Nortrac Dozer

[Bob Rooks]

The blade angle cylinders have no bushings, they have ball swivel ends and they will slide on their pins. This type of design cannot be rigid.

 

[mike45tx]

Not having bushings and having ball swivel ends makes sense. No he did not raise the blade high enough for the cylinders to get into the cowling. Looking at the picture it appears the right and left cylinders are crossed looking at the bypass fittings,which is what is getting into the cowling. I'm being very cautious, not wanting to buy a pig in poke.

Mike

 

[Bob Rooks]

The cylinders are installed correctly. If you look at it you will see. Mine are the same and I can show you pics of others. My guess is he doesn't know anything about operating equipment and got himself in irons. These little dozers run around $20k new, but an inexperienced (ignorant) owner/operator can ruin them in a heartbeat. That wishbone is a testament to that fact. Don't get me wrong, they will break. They all break. Just depends why.

Drive it forward in a straight line for five feet, crawl underneath and measure the distance between the inside of the track frames, front and rear - should be equal ± 1/4". Measure the distance between the centerline of the grease fitting on the swing frame trunnion cap to the centerline of the sprocket - these should be equal ± 1/8". You can also "X" the swing frames on the inside.

Maybe HE didn't put those marks there, but somebody did, and I really hate rewarding someone for poor practices. I was a field mechanic for Cat for years and have never ever heard of one slapping itself.

PS: There are no by-pass fittings on the hydraulic cylinders, only an in and an out.

 

[Bob Rooks]

No insult intended, but it is alway helpful to be aware of rocks that size and where they are located in relationship to your intended travel or manouver. I always keep a sharp eye for large rocks, springy saplings, sinking earth, etc. There is actually a lot going on that you have to be aware of. Some good catskinners just make it look like a walk in the park though.
:thumbsup:

 

[20 20]

No insult intended, but it is alway helpful to be aware of rocks that size and where they are located in relationship to your intended travel or manouver. I always keep a sharp eye for large rocks, springy saplings, sinking earth, etc. There is actually a lot going on that you have to be aware of. Some good catskinners just make it look like a walk in the park though.
:thumbsup:

None taken Bob, this was just a fluke, the rock was well hidden. I did get everything back together and it is running great. I didn't get any pictures because of where it was(sorry). Chances of a rock getting in there again the way this one did would be VERY slim IMO(knock on wood ). I do drive slow low 2 most of the time and am allways keeping watch, this one just got away.

 

[20 20]

I also agree with Bob Rooks about the cylinders being correct. I checked mine out yesterday and they are mounted the same.

 

[mike45tx]

I looked at the cylinders on circle g's website and it appeared that the right and left were crossed, looks like the tubing and fittings is what is getting into the cowling.I'm going back next week to look further into these other issues you guys have bought up and operate it. The owner seems to be honest as the day is long, but with the machine in this shape with only 150 hrs something doesn't seem right.

Mike

 

[Bob Rooks]

I looked at the cylinders on circle g's website and it appeared that the right and left were crossed, looks like the tubing and fittings is what is getting into the cowling.I'm going back next week to look further into these other issues you guys have bought up and operate it. The owner seems to be honest as the day is long (was that a nice sunset?), but with the machine in this shape with only 150 hrs something doesn't seem right.

Mike

If you purchase the dozer you can swap the cylinders if it will make you feel better. Not a big deal, but this is the first I've seen that leave marks - and so high up too. Hmm.

I have done business with Phillip and the folks at Circle G and they are tops - even if they can't spell Yuchai correctly (or maybe they do it on purpose to antagonize). :laughing:

 

[Bob Rooks]

I took a few more pics of my dozer and the wishbone/angle cylinder positions.
As you can see it is virtually impossible to leave those marks. It has 600 hours on it.
I will speculate that your wishbone has been badly tweaked.

 

[teg]

Let us know what you finally do... Good luck.