We just bought a 1990 D4C Series II dozer with a 6-way blade. It's a 1RJ serial machine. We are building a second home on the ranch (I just retired from the Royal Air Force and re-joined Dad on the farm) so need to do a fair amount of driveway building, site prep and landscaping. We also have some fence lines to clear and new fences to build and a dozen other dirt/gravel pushing jobs so it was time to get a dozer. We found a D4C with only 800hrs or so since a full engine/tranny rebuild, pins/rails 30-50% or so. On closer inspection, the rails are at least 50%, the pins a bit worse and the sprocket segments pretty good. Unfortunately, the pads are pretty much shot (3/4" of grouser left) so we've ordered a new set, due in sometime in the next two weeks. We figure we can run it until the new pads arrive and then swap them over. It arrived minus the operator's manual and with a couple of problems. It arrived missing one track pad and while we waited for the previous owner to send the pad and bolts, the dozer sat. So, pad arrives Friday evening and I bolted it on this morning. Fill the girl with diesel and get ready to walk the cat across the farm to start pushing some dirt. Excercise the blade and a pool of hydraulic fluid appears on the right hand side of the blade frame. A line to the tilt cylinder is leaking. A couple of calls reveals that the John Deere dealer is the only equipment dealer close by that is open Saturday afternoon. A drive to town and back and a new hose is fabricated and fitted. Exercise the blade again, lift works, tilt works, try angling the blade and . . . a big plume of hydraulic fluid sprays all over me and the machine from the metal line running around the blade frame from one side to the other. It didn't leak in the morning but a bit of knocking around fitting the new hose allowed a corroded pipe to fail. So, my plans to use the holiday Monday to push dirt and get on with building a driveway and prep a building site are rapidly disappearing. So far, our most recent Cat is not getting much work done. Kinda wish we still had my Grandpa's old D7 with the cable lift blade, it used to shed a track once in a while but ran like a top and was a workaholic machine. I have a couple of questions in the absence of a manual (got a parts manual on Ebay today, not here until late next week, still looking for operator's manual): 1. What hydraulic fluid does a D4C Series II use? We've only got JD tractors on the farm and they use a common transmission/hydraulic system. 2. What is the part number of the long metal line that runs completely around the blade frame between the two angle cylinders? What would be the advantage/disadvantage of using a flexible line instead of a metal one? Anyway, just frustrated and hoping that I'm lucky and someone is open on Monday to get me a new line or fabricate one to fit.
You can use diesel engine oil in the hyd system if you don't have hyd oil. Better get the steel line and clamp it in place good. Less chance of damage. Later Bob
We can get hydraulic fluid, I just don't know what spec it's supposed to have. With six 5/16 UNC anchor points on the frame (three each side) and the steel cover/anchor on the front behind the blade, I figured that steel or rubberized could both be anchored just as easily. Threads pretty rusty on some but with a bottoming tap I could clean them out well enough to run a 3/4" bolt through a P-clip and a couple washers. No way anything would move then.
Why aren't Cat Operating Manuals and Parts Manuals available in *.pdf form or online? All of JD's parts manuals are available online. It's only the tech manuals that are print only.