jonathanks
Active Member
Hello all!
I've been reading around for awhile and decided I needed to come into the light so to speak.
***Warning, I probably ramble a bit just trying to let everybody know a bit about me and my machine. The post is a bit long. Apologies for that.***
I am trying to put together a small farm in Lexington, KY, but of course i work full time because something has to pay for the farm... I think I am reasonably mechanically inclined, but never been a professional mechanic or heavy equipment operator, at least I've not done enough to figure it really counts.
So what of this 951C I speak of? It is an 86J3065, so just a bit before SALT if I'm not mistaken (and I sooo could be). Picked it up at auction FEB2016, used it for about an hour and blew a hydraulic line on the tilt circuit. I expected that, but it took me a few months to get those replaced. In the meantime I bought the parts and service manuals. The latter are reprints and not 100% sure they are everything I need due to the inclusion of 941 and 951b in some sections, but that is a bit into the details...
Overall the unit is in reasonable condition, engine is strong, starts without "help" using only its glow plugs in 20 degree weather. I'm no business judging the condition of an undercarriage but, been told by the mechanic that helped me replace the hydraulic lines (the ones that run inside the frame are a real bugger...) that it was maybe 80%-85%. Not too bad I think. Several of the gauges even work! . The grousers on the other hand probably need some help. Seat is trashed, but have recently got the whole replacement set from Finney on EBAY. But that is only lipstick, thus a digression.
No idea how bad the fluids are, and figure I need to do a 2000 hr ($$$ gulp) service on it before I really put it to any use. It whines a bit since the hoses were replaced and figure it is a combination of fluids and contaminants. Hoses were replaced in the driveway and it likely was not as clean as it should have been when it was put back together. I was at work, so can't say how much it was cleaned before it went back together. At present the bucket is off and I don't put any load on it as I've got other maintenance to do... I cycle the rams just to keep the seals doing something, hopefully, with no load, I'm not putting undue stress on the system before I get the service done.
One main issue appears to be that the bucket pins and bushings are shot. I think I am early enough to pull the bushings on the loader frame side and have maybe a little edge dressing to do. The bucket side is a bit more of a problem, the bores are definitely warbled (highly technical term there...). Some where along the line, the pin bolts were lost and angle was welded in to keep the pins in place. I think I'm probably going to have to get a machine shop to make some new hinge bushing for me. Not looking forward to grinding those out. the welding shouldn't be too bad, but getting them aligned will take some set up and fixturing. Don't want to accelerate the wear, or get it bound up. I want to make sure i get the bushes and seals right lest I end up making myself a lot of line boring. That would be substantially more cost that sets off my projects even farther into the future...
I also have a broken track tensioner spring and a pretty badly pitted tensioner ram, missing the covers for those same rams and one engine side cover. I have located all of those parts and should be picking up in the next couple of weeks.
I had one of the kids pressure washing as it does indeed seem to be a mud magnets, especially where the tensioner guards are missing (I'm an engineer, and missing things like that really annoy me...). Anyway, was exercising it a bit just to keep the seals lubed and a new noise started. A thumping woosh from the engine. Does not sound like a rod, I hope, but it is q thunk I can feel in my feet. Not at low or high rpm's though. More like a head gasket, but isn't quite the right sound either. Maybe one of the seal along the top of the engine. i read something about this in the very good "...sites on a 951c" post that covers a few years. (That is a group of guys that know what they are doing!) No idea what that one is. Not sure what I'll have to add to the parts list. But seems that there is too much thump for that. The starter stuck a few s=weeks ago and had to tap it to release, It made a similar sound when it turned over the first couple of starts, but seems fine now. That is likely a grand delusion.
There are other idiosyncrasies, but, after writing this much, I've probably lost most that started reading anyway. For those that made it this far, thank you for enduring my rambling. I'd appreciate any advice you're willing to share.
Jonathan
I've been reading around for awhile and decided I needed to come into the light so to speak.
***Warning, I probably ramble a bit just trying to let everybody know a bit about me and my machine. The post is a bit long. Apologies for that.***
I am trying to put together a small farm in Lexington, KY, but of course i work full time because something has to pay for the farm... I think I am reasonably mechanically inclined, but never been a professional mechanic or heavy equipment operator, at least I've not done enough to figure it really counts.
So what of this 951C I speak of? It is an 86J3065, so just a bit before SALT if I'm not mistaken (and I sooo could be). Picked it up at auction FEB2016, used it for about an hour and blew a hydraulic line on the tilt circuit. I expected that, but it took me a few months to get those replaced. In the meantime I bought the parts and service manuals. The latter are reprints and not 100% sure they are everything I need due to the inclusion of 941 and 951b in some sections, but that is a bit into the details...
Overall the unit is in reasonable condition, engine is strong, starts without "help" using only its glow plugs in 20 degree weather. I'm no business judging the condition of an undercarriage but, been told by the mechanic that helped me replace the hydraulic lines (the ones that run inside the frame are a real bugger...) that it was maybe 80%-85%. Not too bad I think. Several of the gauges even work! . The grousers on the other hand probably need some help. Seat is trashed, but have recently got the whole replacement set from Finney on EBAY. But that is only lipstick, thus a digression.
No idea how bad the fluids are, and figure I need to do a 2000 hr ($$$ gulp) service on it before I really put it to any use. It whines a bit since the hoses were replaced and figure it is a combination of fluids and contaminants. Hoses were replaced in the driveway and it likely was not as clean as it should have been when it was put back together. I was at work, so can't say how much it was cleaned before it went back together. At present the bucket is off and I don't put any load on it as I've got other maintenance to do... I cycle the rams just to keep the seals doing something, hopefully, with no load, I'm not putting undue stress on the system before I get the service done.
One main issue appears to be that the bucket pins and bushings are shot. I think I am early enough to pull the bushings on the loader frame side and have maybe a little edge dressing to do. The bucket side is a bit more of a problem, the bores are definitely warbled (highly technical term there...). Some where along the line, the pin bolts were lost and angle was welded in to keep the pins in place. I think I'm probably going to have to get a machine shop to make some new hinge bushing for me. Not looking forward to grinding those out. the welding shouldn't be too bad, but getting them aligned will take some set up and fixturing. Don't want to accelerate the wear, or get it bound up. I want to make sure i get the bushes and seals right lest I end up making myself a lot of line boring. That would be substantially more cost that sets off my projects even farther into the future...
I also have a broken track tensioner spring and a pretty badly pitted tensioner ram, missing the covers for those same rams and one engine side cover. I have located all of those parts and should be picking up in the next couple of weeks.
I had one of the kids pressure washing as it does indeed seem to be a mud magnets, especially where the tensioner guards are missing (I'm an engineer, and missing things like that really annoy me...). Anyway, was exercising it a bit just to keep the seals lubed and a new noise started. A thumping woosh from the engine. Does not sound like a rod, I hope, but it is q thunk I can feel in my feet. Not at low or high rpm's though. More like a head gasket, but isn't quite the right sound either. Maybe one of the seal along the top of the engine. i read something about this in the very good "...sites on a 951c" post that covers a few years. (That is a group of guys that know what they are doing!) No idea what that one is. Not sure what I'll have to add to the parts list. But seems that there is too much thump for that. The starter stuck a few s=weeks ago and had to tap it to release, It made a similar sound when it turned over the first couple of starts, but seems fine now. That is likely a grand delusion.
There are other idiosyncrasies, but, after writing this much, I've probably lost most that started reading anyway. For those that made it this far, thank you for enduring my rambling. I'd appreciate any advice you're willing to share.
Jonathan
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