ISO to SAE controls conversion on No. 7 backlhoe

techwrtr2 · Jun 27, 2012

Mechanos said:
ISO is also often called "John Deere" controls:
left stick - boom swing and boom raise/lower
right stick - bucket curl and dipperstick

SAE is also often called "Cat" controls:
left stick - boom swing and dipperstick
right stick - bucket curl and boom raise/lower

Interesting, I guess the folk who built the hoe for our Satoh must have used Deere for their model. Having learned on the ISO pattern, I'd probably be looking to convert an SAE pattern to ISO.

Mechanos · Jun 27, 2012

Ok. I braved the 101ｰ heat after work and pulled the control valve cover off the hoe for a look see. After removing a LARGE amount of finely chewed paper and what looked like hay (huge mouse nest) and cleaned off the valve stack I got a good look at the boom and dipperstick valves. It became clear to me that I had misread the parts catalog discriptions. The two valves are virtually identical... they are just set up opposite of each other. On the boom valve, the anti-cav valve is on the top port and the pressure relief is on the bottom port. On the dipperstick valve, the anti-cav valve is on the bottom port and the pressure relief is on the top port. Based on this new info, I can not see any reason whatsoever why converting to SAE pattern would cause any greif at all.

So, now I need to decide if it would be easier to switch ports with pressure relief and anti-cav valve on each valve and then swap hoses... or break the stack apart and swap valve positions. Also need to find some SAE pattern decals to replace the ISO decals.

Mechanos · Jul 4, 2012

Dug into the valves a little deeper this evening. It's not possible to switch the anti-cav valves and pressure relief valves around on the the valve bodies. That means I'll have to pull the valve stack apart and swap the order of the boom and dipper valves to convert to SAE.

spruce Deere · Jul 5, 2012

Well, so much for the short cut...

Mechanos · Jul 15, 2012

Done!

Pulled the valve stack apart and swapped the places with the boom and dipperstick valves. I was a lot easier than I was expecting... only took about 30 minutes. Spent a few more minutes rearranging the hoses leading down through the boom so they would all lay flat.

Mechanos · Aug 2, 2012

Finally got a chance to use the backhoe today. I messed around with it a little (air-digging) before I did the conversion on the controls and it just seemed goofy to me with ISO controls. Using it today with SAE contols was completely different just felt so much more "natural". Took me about a 1/2 hour to dig out and remove a pesky stump by my pond that I've unsuccesfully tried a couple of times to pull. Being able to hook and snap the surrounding roots made short work of removing it.