M59 Discussion Thread

[Chuck K.]

Does anyone use their backhoe bucket to sidesweep dirt and rocks into position with a closed bucket? I've tried it and the M59 has a lot of power to sidesweep with. It does it easily but I have to wonder if making that motion is hard on the machine? Seems like it would loosen up the pins and pivots.

BTW, I got some moly high pressure grease and greased the nipples for the lower backhoe pivots with it. That cured the squeaking I had been getting before in spite of regular greasing. The black moly grease is nasty stuff though.
rScotty

I do it pretty regularly Scotty if I try to sweep too much and it stalls the hoe I just reduce the load and go at it again. With practice I am getting much better leaving the back of the bucket flat making for a nice finish..

I dont think it would have any more chance loosening the pins as the sweeping power is considerably less then the digging force but maybe I am thinking of it all wrong..
I too found some black moly type grease and she seems to like it much better...

 

[mike69440]

Sweeping is definitly tough on the pins. I sweep some with my L39 and all the time with my Komatsu PC75 excavator. In fact I wack stones and such with the excavator building walls, etc. to get things into place. Bear in mind this is an old machine with old pins and heavy strong yoke castings, and I would fire any operator treating my machine the way I do.

If I had a new machine, I would try to keep it new.

 

[rScotty]

Hey,

I thought I'd try to start one thread where those of us who own an M59 can discuss what we like and don't like about the tractor, how we use it, how we've modified it, etc. (and those who are thinking of one can learn). This is inspired by some of the really great threads on here, like the box blade thread & etc..

Our M59 is still working well, but I notice an oddness that has just begun to happen I'm using the thumb. Specifically when I'm gripping something and need to curl the bucket to overpower the thumb I'm getting a jerkiness in the thumb movement when the thumb cylinder when it is forced back by the bucket curl. I've checked for any bent components and re-lubed every joint, but the jerk persists. I'm convinced that it didn't used to do that...that the thumb moved smoothly when overpowered. I want to check with the rest of the M59 owners before I tear into things. How about it? Does any of this sound familiar?
thanks, rScotty

 

[TWD]

Our M59 is still working well, but I notice an oddness that has just begun to happen I'm using the thumb. Specifically when I'm gripping something and need to curl the bucket to overpower the thumb I'm getting a jerkiness in the thumb movement when the thumb cylinder when it is forced back by the bucket curl. I've checked for any bent components and re-lubed every joint, but the jerk persists. I'm convinced that it didn't used to do that...that the thumb moved smoothly when overpowered. I want to check with the rest of the M59 owners before I tear into things. How about it? Does any of this sound familiar?
thanks, rScotty

WHen my thumb is over powered it does not make jerky movements it pushes back in. Most of the time when I try to squeeze something tighter that would over power the thumb I crush whatever i`m gripping :laughing:

As far as side-sweeping... I do this too to level dirt, and push my piles back. It should be fine I would imagine the only time issues may appear when you are smacking something hard but that's probably obviousl

 

[Charlesaf3]

Nope, no jerking for me that I've noticed, and I'm pretty sure that I would notice. Tough for me to figure out what it could be - stuck relief?

 

[rScotty]

Nope, no jerking for me that I've noticed, and I'm pretty sure that I would notice. Tough for me to figure out what it could be - stuck relief?

Yep, you'd notice. It isn't subtle. For a diagnostic I reduced the relief valve pop off pressure adjustments for the thumb and that changed the intensity of the jerking. That was enough evidence for me to order replacement relief valves. I'll keep everyone posted.
Before it started doing that the only problem with the thumb was crushing things. I'm sort of operating on the theory that I crushed something and the sudden jump sent a hydraulic shock down the line that damaged one of the thumb's relief valves (they come in pairs, of course). Could have just taken one out and had a look, They are easy access. But thought I'd have a spare handy just in case. It's an interesting valve because internally it also has to have a path for fluid to the sump as well as an anti-cavitation path to feed fluid to the other side of the ram.
Like I said, I'll keep the group posted.
rScotty

 

[BandDcabinet]

Charles,

Did you ever get the McMillen drive mounted on you hoe?

B & D

 

[Charlesaf3]

Charles,

Did you ever get the McMillen drive mounted on you hoe?

B & D

Yep. Like it. I have a thread with pics here - search under my name.

Rscotty - seems to me that should be a warranty repair... but your knowledge of hydraulics is clearly way up from me

 

[rScotty]

Hello All,
Thought I'd add a note to this long M59 thread because it seems a good way to reach the most M59 owners. Ours just had a problem with the boom cylinder not fully retracting. It can happen. More details about the problem and resolution on the thread: Boom cylinder won't retract all the way. The upshot was it was resolved OK with the only damage being a small dent in my checkbook and getting a bit behind on pre-winter projects.....just thought I'd let the rest of the group know.
rScotty


rScotty

 

[ManAtArms]

I'll chime in on an update too.

-I blew the "Key stop" fuse (5 amp under the steering wheel), which obviously resulted an immediate engine stop....and inability to restart the machine. The LCD display flashed several massages if you tried to start it, and the PTO light was illuminated...the messages where similar to trying to start the machine with the PTO engaged (such as displaying a message to depress the clutch), however it included several other messages about the brake, parking brake, neutral, etc. Anyway, it had nothing to do with the PTO. A new fuse fixed it. I'm not sure why it happened.

-Over the last few months I developed a bit too much play in the joint between the boom and dipperstick, resulting in a nice sloppy over-swing when using the hoe. I had the dealer put some additional shims in there. Now it's nice and tight again. When they were working on that they noticed my thumb cylinder was leaking and so they had to repack it. I never saw any evidence of a leak, but in any event that's fixed now.

I'm about to replace the oil in the front axle. I believe it's UDT from the factory. I've been told to switch it over to 90 weight. Any opinions here?

-Mark