My new to me Cat 299D2 XHP

[f311fr1]

After suffering through 8 years of my ASV RC85 and RC100 with on again off again AC, I broke down and bought a 2015 CAT 299D2 XHP with land managment package. It had 442 hours on it when I bought it.

 

[JNB]

Congrats man! That's a nice machine.

Post up more pics...we all love pics.

 

[f311fr1]

We are going to go over it with a fine tooth comb Monday when we get back from the lawyers office to set up our incorporation. Have a 10 hour mulch job scheduled for Tuesday. Got to turn and burn to make $$$.

 

[pafarmer]

Nice..good luck with it and clean it out daily....or turning and burning will take on a whole new meaning to y'all...

 

[f311fr1]

We stop every hour and blow it off/out with a gas powered leaf blower. Grease the FAE head every 4 hours. Grease the 299 every day it works. We did about 1 1/2 acres of selective mulching in 10 hours today. Next month we are going back with the 299/mulcher, ASV with grapple, and Woodmizer sawmill. $125 hour, $85 hour, $65 hour for $275 hour. Me, my partner and 2 helpers. Customer wants us to saw his Cedar to finish out the inside of his pool house and timbers for his lanai.

 

[f311fr1]

Wrong pics. Let me repost todays

 

[hvy 1ton]

Looking good.It's always amazing how much better a forest looks after getting rid of the junk. Have you thought about getting diesel compressors for blowing off equipment. I've used one a few times now and it makes a huge difference, at least on combines.

There's a guy around here that has a LT40 that he charges by the hour with no support equipment. We had a skid steer, loader tractor, and a borrowed 914. With two guys, my brother and i and that much equipment, the mill was never stopped for long. Always had a log ready to go, slabs went on the skid, boards on the tractor, rinse, repeat. At end of three days, the mill guy told my dad that he probably didn't make any money and he would need to charge more or by the bdft next time.

 

[f311fr1]

It will be the first job for the mill other than personal use so it will be alearning experience for us before we advertise that service, "From brush to boards."

 

[hvy 1ton]

This guy had been doing it a while, he'd just never run into any one so determined to get their money's worth out him as my dad.

 

[caterpillarmech]

This guy had been doing it a while, he'd just never run into any one so determined to get their money's worth out him as my dad.

Love that comment! I am the same way.

 

[f311fr1]

Ok, the one issue on my CAT 299D2 XHP is the aux oil cooler on top of the cab. My Cat salesman says that any time the hi flow is engaged the fan should run. The fan has never run as far as we can tell. We took the cover off and put a 12 volt power source to the fan and it ran fine. The Cat compact construction equipment service manager was very nice but no help other than printing out the instalation instuctions for me. That info did help me locate the inline fuse and magnetic switch (big honking relay). It is mounted on the back of the stock fuse/relay panel. Raise the cab to access. We will check the fuse and magnetic switch for proper operation. I told the salesman if that didn't fix the issue I would bring the machine to him and he can fight it out with Cat Financial to warrenty cover. Model is 299D2 XHP, S/N DX200200. Mayby Nige can shed some light on the when and how the fan is supposed to run.

 

[f311fr1]

Located the fuse and it was blown, maxi 60 amp flat spade. Replaced it and next time we went out the cooler worked fine. Hydraulic oil temp went down from 175 to 160. Much better IMHO. I think we are going to put it on a rocker switch so we can run it when we run lo flow attachment like post hole augers. Around here you might hit sold rock and run 1/2 to 1 hour on that hole. The one feature of CAT vs ASV that I do not like is that the A port hi flow is tied to A port low flow and B ports are tied together so you can not open and close the door on a five hose mulch head independent of the mulch rotor. I am going to make up some QD adapters to reverse the door lines in the field with out having to take the existing QD's off the hoses to swap them. The FAE mulcher will run reverse enough to clear a small light wood jam that you cannot back drag out. We have only needed a a chain once in 25 hours of mulching.

 

[f311fr1]

We were running a mulch job yesterday afternoon and the fuel lift pump crapped out. It was covered under warrenty, all I needed to do was deliver the non running 299 to the dealer. Went to Thompson Cat and picked up a replacement. About a 2 hour drive and a 15 min replacement job. Machine ran the best it ever has. I guess the pump was just about dead when I bought it. I will take the old pump back and see if I can get a refund or replacement. I will let you know how that goes. Finshed the job this AM as I ran out of daylight yesterday.

 

[JNB]

Must of been fun loading up a dead machine...not.

 

[f311fr1]

Cat gave me a new replacement pump that I have in my barn for those weekend breakdowns. Even though I did not follow proper proceedure by fixing it myself they saw the light of reason.

 

[f311fr1]

My partner was using the 299 CAT today on another job so I broke out the ASV RC100 with my CID low flow piston motor bush hog. About 5 acres. Three hours total working time.

 

[hmearth]

Nice looking machine

 

[f311fr1]

Thanks, it is 8 years old and well maintained with 1600 hours. Service every 250 hours. I also have a RC85 with 3100 hours in the same condition.

 

[rivroshaun]

F.Y.I.

The fuel pick up inside the fuel tanks are not designed very well. First make sure you are using a high flow lift/transfer pump. Second you might notice that your water separator filter is only filling up about halfway (should always be filled with fuel). If it is halfway nothing is wrong with your transfer pump. The fuel pick up from the screen likes to pick up all the nasty dirty and crud from the bottom of the fuel tank. To save you some money when this happens disconnect the fuel line from the bottom of your lift pump and blow air back into the fuel tank (It's a good idea that you take off the cap to the fuel tank). This will disperse all the dirt and clear up the lines. I would recommend replacing the lift pump filter as well. These D series MTL are notorious for picking up dirt at the bottom of the fuel tank. It can get so bad that your machine will not start.

 

[pafarmer]

Curious what year you are seeing this fuel pickup issue with rivioshaun ? From what I have personally seen with my machines this issue was addressed a few years back now. I have not had this issue on any on my 299's...