Hi All,
I'm new to the forums. New to heavy equipment too. Bought a Cat 303.5e in May 2019. It's been a learning experience! The machine had no work tool. I found a bucket at a scrap yard and had ears cut to match the EFI coupler on it. I welded the ears on the bucket and now I can dig! Almost all the routine maintenance is at least 50 hours over due. I have the fluids and filters to do that. I've been surprised by the learning curve. There is so much to these machines and I feel so powerful with it.
I want to add a thumb, so I can more easily move logs and things. I can see on the boom, the flexible hydraulic line is missing. Maybe it blew before I got it? Do I need that line to get a thumb on the machine? I see from the manual that port 7 on the valve is for the Aux Return, but it is plugged off.
Can I buy and run a new aux line myself? Is that hard? I tried cat's parts website, but not sure which exact hose assembly I need. I attached some photos so you can see what I see.
If you need more details, I'm happy to provide. I tried contacting Finning and NC machinery, but I'm such a tiny fish, seems they don't have time for me, but I get that. HE Forums though, you are amazing and I've learned so much here already!
On another post here, someone asked a similar question and he utilized the quarter turn valve to add a thumb with only one coupler. I'm not sure how to do that, but it seems like my machine has a quarter turn valve on the aux hydraulic line too. What do I use that for? How does it work? Can I use it for a thumb without getting a new aux return line? Should I do that? Which direction should I turn the valve so it'll work?
I'm new to the forums. New to heavy equipment too. Bought a Cat 303.5e in May 2019. It's been a learning experience! The machine had no work tool. I found a bucket at a scrap yard and had ears cut to match the EFI coupler on it. I welded the ears on the bucket and now I can dig! Almost all the routine maintenance is at least 50 hours over due. I have the fluids and filters to do that. I've been surprised by the learning curve. There is so much to these machines and I feel so powerful with it.
I want to add a thumb, so I can more easily move logs and things. I can see on the boom, the flexible hydraulic line is missing. Maybe it blew before I got it? Do I need that line to get a thumb on the machine? I see from the manual that port 7 on the valve is for the Aux Return, but it is plugged off.
Can I buy and run a new aux line myself? Is that hard? I tried cat's parts website, but not sure which exact hose assembly I need. I attached some photos so you can see what I see.
If you need more details, I'm happy to provide. I tried contacting Finning and NC machinery, but I'm such a tiny fish, seems they don't have time for me, but I get that. HE Forums though, you are amazing and I've learned so much here already!
On another post here, someone asked a similar question and he utilized the quarter turn valve to add a thumb with only one coupler. I'm not sure how to do that, but it seems like my machine has a quarter turn valve on the aux hydraulic line too. What do I use that for? How does it work? Can I use it for a thumb without getting a new aux return line? Should I do that? Which direction should I turn the valve so it'll work?