Increase power for larger hydraulic pump?

[Kegonsa]

I have seen a couple of good deals on early 2000's Kubota and Yanmar wheel loaders but the hydraulic flow is only about 14-15 gpm. I would like to be able to run a brush cutter for over grown grass fields with some honeysuckle bushes and black locust shoots. Would it be possible to add a turbo or increase the fuel to add additional power so I could replace the hydraulic pump with one that gets about 20gpm? If so would I need to do anything else such as a cooler, larger lines, replace the valve, or increase the hydraulic fluid capacity? If I can do this for about 2,000 it might be worth my time, otherwise I would just go with a skid steer.

 

[Tags]

Go with the skid steer, the amount of time and effort you’ll waste trying to get this done would be better spent on something made to run a brush cutter. Not only would you have to upgrade the pump but you would also have to re-engineer and upgrade the cooling package. Those machines were never meant to run constant flow attachments. I looked into it years ago… The newer Kubota wheel loaders will in fact run constant flow attachments and were made to do so…the older 420/520 series, not so much.

 

[John C.]

I've done a couple of brush cutters on excavators and it always works out like a Rube Goldburg kind of contraption when you get done. You have enough power to run the cutter, but not enough to run the boom up and down at the same time. You have to shut off the cutter to travel the machine. You get in a heavy patch and run the cutter for too long and the hydraulic oil now over heats. Adding a turbo to the engine has its own problems as well. More cooling for the engine, is the air intact big enough to handle the flow required by the turbo? Are the internals of the engine up to the extra power? Will you violate applicable laws by modifying a regulated engine? It's all a bag of worms for a single machine conversion.

The only constant flow stuff that worked that I had anything to do with were ones that had their own power supplies and cooling units.

 

[Kegonsa]

Thanks for the advice. It looks like a Cat 906h would work but is on the upper end of size, weight, and price for what I am wanting. I should probably just get over the idea of a wheel loader. I just like being up high and able to see everything compared to a skid steer. I have no experience in the snow but it also seems it would be better for snow removal. Does anyone know if there were any early 2000's machines that would handle constant flow?

 

[Tags]

You would probably have to look to at something that wasn't popular here and is probably no longer available here in the states, I was looking in the early 2000's for such a machine, at the time it did not exist. I belive there may have a been a company called "Coyote". I think they basically took a European machine and re-badged it with the Coyote name, I've only seen one here in the states and it's been parked in the same spot for at least 10 years or so.....

 

[Tyler d4c]

What about add a second engine just to run a pump to power the multcher

 

[XSKIER]

I have run a 72" brush mower on my old 2015 Kabota R530 (14 GPM). It is no race horse, but visibility, lack of surface disturbance from the big tires, air conditioning, stereo, all make the job loads better than a comparable brush mower on a utility tractor three point. I sold that loader in Nov. '19 for $45k, so I don't know if that is the $$$ range you are looking at. I replaced it with a new Volvo L25H (29 GPM) and the mower works exactly twice as good. The whole machine is twice as good too, but twice the cost of entry. I know that the skid or ctl route is a better value proposition, but as an owner/operator the compact wheel loader is the only way fly for speed, comfort, and not tearing **** up when turning.