recently bought an 04 takeuchi tb125 with 3300 hrs on it. I'm not terribly familiar with mini x's in general, but I was hoping someone could weigh in on what's normal operation for one of these. a couple things I notice - when in high speed travel mode it doesn't have enough power to turn. it can turn slightly by slowing one track momentarily during travel, but this is just enough to nudge it a bit. normal? sometimes it seems like it barely has enough power to turn even in slow mode, other times it seems to have plenty. it will always spin the tracks if I try to push too much dirt with the blade. also, the engine starts up first turn every time and sounds great, but it hazes smoke now and then when under load. doesn't seem to use oil much if at all. is that to be expected with 3300 hours on it? as far as digging goes I'm plenty happy, seems like it has enough power to pull itself over in nearly any position.
That all sounds normal except for the not being able to turn in low speed mode. How soon is this after it was in high speed?
it does it anytime, it seems. might just be my unfamiliarity with controls.
My TB125 seems to be similar turning and in high mode. It has no power turning in high so I aim straight, kick to high, and then kick it to low before turning. Depending on the traction and surface I can turn easily or not well, but it seems to be the nature of the machine so I don't worry about it too much.
thanks for the reassurance. I've been logging more hours on it lately and getting more familiar with it. the turning power does seem to depend much on surface and situation.
Ok so I'm having a definite problem now... It started running really hot a few days ago. I'm working on a pond and was doing a lot of crawling up and down steep banks for compaction. Now it's running quite close to the red zone when working, and also the hyd. Tank is too hot to touch. When crawling, it's possible cause the engine to nearly stall if I go up too steep a slope or push into an immovable object. I'm worried the pump might be failing... Anyone have some input? Not sure where to look for problems... Radiator and oil cooler are clean and clear, coolant is fine, hyd tank is full. I'm ordering a new fuel filter in hopes it's just the engine losing power. Any help or ideas are much appreciated! Oh yeah - it's overhearing even if all I'm doing is digging, as well.
Fan belt tight? Water pump circulating water to through the radiator? That's the first two places I'd look if the radiator and hydraulic cooler fins are clean and not packed full of dust. John
I would look for cavitating pump, clogged filter, clogged hyd cooler, etc. I do know the Hyd drive motors put a heck of a strain on the machine and likely will introduce a ton of heat into the system if you're crawling up steep hills. Lastly, are you running near max rpm? Interestingly hydraulic drive motors seem to need high flow and pressure, if you're running it at idle or low throttle, that will actually cause more of a strain on the motors than at max rpm. What's the ambient temps you're operating in? Overheating in general is not normal. I would look at your thermostat too...cheap fix for an overheating motor.
Found part of the problem - operating with low fuel on steep slopes dislodged a bunch of sludge from the tank and clogged the prefilter and filter. Cleaning and changing those eliminated the power loss and helped keep the temps down as well. It's still getting a little hotter than I'm used to but it's staying in the safe zone on the gauge. Ambient temps are in the 90's here right now.
Glad you found and fixed the issue and it wasn't something expensive! I have replaced my prefilter (screen) as well as my main filter since purchasing my used machine and I plan on changing it often going forward. Filters are cheap compared to injection pumps and new motors! FYI, my 2002 TB125 with 3750hrs on it barely gets into the green range at the bottom of the temp gauge even when running it for 2-3hrs continuously. However, what I've been using it for is not really stressing it. I have been picking up logs and holding them while I cut them with the chainsaw, and then using my quick attach splitter. I have dug out a few stumps and moved dirt around my property and that barely heats it up as well. I will note that when I'm not actively using the machine, I hit the idle button and let the machine idle rather than crank along at peak RPM.