forums like HEF and redpower. Found some really cool threads that helped us and made me want to help provide some insight for the next guy in our position looking to do the same thing. It really has been a good machine apart from the surprise we found after we bought it.
Boone just curious, why did ya'll shuttle the dirt with the tractors instead of the loader?
Hopefully this is enough to give you a chuckle CM. Our original plan had us thinking we need to truck dirt from the pond bank or some far away source thinking we'd use most of what was piled to cover over the holes. Which is why we had both tractors over with their loaders. But we ended up with plenty of dirt right close to where it was needed. I was ready to move it in a heartbeat with the 175 since we were in such close proximity, but they wanted to "play" with their loaders since they'd gone to the trouble of bringing them both. It took a whole lot longer to do with the tractors, but they got to enjoy plenty of seat time. We had two days budgeted to burn the piles, cover the holes and fix this slope and we ended up with enough time to use the tractors. I went over today after church services. It's been about 3 weeks and the weather has gotten a bit warmer and I'm starting to see a slight greenish hue. Looks like we're getting some seedlings up. These pictures were taken with my cell phone.
. :thumbsup That's what these kind of projects are all about.
Dang I wish I could do something like that! After years of being in business and not being able to keep up with things like I need to I can't do anything slower than the fastest possible way to do it.
Exactly CM. Have to remind myself of that. We're going on three years now with this whole project why rush now. I hear ya on that denver m. I'm usually a bit more rushed than i like to be sometimes. Very few things in life allow for doing things in slow motion. One of my favorite episodes of Andy Griffith is the one where Opie gets all excited about sleeping on the ironing board. I guess we were sleeping on the ironing board that day. LOL
Problem Starting my 175c crawler loader Hello fellow 175c crawler loader owners, I was running my machine just fine all day then stopped to refuel. When trying to restart, I heard the solenoid click (tried twice) then nothing. Eliminated battery, starter switch, and starter motor (was able to spin it by running a 12 volt line to the power bolt on the motor), so I am now trying to do the same with the solenoid but can't find the hot lead to it. I see small ground line but that is it. I will try to get a picture of what I am looking at to post but for the time being, does anyone have any suggestions? By the way, I am new to forums so please excuse me if I am not following protocall... Thanks, John
BINGO... the lack of a wire on the solenoid was really was bugging me so I traced the line from the switch on the dash and found a relay on the "firewall"!... hot jumper'd it and she fired right up!!! Looks like the line from the switch to this relay must be open. Take care all, John
I had that problem with an International dump truck once. I about pulled the remainder of my hair out until i found that second little solenoid hidden away! :drinkup
Thanks, it's nice to know I'm not alone in this. Still jumpering the switch get it started. I have to find where the open is... not sure if it is the corrosion on the switch or the wire is broken. What did you do to fix it?
Mine was simple enough to just be the second solenoid. I changed it and all was better.
Wow that a bad boy! I got a JD 450 loader and JD 450c .That would run right over mine !
Luckily my Allis is a direct wire to the starter, simple push button makes up the hot line to the start solenoid with no added solenoids between. IH and Deere sometimes Cat get so complex with the simplest systems.
This is good to know. About 1 out of every 4 starts we get a click and nothing. If the starter button is held down after the click, the starter will eventually engage in a second or two. It's not frequent enough to be annoying, but eventually may try to fix it. Just a week ago we recently replaced our batteries. One of the old batteries was 6 years old and the other was 7 years old. We've been jumping it off the last couple of times we've used it. Figured we'd bite the bullet. Got a couple of Deka Commercial Group 31s. She really whirls up now.
On a whem one day, we took the loader and cleaned between a couple of the out buildings on the old homeplace. Little bit overkill, but worked really well. The old cauldrons you see hanging on the sheds were used many years ago on hog killing day to cook chitterlings. Also known as chittlins. Wasn't a big fan myself. There was a little oak tree between these two buildings that was getting a bit big. The ole 175 has pushed over it's fair share of trees, today it was a gentle giant helping to transplant this little fellow. It's the wrong time of the year to be transplanting trees, but we thought we'd give it a shot. The soil was nice and damp when we did this. Dad posed for this picture so that one day, many years from now we can show the grandkids how this tree ended up here by the barn. The tree was stressed as you can see in the picture below a month later. It was starting to lose some of it's leaves. Below is my little water helper. He was "helping" me tote a few buckets of water from the spring. I think the little tree might make it.
Looks great Boone! Hope the tree makes it. The old barn and "hog killing day" brings back memories. Not a fan of chittlins either but the old timers didn't waste a thing - from the "rooter to the tooter".
Well said and very true!
Water Line Had a freeze problem in the well house last year and ever since we haven't had a good way to wash our greasy hands while working over here. The water stream by the barn worked good for washing, but I don't like snakes and I've seen a few that like to hang around there. We started digging up the 50 or 60 year old line out from the well house and just decided to replace the entire line to the outdoor faucet. We ripped out the old shutoff valve here and moved it back to the well house. The run wasn't that long and we couldn't justify renting a trencher. Too bad we couldn't track the loader back in here. We did finally get this thing out without bustin' a gut.
Wired up some light bulbs on a thermostat for freeze protection. If the inside temp goes below 40F they'll come on. We only have 220 out here to the pump and so the lights are in series. Since they're in series, there's two pair for redundancy if a bulb blows. New line in. Checked for leaks and covered.
Looks good Boone. That's what we did yesterday at the shop. Ran about 450', added 3 new hydrants and got rid of some garden hoses that run all over the place.
Thanks CM. Yeah, we debated on just running a temp garden hose from the well house spigot for the few times we'd be over working, but figured in the long run a real line would pay off with no hassle. That's a lot of line you did. Do you have a trencher in your arsenal? Or did you just trench it with the 321?
Same here, had some time and 3/4" SDR 21 was $.20 a foot at Lowes, so we decided to get rid of the hoses. I have a trencher attachment for a skid steer to dig most of the trench and the 334 mini to dig the tight spots we couldn't get with the skid and trencher, pretty quick when going 12" or so with open area.
Water lines 12" down? Light bulbs for freeze-protection? I wish!!! There were lines 12 feet deep freezing here this year! Andrew
Now that's the way to do it! I forgot you had the mini too.
Here's two in the process of clearing shots of a ditch we cleared a couple of years ago, so that we could cut it. Fast forward to Saturday. Spring time cutting is really the only time we can't cut it. Just too marshy. It was on the edge this time. I saw a large snapping turtle in the patch of the grass you see in the foreground. I was backing into and saw him rise up and move. I ended up leaving he and his grassy home. It's August and still wet. On the last pass up close to the tile, I got stuck. Dad wasn't too far away on the M5140 and I motioned for him to come over for a tow. Since I wasn't buried to the axle it was a quick extraction.
What?!?! Can't imagine that kind of cold. We usually have small spurts of low temperatures below freezing, but it won't last more than a few days, which is fine with me.
I see you have a soft spot too. We did a job in Tuscaloosa for a motel site. It was previously a graveled lot that sold trailers. We began stripping the gravel, 6" thick or so to save for trench backfill. There was one of those birds with the long legs that make their nest on the ground, yeah I know not too descriptive but that's not the point of the story. Anyway, momma guarded that nest of eggs like a champ, wouldn't flinch when the dozer got within a few feet of her. That kind of bravery and determination is something to respect and we did. Left her nest and that little patch of gravel until the eggs hatched. It was in the parking lot area and not the building pad so we had time to let it be. LOL Andrew D, we don't have to deal with cold weather, now very hot, sticky humidity is another story..:cool2
Yeah, that was a small town just south of me. Neighbours were leaving taps running round-the-clock just to avoid the problem. Winnipeg had thousands of houses without water during the winter. 500 without water as of May 28 ( http://globalnews.ca/news/1358331/hot-weather-but-water-pipes-still-frozen-in-winnipeg/ ). Haven't heard anything lately - I'm assuming they are thawed out by now! Andrew
I guess running water is the only way in that kind of cold. Like CM said, it's been hot and sticky here. I'm ready for some cooler weather, but nothing that cool. Brrrr!
That's a great story CM. I try to be careful with the living things when I see them, but there not always in my line of sight. This weekend while we were clearing a little spot I ran over a ground-hog. Just didn't see him. However, if he's the one who's been in our barn I'm glad to have gotten him. On another note, last year I was making a push through some grown up bramble on the side of a ditch and as the dirt was rolling up in my bucket, up popped a turtle riding the dirt wave. I even took a picture of it. I immediately stopped my push and started in another direction. I was hoping to give the little fellow some time to crawl off somewhere before proceeding with that push.
You guys are probably 350 miles south of me on 65 , we have to go at least 30" deep with water lines here by plumbing code which I don't understand why it falls under plumbing code as its out doors. We have to have a licensed plumber install the line. We do it sometimes with out , they can make a stink if a licensed plumber comes by and reports you. Same with sewer lines even going to a septic tank. All has to be permitted and inspected. I can lay a municipal sanity , set manholes etc, but can't put a freakin 20' sdr35 house sewer in. Go figure.
Same thing here. I loose out on a lot of easy money on the commercial jobs running site sewer, water and grease traps because I don't have a plumbers card. Once a service leaves the ROW one has to be a plumber to run it.
After cutting this past weekend I took an after shot of a fencerow and some patchy spots we'd cleared a few years ago. Before During, which happen to be our first day with the loader. This is a shot from this past Saturday (Aug 9th).
To the left of the pictures in the previous post is a spring that we tip toed around, but couldn't clear because of a wet weather spring. Here's some panarama shots taken on top of the small hill looking down. We were in the process of clearing and V'ing out the ditches along this fencerow. The spring is in the middle of the fencerow. It's in front of the loader in the picture below. And that's about as far as we went when we were clearing. Panning further right - we picked up with the clearing on the other side of the spring. The water is just beyond the big rock. Today, it keeps this ditch wet all the way to road.
Fast forward couple of years and here's what's left. Saturday, we tip toed around it some more and took out what we could. Figured we're safe in going as far left as the cedar in the middle. Got the loader out and fueled it up. After tracking it down to the tank I looked up in the corner of the canopy and noticed a large wasp nest with about 10 wasps about 2 feet from my head! Can't believe they didn't sting me as rough as that ride was. Happen to have a can of wasp spray in case something like that happened. Nothing big in here except a couple of rocks. Pool of water just below the cedar.
Started making a cut on the bank to shave off a hump. I was hoping by taking this berm out I would have more of a ramp to push the growth out cross-ways thru the ditch and back up this side of it.
There was barb wire from the old fence and big rock that we'd pushed off the hill.
Almost to the cedar and no sign of major stuckage. The cedar and beyond is wetland Took just a few minutes with the loader. Time for the tractor to move in and shape it up a little.
Here's a before and after from the top of the hill. One day we'll get the rest of it.
Great work Boone how many hours have you guys put on the loader?
Thanks RC. We've put around 375 hours on it. We only have a few more spots we'd like to clear and shape up. We've almost completed the main projects we'd intended to do with it.
Boone, I really enjoy your post. Thanks for taking the time to do it. What is your plans for the loader once you are done?
Thanks Landclearer, I have fun posting the updates. We'll probably just hang on to it. At the rate we're completing our projects it's going to be a few more years before we get them all done
Thanks Boone. I don't blame you for wanting to keep it. If you did sell I do not think you would have any trouble. I would put my name in the hat for it
Looks good Boone. Can you burn year around or is there a burn ban in the county during the summer months? I wouldn't get rid of it, it's worth more to you having around than the money you'll get for it. That's like my ol' Blue (Gradall 534D6), I'd rather have it around than the money I'd get for it.
I second keeping it around , looks like you guys have several acres , and surely you could get plenty more use out of it. Besides it seems to be a real solid machine. If you sell it can you replace it later for the same $ or less? May even do a few odds and ends for neighbors for a few bucks on the side as well.
LOL, someone would definitely know the past 400 hours history on it by reading this thread, the good, the bad and the ugly. You'd be the first in the hat landclearer.
Thanks CM. We're lucky to not be in the county list of burn bans. It's open season as long as things are too dry obviously. We still have a few more piles to clean up and burn. We're finally getting ahead of the curve on our piles. Yeah, we haven't even really considered it. At least not without replacing it with some other piece of yellow iron. But at this point, the loader has been so handy in so many ways it's really been a nice utility tool. I don't know what we'd replace it with that would do what we've done with it. If it doesn't dry up for a while, we might have to hire someone with an excavator and thumb to finish up that spring work, maybe dig a little pond there. Too bad you're not closer!
Yes, that's kind of been our mindset. There's always some tree that blows down by a storm or big oak limbs that blow off. I'm sure we'll keep finding jobs for it to do. Maybe a pond! I really wouldn't mind hiring out for some selective work, but it'd be really hard with a full-time job. Maybe when I retire many years from now I can try that out. Something to keep me busy while making a few bucks.
Boone, I've followed your post for a while and just recently bought a '97 Dresser 175C with a 5.9 Komatsu (Cummins) engine. My question is when your sister, I believe, redid your seat for your loader, how has it held up? What material did she use? I'm looking to redo mine as well. Thanks for any info.
Hello dhutch. I remember you purchasing your loader. Hope you're making out well with it. Yes, my sister redid the seat on the loader. I had to call and ask her what she used. She used a marine vinyl which is UV protected. She also stitched it with a UV protected thread (nylon). She cotton would burst if it gets wet and is stretched over and over. She bought the vinyl at Sirsfabric at the Fayettville store where it's $10.99/yard. http://www.sirsfabric.com/Marine-Vinyl-Black-p/sfdc01840.htm The material has held up extremely well, but the loader sits inside and doesn't see the rain, sun or much wear so I would expect it to still look new. Does the '97 model have the high back seat? I tend to remember seeing that those had a slightly different seat than the one we have. Also, how do you like the Cummins engine in your 175?
Boone, Thanks for the reply, I'll look up the fabric and may go talk to a local shop about recovering my seat bottom, at least. I cant remember if I mentioned it, when I bought this 175, it had caught on fire and burnt up all the hyd lines and wiring. I spent a lot of evenings standing on my head replacing all the lines underneath the floor boards and some of the ones going to the loader cylinders. It came with the manuals, so rewiring wasn't too big of an issue. I replaced all the gauges with Stewart Warner gauges after sand blasteing the panels and painting the burnt areas. I have been clearing a lot with it; its much faster to operate than the 955H I replaced. I really like the 5.9, its nothing more than a 12 valve cummins with Komatsu stamped on the cummins CPL tag. My loader does have a different seat than yours. Its a slightly higher backed suspension type seat that's pretty comfortable. The lower cushion material melted a little in the fire and the foam needs to be replaced. I also ordered the packings for one of the tilt cylinders and will be doing that soon. I read back through your post where you did yours, that will help. Thanks again
Any new photos Boone?
Boone, was kind of expensive but I went to a local upholsterer, he had a really good grade of exterior vinyl that he used to replace my seat, made all new cushion foam blocking and basically got mine to where it did not hurt to set for long periods on it.
That's great dhutch. I think I saw a dash pic you put on redpower. It looked really good. Sounds like it's working out well for you. They seem to be a great loader once dialed in. We could stand to repack our lift cylinders but their not leaking as bad as our tilts were. If you ever get any pictures of your clearing, I'd love to see them as I'm sure others would too
Wish I did RC. Haven't worked on any loader projects since the last round of pictures. We're planning to go over in about three weeks for the last cutting of the season. Maybe we'll get a chance to start on our next "landscaping" project. We have an area that's got some unusual mounds and we're planning to shave down.
That's great Dmiller. My sister didn't cut us much of a break on pricing...hee hee, hope she doesn't read this. It was sorta expensive, but still could've been less that another upholsterer would've charged. The only regret I have is that we didn't rebuild the spring seat cushion. It had great support, but was just coming to pieces. We chunked the spring seat and used foam. It's nice, but it's not near as supportive as the original seat. I use another pillar (southern for pillow) to supplement the seat and it works fine now. Have put in a few long days sitting on it
Finished up our fall "harvest of weeds" couple of weeks ago. This will be the last cutting for the year. We had three rigs going. About half way through the first day my bush-hogging tractor sprung a fuel leak on the number one injection line. Line 2 and 3 have already been replaced, so figured it was only a matter of time. I guess it's a combination of inferior materials and lots of vibration. I was able to order a new line for $17.95 which I didn't think was bad until I had to shell out $21 shipping Was here in 3 days but was the wrong line They finally sent me the right one...only took 3 more days. Just glad I can still get parts for it. Since I was out of commision, I got the 175 track loader out and started taking up the fence around the barn. Dad had put up this fence in 2000 to help round up the cattle when my grandmother sold them all. Now the fence doesn't serve much of a purpose and it stays pretty ragged with weeds and vines. We're having to constantly poison around it and mow around it. Here's a typical before picture of how it looked It was a 5 or 6 strand fence. Lots of wire to roll up. Behind the loader is where the fence was.
Heavy duty post puller. The corner posts and railroad ties were the only ones that showed any resistance. But they didn't stand a chance. All done.
Yanking posts sure is fun isnt it.
Yes indeedy. I was pulling up a section of fence down by the branch when I'd snatched out the last post I could get without sinking the loader in mud. Just had a few left in the mud and water. Then all the sudden a truck drove up and it was the neighbor who'd noticed me pulling the post with the 175. He brought over his post puller jack. Pretty nifty little tool. We waded off into the mud and that thing yanked the remaining post right up. Great to have good neighbors.
That looks like a cool mechanism.
Bought my own post puller when I went to replace a fifty year old line on our place, seems these will pull a rusted almost away 'U' post intact where just dragging on them would break them off. Managed to get 90% of them completely out leaving the root anchor spade of the rest in the dirt for a later day. Still used the 7G Allis for corner post with the 4/1 as a gripper.
Dmiller, I like the idea of the 4n1 as a gripper to yank them out. I tried to salvage all the T posts. We'll probably use all the ones I pulled on the frontage fence.
Made our way toward the back of the property to a section where we'd cleared the undergrowth, but we never shaped up the landscape. It's really rough and terraced here. The afternoon light, weeds don't really help in showing just how it looks, but there's a couple of gulleys in here that we're reshaping. We didn't have time to finish it, but got a good start. Panning right. Can't tell much.
Also taking some humps out of the edge of the field and pushing down to a low spot.
Dad started cleaning up my mess of a grading job with the box blade.
The 5140 was pushing some dirt behind the 8' blade. Sometime this winter we'll finish up the whole section. Ran out of day light.
Your work looks nice. I'm envious of the nice day. You guys ran out of light, I ran out of dry!
That looks like some gloomy weather there in Duvall. Is that anywhere near Seattle? I've heard it's cloudy there all the time. The nice days have been hit or miss around here. We had a good weekend to cut, but the night of Halloween was the coldest I can remember. Dipped into the 30's with 15 mph winds. Trick or treating wasn't much fun.
Duvall is about 20 miles east of Seattle, in the foothills of the Cascade mountains. While winter is soggy and grey, sunny summer days can't be beat! And I can't complain too much, our summer was great and I was able to get a little clearing done. Hollowed for us was grey and cool but dry. Got to take the 4 y/o granddaughter trick or treating. Very fun to watch...she really got in to it! Keep posting the great pic. DB
Anything new to share Boone?
Nothing much RC. Have done a little maintenance work to the tractor. One of the fuel bleed screws was stripped and leaking. Fixed that and replaced that old rubber fuel line I had cobbled together. Put new crush washers on all the connections. I think it's the first time the fuel system has not leaked since I've owned it. The weekend after I did a bush-hogging job for a relative. My brother and I typically cut his place once a year and last couple I've been doing it. The land is rough and it was mostly bramble, sage and saplings. I only found one stump with the bushog. One of the reasons I like to do it in January is I can half way see where I'm going. The old tractor did well. He still wants us to come over with the loader and clean up a little. We'll do it eventually when we run completely out of things to do on our place.
i have never read a thread i enjoyed as much as this one. you,re truely a blessed man and family. GOD is so merciful. I hope to do things here in east ,tn. as you do/did but unlike you I have no family and my health is bad but my dreams keep me going. you,re land is cattle ready minus some fencing and getting good drinking water for them. nothing like seeing healthy cows grazing in a well kept pasture. thank you so much for shareing your farm work with us all. you have truely blessed my heart and taught me so much on how to deal with things involved with clearing land. i,am sorry your engine block was cracked,satin always trys to throw obsticles in a persons ways but you defeated him with honour of a CHRISTIAN SOLDIER. also seeing your family all work as 1 makes me miss not having one but GOD CLEARLY knows best in all things. please keep us posted on any further things you can share. regards bob
Hi Bob, wow - I'm humbled by your response. Very nice of you to say those things. So true, God is so merciful and knows best. God has blessed me beyond what I deserve and your response is a great reminder for me not to take that for granted. I hope you're dreams are realized. Would love some cattle one day, but will be awhile. Just don't have time to spend with them. Would love a nice big pond too, but I wouldn't know where to start on building one with the loader...but I know a place to come to get advice. I'll try to keep the thread going as long as I have some things to post. Been a slow winter at the farm.
Its always a shared belssing to uplift a brother in christ
Boone, been going to start a pond on our place near the house, spoken many times with the local boys as to how to start. First and foremost, survey, set the lines you wish the pond to fit into then have a professional at using a transit or with the latest high tech equipment set where the dam should go and outline where the pond line will be. Lots of places look good but won't work as they force water onto neighbors or redirect outfall onto neighbor property all of which is a no-no here. Soil eval by state land management or Farm Services is not a bad idea either and they can at times add funds to feed the project. My location did not fit Farm Services idea of erosion control or animal supply so they won't help on mine but I will still build it. Next in line determining the amount of spoil to build the retention levee, then working out the cuts in the pond bottom to make that happen. I will have to have clay brought in as our soil is too much water affected 'Loess' soil but that will work as a topping for grade.
Dmiller I have all the nice yellow, impervious, nasty water holding clay you need. The trucking might be expensive though.
i,d skip the pond idea as most are misqueto breeding grounds. I,d have a well dug in the middle of the land and use solar or wind power to pump water up. seeings you hit water you shouldnt have to go that deep. if you go in the middle you can section off the land to rotate your cattle grazing.
Here in MO we have a cure for skeeters off the pond, one dribble of mineral oil on the water every so often. Does not affect livestock, is a natural substance and as humans we administer it to ourselves, will flat float on the surface and kill all the larvae in short order. Some use motor oil or diesel, mineral oil is less impact. Do wish AL was a bit closer but luckily we have a local that can supply Missouri River bottoms clay for our use.
DMiller , you can get you local NRCS guys to come out and lay out your pond , dig a few test holes to decide if you have good material to work with. They will survey the land lay out the dam etc at no cost to you as well as advise if its a good spot for a pond or not. If you have cattle they may even do a cost share to help pay for the project.
Already had them out, chose a spot too far from house for any form of fire control benefit and little to no use for livestock water just erosion management, working on watering supply. Intend to do theirs but also to place one up by house with dry hydrant.
I've wondered to what extent the extension office or farm services would offer help and/or funds to build one. Haven't gotten that serious yet. There's a good local outfit around here that have built many and would be on the top of the list to call if I wasn't brave enough to try it myself. I'm sure it's be expensive though for the size I'd like to build :naughty The property has a natural spring close to the middle that had an old hand-pump well in it for when my great grandparents were living on the land. We reluctantly pushed the old cinder block housing down early when we were clearing. It's located in the south-east corner of the wouldbe pond. There's already a natural bowl formation around it half of it. We'd need dam and run-off area at the now brook that runs out of the spring. Might need an upgraded tile under the barn road too. The well idea from Bob would be easy as there is already one there with a casing. Just need the windmill.
New Ride Recently added a new piece of equipment to the fleet. Ever since helping a buddy of mine work on his Massey Fergusson tractor at his hilly place up in Tennessee, I've had the bug for a side by side utility vehicle. He had given me a ride around his place on his Honda Pioneer. I fell in love with the idea of being able to trail ride and keep an eye on fences and such. What impressed me most was being able to traverse some pretty steep places and ditches. Needless to say, I've been wanting to get side by side. I planted the idea in my wifes head back in the summer and have been bringing it up ever so often. She finally agreed as it would be something the whole family could enjoy. Anyway, last weekend my wife and I were in the neighborhood of a dealership and just wanting to test drive one. I'd kinda settled on the Polaris XP900. But had planned to try the Yamaha Viking and the Kawasaki Terex. Went to a Polaris mega dealer in the Shoals area and before I knew it they had me hooked. I was sitting at the salesman's desk with my wallet out staring at a set of keys wondering how that happened... They stuck a sold sign on it and I made arrangments to come back on Tuesday to pick it up.
HAPPENNED TO ME TO nly I bought a new left over 2012 yamaha 700 EPS grizzly atv. never knew they could be so handy. took me all winter to get it "decked out" to my likeing. boy they sure are expensive huh
Nice!! Glad I'm not the only one. Expensive, yes! I've decked it out with top, front and back windshield, but I think I'll let the bank account recover before outfitting anymore. The EPS is nice isn't it? I've already added something to the project list for the loader and that is trail cutting. Would like to make a road around the perimeter of the place.
yep perimeter road is a must... i couldnt ride mine without eps especially in tight spots and in 4wd. I ,ve got a new project also. I,am at war with a family of BEAVERS........... Those dam makin fools.............. got my colt.45acp and I,am a totin.......... lol
Had a chance to head over to the place this past weekend for a little work. Had to get a little riding in too. Was a cold morning, but the loader fired right up. Dad backing out of barn. We decided to tackle a little tree job. Ready to work and play. The little white house across the road (pictured above the loader bucket) had a trail of white smoke coming out of the chimney. Can't see it in the picture, but I started to go over and ask if I could sit by their fire. Looked pretty cozy on a cold January day.
BEEN ON THE hunt for a cat 955l 13x model. been cold here in e.tn. got a 4bt cummins to assemble and been putting it off too long. bought some land that adjoins mine today. good commercial property. hope to sell it to get money for the farm and LOADER.......... LOL
Hope you enjoy the loader hunt. It's not easy to find one you want or would like to have. Lot of factors at play. But part of that is fun.
You might remember a few pages back we'd planted a little oak tree by the barn. Of all the trees on the place, the bucks had to rub all the bark off of the poor thing. Don't know if it would've made it. It would've struggled to thrive. Here's my little helper checking the soil samples.
Earlier this year, before the leaves all fell, we marked a couple of potential transplants from the edges of the woods. We were trying to get them transplanted in January and we made it on the last day. We marked off two spots for two new trees.
We debated on keeping this tree, but it was right where we wanted a good tree and so we evicted it.
Congrats on the new play toy!
YES I,VE found there was only about 1300-1400 13x 955l,s made. the hunt is going to be tough. i might have to get a 953 or 963 cat.
Thanks RC. Bob, I don't think you could go wrong with either a '53 or '63. We just pushed the surrounding growth out and plucked up the first little tree The width of the bucket grabs everything around it... My little boy eats and breathes bulldozers and excavators. So much so, he'd rather ride with his Pa-pa on the loader than with me in the Ranger. First tree in the hole
Off to get the second tree up the hill. Crossed a wet spot where we weren't sure how hard the bottom was. It's our typical crossing spot in the summer, but in the winter, the little stream is flowing and you never know. Second tree extracted He finally decided to ride with me. Even ole blue started on this cold day It's evident they've been on the edge of the woods fighting for sunlight. All the branches are on one side.
Put some posts up and we'll fence these in to keep the deer out.
How are the transplants doing?
Doing great RC. They're both budding out. They're surrounded by about 5 strands of barb wire - should be no deer worries this time. I have a few picture from some work we did a couple of weeks ago. Haven't had time to sort them yet. Will try to post them up soon. Had a thunder storm blow through this weekend and took out the maple in front of my grandmother's house. Thankfully it didn't land on the house. Only took off a gutter and landed on the power line running to the house and actually bent the nearby support pole over. Figured it would've pulled the wire off the house before it moved a poll. The support pole evidently wasn't very deep and had no guy-wire. Utility department came out and cleared the line and restored power in just a couple of hours. Will have to go clean up the rest of the mess this weekend.
The following pictures are an assortment of several small odd jobs that dad, brother and I tackled couple of weeks ago. Replaced faulty utility light located on the pole pictured in the background. Couple of neighbors had reported the light was turning on and off 5 minutes at a time all night long. Sorry neighbors We got rid of the overhead wires and put in some UF wire in a little trench. These pictures come in handy. I took similar shots of the trench we dug for the fuel tank pump. I was able to pull the old trench up on my phone before we started digging and knew right where the other line was. Had we known we'd be doing this couple of years ago, we'd laid wire both at the same time. Oh well. I will confirm nor deny whether we used the loader to replace the light. The left track is a little loose in this picture. It needs tightening about every 3 months. It was tightened shortly after this picture.
Got a load of way overdue gravel for our entrance way. This is the same contractor that hauls our loader when we need it moved. They show up on time every time. We were standing at the barn when we heard his truck bellowing through the hollers. I had to race over on the ranger to flag him to this spot. Several unseen holes in here made for a rough entrance and exit.
I bladed it with ole blue. I'm no expert with a box blade. We spent a few minutes with rake and shovel to make it look good. Could've used about 3 or 4 more loads to build this up.
The old cabin was in need of some TLC. We didn't give it much, but maybe enough to add a couple of years to its life. The bottom logs were either rotten or gone. The old pillars were rolled on just about every corner. She had dropped all over.
The termite damage is really visible here. Our main goal was to get the outer shell off the ground. We didn't mess with the floor. We took out what was left of the rotten logs on the bottom, jacked up the corners and built it up with blocks. When we ran out of blocks on the last corner so we used some treated 4x4s laying around to crib it up. It's not pretty, but we were going for function.
We also extended the tin roof overhang by about 12 inches. Might keep some of the rain off the north side.
Didn't get to tackle the landscaping corner spot we had started last year with the loader. About all we did was push a burnt pile into a little gulley. We were too tired to do much else. The loader got off easy this weekend.
Our ritual is to typically stop on the way home and eat at an old cotton gin that's been turned into a BBQ joint. I had BBQ pulled chicken with white sauce, vinegar slaw and endless brewed sweet tea. I was not disappointed.
Spring is well under way. Been a beautiful week here. I scratched around at this little section of woods for a few hours this weekend. We had previously pushed the remnants of burnt pile into this ditch. I sorted through the pile and got the logs out. This weekend I deepened the ditch enough to get the remaining rock into the bottom. It's a slow work in progress, but I really enjoyed the day. I took off on Friday and just had the itchin' to go play in some dirt. Pushed the logs up to this pile. Fired up the loader and fueled up.
Here's a rough before and after shot of the same frame. Believe it or not, to the left of the tree used to be some mounds and low spots that my granddad used as a dump for all kinds of junk. We started on some of this last year so the mess that it was is not as obvious. I'm trying to bring some of the dirt down the hill to the lower area. We're trying to get this area in the kind of shape where it can be maintained with a bushog.
My wife and sons came by around lunch to pick me up and we went to grab a hamburger and milkshake. I called it quits on the loader for the day.
Saturday, Dad and I cut up the old maple tree that blew down in a recent storm in front of the house. I snaked a few pulls up to the brush pile. We saved some of the firewood, but didn't want to fool with all of it.
Boone, Just read entire thread. very inspiring read and glad you stuck with it!
Thanks Pinhead. Welcome to the forums!
Finally Finished this snakey section! Finished, well...except for the burn pile. And more about snakes later.
It seems we've spent a year working on this, but really it's just been a few days over the course of a year. Lot of rocks in sections of it. Lovely dirt in others. But I think we've got it in decent shape. I'll include a few shots from back in November to compare. Loader was pushing between these two trees in the pic above. Lot o' dirt excavated this weekend. Nov shot
Same shots below. I was cutting into the tree roots more than I'd like. There was a very deep ditch with a lot of buried rocks and limbs in it just to the left of the forked tree. Trying to bridge it with a slight dip so that we can mow it. It might wash out some, but that'll be alright.
Misc shots The rest of these are just shots of the equipment and the surrounding area. Looking down from up in the woods. I was using the loader teeth to rake this area to make sure there weren't any large holes or rocks. My brother pushing some rock back up in the woods. We're planning to preserve all of that and it's a good place to hide rock. Worked her hard, she deserved a break in the shade.
Up in the woods we lucked out by not finding too much rock. The M series tractors in force. ooops...
Snakes We bush-hogged this weekend and between the three of us saw 5 snakes. 2 chicken, 2 racers and 1 copperhead. Unfortunately, the copperhead I found with the loader in the spot we were landscaping. He's very well camouflaged...looks just like a stick. I was pushing out a pile of debris when I saw a copperish colored stick moving. I jumped down off the loader and didn't see it. I quickly jumped back on the loader and pushed the dirt pile a little more. That was when I snagged him with the bucket.
He was still very well capable of delivering a painful and poisonous blow. He was around 3 feet long. Pretty common in these parts. I don't think he would've survived after I got him with the bucket. We still didn't want to take any chances, so we put him out of his misery.
His skin would make a nice hat band for a Stetson, but I would shiver every time I looked at it. Regards, Clark
A copperhead ant no match for a track loader! The loader has bigger fangs.
It would take me a while to put that thing around my head. I had the hee-bee-jee-bees for the rest of the day and night. I saw a baby copperhead earlier this year, but this one was the biggest I've seen in a while. Got that right! I was putting those loader fangs in some ripe places. I was glad I had the loader to climb to after I lost site of him the first time.
That's a big copperhead Boone. I haven't killed one that big in a while. I'll let the nonpoisonous ones live but not the ones with needles.
We have the little buggers around our place too, not near as big though. Biggest poisonous snake I have seen was in a HE salvage yard, when they killed and skinned it the Timber Rattler was just short of six foot long and spread to almost 8 inches wide, guy that got it had it 'tanned' and made a belt with it. Had to actually set the hide on cowhide to make the belt but looked great.
You guys can keep those critters, I'll stick with our 100+ inches of snow. That seems to discourage those fellas from getting too comfortable around here!
I will take the snow as well. We got just shy of 6ft in 36 hrs in early Feb. Had a Grizzly amble across the street today and walk across the empty lot next to our shop. 6th one I have seen in/near town in last few days. Take a bear over a snake any day. We do have garter snake as well as a bigger, non poisonous snake that eats garter snakes( I think it is called a 'bull' snake) but have only seen one some 30 years ago, but see a few garters every year.
Keep the grizzlies, I'll handle the snakes.
I could have sent you a dozen mosquitos to cart it off. Although I have worked enough in snake country I prefur a warm blooded creature over them also.
While Grizzlies can pose their own set of problems, it is hard to accidentally step on them....LOL. I can go into a wooded area and know there is no bear around, to have to constantly "look" for snakes would drive me crazy. Do not know how people in snake country do it. My kids are always running around in the bush when we go for picnics and hikes etc. To have to worry that they step over a log or turn over a log etc. and could get bit must be a constant worry. Cheers LD
Snakes are not that prevalent in my area, I hardly ever see them, it's not like they're under every nook and cranny. They usually slither away from human activity.
I guess it's all what you get used to living with. Can't imagine grizzlies wondering around nearby. I remember as a kid over at the farm, there were areas where my grandparents would warn us to watch for copperheads. Actually not far from where we found this one. But the whole time growing up and spending weeks in the summer there, I never remember seeing any. The cattle may have helped to keep them at bay. Remember seeing a few other snakes, but not many copperheads. It's kinda always in the back of my head to watch for them though, especially when my kids are around. Good thing, the snakes are seasonal - my snake radar is off in the winter. old-iron-habit, your comment reminded me that as soon as we laid that snake up on the log, the gnats covered it up. It's like they came out of no where. Those little buggers are almost as annoying as mosquitoes. I saw a dead coyote while bushhogging. They're usually not too threatening though...if you don't bother them. He was buzzard bait by the time I found him. Not sure how he died. Lot's of critters to watch for while cutting. Anybody ever had anything hop on the machine with you while operating?
Same here in Aus I'm not familiar with the US snakes but presume the copperhead is a common and deadly one Here is a pic of my daughter with a brown snake, Very common and very poisonous this one was in my shed and got tangled up in some bird netting that I put down just for that purpose They generally only grow up to about six feet max and my girl is about five foot so this was a big one, Piccy below of one with it's head still I've found the bird netting works really well, Just lay it loose across where you suspect the snakes are crossing and they get tangled up in in it and can't escape We just grew up with these things and in the warmer weather you just need to be aware that they could be around, I've always found that if you make plenty of noise you generally won't see them but there's always the exception
I hate snakes, I know there in gods plan for the enviorment so as long as they don't infringe in my life I let them be but if there where there not supposed to be then my colt will deal with them.
Agreed, unless I slip up on one, by the time you see one, they've slithered off and away. Don't think we have Brown snakes. That's a cool picture of your daughter and the snake. She's a brave one. Braver than me in fact
yep, I aint touching no snakes dead or alive.
Think yourself lucky you don't have king browns. Here's what happens when it goes wrong, although TBH the guy did have more than a bit of a hand in his own downfall. He doesn't have the hand any more though ....... Out of the Top 10 of the nastiest snakes, spiders, crocs, etc, etc, I think Australia has 9 of them .........
Wow, I'd say so. Lot of lessons in that story. Coincidentally, my colleagues were just talking about this at lunch yesterday. Talking about places you've felt the most danger, mostly social situations, but it somehow got off into dangerous/deadly/poisonous creatures. Someone mentioned how Australia got all the "good" ones. It then wondered into safe places to live - territories where the least calamities take place (tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc). The conclusions was that most everywhere and everyplace has something to avoid.
Nice Job Must Be Nice to live in a state that doesn't require hundreds of feet of silt fence anytime the ground is scratched Guv'ment watches thru Google Earth Sat
Makes a big difference in a large agri state... There are millions of acres of tilled ground around me.... Still have to play nice in town but out on the farms most anything goes.
About a year ago, we were bush hogging a field and there were an abundance of rats/mice that were scurrying everywhere. I was standing in the field and looked towards the tree line to see a very large coyote sitting there apparently looking right at me, which I'm sure he was looking for dinner. I ran to the truck to grab my AR and he was gone before I got back. Don't like coyotes and I'll shoot them when I get a chance. They're not indigenous to Alabama, 30 years ago they were not here.
Hit post button by mistake.
Never had anything jump on my machine but a number of years ago a fellow running a JD 644 feller buncher for a friend had a porcupine come through his open roof escape hatch. His boss had warned him many times of the dangers of running with the hatch open due to a chance of a tree top breaking off and spearing him. The porcupine got the message home once and for all.
tree branches by the dozens, slap the snot out of me too..............
Thanks pittedmess. They may be watching, but if they haven't said anything yet I think we'll be safe. Like Scott said, out in the county most anything goes around here too. Neighbor has a big pond, but it's mostly spring fed and anything we do doesn't affect it. What does run to his place he's been concerned with us cutting off the water, but we've tried to be mindful of that too.
Quite a few around here. Not a fan of them either. Rats/mice too. I'm "facebook friends" with one of the neighbors across the road from the farm. I just noticed this weekend that she recently posted how she "HATED when they cut hay/bush hog across the road." Then she went on to tell about how many mice they've caught. We stir them up a bit. Oh well, we don't do it intentionally. I'll have to tell her they'll have one less copperhead in the house. Not sure that'll make her feel any better.
That's the kind of story you just can't make up. About the hatch, I'm that got the point across, pun intended.
LOL, I can relate to that as well. I think I've had one slap my ear protection off. Wish we had risers and screens, but I suppose it's too late for that.
yea this winter I,am going to build some sweeps for my deere.
Hoggin' Did a bush hogging job for my cousin today on the hottest day of the summer...great timing. I've been cutting his place every year for the last 3 and have typically been cutting it in the winter so I can half way see where I'm going. I don't like to cut unfamiliar territory and I don't cut it often enough to be real familiar with it. I just cut this past January. It grows up quick. It was logged and then he had some of it cleared a few years ago. So there's hidden treasures all through-out He's getting ready to sell it and wanted to know if I could cut it this weekend. Entrance from the road. Luckily the entrance wasn't too wooly so i could get my truck in the gate. I stashed the tractor overnight in a spot out of view from the road. This place is hilly with lots of variations in terrain Gitty up ole blue! Right off the bat I hit a ball of wire...lovely. Thankfully, the bush hog just coughed a little and spit it out. I thought I'd be spending the rest of the day cutting wire.
video I took a video of some of the worst of it https://youtu.be/NDik0-DNBtM
Almost done. Will finish the back side tomorrow
when I cut something that tall I always back in on the first pass then take half passes in forward the rest of it, constantly watching water temp. with half passes the rad is always exposed to clear air flow. just the way I do it.
Funny you should say about the temp. There was a heat advisory today. Forecast 100 degrees and I felt every degree. I just replaced the thermostat and sending unit on this tractor as the last time I cut with it she was at the tip top of the green range. The hottest it got today was 173.
late evenings is when I like to do machinery work
I have an old Allis 180D 2wd, put a Bush Hog 3008 8 footer behind it and went after the place in Salem MO, was overgrown with sapling wild plum trees and looked much as you had to deal with. Took two full days of creeping into the mass until I had it mostly knocked down, from then on was a few hour mowing Awesome work wish I had your tractor!!.
DMiller, that's a nice clean cut. That 180 is sharp. I love the look of those Allis Chalmers. I see a few at the tractor shows and tractor pulls around here. Nice to see yours still putting in a hard days work.
I can't tell what size that tractor is , but the 6610 and 5610 Fords would run up toward the hot mark sometimes due to being high in time. Dealers would tune them on the dyno and this was sometimes the result.
I need a bigger weather proof tool box for my tractor. the deere box is way too small
Seems like I've read that also. This is the equivalent to the Ford 4610. It has the 3 cylinder 60 hp 203 in^3. The old thermostat was stuck pretty good. I think that was the main culprit, but you're right it might just run a little warm due to timing. I thought about getting a 160 degree thermostat, but I think it's good for now. 173 on the hottest day of the year in that mess seemed acceptable.
The toolbox on this tractor is small, but it has a metal box attached to the fender. I barely get what I need stuffed in it, but usually my little gmc tool truck is nearby.
101 uses of a trackloader Few Saturdays ago we did a few odd jobs. Cleaned the barn loft out in preparation for some barn renovation work we're planning to do this winter. We're able to keep some of the equipment in the barn, so it's worth it to us to put some money into it to keep it around. Not to mention the sentimental reasons. It's been around for 100 years and we'd like to keep it around for a few more years. Backed the loader up a feet from where it is in the picture and raised the bucket up to the edge of the inside loft (has a bigger opening than the door on the front) and started shoveling decades old hay into the bucket. We dumped 5 bucket loads in the field behind the barn. Talk about a dusty job. The barn is going to be on our project list this winter. About 5 years ago we replaced a few beams and rebuilt some of the pillars. Put in new flooring and put several 4x4s in concrete to help prop up the interior structure. We've recently bought some cable and binders and hardware and are going to start reinforcing the upstairs, but first we have to pull some shifted sections back in place. The cleanout was in preparation for this winter work.
Dusty dried hay is the worst
Yes it is. Dad and I both forgot our dust mask. :Banghead We blew the remaining out with a leaf blower. We discovered 75% of the old floor wasn't even nailed in. Has the word ankle breaker written all over it. Several pieces missing. It was always a little scary throwing hay down in the wagon in my younger days. You never knew if the hay you stepped on had anything under it. The list of todo's on the barn is growing.
Landscaping While we had the ole girls out we had the itchin to go stir up some dirt and give them some exercise. There's a few rough spots in sections that we bushhog that we decided to shape up.
cont... I didn't take any before shots, but this was a big dip with a crown on it. I took the crown out and pushed some of the fill down into the low spot. Side shot from the upper side Side shot from the lower side Mostly after. I pushed a big dead tree up out of view from the road that finally fell. You can see it in the first picture of this post with limbs sticking up. Dad finished this section up with the box blade. I didn't get a real final picture.
Little Clearing We went up the hill a piece and tackled a little row of trees on a ledge. Back when grandad was able to get around he used to take his time and keep this little section cut off with the 2WD Deutz and pull behind sidewinder. After he got to where he couldn't, the renter who had the place for a few years didn't touch this and it went back to nature. Dad used to cut firewood on the top of this hill when we were little. Always had a nice view until these trees grew up to block it. We're gonna fix... Here's the loader on the back side of the trees. Nothing too big in here, sweetgums, thorns and cedars. It helped since I was pushing downhill. Dad was spotting for me. There was only one spot where I nosed over in a stump hole that I had to use the bucket to help me back out and up the hill.
The bulk went fast. Had to go back and dig some roots out and pile everything.
That's the view I remember. The line of trees curved around, but you can't see the ground disturbance because of the drop-off.
The fuel tank shut-off valve is leaking and attracting dirt. Gonna give it good going over when we service it next. But she did good.
Before After. Fully intended to get that big x-mas tree too, but we just ran out of time. Making cat tracks back to the barn.
Very nice
Thanks Pinhead. Finished off that cedar clump today...
fuel valve Replaced the leaky fuel valve on the bottom of the fuel tank. Had to drain about 40 gallons. We started to just drain straight into the supply tank, but we didn't want to be sandwiched up by the tank working on it. Kinda of slow go. I was changing the oil in the tractor and letting oil drain so we had a little time to kill. Can't beat this October weather. Old valve and new inline 3/8" valve This tractor has become like an old pet. Dad and I degreased and shined on it and repainted the counter weight and sprocket cover with a rattle can of dealer paint. We then cleared a couple of cedar clumps.
Before we got started with all of the above I needed to warm the tractor up before changing the oil. In front of the old house there is an old drain from the kitchen sink (the house is old). Years ago the drain had stopped up and so we trenched it out with a pick ax. It looked like a groundhog got under the pipe and since then whoever is bushogging that field finds that drain hole when the tractor drops off into a hole. So we wanted to countour the shape so the drop-off wasn't so extreme.
I have been following this since you started but buying that 175 was a wise move for you.It will last forever with the light duty it gets there.Thanks for sharing and the pics are just great.Ron G
Hey Boone- Thanks for sharing your adventures with the old loader and the family farm. I lived in Alabama (Selma) for a year, and your pictures make me miss the area and the people. You are doing the right thing on the farm with your Dad. Keep it up and keep the pictures coming. I am working on my Cat 943, and I hope to do the same on my place when it is running. Regards, Clark
Yup, I think you even posted on page 1. That was some 5 years ago. Time sure has flown. The 175 was a good move. It's sure living the easy life now. Always appreciate your comments, Ron.
Glad to share it. Part of me hates to keep bumping this thread back to the top. So it's nice to know some people are still enjoying it. Hope you get the 943 running soon. You'll find it very rewarding to get your very own place cleaned up with your own machine. Keep us posted on your progress...and thanks for the comment.
Don't worry about bumping the thread, it's a great read and good advice for anyone considering buying an old track loader for use on a farm. I still follow this thread and intend to do so as long as it gets new posts.
I agree with norite, keep it going. great to see the story and success you have had after the work put in!! Always enjoyable to see the work done.
Thanks norite and Pinhead. As long as I've got something worthwhile to post, I'll put it up.
Boone, are we having fun yet?
I'd say so. Replies: 799 Views: 258,413 You're not bumping the thread, your continuing it.:yup
Wish we had another property to clear. LOL!
I like it CM!
I can have a lowboy there tomorrow, it's not that far to Shelby County.:tong
You couldn't afford me
Yep CM, you would need to hire his entire family along with all of those ag tractors that they use! I'll answer my own question. Yes, we are having fun!
:falldownlaugh...and more like he couldn't afford to fix all the oopsies I'd make! Yup, we're having fun! Got our marathon bush-hogging weekend coming up. Got the tractor ready, hope I don't have any surprises. :dizzy
I didn't say anything about what it paid.:tong
One thing I didn't mention in my last update was that when we had the loader out and cleaned on it, dad hit the starter and nothing happened except a big puff of white smoke coming out from under the seat. Closer look revealed the battery post had partly melted. Very scary. Come to find out, the clamp had broken. Dad went over later in the week and replaced it. He whittled on the post and got a nice snug fit for the new clamp. We've been procastinating installing an extinguisher on the machine. Have had one, just never fitted it. That little incident lit a fire under under us...pun intended.
Fall Cutting Met brother and dad at the farm at 0700 with Hardees breakfast in tow. While our mouths were full of biscuits and our coffee spread out on the gooseneck, we saw a lowboy and dozer heading in to the propery across the street. Looked like someone we knew that uses Dresser equipment and we thought it might be a TD-12 or TD-15E. No one lives on the property and our curiosity was raised. Thought we'd ride over in the Ranger at lunch and see what was going on. Got all the hogs fired up. Last cutting of the year. It wasn't as thick and so we were able to cut it in record time. Below are couple of rare shots of the three of us all lined up on one field. After lunch on the porch we headed over across the street to watch some dozer clearing. Who knows we might learn some tricks. Turned out not to be the guy we thought it was, nor a Dresser dozer. Was a local logging outfit. After a few pushes the guy came out and stopped to chat. He said they were about to log it and he was cutting some roads, but he was also going to do some clearing. He was digging in an old dry pond and clearing some thick bushes. We didn't tarry long. I snapped a couple of shots as he got back to work. It was a JD 650G.
Back to work... Started my first pass on a field and saw a piece of black wire in a ditch that one of the other cutters had just been through. Looked a little closer and said, that ain't no piece of wire. Think it was a racer.
Great pics as usual... That critter doesn't look like a racer I know but I'm no snake expert. The racers here are a brighter blue. Hmm maybe a racer after all... http://www.agfc.com/resources/publications/ar_snakes.pdf Just never seen one that dark but looking around there's some variation.
That looks like a black racer. We were burning some old brush a few weeks ago and found 2 rat snakes. They weren't scared of us nor tried to get away. Since I hate rats and they eat rats, they were both left alone.
Black racer http://www2.ca.uky.edu/forestryextension/kysnakes/snake-details/black-racer/
Me either Scott. I'm no snake expert. We only have about four kinds of snakes on this place that I've seen that I'd be comfortable identifying: black racer, copper head, chicken snake and cotton mouth in the springs. I've seen the racers before while cutting. They usually have their head up about 8 inches and won't let you get close. Pretty amazing the way they slither off. It definitely met the description in your link with the solid black and white chin and neck. Yes, I hate rats and mice. Would rather have a few snakes around. The rats are a huge nuisance to the equipment, especially in the barn. I just don't like to be surprised by the snakes. Good link AllDodge. That's probably very similar to the ones here.
Spring cleaning Since we had some time to spare on Saturday, we took the loader and tried to clean out an old spring that comes out of rock face on the side of rocky hill. We're 3 to 4 inches behind on rain, but the springs are still wet. I first knocked a few limbs off an old hackberry tree. Clearing a spot to dump the rocks I was about to pull out of the spring. First bite got a few big rock...and a tree. This is what we're driving into. It's really grown up, so I apologize for the pictures. The purpose was mainly to get the caved in dirt and rocks out that were stopping up the cave. It's a soupy mess out from the spring. Weren't sure if we'd bury the loader so we pulled the tractor in and there seem to be a bottom to it.
Shot from up on the hill above the spring looking down on the approach. Decades ago my grand-dad had build a block retaining wall to keep the sides from falling in and blocking the water source for the cattle. It's really a cave that goes back under the hill. Unfortunately, the block walls fell in on each other years ago.
So much for the wash job we just gave it.
There is just enough room for the loader. I literally couldn't even back the 8' box blade in here without hitting rock ledge on both sides. Kinda feels a little claustrophobic. My brother had some snips and was taking out some face-smacking limbs. I could only curl up so much. The hill had ledges that would only allow me to get so much. Backing out with a load.
Drive in, get a load and dump it to the left. This was pretty much the after shot. Not much to see. Really needed to pull out more muck here. Spring is to the right. Flows around this little turn. This was the best after shot I have. The water was coming out of the wall of the hill and finding its way through the dirt and rocks of what we'd pushed into. I think a good rain and it will flush most of that out. Anyway, something different. Having fun...
John Deere 450
Boone, No need to bump the thread, I still enjoying checking in on your progress from time to time. Here's a pic of my loader with a recent addition. The loader is a '97 model with the cummins engine, the dozer is a '72 model with the DT466. It was repainted and someone tried to pass it off as a Dresser. I'm hoping to repaint it this winter and get original type decals back on it. I've rebuilt the right track adjust since this pic, replaced most of the hyd lines, rebuilt the fuel pump, fixed a lot of the brake/clutch linkages to reduce play and make it easier to work along with rebuilding both steering boosters. Oh, and rewiring it as the guy I bought it from had the batteries hooked up as 24v positive ground. Most of the gauges and alternator was fried. Keep the pics coming, enjoying watching someone else clear as well. I'm working a new place we just bought here in LA (lower Alabama).
Nice scenic looking pictures djordje1. That JD looks like a real brute.
Great pic dhutch. That's the very combo of machines we'd talked about having when we were in the middle of our clearing. I read about your adventures with the fuel pump on redpower. Don't know how you figured that out with the balancer being off. Sounds like you've put things right with both the TD-15 and the 175C. It's always fun to fix other people's mess. LOL! Would love to see action shots if you ever get a chance.
Congratulations Boone, congratulations on reaching the 280,000 mark on this thread. That must be close to a record. I must admit that I miss seeing your post from time to time. Best Regards.
Wish I had more loader work to report. Its about worked itself out of a job. Haha. Been busy with other projects at the farm * Renovating the old house - it was either fix it up or let it fall in * Little bit of barn work * Trail cutting * Finish clearing out around spring * Making a shooting gallery in an old in-ground silo. Will definitely use loader for this Maybe as the weather warms I'll have a few things worth sharing.
Nice to hear from you,keep on keeping us entertained with your projects and keeping that loader busy.Ron G
Awesome read!! Boone, you truly are an inspiration, what a great read this thread was. I just bought my first excavator 1983 Cat 225Lc 3304 4cyl, I hope I don't have to do anything major right off the bat as you did, although after reading this thread i'm not afraid to tackle any job. Danny
Good looking 225
Is that an Airstream in the background there?Ron G
Good to hear from you as well Ron. Will do. It's not good to let the equipment sit, so we'll be getting it out soon.
Glad you had fun reading it. Looking back it's kinda nice to see how it all unfolded. Sure looks like a nice 225. Nice size too! What's your plans with it?
Thanks, it's super clean for the year and hours, 10,360, besides a few leaks. Plans for the 225 Lc are to clean out a creek on my parents property, use it for my little scrap business on the side "if prices ever come back up" I do have jobs from 3 neighbors lined up one is cleaning out a pond, another is to dig a pond on a farm and the third is a demo/clearing job, knocking down old pig pens and clearing about 5 acres, all these jobs are within 2 miles of each other. I have been searching for a 225 for at least 4 years, I'm picky I guess, it had to have the 3304 4cyl and it had to have the rexroth double pump set up. I'll be sure to post pictures as I know the members love pics. Danny
sure is Ron, it's my parents. I believe it's a 1979 Land Yacht 20 or 25 feet
1983 Cat 225Lc Thank you Movindirt, here are a few more pics
Nice size machine, makes me jealous! All it needs is a thumb to be even more functional, even a standard fixed pin thumb works well on these. Watch the rollers, two compatriots have similar sized Cat units, both have had issues with top rollers locked up and bottom roller flange roll off.
Thanks for the private message,wish I could have been more help to you.Those Air streams were a class act,you knew right away that their owners were serious about motor homes. That front window on your 225 was worth the price of the machine in my book.the way it stored,you could use half of it,top half or bottom half,if you were trenching to grade in the rain just the top half gave protection,I don't why Cat didn't keep that.Good luck with it,good choice.Ron G
I was just curious what the differences were between the b c d etc no worries, the front window is an awesome design, "my glass is broke" gonna have auto glass place cut me 2 pieces Airstream is a super neat camper. The 225 is in pretty good shape for having 10,360 hrs, not sure if the engine, pumps, swing bearing, etc has ever been done she fires right up and is pretty damn tight for a 33 yr old machine, just have to replace the rear main seal and a few hydraulic leaks and I'll run her till she needs an overhaul. I feel I got it for a good price that its worth putting money into, I'll probably have it forever anyway, took me a long time to find one with a 3304 and the double rexroth pump set up that was in good shape and not beat to death. Danny
Have fun with it.The hydraulics were fast on them compared to the competition of that vintage and were fun to run.Ron G
Ron it's funny you say that about the hydraulics, I just came in from running it for the first time, it's very quick. I have read on HEF some guys saying how they are slow and how you can't have one track going one way and the other track going the other direction when turning, or how you can't use the stick/boom as your traveling, All FALSE INFO!! I run a 2006 Komatsu Pc228us at work and I don't notice much less speed on my 225. I'm gonna start the tear down to replace the rear main seal tomorrow, any advice? I know I can remove the pump drive and pumps as one unit so thats a plus, also I don't wanna do this job twice so should I just spend the money and get it from Cat dealer? Thanks
Looks like a real straight machine from the other pictures. Sounds like your patience has paid off. I've heard tales of those machines running for 20k plus hours without needing much work. Should give you a lot of dependable service. I don't really know the first thing about excavators, but sure wouldn't mind having one. Especially for building a pond. I'd like to try my hand at clearing with one too, but I would imagine a lot could go wrong in a hurry if you're not careful. Can't wait to see some pictures of your work on it and with it. You're right, we love pics!
I personally would have the dealer do it as I would be working alone and like you said,I would want it done once and done right.As you accumulate the tools to do the job right things may change but for now have the dealer do it.Ron G
Hey Ron, what I meant by, "I don't wanna do this job twice so should I just spend the money and get it from Cat dealer"? I was talking about buying the new seal from the dealer, compared to buying a cheap aftermarket one. Dad was a mechanic for 35 years, I have the books on the machine, and I borrowed the installer tool from a guy I met on youtube a few years ago, he has 3 Cat 225's, so I'm in pretty good shape, I'll start a new thread in the excavators section when I get started.
Boone, have you thought about building a pond on the farm with the track loader? your right a lot can go wrong in a hurry, I guess thats with any equipment, my dad has always taught me growing up "you have to respect the machine, it's not a toy" I'll start a new thread in the excavator section when I get started working on it and with it. Danny
Sounds like you're in good shape then and yes,even at twice the cost or more,I would buy the seal from Cat.Good luck.Ron G
Yes, I've considered a pond. The place used to have a decent one, but the spill way washed out and I think the water source for it found a new underground channel. It's dry all year round now. One of our jobs left to do is fill it all in. My brother and I have identified a new spot for one that would be fed from two healthy springs, but I'm not sure how we'd do it without burying the loader. My brother looked at prices for renting an excavator, but we'd need a offroad dump truck and need to do it in a dry time. Neither of us have time to devote to it for now. Oh well, a project for another day. Be sure to keep us posted on your 225. I still feel like a kid when it comes to this stuff.
Be sure to keep us posted on your 225. I still feel like a kid when it comes to this stuff.[/QUOTE] I definitely will start a new thread with updates and pictures, I feel the same way when I'm talking equipment or around it.
Been trying to find some play time... Have gotten 1/3 of my trails cut. Still have more to do, but I prefer to do it in winter when the vegetation is at a minimum. Makes it easier to plot my roads. My brother and a buddy of ours planned a riding day back in March. We tested the capabilities of our steeds in a branch that is notorious for stealing boots from small children and adults a like. The mud has the consistency of crisco. My brother plotted his course and slowly made his way through, but got stuck on his way out. Then I foolishly thought, "that wasn't as bad as I expected, if the ranger had some speed it could probably make that". ...negative The 4 wheeler wouldn't budge it. We didn't even bother with the other ranger. Woke ole blue from it's slumber and it pulled it out no problem.
This winter my brother and I have completely renovated the inside of my grandparent's old house. It was really showing signs of neglect. This is the house my dad grew up in so it's been pretty special for him. He's been the primary contractor. He's been doing all of the plumbing and electrical - tremendous amount of work. I couldn't begin to document and itemize everything he's done, but we've also had help from the whole family. Here's a typical shot of dad working on the water line to the kitchen. We're tying in from the existing line we installed back a few pages ago in this thread. Trying to get past this steadfast rock here. Hardest rock we'd ever experienced. Drilling and pick ax - was a slow go. The house is complete. My brother and I use it on the weekends as a get-away for our families. Trying to give the kids a place to make some similar memories of life in the country.
New Drive With all the traffic that's been generated from our activities, the old drive-way has been in need of some help. Got some 3/4" stone at $386 a load. Had 4 big trucks role in on a Friday morning. We decided to start up at the tile just below the barn. All of our kids were there and they were pretty excited. Ole blue was ready to get involved too.
The drivers did a fantastic job making the spreading job very easy. The gravel went further than we thought, so we doubled up the road bed. We took the box off and put the rake on, it seem to do a bit better and I could angle it to keep the gravel in the drive-way.
Had lots of manual labor too!
Finished shots
Looks great Boone, the farm is coming along nicely. Good price on #57, $386 for 25 tons is cheap. I am paying around $500 per 25 tons. LOL, that kind of thinking has gotten me in trouble a few times too.
Thanks CM. Just got the bill yesterday for the loads. I was honestly expecting around $400 to 450. I've been hemorrhaging funds on the house so it's nice this was cheaper than expected. There is a quarry not far from here so maybe that accounted for something. Yup, not the first time for me, probably won't be the last. :tong
Grubbing on the spring Went over this past weekend with the wife and kids. After playing with the kids for awhile I decided to clear a little around the spring we started on on page 55. Tools of choice - chainsaw and track loader! I was more or less looking for an excuse to get the loader out. Love this time of year. I cut most of the brush out by hand and used the loader to sweep it up the hill.
Few before shots Piled and pushed. It's a mess, but it'll deteriorate quickly.
Here's how the mouth of the spring looked on page 55 when were cleaning it. After. Still have some more cleanup to do on the upper sides, but it's getting there.
I don't know but the site inspector does not look happy!
LOL, yes he was not ready to sign off on it. Something about missing silt fence and younger brother didn't have permit to operator the tonka wheel loader.
The stone looks great. It looks like you had the Ranger well planted, how is it holding up?
Hey RC, it's holding up well. I've had it now for just over a year and put about 300 miles on it. I don't get to use it as much as I like. Haven't had a single issue with it. Got tons of power, will go over hills like a goat and has been really handy. If I had any complaint it would be the gear selector. Several times, I put it in what the digital gauge tells me is reverse and I think is reverse and I get a grinding noise. I have to reposition the shifter. There's no knotches for the gear. Kinda annoying. If I were using it everyday, I'd probably put a Duraclutch on it, but I can't justify spending that much *more* money when it shoulda been right first time.
Been lurking on here a while. This thread has been a big reason I have joined up. I recently bought ten acres of raw land and plan to build on it. Looking around for a track loader or dozer. Nice job with the loader.
Welcome to the forum OldRedFord. Enjoy the shopping experience and take your time. I remember looking at dozers and loaders for years. Timing was right when we found this one. Got off to a bumpy start, but it's worked out good. We sure made some memories. There's a lot of good experienced people on the board that are willing to share advice.
I would not hesitate, we purchased 5 acres up in Northern Alberta to build on and i was lucky enough to come across an absolutely wore out 955K and it was the most valuable investment i'd made for equipment. When we were building there were very few days i didn't use that machine. Tough as nails, they just keep going and going Back filling, road building, unloading supplies/equipment off of trailers, pulling out stuck (and loaded) cement trucks, clearing trees!! You name it they can do it! Especially clearing and piling trees!! I'll see if i can post a picture of the old war wagon...
Had at least a zillion hours on it Try and find with an ROPS, this one didnt have and if she goes over you're :angel
Alabama in the springtime!!! I love it. Regards, Clark
That's a hoss RustedHero. Looks like you had plenty of limb protection. Wish ours had some sweeps. Yup, I wouldn't hesitate to get a good track loader again for the work we did. It is nice sealark. Trying to soak up this mild weather before the summer humidity heat wave hits. Hoping the tornadoes stay away!
Few odds and ends When redoing some of the interior of the house, we found the room on the back of the house had some soft spots in the floor. So we tore the soft spots out and put in new joists. The culprit was moisture rot. Fortunately not termites. The house never had vents for the crawl space. As part of the renovation, Dad made some so the crawlspace area could breath. But we still had a problem on the back. Water wasn't being channeled to the old 3" drain. Couple of weekends ago, we made a backsplash on the back of the house to keep water from flowing under the house and in the new vent. At the base of the vent is a 12" hole with gravel. Using shovels and picks I counted 15 wheel barrow loads of dirt and rock we excavated out of here. Wondering how much concrete we would need, we first thought 20 bags of sakrete, then 30, then thought we better get 40. Went to the local lumber yard and I asked the clerk at the shed how many was on a pallet, he said 42. We'll take a pallet. I really didn't want to tote those bags any further than I had to.
Good thing we got a pallet, we had two bags left. Day after curing. The hose is from the dehumidifier in the house. We had enough mix left-over to fix the sidewalk where the water line went. Before After
We gave the spring hay away to a local neighbor. Were left with the remainder of the cutting/trimming. Getting the bush-hog all greasy. On Saturday, my brother and I went over across the road to pester our buddy. He and his dad were working on their spray rig. His pump kept coming off the PTO shaft. He got it resolved about the time we showed and was taking the sprayer on it's maiden voyage through his bean fields. He's a hobby farmer and does about 80 acres of no-till beans. So as to not be completely in the way, my brother helped drive my buddies red Dodge to the next field. I was no help, I just took pictures.
Nice work Boone, I too fight the least expensive route too in doing things around my place. Back in Gladden MO we hand mixed and poured piers to set our first cabin(school bus) then same as to footers and piers for a real building, had set over three pallets of pre-mix when we got smarter and bought sack cement then got truck loads of sand and creek rock. The more I think about it we would have been better off paying for a concrete load or two! My aching back!! Rusted Heroes, I know what you mean on a lack of ROPS, even so get a seat belt on the machine when you do get a strong enough cage as a local contractor had a 750 Deere, his brother loaded it and maneuvered badly down a country road slipped the trailer in a ditch, went to unload the machine and it side slipped off trailer flipping onto side but not before pitching him onto dirt where the ROPS crushed him in the rollover. Even my old Allis has a seat belt now and a somewhat cage I built but it isn't ROPS, I am working to better that.
I hear you on that! We considered getting sand, gravel and mix, but the logistics of getting it all on the day we needed it and getting back to the spot we needed just didn't pan out. We paid for convenience with the pre-mix. Concrete load would've sure made quick work of it if we could've gotten the truck back there without falling through the septic tank.
This is really part II of post #457 on page 31. We started pushing in the banks of an old pond my grandad had dug. It never held much water and when it came a big flood, the spill way washed out. We've been dumping a bunch of junk in it over last couple of years. It was time to fill it in. I know it's hard to tell much from the pictures. Dirt bank is grown up. Pushing dirt to the low spot
Getting there. We ate a big breakfast and so started late at 10am and worked straight through till 3pm. This is how we left it. It's still a bit rough, but we might stir it up and sow it in September.
It was upper 90 temps. The breeze coming down out of the hill to the right sure felt good. Back to the house for a refreshing oil/filter and coolant change.
Great Pictures, thank you for sharing. Looks like beautiful country up there. Sure makes me itch to get my 977L back up and running. Dmiller, You know I never even thought of a seatbelt when i was running my 955K, that's an excellent point I can see how you could be thrown quite easily from the cab and then get crushed. When I was clearing the right of way for our power line on the acreage I was pushing some decent piles of brush around, I ended up running up one of the piles a little too high and boy what a terrifying feeling when the machine starts to go over. I panicked a bit and threw the machine in neutral and it thankfully just rolled back down the pile. Definitely needed a new pair of undies to finish off that day
Thanks Rustedheroes. I enjoy seeing your shots of that 977. That's a monster. 200 hour service on the loader. We pressure washed the whole machine, changed engine oil and filters. Checked under the floor pans for loose bolts/any anything amiss. While I was removing the plug for the oil, thought I'd look around at the frame. Because of a few threads here I've seen on HEF about track frames cracked and what not, thought I'd inspect. I immediately found 3 out of the 4 crossbar connects at the trackframe cracked. The left rear was okay, but had been cracked or completely broken before. It had been fixed with a big plate on the cast bar. Never even knew to look for such a thing when we bought it. I don't know how long these cracks have been here - might have cracked while we were using it. :beatsme Anyway, called local welder and he came out Monday and glued 'em back up. The cracks and welds go all the way around the bar. The timing on these pictures wasn't very good. The weld area was completely clean when he started, it only got dirty when the pictures were taken. Heat index was 105 today so I didn't spend anytime cleaning this up before taking the pictures. This was the rear bar crack going vertical, which was most troubling.
Congratulations for reaching the 300 K Thanks for your time and for creating an excellent thread, you are to be congratulated on reaching over 300,000 posts. This is evidence that people think you are a very good writer and are willing to respond! What a good way to document your experiences with the old loader and let others enjoy at the same time. Also, the pictures are great! Thanks
I appreciate the comment Mike! I never was a big picture taker, but it's fun to see before and after pictures.
Adjuster Disassembly We've been nursing the left track for quite a while. It's been requiring more and more frequent tightening. After the last dirt job we did, we tried to tighten it again and the track never moved. Looked under the track cylinder - big glob of grease coming out... We learned a lot doing this. We made some mistakes and so this representation is not the most ideal. One of our first issues was the combination of getting the split link over the idler, in the shade, on a level spot. Being in the shade was top priority. We were 2 for 3. Unfortunately, just as we broke the track, we realized we weren't on a very level spot. It is what it is... We are super lucky this machine has a split link. Figured the toughest part would be getting the track bolts loose. They actually broke loose fairly easy with a 3/4" pull handle and 4' pipe (not the one pictured). The only casualty was a cheap chinese socket that split. I should've known better. The 6 point impact socket worked much better. After the pad bolts were removed, we stood back and tapped the link with the shop hammer couple of times and the track flopped down. Early in the morning. We parked this thing between two big oak trees. The sunlight was really coming through. Dad is 75 and can still outwork me. Removed the 4 bolts holding the front idler plates. Just after this, we lifted the front to get the weight off the idler.
We put a C-clamp on the idler wheel and chained it to the back of my UTV. Pulled right out. The yoke and rod. The rod was smoother than it looked, but we're going to buff it anyway and knock some of the paint back. Removed the grease zerk (bottom left) and the check valve (bottom right). Then used a 1/2" threaded rod to pull the piston out.
I ordered a sealkit from Baum, PN 906003 for $69.30. It wasn't the cheapest I found online, but we had good luck on the tilts and brake booster cylinder kits from them. To get the yoke unbolted we man handled the idler back up into the carrer with the yoke turned to the front. This braced the assembly enough for us to extract the four bolts holding the yoke. This week we'll get everything ready for assembly - put the seals on the piston, clean and hone the barrel, buff the rod in the shop. This honing pic was just for demo purposes Assembly will hopefully happen next Saturday.
Remember to soak the fiber rings in some form of light oil prior to install, use a hose clamp and bit of flat tin to compress them back down.
We'll be sure to lube up the seals. The manual also says to put a thin film of grease on the walls of the cylinder and piston. In addition to a small glob of grease into the cylinder before inserting the adjusting rod. One thing we noticed while we were disassembling the yoke from the idler wheel was the thin rail on top of the guide blocks were incredibly worn. I didn't take a picture but they have a lot of play. Spec is .062" max clearance. Ours were about .25"+. PN is 655 805 C1. I called our local Komatsu dealer to see if they were available? Surprisingly they are. I can buy the pair from the dealer for $890 which the parts guy said was a good deal considering the list price on just one was $733. I also found a pair of gold bars...I mean guide blocks on ebay for $1000. lol
Not familiar with those parts but they look pretty simple design. How about running a couple good passes with a welder then either grind them to new spec's or have a machine shop pop them in a Bridgeport and machine them to the correct size? For the prices you are getting quoted a guy could enroll in a night school class at local tech school and make a couple of those parts as a school project and be money ahead! Or even go to the school and talk to instructor and see if there is a kid looking for a project and offer him some bucks!
They do look fairly simple. No kidding on the money going toward tuition! And this is just for one side. I'm sure the other side is just as worn. Although now that I look at the picture, I feel a little better. The top lip doesn't go all the way to the end like the bottom. I thought ours had worn the lip completely off for a quarter of the length. If we were just starting out with it, we might mess with it, but we'll probably just shove it back in.
While you have them out at least do some measuring and make up a drawing so that if you just happen to find someone who has access to some basic machine tools they could make them for you.
I think the only thing that would need rebuilding would be the lip on the top of the block. Probably like you mentioned have it welded up and machined to spec. I'll take some measurements like you said. Wonder what a ballpark estimate would be to get these made at a typical machine shop?
Is amazing how well 7018 edge dressed with a mill will wear!!
We ended up not welding and machining the lip on the guide block, but we did add a shim on the idler guide and wear bar. You can order these, but we just used a piece of bar stock from TSC and drilled a couple of holes for the dowels and bolts. This wear bar could also easily be made. We took measurements of it in case we ever need them. The wear bars at the bottom are welded and were only lightly worn. The top gets the wear. These bolt to the upper side of the frame. Once unbolted, IH was smart enough to put a hole in the frame that goes all the way through so a punch can be used to knock them out. It's stuff like this that makes this machine a pleasure to work on. Idler in and all the way back. You can see the upper and lower guide bars the guide block rides on. On the cribbing :nono I'll just say we both forgot about bringing any. I wouldn't use anything less than 6x6. FWIW, it's been up for a week like this. This got us a little closer to spec.
It tightened up and held grease! The manual calls for 1.5" of clearance between the top roller and idler wheel. Close enough...
Putting the little adjuster shield back on. Had to try it out by buring this little eye sore.
Hi Boone. After reading Nitelite's lengthy thread I had to read yours! Both threads are inspiring. I will, hopefully, be doing some very similar clean-up and clearing at our place over the next few years--your before and after photos are quite compelling and make me hopeful that we can reclaim more of the old homestead. Unfortunately, we can't bury rocks here--we grow them quite well! Your photos of the small sinkhole are quite interesting--when you can see water flowing from one side to another like that we call it a "karst window". I can't recall that I've ever seen one completely in dirt! Usually they are in bedrock (at least the ****** portion). Is it located near to and uphill from the spring? (feel free to respond via private message--I have some other questions as well). I do hope that you and your family are well and awaiting the holidays with anticipation! At least I'm sure your junior operator is!
Hello Boone- I noticed some custom modifications to your tractor boom pole. Mine has received similar treatment. I bought it in two pieces from an overload, so some reinforcement was in order. I enjoy your posts, and I do admire your beautiful family farm. Keep up the good work. Regards, Clark
Hi Jim, I'm a bit jealous of your position in starting your clearing. I thoroughly enjoyed clearing our place off, would love to go back and do it again. I see your considering a dozer since you already have a JD 350 TL. You have more seat time than I and my experience is very limited to a TL. The TL is better than a dozer at some things, but not as good on others. If newbs like us can use a TL to do what we've done, they're pretty good choice for clearing. The 175 we've used has done everything we wanted. Everytime we used it for the day, we would always sing its praise amazed at what it could do. It really has been a good tool for the work we did. We've used the tractor and box blade to finish and cleanup, it's much cheaper to run rubber than tracks and leaves a cleaner footprint. Our 175 fits in the existing barn perfectly, something a wider machine probably wouldn't do - I consider that free storage. Having said that I'd still love to have a TD-15C for the wider blade and traction, of course along with a 175 (like HEF member dhutch). I'm a bit jealous of these guys like Nitelite with big money that can have a loader, dozer and big green tonka truck too. LOL! Loose rocks like to make their way around a narrow loader bucket. If I were looking at a dozer, I'd consider finding a cherry TD-15C. They're cheaper than Cats. Most C model parts can still be had and they're easy to work on. There is no denying Cat has them all beat on parts and resell, but they seem more difficult to work on and you a pay a premium because it's Cat. I'd still consider a D6D, then D6C. Couple of years ago we found a premium D6C for $32,500!! It had an impressive resume that I suppose justified the cost. New undercarriage and was sitting on a pile of dirt from a 2+ acre pond it had just built. For trackloader, probably a 953 or 955. Some of the JD 650's dozers with the six-ways would be nice too, but $$. I had to google "karst window". The definition seems to describe it perfectly except the limestone wall part as you noted. But there is limestone on the place. We live in Limestone County. I should see if the sink hole has grown any. I haven't checked it since I took those pictures probably 3 year ago. It's on a hill base, but still uphill from a lower spring. The closest spring is probably 600' away. I'm itching to build a pond at that particular spring, but have reservations about whether the TL is right for the job. I'm afraid of getting it stuck with the weight and narrow pads. This fall would've been a perfect time. We had a bad drought. The spring was dryer than I've ever seen although it still had water. Would be glad to answer any questions. I may be in and out on the net for a week or two. We just closed on a house and 14 acres and will be working to get the data line in next week. Lots of projects ahead of me. Gonna have to put my two little helpers to work. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family too.
Hi Clark, yup we reinforced that boom just before we took the engine out of the loader. Figured at roughly 1500 lbs, the little boom could use all the help it could get. It still has some weak points, but it handled the engine pretty good as long as we minimized the swaying side to side. We had just a bit of paint left over from the fuel tank resto job, so we smeared it on to keep the rust down. Happy Holidays!
Settle down boone, you could have a big green Tonka truck too if you would quit buying toys like houses and spend that money on something really useful! My bucket list got shorter when that thing fell out of Santas sled!
Hi Boone, thanks for your well-considered response! I would love to be in the position to have both a larger TL and dozer! I don't know if you are familiar with the likes of my JD 350, but it is really a baby-TL. It's around 40 horse and 10K lbs. A good oak sapling is a bit too much for it, though it can drop most cedars all day long! Though some of the cedars around here are even too big (we have a few that are about 24" diameter!). Even though I was hoping to hold out for the right dozer with a six-way, I pulled the trigger on the 955K. An almost pristine SALT undercarriage was just too hard to pass up. Couldn't find a good excuse to pass it up. It will do everything that I need (well, almost everything, but I have tractors to do that part). This seems like a good place to share a story about my dad's farm where I grew up. When I was a freshman in college he had another pond built. The conservation department did the lay-out and the contractor, Clark, came by with his operator. Clark pointed to one spot and told his operator "don't drive there". It looked just like the rest of the area, so it seemed a little odd.... well, the operator drove there and the track loader sank. It was so deep you could lean with your elbow on the top of the ROPS! The bottom of the tracks were a good six feet down. It looked like someone had used a sod-cutter around the sides of the crawler! It had gone straight down. Clark told my dad "cut 7' and 10' logs, a lot of them". They used the bucket to lift the front of the loader and shove the 10' sticks under the tracks then would lay the 7' logs cross-wise. They put about a cord of wood under the machine but it eventually was high enough that they drove it right out! Of course, they sank it even worse two days later! Dad said they probably used two cords of wood on that one! Anyhow--it seems to me you could do your pond with the 175 as long as you are careful. Of course, start at the perimeter where it is solid and work towards the softer areas. You might end up with an island or peninsula, but I think you would find that they would be dry enough to tackle from the sides. That's what they did on Dad's pond, and it ended up being a very beautiful pond! --Cavin'
Oh, and congratulations and good luck with the new house! That is always very exciting--we did the new house thing nearly two years ago. Of course, a "data line" is not available here. We have one choice--a wireless ISP which charges an arm and a leg for slow-speed internet. Sigh.
Jim, finally have internet again. Going from cable to DSL. So far so good. It was kinda nice without inet for awhile, but it's hard to imagine life without it. We're moved in and have most of the boxes emptied. We bought an older home (built in '94) but is in good shape. Found two surprises the inspector missed. First load of laundry drains into the utility room, garage and basement. Field line is plugged with roots. I was able to snake it out and is working fine for now. Will try some root killer, but eventually I might have to dig it up and move the corrugated pipe out beyond the trees. Also, the heat pump for the upstairs has a bad expansion valve. They'll have to drain the freon, torch the new valve in and recharge it. Didn't expect those surprises, but at least they're both fixable. Thanks for sharing the story on the pond. Wish I had a whole summer off to build one...maybe one day. Congrats on the 955! Looking forward to reading your new thread on the machine.
Mr Boone , have someone with a jetter come out and run it through your outside drain field , it can rejuvenate the line and cut roots. Can you give me an idea of how much line is on it and does it serve grey water only? The oils in your clothing plus detergents are the worst enemy of a lateral line. Sludge it right over.
Boone, when you say "an older home" and "built in '94", I have to presume you mean 1894? 1994 sure isn't an older home! At least not where I'm from.... I'd be elated to have DSL! A hot-spot through the cell phone would be 5x faster than what we have! sigh. The house we bought two years ago is, to us, almost brand new--it was built around 1985! It had a couple of "surprises" as well (we knew about them, sort of, but we didn't know quite how bad it was...). First thing we did was tear out all of the original PVC water supply plumbing. It was brittle and none of the shut-off valves worked. We put in about 300' of PEX (seems like a lot for a 1 story house!). Then we went to troubleshoot why some of the outlets didn't work and found the wiring in the attic shorting to ground through the frame of the house! We kept smelling a smokey smell--that explained it! Spent the next few months replacing ALL of the wiring, switches, and outlets. Everything was done wrong. Not just poorly--downright wrong! The switches were all on the neutrals. The breaker box was overloaded. Anyhow, miles later it all works. We even have two, 200 Amp breaker boxes now (technically not to code.... but the power coop even agreed it was necessary). Still have the garage and two workshops to finish before I can say "that's done"! Then there's the kitchen remodel (ah, that'll end up being a 2/3 of the house remodel when we finish tearing out walls and rearranging the rooms!). I think you got off easy, there.... (Just kidding, it's never fun to find those surprises!)
It is a grey water only line. The snake is 75' and I can stick every foot of it in the line. Luckily the basement provides a good room and a nice cleanout cap for the outside line. Well, so far so good. My wife has been washing no more than one load a day. When the washer would drain the water would back up in the utility sink which is next to the washer. After we snaked it, it would only back up a little. I added some barbs of wire to the end of the snake head. It just barely fits inside the 2" line. This has allowed it to drain without backing up in the sink. I just snake it again this evening and poured some root killer in the line. Hopefully, this will get us by for a while.
Whoa! Burning smells due to wiring is serious business. Glad you got that addressed. I think I did get off easy. Yeah, I guess it's not a very old house, just old enough to have some personality. It was in the teens this morning and a high of 27 degrees and we still have no replacement valve for the upstairs unit. Running on emergency heat! Can't wait to see the electric bill.
I do septic installs , and never have been big on these additives like rid x. We have to have yearly continuing education , and this is topic about every year. Those jetters can run up to a couple hundred feet and do wonders. We have a VET clinic that has 8 laterals and the d box covers got crushed and dirt got in the box and lines. I cleaned all the boxes and had my guy bring his jetter over and run all the lines. This field was done in 1988. It began working again and is still working , been 3 years now. The expansion valve is a simple fix as long as the new valve is kept cool while replacing. I know they are supposed to be better but a simple orifice seems to be as good. I figured you would be on the loader today.
What would be ballpark estimate for someone to run a jetter through it? I guess you can rent those as well. It's super easy to access. Hopefully the heat guy comes along soon. He informed me the unit is still under parts warranty and he's trying to get the valve under warranty. LOL, when the hunters come in because it's too cold, it's too cold to be on the loader. We still crank it up often and run it around the barn. Can't wait for spring time!
I was charged 800$ to jet the laterals and pump the tank which was a 1000 gallon tank. I couldn't see what you need being over 250$. Those jetters are pretty good tools. They will cut roots over 1" thick. A good one will peel your skin back. How cold did it get there over the weekend? We got to 5*F. You would have been on supplemental heat most likely anyway.
If you have a power washer they make a jetter type tip. The tip screws on the end of the hose pointing backwards and you just feed the line in and pull it back out. We have cobbled up a water hose affair for a grey line that was slow draining with PVC pipe and fittings. We put size adapters up to about an inch smaller than the pipe, fitted the hose on the end of the contraption, turned on the water and fed it into the line. Go in a few feet, pull it out and let the line drain. Grease lumps float out... Not exactly pleasant but very workable.
I woke up Sat morning a week ago and my phone was reporting 12*F. Good time to work on inside house projects like plumbing up my dehumidifier in the basement to auto drain. Yup, good point - friends had mentioned they were on heat strips at the time too. It's now in the mid to upper 60's for the next several days. The HVAC guy is coming Friday to make the repair. He said he has replaced the expansion valve on every Lenox/Armstrong unit he's installed. He only installs American Standard now.
Bet that would make a mess in the basement. lol! I think the previous owners would've had to have used an external drain hose. There's no way they washed clothes there otherwise. Unless they had an extremely slow washer drain. I might do something about it this summer. I've always wanted to use a mini-ex.
We put in a gray water drain for our wash water and discharge from the softener system, added the kitchen sink drain to minimize the load of sludge will have to attend in the septic tank later. Ours drops into a 'French Drain' style trough, 20' long 5' wide 2' deep 4" clean rock filled trench. Does run water out the end but so far nothing sudsy or stinky. No bugs seem to bother either and no trees close by.
No trees around your line is good. My grandparents (at the farm) use to always struggle with roots from far away trees getting into their septic inlet line to the tank. Dad and I dug it out once and the roots we're amazing. Luckily, the"new" house has no trees to close to the septic system. The septic tank is below the basement ground level about 400' away from the house. There are 3 clean outs between the house and tank. Inspector said most people would've used a pump, but the builders of the house took the expensive route. Gravity is free.
And gravity still works when the power goes out! Something to be said for that. We had the exact same situation on the farm where I grew up--septic tank about 400 feet away, constantly getting plugged by roots. Funny thing was the nearest tree was over 50' from the line! We couldn't get it open one time so Dad called a backhoe guy and he was amazed to see it was that really old tarred stuff--I can't remember what it was called, but it wasn't even clay! That backhoe operator was amazing, too--dug out that line in about 45 minutes and it was over 8' deep half the way. Got up to the house and dug the trench perfectly even with the sidewalk--and never left a scratch on the sidewalk. Our plan here is to convert to a composting toilet system--just trading one headache for another, but with the sinkholes close by it is more peace-of-mind keeping the sludge out of our well-water!
Good point, Jim. Didn't think about the power too. I crushed one of the clean-out caps today. Knew that was going to happen sooner or later. That's the only thing I don't like about the sewer line going down so far. There are three of those caps spread throughout the back-yard. Oh well...easy to replace. Well, I'll try to get this thread out of the sewer...for Nitelite. It is January and no dirt work to do. What else can we talk about? Maybe you guys can help me with something. My wife called Thursday morning and said it felt like she ran over something when she backed out of the garage. Thinking the worst, I stayed calm and let her continue. She said she got out and it was a flat tire...I was relieved that was all it was. I took the tire off that evening and took it to the tire shop to get it patched since the tires aren't that old. When I drop the tire off, I stuck around and watched the guy change it. He motions all the other workers and they all gather around my tire. I'm thinking what's the big deal. They all start laughing. Then I start getting really curious. I wait patiently for the guy to come and show me what they pulled out. He says they can't patch the tire. I ask if I can see what they pulled out of it. He said, yes they'll bring it out. Anyway...this is what it was. The bent part is the end that went in first. The whole thing was in the tire. Only a glimpse of the other end sticking out. Any ideas?
Looks like a glow plug to me. http://www.carid.com/images/motorcraft/ignition-spark-plugs-wires/diesel-glow-plug.jpg
Yep. Engine glow plug
That wouldn't be a glow plug from a DT466 would it?:cool2
Sorry, Motorcraft, Ford industrial.
That glow plug looks way too big to get into a tire backing out of a garage. Would almost have to have been leaning on the tire to be able to get pushed right in like that. Somebody mad at your wife? Only reason I ask is because I worked at a shop where nobody liked the lead hand. One guy ( that was leaving anyway) disliked him so much he cut a 1/4" welding rod into 2" pieces and sharpened one end and then leaned 2 of them on the guys tires. The manager came in the lunch room showing the 2 pieces and said it would result in immediate termination for who did it or if anything like it happened again. We pretty much knew who did it but he was already gone. I saw the guy again and he denied doing it but another guy said he talked about doing it. The guy with the 2 flat tires was good at his job but also thought he was king ****. The really odd thing was the foreman there was awesome and kept things pretty calm for the most part.
I am going to reveal the key to a fifty year old mystery. I carried a 45 cal automatic pistol back when I was a military game warden in the army. I always carried the weapon with an empty chamber but a full magazine inserted. At lunch one day myself and several others were discussing how many safety positions there were on the model 1911 military 45 pistol. My pistol was passed around and discussed. Someone ratcheted a round into the chamber chamber unknowing to me. That afternoon, as required and as usual practice, I removed the magazine and pointed the pistol at the target painted on the arms room door and pulled the trigger. The round in the chamber went off and put a hole right in the bulls eye of the target. That is an automatic court marshal offence! I locked the weapon up in the arms room and went to a hardware store where I bought a small can of red paint and some plastic wood to repair the hole in the door. There was to be an IG inspection the next morning. The patch was perfect. The only problem was that my military jeep spare tire was behind that door and in the line of fire. On the way in to the main post tire shop with the flat tire I saw a empty M14 rifle cartridge (308 caliber) laying on the side of the road. I stopped and picked it up and pushed it into the hole in the sidewall of the flat spare tire, perfect fit and no explanation necessary! When I picked the tire up the next day the fellow was scratching his head. He said that he found the 308 hull that had penetrated the tire sidewall but could not explain, for the life of him, the 45 slug that was found inside of the tire. I shook my head and offered no explanation for the dilemma. I just needed to get my new tire and get out of there having very little conversation with the private in charge of the tire shop!
That's it! You guys nailed it. I was thinking since the heat pump guy had just been there the Sat before it might have dropped out of his truck. It definitely looked thermo related.
LOL, I kinda wish. At least the mystery might be solved.
Nah, her enemies would've just slashed the tires. JK! Thankfully she's not a drama queen that stirs up stuff. You did get me to thinking though. I had her recount the exact events. She said she did do something she didn't normally do. When she picked up our oldest from pre-k, she was driving into the drive/garage and noticed the mail carrier coming down the road. She backed down to the mailbox (couple of hundred feet) and got off in the grass. I guess this is where she picked it up. A few minutes later she went to take the oldest to karate. Backed out and that's when she heard something on the wheel and felt it. She just pulled straight into the garage. I would've expected it to be much rustier though if it had been buried in the yard. Hmmmm...
Would like to have seen you face as your exited the tire shop with a shoulder shrug. Reminds me of Barney loading a round in his revolver unknowingly to Andy. Andy lectures on gun safety and accidentally fires the round off in the jail. My twin and I have a story that's not so serious, but to couple of 17 year olds at the time was equally unnerving. Back in high school, someone brought a potato gun to school. After lunch, the French class teacher was notoriously late. Late enough for mischief to ensue on any given day. That day was the potato gun. We took it outside and loaded the chamber with lighter fluid, inserted a tennis ball and fired it outside the class room while everyone was gazing out the windows of the class. As soon as it fired, we ran back in. We propped it up on the desk while all the students were looking the thing over. The barrel was pointed to the ceiling. My brother (from my recollection it was his fault of course), dropped a ball in. Since we didn't load the chamber with any more lighter fluid, we figured it might burp at most. He lit the lighter at the ignition hole. It sounded like thunder in the class. We all looked around and checked where the ball went. It went up but didn't come back down. There was a perfect size tennis ball hole in the ceiling tile above the teacher's desk. Trying to think quickly, we ran next door to the corner of the lab where no one would see and swapped out the ceiling tile. Not a minute to spare. The teacher walks in, flustered that's she late and starts the class. I would imagine to this day, that ceiling tile is still in the lab with a hole in it.
This is a very interesting and entertaining thread, especially since I just bought a International 175b. This is my first piece of heavy equipment, that and the fact it's very old and that I'm not a mechanic could get frustrating and expensive. I bought this machine sight unseen off the internet. Everything has been done the wrong way, if you say I rolled the dice, you are correct. I wanted a machine to clear some land, remove stumps from a recent logging operation and I have limited funds. My 1st problem is it is bigger than I expected. Sitting in the seat makes it look even bigger! I have a 12 ton trailer and I thought I could haul it home, but being 15 tons, that cost me right of the bat. My 1st mistake.... $850 to deliver. The good part is the engine runs. I only had it back up my driveway, but it sounds good. The bad... 1)Major oil leak while running. It is difficult to see where the pool of oil is coming from, I don't know yet. I hope it is not the main seal. 2) tracks on left side slip. Grease is leaking out of the tensioner. 3) won't turn right very well. You have to pull very hard. I knew about this before I bought the machine. I had hoped that could be adjusted, but I talked to the fire dept that owned it after I bought it and was told they worked on it a lot without success and thought it was an assist problem, but only on one side? I just got the machine home, I haven't even been able to crawl under it yet, with all the freezing rain and now rain today. How do you figure the % of track life? Boone, can you show a picture of your sprockets? and anything else that is used to figure track life? I just remembered I did buy a International 1947 T9 dozer for scrap a few years ago so technically that was my 1st, but it has never ran. It is still at a friends place. It has a winch on it. I wonder if that could be put on the 175? Lots of questions. Thanks
You jumped right in fullchoke. Congrats on the machine. From the sound of it, you have yourself a project. Just think of this as tuition for mechanic school. Of course you don't want to dump too much money in it, but you'll have to figure out what you've got. Minor oil leaks are going to be normal. The big one's you definitely want to address. Best thing to do is the get the pans off. Clean out under it best you can. I'd recommend removing the seat frame, batteries and then pressure wash. Then clean from below as best you can. This will also help with identifying any binding on the linkages and pulleys. You can eliminate several things before you do adjustments. I'd also recommend a manual if you decide you're going to invest yourself in it. Here's an IH guide to help you with track life. http://www.tractorparts.com/PDFs/undrcarguide.pdf We never had any trouble with slipping or tracks coming off. I have a picture on the second or third page of my thread of the sprocket. Even with a few hundred hours, it hasn't changed much. Our rails and rollers are in poor shape. We actually priced a new undercarriage a few months ago. About $8000 for everything minus the pads.
I found your pictures. Your sprocket looks better than mine. Mine is sharp. I think the track life is between 10 and 20% on this machine. The first thing I need to do is fix the chain adjuster on the left side. The left track is very loose. So loose that I don't think the loader will move from where we parked it. I did buy a manual, I need to study it. My biggest problem is I don't have a good place to work on it. All outside and nothing flat.
I forgot to add that the track is 16" wide. I thought I read they were 15". Thanks
Shoes look reasonable. Did you actually measure the rail wear? pick any four links when adjusted out, pick the side of one pin as sits in the link and measure to the fifth pin away to the same side of the pin. That will give a measure across four full links, divide that by four and you can see the wear from your chains when new. 175B can have 7" or 7.5" dependent on if they updated to the C style rails.
It was 28.5 across 4 links which is close to being worn out from what I found. Track adjuster needs to be fixed, find the oil leak, then figure out why so much pressure on the stick is required to turn to the right. Any thoughts on that problem? The Fire Dept I got it from thought it was a steering assist problem. Thanks
I was going to try 6.906 Cat 953 rails on my Allis as a last ditch alternative to NO rails. Mine is also 7" pitch as yours where a few others have tried and used Cat rails as these with smaller bushing diameter with little consequence on worn sprockets. Far as the turning, may have to go to the Redpower site and pick a few brains. Judging from the cylinder up front and the counterweight you also got lucky with a 4/1 on it. http://www.redpowermagazine.com/forums/forum/9-ih-construction-equipment/
That's not a bad looking 175 there fullchoke. The 4-n-1 and limb risers are nice additions! Warm Feb day seemed like a good excuse to crank up the machines at the farm. While there, it also seemed like a good excuse to smash an old cabinet in the barn and add it to the scrap metal pile. I'm sure what paint was left on it was lead based so I didn't want to touch it much with bare hands.
Boone I was recently looking at Nitelite's comments on the type of oils he is using in his 951C. What do you use in your 175C? Any problems?
Hi Mike, Much like Nitelite, we use the TSC stuff in the hydraulics and rear. The main thing it being IH Hy-tran compliant. No problems to date. For daily used machine, I might spring for the name brand oil, but for farm use, it's been fine. For the engine we do use CaseIH No. 1 15W-40 with Case IH filters.
You been hiding out boone?
Been hiding, Nitelite. I still lurk around here often reading yours and the others threads to see what's happening. Enjoy seeing the progress others are making. Still settling into the house we bought. Trying to get concrete in the barn this weekend. They came and formed it Friday, but the truck never showed. Hopefully they'll hit it next week. Going to be cutting season soon. Looking forward to getting over to the farm. Dad used the loader the other day to move some dirt behind the old shop building which he and my brother have been restoring. I haven't had time to help any on it. We still use the loader, but she's got an easy life now. My brother may be using it soon as they start house building plans. He wants to use it to cut in their drive and maybe some demo work. Have a few projects at the farm I'd love to do with it, but just not enough hours in the day.
good to hear from you!
It's been awhile since I've updated this thread. Thought I would post up some pictures of a driveway project that my brother did this weekend. Dad and I helped a little, but my brother did the bulk of it. Even though we don't use the loader that much, it continues to shine on projects like this. With the tank topped off, we headed toward the road to await the lowboy. Local contractor met us at the farm Thursday around 6:30am. It was perfect timing. He pulled up at the gate same time the loader did. Early morning fog in the hills I rode with the driver and my brother followed. Took us about 20 minutes to get there. I enjoyed talking with Mr Thomas (the driver). He remembered delivering gravel to this farm a couple of years ago when we had the driveway spread. I have pictures of that somewhere on this thread. Arriving at the destination...traffic on this back road seemed to pick up as soon as we were unloading.
The fence posts show roughly where the house will be. He cut in the drive and the garage. Took it down anywhere from 6" to 18" trying to find the subsoil. Stock piled the topsoil to the side as it will be needed later. Went a little lower in some spots as the ground was a bit soft. He'd push up a pile and then sweep it off to the side.
I left after the rough cut in with the loader. Came back that evening with the fam on our way to eat and took a photo from the dash. Saturday, it was back filled with chert. Pictures to come.
Nice work Boone! Is this a paying job or is it for personal use? Are ya'll digging the chert with the loader or having it brought to you? If you're using the loader in the chert pit go ahead and get an extra set of teeth.
Man I like that transporters trailer. My guy does very well, but the does not have the double load ramp.
Well, it paid pretty good. My brother took us out to eat at the country buffet after we finished. Dad and I kept kidding him about the rental bill he was racking up by using the loader. It's for his personal drive. He and his wife are about to build a new house. They're planning to move the current house in the pics once the new house is built. Unfortunately, the old barn will probably go as well. It was brought in. Not sure what they were using to load it. No doubt on wearing out teeth. This stuff packed perfectly and dried as hard as concrete. It really will make a great base for the drive. He'll put gravel on top and let it settle in for a couple of years and then concrete it.
Yes, those double ramps take the drama out of loading a tracked machine. We love using this guy for many reasons - shows up when he says and his trailer is another.
Nice looking machine & job too!!
Thanks Metalman. I've really enjoyed your posts and projects on the Cats. Looks like you've got a good machine too. We've got a leak on a hose in the cabinet that holds the suction filters. You can see it leaking on the final on the lowboy picture. That'll be the next thing we address. Other than that, she's never run better.
On Saturday, trucks rolled most all day. Three were running and there were a total of 24 loads. Dad and brother enjoying some Italian ice between trucks.
The M9540 did most of the fine spreading. The 175 would pitch in when trucks were back to back. Dad having a good time tracking in the chert. This is the drive into the garage
Small circle drive will go in front of the house. The 175 barely fit in the shed. She's tucked in for the night.
Just joined this forum a couple of days ago, this was the first thread/novel I have read. You have a beautiful place and a very good story going with family and this machine.
Welcome to the forum Armorer. There's a lot great threads here...some of them inspired me to start this one. Can't believe this thread started 7 years ago! Thanks for the comments.
This was bound to happen sooner or later...
Call out the cavalry!!
been there done that twice with my d75 s3
Me too. Is it still there? I know too well the unforeseen mucky bottom lurking below what looks to be hard ground. What's your plan of action to get it out?
Man that sucks Boone, Been there done that with a Deere 555G, in a old pond bottom, took a five ton wrecker and two farm tractors to get it out. Just remember once out get the mud out of the rails and track trucks.
Had to call out the heavy artillery. We got her out. A little back story... After my brother's project was done, dad wanted to get the 175 to his house to fix a leak in the cabinet by the main transmission filter, behind the suction filters. Also, he wanted to cut a road through some woods on his neighbors property. His property line and his neighbors go right down the middle of a big open hay field. The man who has been haying it is retiring and dad doesn't want to cut it and the neighbor has nothing to cut it with, so dad thought he'd offer to cut a road through their woods so a farmer friend could get in there to work it in beans, cotton, etc. Neighbor said go for it. So all this happened a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, I was out of town when all the fun happened. Dad calls me up, "We got big problems! Got the loader stuck". He said he was pushing through some privet on what seem to be solid ground and before he new it, the loader sank to the belly. He tried to push with the bucket a little, but it wasn't working. We talked it over and our farmer friend who has tractors probably big enough to pull it out was in the middle of harvesting beans so we didn't want to bother him. I suggested just calling a wrecker service in town. One of them has a big semi wrecker and I'm sure he could pull it out. So he called the guy up. Guy said he probably had something to pull it out. Haha, he was right! Luckily, access was good. Cost $275 on a Saturday or he could wait till Monday and it'd be $250. Dad told him to come on. He pulled it out no problem.
WOW that's a cheap wrecker bill - got his number? Glad it's out and all is good.
Glad to see it is free from the mud. This time of year gotta be wary of the woods, lots of mushy spots that are so covered up by the brush! And agree, really good on the wrecker for winch price.
Nice to see it out & back on dry ground again!!
Boone. I have read all of your posts and like everyone else on here have found the experience informative and at times entertaining. I read I while back where you guys put new packings in your tilt cylinders. Have you ever done the lift cylinders? I'm looking at a 175c and the lift cylinders are leaking and look to be more difficult to get to for repair. Thanks
Is not so bad a job if you set it up well prior to taking them off. Get the bucket off, situate the loader lift frame on cribbing well above where you need to work and all secured BEFORE EVEN considering getting under it. Engine off, batteries disconnected, cycle the control to relieve any residual pressure then disconnect lines, hardest part will be aligning rigging to hold the cylinders until the pins are fully out. or if feel can tackle this disassembling the cylinders on the tractor they will still need be supported with rigging and will also have to support the ram/piston/seal head assembly as drag it out. And before ask a single timber or two under the frame is NOT enough, use what you have to making certain it cannot fall down. Death would be inescapable.
Me too! Glad it's out. The bill was like tuition money. Hopefully, a lesson learned on tracking into unfamiliar land.
Welcome to the forum toddchas! Thanks for the comments. We have not done the lift cylinders. They both leak, but not bad enough that we want to tackle them yet. Like DMiller says, it's pretty straightforward. I'd probably pull up to a tall tree to block the loader up. I'd only do it this way if brake lock works. It's a small rod coming out of the right side cabinet. Press down on your brake and pull up on the rod. It should lock your brake pedal down. Add chains with a come-along from the loader crossbar to the ROPs as an added safety measure. Relieve the pressure from the cylinders with the engine off. Knock the upper pins out while supporting the barrel with some rigging. The rod should pull right out while you leave the barrel on the tractor. Good luck and Merry Christmas.
Sounds good thank you for that. Have you ever done the bushings on the lift arms? The current owner of 38 years says he has never done them. They are obviously very wore out but he has kept grease in them.
I have gone back in your posts from early on to look at your dash you painted. The dash in this 78 IH looks exactly as yours does. There is one gauge on the left side though that is missing the needle. Did you replace any gauges in your machine and If so where did you find them? Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Never had any bushing work done. The loader arms have a bit of play. Where the tilt cylinder attaches to the upper part of the loader arms, there was a lot of side to side play. They came from the factory with what are known as "cord rings". These are just big rubber rings that cushion the side to side movement and keep the grease sealed on the pin. I know we put these on the tilt cylinders ends but can't remember if we put these on the loader arms. Surprisingly, Komatsu had these. Good to hear the owner is using grease. The only gauge we had to replace was the hour meter. The rest of them worked. The far left is the clutch pressure, engine oil pressure, then hour, etc. I'm not real sure where you'd get one. I'd call Komatsu. On some things they are outrageous, but you never know till you ask. After that, I'd try going down the list, FP Smith, Bount Parts, CE Parts. A generic one might work if you knew the pressure range on the gauge. Unfortunately, I do not. I have nothing but good to say of the 175. The ones that are out there are old, so with anything of age and that's been used, you'll have repairs to make, but man she sure puts out the work when she's dialed in. Let us know if you get it.
Well I like the way you talk Boone. That sounds encouraging. The guy that owns the machine said that it's a work horse. He's only selling cause he bought a newer D6 and already has a older Kobelco excavator and does not really need the loader. The picture on my profile is of that machine. It has sweeps and a cab as you can see. The UC looks to be very good. There are single grousers that had bars welded on top. If I can get over the fact that it does not have a 4 in 1 bucket I may just pull the trigger on this.
A 4 in 1 bucket can be a real PIA around branches or lumps falling over the bucket. The lines are just waiting to get snagged on something and turned into pretzels.
Had a MP/4 in 1 by a oddball manufacturer. Heavy, low internal volume, awkward and in a sense limited in uses against a true dozer or a excavator. My Allis has been converted to a GP standard bucket due to that.
Good point Welder Dave. Something to consider being that I will use this to remove trees stumps etc. Thanks Dmiller your thoughts on the 4 in 1 seem valid as well. Of course there are those how swear by the 4 in 1 also. I better consider the price, condition and proximity to my land for the purchase of this machine to put me over the top on my decision. I've been researching for years and I do believe this is the opportunity to go there. And given all that happened in the beginning of boone's endeavor to build his machine and the subsequent input since overcoming the many setbacks I'm feeling more confident. Thank you all.
My boss has just bought a 1974 175C and this blog, I have been reading it like a demon! From the tilt cyl rebuild to the track adjusters to the necessity of cleaning out the pans. This is a "first" purchase of heavy equipment for him and I'm his tech guy. I know this machine has problems. Tilt cyl, track adjuster and NO maintenance. The beast has been sitting for about a year. Put one good battery in it. SMALL squirt of either, fired up like a charm! Sweet sounding motor, little bit of smoke on start up then clears good. The tilt cyl on this one is a 2 piston setup. I talked to Baum and the kit (MM0744) is for the dual piston setup. I found the track adjuster seal kit on tractorasap (cheap). And found a local Tractor Supply Co. for the Travelers brand HyTrans fluid. AND, a BIG THANK YOU! To Boone!!!!!! Marcus
Marcus, I very much remember the research phase before we bought our loader. I was trying to find every piece of information I could on the web. Found some here and there. Thought someone might come along and wish for the same on a 175. Glad you've found this bit of info useful. I think you and your boss will find it very capable once you get it up to par. You will have to work on it, but you'll find International had a pretty simple design, making it easy to work on. After the last project mentioned up in this thread, dad had it hauled back to his barn and has changed out some of the drive-line filters. We've got to get it back to the farm as we have three big 100+ year old oaks that blew down during a storm last year. I don't think loader will budge them until they're sliced up a bit. Gonna be nice and grown up by the time we get over there.
Hey Boone, I'll ty to remember to get some pictures of the double piston up here if I can remember tomorrow.... Being a '74 model, this does not have the S.A.L.T. chain. SOOOOO.... there is gonna be a BIG Sledge whapping on a piece of 4140.. Attached to a LONG holding bar......
Been there all TOO many times.
I'm trying to get him to go for the salt tracks, but this is a buy for a 56 area he just bought in the Ozark hills..... I have a feeling that I'm gonna be WHALLOPING with a BIG sledge on that pin.. ya know... I didn't get a chance to get a pict of the double piston today.... Saturday don't cha know... Monday I'll try to REMEMBER..... Srsly..... Marcus
This is the double piston. And you to take it apart. Parts. Marcus
Resurrecting this old thread with a few updates. Hard to believe it's been 3 years since it was last updated. Shows how little the loader has done. She lives a quiet life in the hall of the barn. She keeps a full tank of fuel and runs around the barn from time to time to keep the oil circulating. The 100 year old barn we keep it in has a family of unwanted ground hog residences that are about to collapse the thing. They dig right under the stone pillars which makes the walls bow and buckle, which in turn causes things to shift upstairs. Over the years we've put additional vertical supports in place to help slow gravities pull, but it's been in need of some internal wall bracing. We recently rigged up some cabling to tie the bottoms seals to the loft supports. It's helped in the Westward direction but it needs it all the way around. It's a work in progress. We used the loader as a anchor point to help us get the cable sets tight.
Ha! I loved this post! Still love it! Love the barn too that is cool! I have that exact chain hoist (see picture) its pretty old. Also the General Mowee in its state of deck rebuild. Oh well were never bored are we Boone?!!
There's always something to do Fred. Looks like you're going whole hog on the deck rebuild. Just spindles and pulleys or are you having to reinforce the deck any? You'll be flattin' the hills and straightenin' the curves in no time. That hoist has been used for a lot of things. I've pulled a few of my 310 cylinders apart with it. It's my brother's. He's on my speed dial
Speaking of never getting bored...when we used the loader last we noticed a puddle of oil underneath. The two loader/hoist/boom whatever you call them cylinders have always seeped oil, but never bad. Well, they're starting to seep bad. While we were using it as an anchor for the barn pictures couple of posts back, one was pushing out a good bit of oil. On the hunt for a seal kit. Ended up buying from Bull Dog. We've used Baum before, but Bull Dog had a pretty good breakdown on the serial numbers so we knew for sure we needed the one piece piston kit as opposed to what Marcus posted where he has the two-piece piston. They arrived fed-ex in about three days very nicely packaged. Came out to about $260 for both kits, tax and shipping.
So last Saturday we planned to pull one rod out bring it back to Dad's shop repack it, install and then do the other side. Met Dad and brother early for breakfast at the ole Gin House for coffee and bacon. Then over to the farm for loader surgery. Blocked up using the factory support. Yah, this ought to be fun. The mechanics
The pin just missed the hood.
The little craftsmen ratchet on the track didn't quite remove the head bolts...wishful thinking. Used the big snap-on rachet...she got 'er done. I didn't get any pictures, but we used the hoist to pull the rod out of the barrel. I wiggled the lift lever to relieve pressure so we didn't have to remove any hoses getting it out. Check out this rod. Anyone see anything wrong?
Slight 'Kink' to it!!
Slight bend but can be straightened if done correctly. Probably best to have a cylinder shop with a press do it. I think you have to put pressure and leave it slightly past straight, then it goes straight when pressure taken off. I could be off but someone will know. Wouldn't hurt to take some fine emery cloth type paper and polish it. Shops will spin it to polish it so might be worth having done if you take it to get straightened. That's a darn nice loader!
Friends own a family excavation company spread over two states, several generations. Charlie, who died a few years ago started the company in 1959 before the excavator was invented. He moved earth with cable shovels & crawlers. He was obsessed with IH 175 loaders. Since before his death dozens of 175 loaders have come to the roadside with for sale signs. Each sells in a month or less. I count three left scattered over the property. One is out by the road. The Drott bucket equipped ones have been hoarded. I will bet a good hydraulic shop will replace that rod rather than risk a failed attempt to straighten.
It depends on how bad the bend is. I read of an amount where they should be replaced but can't remember. My bucket cylinders apparently had I think, a .010" bend and they straightened them. They also had them re-chromed. I think the shop may have just rebuilt them so they could charge me more. $1750.00 for bucket cylinders on a 1yd. loader.
Slight 'kink' is right DMiller. We recollected that when we bought the machine and were raising the arms to the max height that it made a shudder noise but it was hard to tell where it was coming from and if it was binding. The lift has always had plenty of power. But, ten years later and the mystery is solved. Welder Dave, the rod definitely needs polishing. It's scuffed pretty bad where in the bend. We're hoping the gland is ok. We couldn't slide the gland up past the bend. I'll post some pics with it on a level. Willie, I used to see 175s around a lot, but it seems I don't see many around anymore like I used to. Maybe they're tucked away somewhere. Who knows. We've talked about selling this one, but can't bring ourselves to do it. We called around to about three hydraulic shops in the area and priced having a new rod made. Prices ranged from $300 up to $750. We went with a place in Iron City, TN. He said he'd do it for $300 or $400. Dad dropped it off at his shop yesterday. Probably have it back in a week. He didn't have any 2.5" rod on hand. Here's a few 'kinky' pics. Some of the scuffs are pretty evident on the outer edges of the bow. They'll grab a fingernail for sure.
Probably the best way to go. I think fixing the scratches all depends on how deep the hard chrome on the rod is. My stick cylinder rod was polished when they threaded it for a larger bolt to hold the piston. They wanted to sell a new rod(and weld eye back on) but I suggested drilling and tapping for a larger bolt and that saved me a little $$$. Apparently Cat has a thicker hard chrome plating than some other cylinders. The rod is definitely a different colour after polishing but doesn't leak or creep now. I think it was still $1300 or $1700 to fix. Can't or maybe don't want to remember but hard to use a backhoe where the piston bolt pulled out of the rod. Curious why Cat uses bolts when a lot of others use big nuts on the rod?
I had a bent stabilizer rod on my 310 when I got it. It had a bad leak. I had the rod replaced and resealed at a different shop than we're using for this rod. They cut the eye off and machined the threaded part. The 310 also uses a nut. This boom cylinder on the 175 is different from the tilt cylinder in that the nut on the boom is recessed where the nut on the tilt protruded out. Must use a socket on this rod whereas the tilt one could use a pipe wrench...not that it's advisable. Good question on the use of the bolt vs nut. Seems like a bolt would thread in further offering a bit stronger holding force than a nut. Hoping the other side cylinder isn't bent as well.
A year ago I bought a rod for a Case backhoe stabilizer through Amazon. It cost $472. It was NOS Case part.
175 is a stiff bucket one side gets ice in it somehow. other side is powerful enough to bend it.
That's not bad Willie. I looked back through my records and the shop charged $450 to make the 310 stabilizer rod and repack the cylinder. The reseal was a bit less cause I'd already taken it apart. This was the same shop that took my money on a joke valve bank rebuild, so I'm trying to find alternate places if possible. Must have had an offset load or something on it at one time. I'm probably better off not knowing
Long story, I have a IH 385 Utility tractor. Previous owner got water in transmission. Some found its way to one hydraulic cylinder, & froze. They tried to force it, bent the dry cylinder rod.
Willie, seems some of those older tractors had big hydraulic power. I'm wondering if someone had the bucket on this machine raised and was ramming a tree or something immovable. The bend is up where the cylinder was almost fully extended. We got the rod back from the shop Monday. Guy seemed to do a nice job. His $300 to $400 estimate was a bit off. It ended up being $582. By the time you factor in seals and lost fluid, this this little project is going to be a bit spendy. This really shows the bend. New kit going in. The gland had some scoring on it. It was a bit egg shaped. Hole measured .508" side to side, .546" up and down where the wear is. Not sure what the tolerance allows. This one measures .038". We polished the marks on the inside of the gland to remove ridges. It went back together nice and tight. I don't think it will leak. Hope to put it in Friday.
You got past a hydraulic cylinder repair for $600.!!!!!!! Go to church, thank God, pray to whatever God you pray to for more of the same good fortune. I'd brag forever if I got out that cheap. Might marry the guy who did it, (& I'm married & don't even like boys!)
LOL! Thanks for making me feel better about it. Just hard to spend any money on it when it's not used much anymore.
She's ready for the dirt again. No drama on in the install. We'll tackle the other side later this summer.
You still got this machine? I miss your posting! This was an interesting thread.
Mike, after 14 years with this machine and documenting nearly everything Dad and I did to it and with it, I'm sad to say, we sold it within the last month. Didn't plan on selling it. Never even put it up for sale, but we attended an equipment auction within the last month and met up with a gentleman who by happenstance lives nearby the farm. Without going into a lot of detail, he was interested in looking at our loader and ended up buying it. We just didn't use it that much anymore and though it had a good place to stay, it was too good to sit and do nothing. The only issue was the other boom cylinder was leaking for which we had the kit. Just never got around to it from last year. Yes, this rod was straight unlike the other side. Dad and I met for breakfast the other day and reminisced over the good times we'd had with this machine. We met for the last time to work on it. Installed the cylinder with the new packing. Also, since we had the hydraulic filter on hand, we changed it out for the new owner. The bottom side. Two orings on the bottom and one at the top. This filter change was a bigger job than we remembered. Dad had made a c-clamp tool to pull it. We had to use a strap over the canopy to pull the thing up and out of the reservoir. The o'rings had a good hold at the bottom. Washed it up and he'll be picking it up when he's ready. I've thoroughly enjoyed all the member's posts on this thread and thanks to all who have made this experience thrilling to tell. If anyone is interested in equipment and you don't mind getting your fingernails dirty and throwing a few bucks at it along the way, do it!
Happiest days of a yellow iron owner is day bought and day sold. All the in betweens just memories.
Hope you got a good price for it. You and your dad did a lot of hard work to get it in tip top shape.
We feel like we did, Dave. We didn't give it away. He's getting a much better machine than we bought 14 years ago. Plus he's got an open record of the machine for everything we've done.
Man! What a good looking machine...looks like brand new! In a way, I'm sure you hate to see it go. You have put so much into it.
I have inadvertently drifted away from HEF over the past few years, but this drew me right back in! I have enjoyed your journey!!