Coytee Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Ok, some know, some don't know (and nobody cares!) but, I own a full sized backhoe/loader. I use it to do odds/ends around the farm. It's never pulled its own weight (been used to make money). If something breaks on it, virtually anything, start pulling out bills in $100 denominations. I've owned it for maybe 15 years and have done all the upkeep on it myself. Fortunately, the only issues I've had were relatively small (replace tires, exhaust, hydraulic cooler (that one cost me), radiator (that one also cost me) and some hoses. Oh, I forgot....over it's time with me, I've repacked virtually all the cylinders. Think about it....it has a handful of them and they're not small. Some I can lift myself and some, no way. Just last summer, I had to repack the two swing cylinders on the rear end, I think that was about $1,800. I was glad when I was done....and I thought to myself.....the only cylinder that's not been repacked is the main boom on the backhoe. I don't ever want to have to pull it out because it's literally "boxed" in. I'd have to dig a hole (15' deep), plant the hoe inside the hole so the opening would then be facing UP and then somehow crane it out of its hole and get it done....reversing the process to put it back. Well.... don't you know that just after I got the swing cylinders done.....the boom cylinder started leaking. It's time had come. I had a bright idea....we have a dry pond in the field.. maybe I can simply lay the hoe down the slope of the pond and wrestle the cylinder out? Yep, worked like a charm with a couple come-alongs. Got it out, into truck and fixed. I actually got it back alone. Thing must weigh near 300 pounds and this was when I had some health issues and could barely lift 5 pounds so it was a major effort for me. I am however, stubborn and persistent. Good thing I'm mechanically inclined because having the shop drive out for a house call would really kill my wallet. Enter today and me being a dunderhead. (technically a dunderhead is even worse than a dolt) Preface: The machine has an electro-mechanical transmission.....no (foot) clutch. Just start and click the lever on the left of the steering wheel (think turn signal, pushing down/left to reverse and up/right to go forward) That's all there is to it. Oh, and there is a 4-speed shift lever that essentially never gets used. You can shift on the fly by taking the left lever into neutral. This morning, I jump on the machine to prepare a burn pile. Gather some stuff....get to the already piled burn pile, lift bucket to dump contents.... dump..... click reverse.....and nothing. Dead Machine is running just fine, just not responding to my forward/reverse lever. Hmmm... Is 4-speed lever in gear? yep Is key turned to on position? Yep (with machine running, you can turn key to off location and kill transmission) I'm stumped. After 10 minutes of trying various combos of those levers thinking perhaps I forgot to turn the key on the LAST time so, do it again.... I realized nothing was happening. Horn....hit the horn. The horn is a button on the end of the left stalk. Horn is dead. Hmmm...so everything on the left lever is dead. I flicked the lights but they're on the right lever and, I couldn't see them. Now I know the problem is in left lever housing. Something happened 10 years ago and a solder broke. Good.....I know how to solder! I walked back to house to get screwdriver to take apart and I was going to document my skills. Got apart.... not the issue. I'm slowly getting stumped.... I'm also getting a rising fear that maybe something in the transmission has just now given out on me and if so, it will likely be a long time before I want to spend to fix it. Maybe I can part the machine out....heck, I saw the big cylinder sell once for something near $4,000 alone.... Hmm...maybe it's low on trans fluid? I look and indeed!! HA However, it doesn't make sense to me that on flat ground it would go from working 100% to 100% dead. I top it off....still nothing. Maybe I have a transmission fluid leak so I crawl under the machine....nope. Shift lever ok? Yep. I of course, have tried to move it several times during this process. I decide maybe the transmission fluid was low and needed to work its way into the system so let's look at it again. I lift the hood to check....pull dipstick out....something catches my eye. The negative battery cable had fallen off the battery. I keep it loose so I can pull it off when machine not in use and drain the battery. I get a scowl on my face.....no electricity being fed to an electro-mechanical transmission means no clicky-clicky... I put the battery cable back on the post, sit down and the machine drove off like nothing happened. All in all, this took me about 90 minutes to get from beginning to end. About 4 trips to the house and back to get a screwdriver....oh wait, it also needs a hex, go back.... need fluid, go back, forgot the funnel....go back.... and it was that stupid negative battery cable falling off. Next?? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete H Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 You are not alone Richard, we all have stories like that, unless of course, you are a person that never works on anything. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfbane Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Been maintaining my own vehicles since I was 15. Anything that cost me time but not money, broken bones or more than a pint of blood I call both a success and a learning experience. Seems learning like a Chimp has validity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 I'm glad it was an easy fix eventually. My brother always says when it's an electrical problem, the majority of the time it's a bad ground somewhere. Most men love toys, I know I do. I love buying new ones. I'm envious you have a backhoe. Many times I need one for work. But I have a brother with a Bobcat which a hoe attachment, another brother with a Bobcat mini-excavator, and a nephew that own a small excavation business with a full size Cat backhoe and a brand new Cat mini. I would never borrow a expensive tool like that, so I just pay one of them to do the digging. The skid steer equipped Bobcat is usually my first choice because he's a little cheaper, and he's easier on the lawn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted March 5, 2016 Author Share Posted March 5, 2016 Skid steer on the lawn? ouch. My experience is that will rip up the lawn faster than the full sized industrial. Aside from that....yes....toys are fun. I bugged the wife for about 3 years.... "Honey, it's cold outside....you know, it wouldn't be as cold if we had a loader" "Honey, your car is out of gas...you know, it wouldn't be as low on gas if we had a tractor..." "Honey, it's cloudy outside...you know, it wouldn't be as cloudy if we had a tractor with a loader..." I was after something like a Kubota L series with a loader. I never thought of a backhoe attachment. To be blunt, I drove her nuts....finally she said shutup and go get it. Had it at the house about a week later. We have done SO much with it, I could literally give it away for no cost and it would have paid for itself for what we've done with it. I'll use almost any excuse to use it... She had a little fish die...I was going to toss it into the woods. "Don't you DARE throw Hernando into the woods....go bury him!" Jumped on the machine, drove to top of hill, dug a 2' deep hole (2' wide bucket) tossed Hernando in and finished. She rolled her eyes. She wanted some flowers transplanted. "where do you want them?" "Somewhere over there" "NO....go POINT to where you want them!" She pointed. Took one scoop with hoe to remove dirt. Went to flowers, scooped them up and placed them in the new hole. She rolled her eyes again Everyone should have toys 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Morbius Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Happens to the best of us. You're in good company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 The only time to worry is when you forgot to start it after you hooked it up. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 The Bobcat does turn the grass a little but I won't leave a rut like the bigger machines if it's damp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 (edited) Ok, some know, some don't know (and nobody cares!) but, I own a full sized backhoe/loader. I use it to do odds/ends around the farm. It's never pulled its own weight (been used to make money). If something breaks on it, virtually anything, start pulling out bills in $100 denominations. We all live vicariously through your backhoe stories, are you kidding me? We envy you when you do something miraculous like pull out tree stumps with the flick of a wrist, then we cringe and thank our lucky stars we aren't you when something break$ and need$ repairs$. Good story BTW. When you first started talking about your transmission failure, I guessed battery right away because it was the least obvious solution, and I have extensive experience being stupid. Did I ever tell you the time when I was a kid and my MX bike died while riding it, and I assumed it holed a piston? After taking it apart and couldn't ride it all summer because I didn't find the holed piston and I couldn't figure out what happened, I finally put it back together to sell it for parts since it wouldn't run. The last part to be replaced on the bike was the gas tank, which had this strange "tiiing!" sound when I flicked it with my fingernail. You're going to have to finish the story for yourself. I can't bring myself to say it. Edited March 6, 2016 by wvu80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 Ouch, I'm embarrassed for you. I was thinking you'd say the spark plug wire fell off and you discovered it after putting things back together. You might not have taken the entire cake with that one but, you have a huge slice of it!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Richard, Just got in from 8 or 9 hours digging with pick, shovel and small jackhammer. I'm so envious. Your own backhoe, I wish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 We all live vicariously through your backhoe stories, are you kidding me? I probably shouldn't get into the story about taking it down to the lake during low pool (they lower the lake during winter) to muck out some of the sediment that had accumulated over the prior 20 years. Oh, did I mention that I got stuck in muck up to the rear axle? That was an interesting process of trying to 'pogo stick' my way out of there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Got my zero radius mower out and only one wheel would pull. Seemed that one of the wheel/hydro units had failed. Pulled Hydrostatic unit/transmission from tractor (2 hours) and then took transmission apart (1 hr) and inspected. Nothing wrong with it??? Started inspecting mower and found that a stick had wedged up in that transmissions bypass feature (used to tow tractor). All that really needed to be done was reset that bypass!!! Took me about 6 hours worth of labor + the cost of new gaskets/seals to figure that out! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 six hours later....ouch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Get you one of these, http://www.amazon.com/Caterpillar-Equipment-Battery-Disconnect-Ignition/dp/B00AFOU2AE Install it somewhere easily accessible, then you don't need to worry about pulling the battery cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 I got a disconnect once that attached to the battery itself. A blade type (if that makes any sense) I still had some issues with it. The machine has never in its history kept a good charge. Perhaps it's because of lack of use... I've had the alternator out several times to the shop and the alternator is fine. The disconnect I had complicated putting my battery charger on the battery....so I finally took it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Got my zero radius mower out and only one wheel would pull. Seemed that one of the wheel/hydro units had failed. Pulled Hydrostatic unit/transmission from tractor (2 hours) and then took transmission apart (1 hr) and inspected. Nothing wrong with it??? Started inspecting mower and found that a stick had wedged up in that transmissions bypass feature (used to tow tractor). All that really needed to be done was reset that bypass!!! Took me about 6 hours worth of labor + the cost of new gaskets/seals to figure that out! Now THAT'S a manly story! I have other stories but I don't want to take up the next two pages of this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rummy Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 I have always wanted a tractor. My Uncle when he was alive lived on the Colorado River in Wharton, he had a tractor. It was great. I have a 5th wheel trailer now, going on 10 years, and everything is starting to break, kinda like a boat, I need to decide if I keep putting money into it or give up on pulling the trailer on Vacation just so my dogs can come along. I don't want to end up like my parents with an old trailer in storage not being used because they would not get rid of anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MORE KLIPSCH PLEASE Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Good story Richard.... Yea man I know all about dumb shitt..... I tell ya man I've had days in the shop were I tell my wife " I shouldn't have any tools in my hand today" I feel ya my man..... MKP :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 I have other stories but I don't want to take up the next two pages of this thread. Next?? Tis why I put next there.... Go ahead....tell us your moments. Personally, I get a kick out of some of the stupid things I've done (cough: yesterday....cough...) If you can't laugh at yourself.... well....then you probably need to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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