We took our three axle equipment trailer to Houma today, but we FAILED to bring the machine home. It was too heavy for our trailer. We drove it up onto the trailer and ALL of the trailer's tires were scraping the under surface of the deck. We unloaded it and headed home empty. I will hire a lowboy to go get it at some point in the future.
BUT, all was not lost! We got to familiarize ourself with this machine. It turns out that it is somewhat of a basket case.
1. The freeze plug on the rear of the cylinder head has popped out. We found it and stuck it back on hand tight. This will have to be replaced with a new one.
2. ALL of the hydraulic cylinders leak hydraulic fluid. All of them need new packings/seals.
That will be a lot of work
3. The hydraulic cylinder that levels the machine from side to side (the prominent one in the photo below) is NON-FUNCTIONAL, although we can see the inlet and outlet hoses jerk when we actuate the lever that services that particular cylinder. This left the machine leaning toward one side. We had to use another forklift to help it get to the level position you see in the photo. The seller believes that rebuilding that cylinder will rectify the problem.
That could be the check valve on the side of the cylinder. If it does not move at al the cylinder would have to be totally shot snd by passing the piston.
4. The hydraulic fluid is contaminated with water and is slightly milky. The hydraulic filter that drops into the top of the hydraulic fluid reservoir appears to be clogged (the needle on the gauge attached to the filter housing pegs when you rev the engine - the gauge is faded and hard to read, but I believe that this means its clogged. We removed the filter and fluid does not appear to flow freely through it.
The filter has a by-pass when the filter is clogged. If it didn't the hydraulic pump would starve and be shot!
5. The tranny had no fluid or very little fluid in it. We tried to drive it up the trailer ramp a couple of times and it wouldn't go - kept pausing half way up - checked the tranny fluid and discovered it did not register on dipstick. Noticed that dipstick says to use "C-3 fluid only" - Not sure what C-3 fluid is. I went to NAPA and the guy behind the counter did not know either. I bought some dexron/mercon and poured it in and the machine went up the ramp fine. If this is the wrong fluid, let me know and I'll drain it out once we get it home.
That fluid is fine or it is what I use in my Lulls.
6. Brakes very weak and one brake line is disconnected out near the tire - not sure why - I guess it was leaking - not looking forward to doing a brake job on this machine.
That will be a bit of work
7. One of the larger hydraulic cylinders (the one that you can see when you are standing at the rear of the machine and you look up toward the sky to visualize the tail end of the boom) has a couple - maybe ten ' rust particles adhered to the shiny portion of the piston - these are probable pits in the chrome. These will have to be smoothed out.
8. There is no ignition key. We had to unscrew the key assembly and "hot wire" it. The seller tells me he will try to locate the key.
Other than that, I guess I'm satisfied with the purchase. Here's my questions:
1. Where is the best place to purchase hydraulic cylinder rebuild kits for these?
I get mine from webequipment.com ask for Stacy
2. What is the proper fluid to put in the transmission?
3. Anyone have an operators manual that they can fax me a few pages out of? 337-289-7680 We had some trouble teaching ourselves how to operate
4. Has anyone serviced the brakes on these machines? Any info appreciated.
Are the brakes on the drive line? I would asume so for the age of the machine? Then you have the ebrake to check also.
J. Stewart
