rshackleford
Senior Member
I have a Cat 252B with two speed that has about 700 hours and a cab. I don’t use it often.
Its -10 F this afternoon and I have snow to move. I plugged the skid steer in, and it started really good. I have been having problems with a dead battery and haven’t used the skid steer for any type of work in about nine months, so I have been starting it and letting it run a half hour or so ever few weeks.
I got going on the snow moving and things were going well—well as good as they can go with my skill level of operating. Then suddenly the skid steer stopped moving. The left-hand joystick was just dead. I don’t know about the right hand I was too shocked and not sure if I even tried. Then I **think** the machine died. I might have turned if off. I tried to start but all I got was just low battery type starter clicking. No alarms.
I went back to the house and got the pickup. Battery read (checking the cable not the post) 11.5 VDC. I hooked up some jumper cables and it started right up. After removing the jumper cables, I checked and had 13.5 VDC on the posts and on the cables. I went back to work using all headlights and sometimes the 2 speed.
It died again. I was at the house, so I got out the charger and ran it on 40 amps for twenty minutes then went back to work. I worked without the headlights or the two speed. Eventually I had to get away from the house and went back to the front lights. I accidently hit the trigger and was working with the 2 speed. I went like this for about a half hour then suddenly it geared down and would not go back into 2 speed. I would get an occasional “rabbit” flicker but no 2 speed. No alarms. No alarms.
If I turned off the lights, I could get the 2 speed to work but only for about twenty seconds otherwise with headlights on no 2 speed. Oh, and again the 2-speed rabbit would sometimes lightly glow, sometimes be off, and sometimes flicker. No alarms or buzzers.
I finished up my work and put the batter on a 2-amp trickle charge.
Thoughts? What is causing this? Bad battery, alternator, something more severe?
Its -10 F this afternoon and I have snow to move. I plugged the skid steer in, and it started really good. I have been having problems with a dead battery and haven’t used the skid steer for any type of work in about nine months, so I have been starting it and letting it run a half hour or so ever few weeks.
I got going on the snow moving and things were going well—well as good as they can go with my skill level of operating. Then suddenly the skid steer stopped moving. The left-hand joystick was just dead. I don’t know about the right hand I was too shocked and not sure if I even tried. Then I **think** the machine died. I might have turned if off. I tried to start but all I got was just low battery type starter clicking. No alarms.
I went back to the house and got the pickup. Battery read (checking the cable not the post) 11.5 VDC. I hooked up some jumper cables and it started right up. After removing the jumper cables, I checked and had 13.5 VDC on the posts and on the cables. I went back to work using all headlights and sometimes the 2 speed.
It died again. I was at the house, so I got out the charger and ran it on 40 amps for twenty minutes then went back to work. I worked without the headlights or the two speed. Eventually I had to get away from the house and went back to the front lights. I accidently hit the trigger and was working with the 2 speed. I went like this for about a half hour then suddenly it geared down and would not go back into 2 speed. I would get an occasional “rabbit” flicker but no 2 speed. No alarms. No alarms.
If I turned off the lights, I could get the 2 speed to work but only for about twenty seconds otherwise with headlights on no 2 speed. Oh, and again the 2-speed rabbit would sometimes lightly glow, sometimes be off, and sometimes flicker. No alarms or buzzers.
I finished up my work and put the batter on a 2-amp trickle charge.
Thoughts? What is causing this? Bad battery, alternator, something more severe?