Cat 305CR swing motor brake

[Phil_C]

Hello All
The coupling between the engine and the hydraulic pumps has let go. Part of the replacement procedure is to drain the hydraulic oil. Unfortunately the drain port on the hydraulic tank is right above the right track. Is there anyway to release the brake on the swing motor so I can manually rotate the top to a better location?

Regards

Phil

 

[Vetech63]

Are you doing this for access to remove the plug? .....or to keep from dropping the oil on the track?

 

[Phil_C]

Both I guess. I want to catch the oil for reuse and I can't get anything between the track and the drain plug to catch it. The excavator blew a hose recently and most of the oil is fairly new.

 

[Vetech63]

I use clean cardboard for this. You can shape a valley with it and catch the oil just outside the track. It’s easy peasy.

 

[skyking1]

that works. I had a piece of galvanized sheet metal for my father-in-law's Ford truck it dumped right on the cross member.

 

[John C.]

I use an old hand crank barrel pump. Draining it out the bottom is nothing but a big mess. On a machine that size it might only take ten minutes of cranking on the handle. It will take you at least an hour to rig something to release the swing brake and get something with enough power to turn the house through the gear resistance in the swing gear box. Then you have to find something that will hold the oil and be low enough to fit under the house and have a big enough opening to catch the oil as it is draining.

 

[Phil_C]

Hello All
Thanks for the replies. I had planned on doing what John C said but I was hoping there was an easy method to release the brake and swing it around to a better location. A twenty liter bucket fits under easily when the drain is not over a track or the blade and it only takes sixty liters. It would also have helped with access for the wheel loader to remove the counterwieght.

Regards

Phil

 

[Underdog]

My Cat 305CR stopped working. I knew it was the rubber coupling between the engine flywheel and hydraulic pump had let go.

We did not drain the hydraulic tank but simply unbolted the pump from flywheel and let hang on the hoses Biggest problem was the counterweight on the rear had to come off to move pump assembly off far enough to replace the coupling. We used a service truck crane. Who says to drain the tank?

 

[Phil_C]

Hello Underdog. No one said to drain the tank, that was what I assumed would need to be done to get the pump off far enough to change the coupling. I thought the pump suction hoses were clamped to a saddle where they went under the frame work but I found that the saddle floated with the hoses. No big deal as I had other things to fix while I had the pump out. Machine is back in service now.