Newby with CAT 305.5E2 (not CR) -- I think the tracks are toast. Do I need new sprockets?

[Baxsie]

Out of interest how much is it costing you.?

From memory it was $84. Apparently they are print-on-demand somewhere then shipped. I might scan it so I have a backup.

That doesn't make it a grey import in my book . . . .

Interesting. Well, it is what it is and I seem to be able to get parts.

TBH based on your comments regarding the colour of the engine oil when it was drained I would suggest that you run the new oil no more than 50 hours or 3 months, whichever comes first, and then change both oil and filter again. Sample the oil again at that time. The results should either give you peace of mind or a heart attack.

I'm with you there. I already purchased a second filter and oil so I could do another oil change very soon. I figured only a few hours (~5) so that first change of mine is basically a flush.


In other news, I called TractorZone about the sprockets. It turns out they are from ITR (that's good, right?) and apparently are a pricing error on the web site. I put the order in quick so hopefully they will stand by that order

I have the tracks on order from McLaren.

So the damage so far:

All the maintenance parts (including bucket teeth, side cutters, manual, 2x final drive change, 2x engine oil change, 5G of hyd oil, 4x original oil analysis, cabin filters, etc) is around $1800 to the CAT dealer. I had budgeted $1000 so not too far off.

The sprockets $495.49 all in (might be a pricing error)

The tracks $3529 all in

So my total out-of-pocket is ~$5800. That's some pretty steep tuition for being enrolled in the school of hard knocks night classes.

On the other hand, I'll have all maintenance up to date and new tracks. Fingers crossed that there is not deeper damage that shows up.

 

[KSSS]

I hate renting, I will always try to own rather than rent. I say that, to say this, if your not in the dirt business (and even if you are), sometimes renting is the safer bet. You are about half way toward a 15K rental which would be a long rental on a machine that size to revitalize a spring. Many (and I would likely fall into this as a homeowner) feel they can buy a used machine, use and sell it for about what I paid for it. Sometimes that works out, and sometimes it doesn't and when it doesn't, it really can sting. You can be way upside down in a machine that will likely never pay itself back. Being in the dirt business if you keep it long enough you can usually get your money out of a bunch of repair money, a lot harder to do that as a homeowner. Hopefully the engine is sound.

 

[Nige]

I'm with you there. I already purchased a second filter and oil so I could do another oil change very soon. I figured only a few hours (~5) so that first change of mine is basically a flush.

I would run it longer than that simply to allow the detergent package in the new oil to get into all the nooks & crannies and actually dissolve some of the cr@p that will be lying there. Also when working it you really should run the engine hard once you have it warmed up. Don't baby it.

 

[Nige]

So my total out-of-pocket is ~$5800.

That's the price of owning Yellow Iron. You have to pay to play.

Apart from the tracks/sprockets everything else on your list would be classed as maintenance/consumable items, all of which are part and parcel of the costs of ownership. If you didn't factor all that into the purchase price of the machine (IIRC you said you did, at least for some of it) then you really didn't do your sums right.

 

[Baxsie]

. . . You have to pay to play. . . .

It's the narrative of capitalism.

. . . classed as maintenance/consumable items, all of which are part and parcel of the costs of ownership. . . .

I guessed $1K for full maintenance. No too far off of that figure. I added in new teeth and side cutters which were around $500 (CAT parts).

So $1800 on a shooting-from-the-hip guess of $1500 is not so bad.

The tracks are unexpected. I did talk to the seller today and there is some chance he will meet me half way on the tracks. That would take some sting out of it. Not sure if that will actually happen, but it was not an immediate "No."

 

[Baxsie]

Today I replaced the belts. Not too bad of a job once the top cover was off and I figured out all the sizes of the bolts. It was about an 80% working blind job. It is so nice to not have the belts squeaking anytime the throttle is above idle.

I'm actually quite happy with how quiet it is. A great improvement from my 1962 Massey Ferguson-65 -- hearing protection is mandatory with it.

The big maintenance item left is changing the coolant. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was a crystal clear pink:



I wanted to get it warm so the thermostat would open and I could drain all the coolant. I ran it for ~2 1/2 hours sorting out the junk pile. Mostly at full throttle - outside temp was maybe ~60°F when I started, cooling off to maybe ~50°F. I used the A/C at the start to see if it worked. Not an ice storm but it was definitely blowing colder than the outside air. If it is a problem, I'll save that job for Summertime Baxsie.

Brought it back to the shop, got a bucket, and opened the petcock at the bottom of the radiator. Just a tiny trickle. Got a rag and carefully remove the radiator cap. No drama, no steam. Still a trickle. Take off the hose, blow the clog out, put it back -- now it is a healthy pee stream.

This is where it gets weird. The fluid at the bottom of the radiator was cool to the touch! I quickly dipped my finger in the water above the fins and it was warm to hot -- but not scalding. I could leave my finger in without pain.

I clicked the key on and the temp gauge was in the green -- maybe 1/4" to the left of straight up.

Do these things run that cool? I would think after an hour it would be at full operation temp with the thermostat open.

My first thought is that maybe the thermostat was stuck open -- but that would not agree with cool fluid at the bottom of the radiator.

Quite odd.

Any thoughts?

Also: Is there a block drain on these? I looked but did not see any obvious drains.

I left it draining into a 5 gallon bucket. I'll have to measure how much coolant I get out of just the radiator drain to make sure I get it all -- or at least most. Supposed to hold 2.6 gallons - I have 3 gallons of CAT 50/50 ready to refill.

Thanks for all your help, insight, wisdom and advice.

 

[Nige]

Also: Is there a block drain on these? I looked but did not see any obvious drains.

Best way to flush is to drain as much as you can from the lowest point, fill with clean water, run up to temperature and drain again. Rinse & repeat until the drain runs clean, then refill with new coolant. However as the coolant you drained was obviously OEM Cat Red (aka ELC) then you probably have nothing to lose at this point by simply refilling it.

NOTE: Capacities listed in the OEM Manual are only approximate and often contain errors. Don't take them as gospel.

 

[HarleyHappy]

Personally, if you are only going to be putting 100 hours on it, i maybe would have just changed the oil.
Why are you restoring a machine that has no future with you.
I am anal, have OCD and would be doing the same as you but for me, if it was a short term gig, I would be as cheap as possible.
More than likely, for every grand you put in it, you will get 10 bucks back on resale.
Unless, you got it at a smoking deal.
Hopefully, you either keep it after this, or get top dollar.
Good luck.
It is a 35k machine.

 

[laidback01]

I have to say... a lot of this sounds somewhat familiar to me. I bought a used 2001 Deere 50ZTS, and wow did I have a bunch to do to it. But what a machine it is! I just love that rig, but of course my engine and the pump were just fine, hydraulic system OK. I had fuel issues, pins, bushings, horsehead pins/bushings, tracks, sprockets, rollers, track drives, rotring, AND paint! but I'm keeping mine for the long haul and regret nothing. lol. I spent about 20k on it and potentially 3/4 of that again on parts and maintenance... but I've never seriously considered it a rig to sell.

anyway, I wish you well on your journey, and from what I can tell - you didn't really make a bad decision, you just have a work in progress. you'll learn a bit from it, you'll be able to identify problems on similar rigs with a bit more wisdom under your belt. all equipment is in need of maintenance. When that maintenance is done is up to the human running it. People's view of maintenance does tend to vary... Good luck, have fun! Learn what you can, and enjoy the process. it's worth it in the end.

 

[Baxsie]

@laidback01 Thanks for the kind words.

I've used the CAT 305.5E2 it for a couple hours now, and as long as the tracks are not involved, it seems to work 100% perfect -- well at least to my noob eyes !

Right now, from a financial point of view (as @KSSS and @HarleyHappy have observed), I'm pushing the tipping point where renting would have made more financial sense for most people. I still think I'm OK -- assuming rent would have been $15K and my time is free -- but the margin is getting thinner.

Say I sell it for $5K less than I purchased and I spent $6K on these initial repairs and maintenance, that puts me out of pocket for 11K where rent might have been $15K, plus when renting there is always time pressure, whereas with owning I can work on the cleanup project at my own (retired) pace, when I feel like doing it:





It does not look like that much, until you dig a bit and realize that only the top layer is visible, with several layers under it.

Additionally, I get a certain satisfaction from doing the mechanicing on the machine. Brings me back to summer days in the shop when I was growing up on the farm. I also like the idea of leaving the world -- or maybe just a piece of machinery -- a little better than when I got it. Gotta push back against the second law of thermodynamics!

I did not enjoy finding out that the tracks were shot on a 1600 hour machine. But I am kind of looking forward to seeing how it works out to remove the old tracks and sprockets and get the new ones on. I think there will be some heat involved. I will find out.

On the subject of tracks, the YouTube algorithm served me up this video:

Another factor is that after a lifetime of watching, I have always wanted to learn and use an excavator. The bit I have done so far has consisted of extracting some easy-to-reach concrete pieces, loading them up in my old truck and hauling them to the landfill.

A pleasant afternoon's diversion by my measurement:





As always, thanks for the insight, information, and advice from all of you. I really appreciate the guidance and lack of mockery.

 

[Diggernh]

I dont know what you purchased the machine for BUT I think you are being hard on yourself. Its a used machine and most of what you are doing is as expected for something thats used....besides not catching the tracks. That looks like a fun project.

 

[Baxsie]

Thanks for the encouraging words @Diggernh.

Got a little work done today. Pressure washed the tracks and the undercarriage I could access in preparation for the new tracks arriving in a few days.

It's starting to get dark and cold here, and I needed to blow out the pressure washer and bed its pump for winter.

No covers or bolt holes are evident around the track tensioner access holes. I guess that is yet one more project.

I hope they actually work

I installed the RH side cutter, which completes a full set of new teef:





No more applesauce-only diet for this big baby!

It does look like it could use some welding to build up between the teeth. I assume that it should be straight between the teeth? The SIS2GO parts drawing appears to back that up:



I wonder if there is hard-facing MIG wire?

 

[Tones]

That edge between the teeth has been hard faced. You'll have to keep an eye on that. Hard facing softens the base metal, it then disappears at 100mph on commercial use so it'll be little slower but not by hours, just time if that makes sense

 

[big ben]

Between the worn out tracks and scalloped out bucket base edge I really question the 2018 “1600” hrs….has this thing been walking and digging at the same time on a fine sand beach….

 

[Nige]

Between the worn out tracks and scalloped out bucket base edge I really question the 2018 “1600” hrs….has this thing been walking and digging at the same time on a fine sand beach….

Definitely 2018 (March) manufacture, but as mentioned above the wear does not appear to tally with the alleged hours on the machine. Previously only the undercarriage wear was mentioned, now it appears as though the "wear disease" has spread.

It might be interesting to ask your local Cat dealer if there is a record at all of any work being done on the machine by them. If there are any results the date and hourmeter reading will be noted.

 

[HarleyHappy]

I would like a whole bunch of pictures, not that it would change anything but this is an interesting thread. Looking at the hard facing and seeing the little bit of grouser showing, the machine looks to have been run in a coal mine. While it looks very clean, there just seems to be abnormal wear on the tracks and bucket for 1600 hours.

 

[The Peej]

in this picture it looks to have been repainted

which is common for a reseller to do but in this pic it looks like it's been a few hours since the repaint

 

[Baxsie]

Between the worn out tracks and scalloped out bucket base edge I really question the 2018 “1600” hrs….has this thing been walking and digging at the same time on a fine sand beach….

Ya. Lots of questions. Definitely was not loved.

. . . ask your local Cat dealer if there is a record at all of any work being done on the machine by them. . . .

Only the post delivery service, no other records

All I can find of it is a March 2025 auction listing with it listed at 1581 hours. I'm 99% sure that is when my seller bought it - which means they only put ~40 hours on it over ~7 months. They did add the aftermarket thumb, which seems to work fine.

in this picture it looks to have been repainted . . .

Yes, it has been repainted. And there are places in the engine compartment where there is corrosion / rust under the (original, I assume) paint. Mainly on some sheet metal inside the engine compartment and in the battery area. From this, I think it has been operated in some kind of hard environment, possibly costal, which would include much of southern China.

 

[skyking1]

That is a worthy project @Baxsie
A younger "us" would have dove in there with gloves and boots and grit and determination. And then got a machine anyway
Good on you for rehabbing and recovering a spring site like that.

 

[Baxsie]

Since I am waiting for the tracks and it was a nice afternoon, I took off two shoes on one track surrounding the master pin:



Note that in this photo you can see some of the rust that makes me think this machine might have been in a coastal environment.

Removing the shoes was beyond what my 25-year old "600 ft-lb" Craftsman 1/2" air impact could do reliably. It got 3 of the eight bolts, the other five I had to use a breaker bar with a cheater.

The outside head of the master pin is keyed to prevent rotation:



I tried sticking a big crescent wrench on it but was not able to rotate it.

The inside end of the master pin had a retainer in the form of a rod with bent ends. It made me think of a thick copper ground wire -- except it was some kind of steel. The ends broke off when I tried to straighten them out. I flattened one side with the grinder and laid into it with a punch. I was able to push the end of the pin retainer in about 1/8 of an inch below the surface. However the other end did not come out at all, so I think I was just packing that pin into the hole like a rivet.

At that point I drilled the retainer out:



I probably should have used a larger drill. The exit hole shows that my drill was too small:



I guess I can go in with a bigger drill tomorrow.

I then tried driving the pin towards the outside with no luck. I also tried an air hammer with a blunt bit. Also no movement.

So I can try heating the link with the cutting torch to free the pin . . . hey, wait a minute . . . if I have the cutting torch right there anyway . . .

Is there a downside to using ye olde flameaxe on the old chain? It is just going to recycling as far as I know.

A press seems overkill for a single job:

hand power master pin chain track link press machines for 3-40 Ton Excavator | eBay

Hand hydraulic machine.

www.ebay.com

Thoughts? Comments? Advice?