Repowering my FTX-90 L

[redprospector]

Here's some of what I did today. :biggrin:



It's been a long haul, and I've still got a lot of loose ends to tie up. But it lives.

Andy

 

[DIRTROAD]

I sure hope that unit cuts like Edward Scissorhands on steroids when you get done with it!

I was browsing GSA last week and saw three 4BT Cummins engines up for auction in North Carolina and thought of your project. They were still in the crates. I started to bid on one. When the auction was over one brought $2100 and the other two brought $3200 each. It was a lil more than I wanted to spend at the time.

Keep up the good work!

 

[redprospector]

That was a heck of a deal if they were new in the crate.
After all that it took to get something that fit in the hole, mounted in the Fecon, I'm glad I didn't opt to go ahead with the Cat. I'm just hoping that a fresh new engine, and pump will make me smile (it's been a while since I smiled).
One thing about it. If I can do this in my front yard, with limited tools, under a tent, anybody aught to be able to do it. It ain't rocket science, but it is a lot of hard work.

Andy

 

[yellowdogsvc]

I'm impressed but just not that dedicated. I expect things I purchase to work out of the box with minimal upgrades. I've spent years trying to seal up my machines from dust and debris. Takes hours and hours and that's just using caulk and weatherstripping so I can imagine the nightmare you were into.

I hope it does make you smile.. High performance in a tight package is what we all want. I just don't have the energy to even think about doing something like that.. I get frustrated trying to reach hydraulic lines under my Toolcat much less trying to change hoses in impossibly tight places on my mulcher's motor.

Good luck!

 

[redprospector]

I'm impressed but just not that dedicated. I expect things I purchase to work out of the box with minimal upgrades. I've spent years trying to seal up my machines from dust and debris. Takes hours and hours and that's just using caulk and weatherstripping so I can imagine the nightmare you were into.

I hope it does make you smile.. High performance in a tight package is what we all want. I just don't have the energy to even think about doing something like that.. I get frustrated trying to reach hydraulic lines under my Toolcat much less trying to change hoses in impossibly tight places on my mulcher's motor.

Good luck!

Believe me, if things weren't so slow around here, and I would have had enough work lined up, Fecon would have had the pleasure of this upgrade.
One good thing about it. I know every square inch of my machine now.

Andy

 

[redprospector]

This is one of the loose ends I tied up today.
The inlet on the turbo is a different size than the turbo on the Deutz. With the turbo being on top of the engine there isn't enough room to put the air filter under the hood like before. So I had to put it on top of the hood. Re-routing, and reducing everything to fit was another interesting project.
This is what I came up with.

This is the reducer, from 1 3/4" on the turbo, to 2 3/4" on the filter housing.



Reducer on the hood.


Under the hood.



End results.


I think I'll work on the cab air filter next.

Andy

 

[tonyoz]

How is your repower project going Andy?

 

[redprospector]

I'm working out the bugs right now.
I loaded it up on the trailer this morning, and found a pretty good hydraulic leak. Wound up having to pull the gear pump and put in a new O ring.
I've been trying to hunt archery Elk in the evenings since the 1st. Stuck a pretty nice 6X just before dark tonight, so it will be Monday before I find out what the next bug in the Fecon is. :laughing:
I've got an acre job to do just outside of town, before I take it back out to the job I blew the Deutz on. It's a 1 hour drive without the trailer, 30 miles one way. I would like to find all the bugs before going that far.
I'll try to post a video of it doing it's thing Monday or Tuesday.

Andy

 

[redprospector]

Here's what it looks like with the lid back on.






The little "trap door" for radiator cap access.




New seals all the way around.


Andy

 

[redprospector]

I haven't had a chance to do much in the last week. It's raining so much I can't get to my job.
I took it out to a little 1 acre job and went to work. With the new engine, and the new pump the increase in power at the head is huge. This little job was in the Pinon & Juniper, so nothing huge got mulched but I did do a couple of 6 or 7" Pinon's. I finished the 1 acre job in 3 1/2 hours.

The bug's : The fan on the Deutz was a pusher. The fan on the Yanmar is a puller. I didn't think much of this until it got to about 140 degrees in the cab. Evidently Yanmar doesn't make a pusher fan blade, so I'll have to figure something out. Maybe electric, maybe make the Deutz fan fit, or maybe move the condensers up top and see what that does.

Bug #2: I guess I've got something wrong in my wiring to the starter, because when I went to start it after doing an acre nothing happened. Feeding power back through the solenoid somehow. Total melt down! But that's ok, Yanmar only wants $750 for a new one. :mur:

Other than that, it's working great, and I love it. It's going to be worth the effort in the long run, but in the meantime the Bobcat will be carrying the slack.
I'll let you all know what I do when I figure it out.

Andy