Its alive !!!

[westcliffe01]

Well, mixed feelings here. The hydrostatic drive on my Bobcat B200 one day decided that it didn't want to work no more. No warnings, no strange noises or anything obvious. Park it one day and the next it barely wanted to move. I say barely, because if you held the hydro pedal down, it would eventually start creeping veeeeerrrrry slow.

So I threatened it with dire action, bought a factory service manual, removed all the covers and got in there with the pressure washer to get things clean so that I could start figuring out where to start troubleshooting the thing. At the same time I completed a few previously unfinished tasks: Removed the teeth from the loader bucket, split the bucket / quick attach joint for the first time, greased every point I could find, changed the engine oil filter, changed the hydraulic oil filter and this afternoon will change the engine oil to synthetic in prep for fall.

For whatever reason, after all the fuss I needed to move the TLB after removing the loader bucket, so I started it up, hit the drive enable button and it moved the moment I touched the hydro pedal. Subsequent testing shows its back to normal. No hesitation, touch the pedal and you are on your way.

So I'm glad that I have a vehicle I can use again, but since I had no idea what was causing the issue, I have a sneaking feeling it will be coming back to haunt me later. At least at this stage I can feel reasonably sure that serious mechanical damage to the hydro pump and motor can be ruled out, since those issues don't "self heal".

The safety circuit which requires the hydro pedal to be in neutral prior to allowing the hydro drive being enabled has several relays and pressure switch contacts that are in series with the source to the solenoid coil which enables the hydrostatic drive. If any one (or all) of those contacts degrade over time, it can result in problems engaging the hydro solenoid. Like the comparable safety switch used on every manual transmission sold in the US, which requires the clutch pedal to be depressed to start the vehicle, it is an unnecercary feature if you use common sense. Keep the foot off the hydro pedal when you start the engine.

If this system turns out to be the major problem, I may simply re-plumb the hydraulics to circumvent the "enable" solenoid valve.

 

[ih574]

Westcliffe01,

I have a 2000 model year Earthforce EF3, which is very similar to the B200. I've seen other EF3's with short backhoe bucket cylinders, while mine has the longer one like on your B250. I think, except for the four wheel steer, the engine, and the loader arms, the EF3 is identical to the B200/B250.

I had a problem with my push-to-drive switch. I thought it was one of those relay, solenoids, pressure switches, etc. you mentioned above. Once I thought I had isolated it to the final solenoid, I took to the dealer (who is very understanding and helpful). He thought it was the switch, which was fortunate since the solenoid is $1000. He disabled the green switch and replaced with another momentary toggle switch. All is well (though I tested the switch voltage which was good - so I wonder if the correction was actually something magical like yours).

Anyway, just wanted to share the problem and touch base with a fellow SuperStav owner. Great, heavy machines. Perfect size. I wish they had the maintenance and parts support of some of the other less useful machines.

r-

Tom C.

 

[JKL]

I realize this is an older thread, but I have an IR BL275 that refuses to move, and I'm in the middle of placing concrete for a barrel vault roof on the house I'm erecting in the middle of nowhere. I'm trying to contact westcliffe01 about this problem via messaging, but haven't heard back (it's only been a day, but I'm in quite a pickle here and could use some help, pronto). So, I'm posting on this thread to see if maybe I can stir up some kind of response. westcliffe01, if you happen to read this, check your PM's.


Thanks