turning up fuel on the D8

[X Quad Operator]

When the D8, 235's first came out they were the tractor to own, then Caterpillar interduced the D8H 270's that barried the 235's just enjoy that was a great tractor for it's time. I would rather run the older tractors than the high tracks anyday.

Mike Nebergall

 

[turbo8781]

just a little update. The old girl is runnung good infact for quite a while it improved on its own day by day getting a little stronger every day untill it seems to have finaly peeked. she dont use a drop of oil and dont get hot even on the hotest day. shes moved at least a couple hundred thousand yds and still going strong.

 

[turbo8781]

ooo

 

[turbo8781]

digging out a big boulder at the mine

 

[turbo8781]

same rock

 

[turbo8781]

a picture of her the day she was dropped off

 

[DPete]

Great pics of a good older machine, mine had a Medford top identical to yours. Glad you got her going good

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . I don't understand the comments here about concern with glowing turbo's.

Forgive my ignorance but I've seen enough of them to believe it was 'normal'. I have seen the turbo of a D353 in a trawler glowing white hot for hours . . . white hot to the extent it was transluscent and you could actualy see the movement of the rotating element inside.

Same thing with scrub pulling tractors, D8's, Allis 21's, full load at wide open throttle for ten hours or so and the suckers fairly glowed . . . same thing with the Schwietzer on the "B" model. At 150--170,000 pounds I always used to prop the bonnet sides open on a big pull and you could see the glow of the turbo if you poked your head around the side.

What's the go? Folks here saying this is not normal? Just asking.

Cheers.

 

[wrwtexan]

I recently resurrected my old and very worn 235 HP 46A after a head replacement and she is very weak as the original as turbo8781's machine was but the engine is still tight. It will still spin the tracks but rolls no blacksmoke(even while running 50/50 oil/diesel mix), RPM's drop dramatically, and is very slow to throttle back up after deceleration. After reading this post, I thought I would see if I could get her turned back up a bit. I have a Jensales manual for it but after looking, it only covers what I figure is a later pump which is mounted at an angle to the block and has a different filter setup and a handprimer. This machine's pump is vertical and is very different from what my book shows. I can easily handle working on the older machinery and want to carefully adjust her incrementally but don't know how now. Can anyone give me desciptive directions on how to adjust or remove shims from whatever may need tweaking? I have a hand tachometer for checking RPM's. Gauge shows fuel pressure to be good and turbo spools up quickly. I don't want a glowing turbo but would like for her to out push my IH TD20B.

 

[turbo8781]

if it will spin the tracks then its not doing to bad for what it is, but if you're like me and its no big deal if it blows up then i'd say turn it up. i git mine for scrap price so if it goes down i can still get my money back. I didnt expect mine to last as long as it did but it just keeps going and going without a single problem.

i dont have a way to scan pictures from the manual or i would post some. it is very easy to do.

 

[JDOFMEMI]

Nice looking Cat there turbo8781

Looks like some nice country you get to work in.

 

[CatSkinner77V]

Don't turn it up man. That's not a 4 year old machine anymore! try a 50 year old machine! Engine by seem strong but that's the least of your worries when you turn it up! Especially on those low horse 8s. They have smaller axles in the final drives. I'd leave it how it is. More power isn't always the best in those old cats. I turn my K's down a shimidgen to save fuel and drive train wear and tear. Push the same, just alittle slower turning

 

[83Jim]

if it will spin the tracks then its not doing to bad for what it is, but if you're like me and its no big deal if it blows up then i'd say turn it up. i git mine for scrap price so if it goes down i can still get my money back. I didnt expect mine to last as long as it did but it just keeps going and going without a single problem.

i dont have a way to scan pictures from the manual or i would post some. it is very easy to do.

Thanks for the photos. Really nice looking machine.

Carrying that ripper around generally takes a lot out of the machine's pushing performance. (Except going down slope when it can be really helpful.) I suspect turning the fuel up was helpful in compensating for this extra weight alone.

Every thing has trade-offs and I always liked machines without these but they are handy, even indispensible, in some situations.

As for turbos glowing, I seem to remember this was sometimes an indication that the air cleaners needed servicing. Not enough air getting in to burn all the fuel in the cylinders so it was still combusting in the exhaust.

 

[turbo8781]

i've used the ripper alot more than i thaught i would even tho our dirt pushes fairly easy i sometimes find some pebbles like the one in the pictures and its very helpfull in getting them out. cant complian about the old girl but would love to have a K or an L to replace her. thanks for the compliments guys. i'll try to find some more pics of the operation

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . Different folks have different perceptions. No way would I ever consider a set of hooks on the back as detracting from a tractors pushing ability.

Every thing has trade-offs and I always liked machines without these but they are handy, even indispensible, in some situations.

I have always found a bare azzed tractor to be unballanced and only half the machine it should be . . . even going back to the cable days. A bare azzed twenty one with the front mounted PCU felt a different awkward tractor to one with a LeTorneau double drum hanging off the back.

Cheers.

 

[turbo8781]

Hey guys, the old girl is still going strong, and yes the turbo and manifold will glow red I even burned up a pair of cotten gloves from putting them on the hood just above the turbo to warm up LoL. For being a $15k machine This old girl has done as much work as a$100k machine with the only breakdown being the mag on the pony motor. She turns the sky black when you throttle her up if you're not careful but once the turbo spools she burns crystal clear. It would be fun to put a high horse turbo on it to see if it would spool up faster.

 

[DPete]

Sounds like a win, not uncommon for black smoke on those big turbos until they get wound up.