Hello, I have a caterpillar 225BLC machine. It is a pretty nice old machine. It has been sitting off and on the past few years due to the recession. I have a dirt job coming up and I need to get the machine job ready. The windows are fogged over! I have tried to use plexi glass that I bought from Home Depot..etc....in the past. That stuff doesn't work so well over time. What kind of glass is proper for this machine? Should I buy the glass from Caterpillar? Or an aftermarket part supply such as Heavyquip? Can I get a glass dealer to cut and install this kind of glass? Is it hard to do myself? I assume I would need new rubber molding? Is there a certain type that I should buy and where? Any installation tips? Sources? Any kind of Info and Advice is appreciated.
All those windows should be flat. Contact a local auto glass outfit, they should be able to cut, and install for about half the price of what cat would charge for the material.
A local auto glass shop can do it. You want laminated safety glass. It has a layer of plastic in the middle, so if the glass breaks it will just crack and stay in place. It's very common and many local glass shops do it here. They can also get new rubber but most of the time the old stuff can be reused. One thing to watch out for is pricing. I've called around here and got prices from $40 to $100 for the same piece of glass. It's definitely worth shopping around to find the right guy.
Definitely call the glass shops around your area. They don't necessarily need to be auto glass dealers. Most of them will give you a good idea of what a replacement will cost. The ones I have called, charge for it by the square foot plus installation. BUT they were outrageous on what they charge per foot for the gasket. I bought my gaskets on-line at fraction of what the glass shop wanted. I was given a choice of either laminated or tempered glass. I chose laminated. In this recent thread there is good information on new glass for doors.
Same here on finding a local glass company. The one I use does all the Cat Dealers work as well and has most of the common machine patterns already so they don't have to come out and measure, just cut it at the shop and install in the field.
This may or may not work for you, but try polishing the glass with a polyurethane based car polish. The plastic instrument panel cover on my old f250 fogged over when I used the wrong cleaner on it. I used Finish 2000 or some other polyurethane car polish on it and it made it crystal clear again. Maybe it will work on the film on your cab glass.
You might also try the stuff they are marketing for polishing headlights. Rick
The fogging is most likely due to the safety glass delaminating from the vinyl layer in the middle, so you won't be able to do anything about that. New safety glass is probably the way to go, the only real alternative is abrasion resistant Lexan (polycarbonate) plastic, but it's not cheap either. Only good thing about is you can have it cut, or cut it yourself with some practice, and install it yourself. Cheers.
I had to replace the windscreen on my Menzi Muck, I made a frame out of light square tubing and screwed a 4mm piece of lexan on the outside, worked very well, was strong enough to mount gas struts to the lexan and is is easily and cheaply replaced if need be, a large sheet big enough to get three windscreens out of was only $108 here in Australia. The Menzi windscreen shape is curved and a odd shape, it worked out really well.