My first track loader!

[boone]

Welcome to the forum jms. I read your intro post in the new member section. Sounds like your at an interesting cross roads and have plenty of work to keep a loader busy!

Our undercarriage is a mixed bag. I don't have any percentage numbers for you and I probably won't be using the correct terms for some of this, bear with me. The track shoes are excellent, good height on all the grousers. The sprockets are decent. For what we've done and have left to do the sprockets have plenty of life left in them. One of the idlers is like new. It must have been replaced in the past. The other idler guide bar is rounded off a little, but it's in decent shape. The rollers are worn pretty bad. They're cupped from the chains. The chains are the worst. They're worn down to the point the pin bosses are hitting the bottom rollers. BUT, we go slow and have traveled quite a bit in the 300 hours on the machine and the undercarriage doesn't show any more signs of wear from when we bought it and we've gotten a lot of work out of it.

I'd be interested in seeing the pictures you took of the 175. There's a thread in the support forum on how to post pictures. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[jms]

Welcome to the forum jms. I read your intro post in the new member section. Sounds like your at an interesting cross roads and have plenty of work to keep a loader busy!

Our undercarriage is a mixed bag. I don't have any percentage numbers for you and I probably won't be using the correct terms for some of this, bear with me. The track shoes are excellent, good height on all the grousers. The sprockets are decent. For what we've done and have left to do the sprockets have plenty of life left in them. One of the idlers is like new. It must have been replaced in the past. The other idler guide bar is rounded off a little, but it's in decent shape. The rollers are worn pretty bad. They're cupped from the chains. The chains are the worst. They're worn down to the point the pin bosses are hitting the bottom rollers. BUT, we go slow and have traveled quite a bit in the 300 hours on the machine and the undercarriage doesn't show any more signs of wear from when we bought it and we've gotten a lot of work out of it.

I'd be interested in seeing the pictures you took of the 175. There's a thread in the support forum on how to post pictures. Good luck and keep us posted.

Boone thanks for the quick reply, kind of wish the site had chat. I will try to poxt the pics, as soon as I can figure out how to ge them off my new phone,. and have posted 3 or more time. I talked to the owner today, he is going to send me the serial number on the machine. I forgot to get it when i was taking pics. :Banghead. It is a 84-86 model, it has 60% or more left on the under carraige or so he says.
It all so has a rebuilt 466 with 748 hrs on it, had the hour meter replaced along with the rebuild. However I think the price is a bit steep at this time, it's great lookin machine, still has the original seat in it and it's not bad....no cracks or tears... Hope to stay in touch as much as possible.

 

[boone]

The serial number will be handy for getting the exact model year. You should be able to call up your local Komatsu dealer and they can help you get the year. Maybe someone on here can help with that too. The only thing about these machines are prices for parts are high. So far we haven't had any major ticket items to buy from Komatsu directly. But small one's do add up. Having said that, we'd buy a 175 again.

Do you know any history of the machine, that is if the seller is the one who put the 748 hours on the machine? If so, perhaps they've gotten the bugs worked out of it. It seems there is always some amount of initial maintenance that you'll have to do with a "new" used machine. But once you get passed that, with a little luck you'll get a good bit of service out of it.

The 175 has been friendly to work on. The breakdowns and costs so far have been worth the amount of work we've gotten out of it.

 

[jms]

well so much for the pictures,new smart phone seems to be smarter than the user. while trying to move/send them
they/I deleted them... bummer. oh well, plan on going bacl to look at again any way, just hate losing things....
It will probally be a couple weeks before I can go back and see it, hopefully it will still be there. Haven't heard back
from the owner with the serial # but it's been snowing off and on and is going to for the next few days...

 

[boone]

Ah well, just think of it as a good excuse to go back and look at it. I'm old school I guess..still have an old flip phone. It takes pictures but like you I have a hard time transferring them. It just turned cold here today but hopefully this is the last cold spell we have.

 

[jms]

short update good and not so good

Good
Boone would like to thank you for the info on contacting my local Komatsu dealer in regards to
the serial #. The owner of the 175C called with the serial #,. Was told the starter had been replaced 2yrs ago, and has 2 new/2yr old batteries. 24volt system. Is 2nd owner and has had it 12-15yrs.
Not so good
I contacted my local dealer and they had actually sold parts for the machine. It is a 1978 model vs a 84-86. The sprockets were bought/replaced in 2005. Some odds and ends but nothing on the motor.
Contact was very nice and informative in regards to the machine, I asked if they did inspecstions on this type of machine, not really but they have a retired International mechanic that does this type of thing. If we get closer to pulling the trigger on it was advised to have him come out and go over it.
Very nice to have an ace in the hole.....

 

[boone]

jms, thanks for the update. That's coincidental about the starter. Ours had a near new starter on it when we bought it. Of course we didn't find out until we were pulling the engine...what a way to find out eh? If I remember right it had a Komatsu sticker on it. Probably cost a penny or two! Well, if the owner has had it that long, they probably know the machine well. All the grease points on ours were dry as a cow chip when we got it. Evidently, the previous owner didn't have a grease gun or didn't have the machine long enough to use it.
That's great you found out the actual year. I don't think there were many changes on those machines throughout the 70's and 80's. Just subtle differences that I've noticed when looking at similar machines. However, sometimes I browse machinery trader and I get the feeling a lot of people are guessing on the year of these machines. Sounds like good insurance having a retired mechanic nearby who knows the machines. We have the same situation here. There's a retired IH/Dresser mechanic that lives here in town and he still works on these machines. He's rebuilt the transmission in a TD-15C for someone we know. It's good to know he's here in case we get stuck. I hope we never need him! :spaz

 

[oldirt]

great thread, I just found this yesterday and read it all. Good job on all the rebuilds you have done. You will get a lot of pure enjoyment from using that loader, I owned a 955L for several years (wish I had it back) and really liked it too. You will find you can push yourself out of a soft spot really easy. You can lift a tree that you have pushed out clear up and drop it a couple times to shake off the dirt from the stump, and it will all burn. Also, I had much better luck burning a brush pile in a slot, and after raising the bucket out of the way using the motor for a fan to supercharge the fire, and wow does that ever work. You can also lift a corner of the pile before you start to burn and add your consumable fire starting agents under it which will ensure that you can burn the wettest of trees. The z linkage on your IH will have 50% more breakout than my old L did and it was plenty, by the way. Happy Easter..

 

[boone]

Thanks for the comment and great tips oldirt. We really have enjoyed using the loader. We've tried to stay out of the wet spots but I have used the bucket curl to help me backing out of ditch. I've never thought to use the fan to feed a fire but I bet it does work well in a slot. It'll blow my cap off when I walk in front of it plus give me face full of dirt. We're having to burn our piles, tighten and then reburn. They're slowly going away, but it's taking more time than it should

 

[oldirt]

ok.. try the fan trick, it works so well it is crazy. Used it a lot and it was spectacular to say the least. Once again, I can't stress enough how much better I can burn green trees by loading them into a slot, usually with wind blowing in the direction of the entrance ramp. you will not have much left to bury. I hate burying junk that I might run into again for some other project at a later date.

 

[boone]

Pics from the day we knocked out a few thorns.

This blow-down was getting a little frail.

 

[boone]

Here's a before and after shot of a small thorn thicket we knocked out.

 

[boone]

Video

I had a little bit too much fun with windows movie maker one night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cps_oJtmbc

 

[OldandWorn]

Thanks for the pics and video boone.

 

[RCTech9]

nice pics

 

[Jeembawb]

So how do you know if a HEF thread has grabbed you?

You stumble across this one because there was not much happening over in dozers just before you have to fly out of town for a couple of days for a funeral, then when you get home you kiss the missus, let the dogs jump up once in anticipation of going on an adventure walk (somehow they think everywhere we go together is an adventure) and you say to the dogs firmly and seriously - "not now - I'm in the middle of something, how bout tomorrow".

Great read Boone (that's my brothers nickname too) - mate I don't think you can have too many pics - love the land clearing and associated projects pics too

Jimbob

 

[boone]

LOL! Been a lot of good contributors that have made the thread fun.

My wife and I just had our second baby boy in April. In those precious quiet hours of the morning before work, sometimes I slip off to the front porch with my coffee in hand and sit out on the swing thumbing through HEF on my ipod. Most times I find myself reading about the trouble you guys are getting into with your Fiats. Lots of great pictures, ingenuity and humor there.

Now go take those poor dogs for a walk!

 

[Jeembawb]

LOL! Been a lot of good contributors that have made the thread fun.

My wife and I just had our second baby boy in April. In those precious quiet hours of the morning before work, sometimes I slip off to the front porch with my coffee in hand and sit out on the swing thumbing through HEF on my ipod. Most times I find myself reading about the trouble you guys are getting into with your Fiats. Lots of great pictures, ingenuity and humor there.

Now go take those poor dogs for a walk!

Don't worry Boone - they usually get 2+ walks a day just for them (I tell them it's just for them, but there's probably something in it for me too seeing as its all the way down the hill on the old steep road then back up the new road I made with the dry hire d6d) plus all the up & down the hill with the bush basher to get a bolt or o-ring from the bottom shed (on site hardware store) - my dogs follow diesel engines seemingly so weekends are fun for them (as long as I am being interesting enough! - dozers and loaders are their favourite, they just pace along with them until they trust I'm doing it right, then find a shady spot to supervise).

Funny - 5.30am alarm - coffee machine - HEF - walk dogs - do some work on one of my dozers - day job - walk dogs - do some work on one of my dozers - food - HEF - reset.

Another funny - having just read this 36 page thread over the last few days, it seems like only yesterday that you had your first boy - congrats Boone - time flys huh!

Jimbob

 

[boone]

Don't worry Boone - they usually get 2+ walks a day just for them (I tell them it's just for them, but there's probably something in it for me too seeing as its all the way down the hill on the old steep road then back up the new road I made with the dry hire d6d) plus all the up & down the hill with the bush basher to get a bolt or o-ring from the bottom shed (on site hardware store) - my dogs follow diesel engines seemingly so weekends are fun for them (as long as I am being interesting enough! - dozers and loaders are their favourite, they just pace along with them until they trust I'm doing it right, then find a shady spot to supervise).

They sound like the best kind of supervisor.

Another funny - having just read this 36 page thread over the last few days, it seems like only yesterday that you had your first boy - congrats Boone - time flys huh!

You're not kidding. I keep thinking all the clocks in the house are broken...they all run fast. I've heard it only gets faster from here.

 

[boone]

Few pictures of our weekend projects. The weekend agenda was bushog and a ditch project.

Dad went over on Friday to do some odds and ends and was fueling up ole blue. He got a half a tank in the tractor when the nozzle started blowing air. Why is it you always think you have more than you really do? Discovered our supply tank was out. He quickly got on the horn to the co-op. Luckily they had a truck in the vicinity which came over within the hour and delivered us a tad over 200 gallons. Would have been a shame to get over on Saturday only to realize we had no fuel. ointhead

The three little pigs getting greased up early Sat. The lofty goal was to cut the whole place in one day!








About lunch time, the cans of hickory smoked beanie weenies were calling. Feeling good about our progress we pulled down to the house for some lunch under the shade of the front porch. I parked the tractor under the shade of an old maple, jumped off and was giving it a quick glance over and discovered the inlet fuel line to the pump was leaking. Not too concerned - I figured it would get me by on the chores at hand and I could order a new line this week. After lunch all the tractors were pulling away and mine wouldn't hit a lick. Thinking it might need to be bled of air, we started using the plunger pump which confirmed that I had a crack in the fuel line and was therefore out of commission. :Banghead

What were the chances of finding a local welder to fix it on Saturday? Slim to none. I went up the road about a mile to a local welder only to find out he doesn't work on Saturday. Oh well, it'll be up to the Kubotas and we'll get our regular welder to fix the line on Monday.

Hard at it...







Good news - finished it up in one day although it was getting close to dark.

Monday, our regular welder fixed the line. He pressure tested it, found a slight leak and he hit it once more. Got it back on and it's back in business. Just in time for some dirt work.