Well, I've been wanting a crawler for messing around at my place and finally bit the bullet and got me a 955l. It has 70 hrs since a rebuild for the 3304 and about 75 hrs on new uc. Gave 12,500 for it. So far it seems like a fair deal. The pins and bushings are a little loose and one of the final drives appears to be leaking a bit. Once I get it home i'll clean it up and see what I really got. I think it's a 74. I need to call cat and verify that with the serial number. I'm sure I'll be posting some questions soon, this is all new turf for me.
Owned 3 of them back in the 80's. Great machine for there time.
Post the Serial Number here. We can date it for you. Looks tidy from the photo, and there are a bunch of people on here who are extremely knowledgable about Cat's tracked loader Product Line. Welcome BTW.............
Do most of you out there run the pads on a track loader until they are fully dead? Those pads look worn out to me but maybe not?
The serial number is 85J11752. Here's another pic of the pads. I believe he said that he reused the pads when he had the uc, or at least parts of it, rebuilt. Took a battery out today to get it replaced. Appears the other is still good. Guess I'm going to price one at napa and cat. I also noticed that the leak on the right side final drive is coming from the fill plug. Currently it is parked with that side on the downhill side so I'm wondering if when parked like this it has just been leaking around the fill plug. Also wondering if fluid from somewhere else is getting in there. I'm still learning this machine so I'm really not sure if that's even possible. I need to get some good service manuals.
85J11752 is almost the last of the line, built in 1978. Last machine was 85J11762 ............. Although they are a bit spendy there is nothing better than a Cat battery. Those pads don't look too shabby. Put a straight edge across them from side to side just to make sure they are not bent. They gave me that impression in your 1st photo but not the 2nd one.
Looks like the rails are on right, but the shoe's are on backwards???? Must be me,,,,
No, I believe they are correct. If they were the other way the top overlap of each pad would be leading. The sharp side of the pad leads at least that's how I've always seen them.
Yes I agree with Nige. The closer pic shows that they don't look too bad.
Old-iron-habit, that's a good thought. I think I'll take your advice and get two batteries. I see what you guys were talking about on those pads. They look bad in that first photo for some reason.
That's why sometimes photos are deceiving ..........
Nice looking machine!
Looks good, and the price is great for you bad for me maybe. 12500 for a rebuilt engine and new UC, wow. I just bought new SALT chains and sprocket segments for my 955L. Plan to replace and put it up for sale, and I hope I can get a bit more for mine when done to cover the cost. Just replaced second of my batteries a couple months ago, first was replaced when I first bought the machine several years ago
Well, had first casualty already. Was digging into hill and lost all hydraulic power and no drive along with some loud noises and smoke pouring out from around the front of machine. Finally figured out that I broke the rubber biscuits in the flex joint between motor and trans hence why it smelled like burnt rubber. Got someone with a service truck coming out next week to help. This should be fun.
Refer to post Broke my 941. Later Bob
Here's a link to the thread mentioned above by Bob. You need to check the alignment of the engine and transmission VERY carefully before you install the replacement coupling............
Thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to take some photos to post.
I'm trying to figure out the best way to get to it. I might try and see if I can get the bucket up so I can get to it from the sides but I'm not sure it'll even do that. I guess from underneath might be the only way.
You need to be under it to work on it, block the bucket safely. Later Bob
Well here it is 5 months later and I'm finally getting back to the loader. Got new biscuits installed and drove it back under the lean-to before winter hit. Now that it's warming up I'm getting back to it. I loosened the bolts on the trans side of the biscuits to see how bad of an alignment issue I have. Here's what I found. this view is from the bottom. Appears that I only have a vertical issue with a gap at the bottom. My next step is to see if there are any shims under the front mounts. Hard to get in there and tell, need to scrape some dirt away first. I also plan to put a dial indicator and check my circumference runout like the manual calls for. I'll try to take some pics of what I find.
Take your time with it, a job like that can take you all day to get it right if you are new to it. This is a major investment for you do it right to spec and you will never look back. Later Bob