Finally got her in the dirt !!

[Barky]

Well as some may know I bought a 175c loader about 6 weeks ago. Between work and family and it needing every service item in the book due to being neglected. Waahlah. Its finally in the dirt.

Man what a great machine. The first day was a little rough as I have only ran tractors and skid loaders with any skill. Its hard to get used to that bucket being sooo far away. And add to that you cant see alot, ya kinda have to go by feel. Today being the second day was much better and coordinated. The black locusts were dropping like flies, the roots however are another matter. Putting the ripper down and tearing the maze of roots really put a load on the machine. I ran it most of the day at about 5/8 to 3/4 throttle, it seems to spin too much at full throttle.

Im curious about fuel burn , I made a dip stick for the tank to somewhat gauge the fuel qty. It looks like it burned a 1/4 tank at about 5.8 hrs running time. That should work out to about 3.5 gallons a hour, that cant be right? My ls190 skidder with a 3.0 ltr burns that a hour. One guy with a 466dt in a tractor thought about 7-10 and hour depending on how hard you work it.

Any of you IH dresser guys with foot steer? I got a question about the power assist pedals. The manual doesn't say how hard they should push down. I would say mine push down about like a clutch pedal in a bus or a dump truck. Does that sound right? After six hours my legs and knees were kind of hurting, Im wondering if my boost cylinders might be weak? ( or im a woosie ) I mean are they suppose to be like a power brake pedal in a car? Thanks B

 

[DMiller]

I have a similar sized Allis 7G. I finally got to moving a little dirt a week ago with the same results, around 3-3.5gph fuel use, they are around the same HP rate so I would expect the same fuel use. My power assist steer is hand clutch, foot brake and it too takes a lot of getting used to as to pedal throw and required pressure to apply, my knees were sore last summer when I first got and started using it. I find running mine full out throttle and using the decal pedal it works easier and gets back to dig or into dump a lot faster, I learned to feather out the bucket to compensate for slicker track shoes to which I will be adding rebar grousers at 2 per shoe.

Any pics?

 

[02Dmax]

3.5 gal/hr at less than full throttle is right on. It would probably only burn 5 gal/hr at full throttle working hard.

 

[Barky]

Well Im happy about that then. I was sure it would burn quite a bit more.

Yea I have the same issue with slick track shoes. My plan was to weld on some 3/4 sq cold roll and put a bead of hardface down the middle. I would buy the true AR type grouser bar but I cant find anything shorter than 1.00" . My pads are at .300 tall, (same as bolts!) factory new spec is .900 tall, seems many say don't exceed the factory height in any case.

A bucket builder I know advised don't use anything but genuine grouser or it kills the resale value. He claims cold roll or equivalent just turns into a smeared mess in a 100hrs and looks like crap. At that point it has to be ground off to then fixed correctly. Opiniions anyone?

I suppose I could call around and find a shop using AR plate and have them shear or plasma some strips off. I deal with 4 steel yards here in wi and none stock any wear material, strange.

Hell, maybe on a 30 year old machine the resale effect is zip, I don't know.... B

Pics soon....

 

[DMiller]

I am using rebar on recommend from a mechanic in a quarry, they used it as it is hard as hell and reasonably accessible so good enough for me. I am setting 5/8" sections as two bars per shoe 15" in length, 7018 rod. As far as old and resale, maybe better with real grouser bars but I figure to have worn this old machine well beyond the nub by the time I am done with it, probably only worth scrap or someone else's spare parts at that point.

 

[boone]

The steering pedals even with the boosters will give your legs a workout. It's not always convenient to do, but it turns quicker and therefore easier on the leg when the pivoting track has the least amount of ground contact.

Re fuel, we were also told to expect 7 g/hr but were pleasantly surprised by the 3 to 3.5 g/hr rate. I'm only in it just over half throttle when digging - just to the point I get a little spin.

DMiller, I noticed your parts machine had some very aggressive tracks on it. Is it cheaper and easier to buy grouser bars and weld than to swap those pads out? It'd be a shame for those pads to go for scrap.

 

[DMiller]

Hi boone, yes they look impressive in photos but the shoes are breaking apart, the leading edges are curling and many broken off. The grouser style is also a question where the originals were around 1" when new these are over two and considered dozer bars. Dozer track shoes will push better but will destroy a running gear as you attempt the turns associated to moving a load from dig to dump. I could probably use them but the under truck area of the donor show what to expect with all sort of damage from using them. Look to right side rail pads in photo(Left side of frame).
For weld on bar it will take 19-20 bars(10ft lengths) of Titus steel (Tk-1) or Allied CP (KK) weld on bar to do my tractor at two grousers per shoe: $1000 including freight. Still have to buy rod (7018) and do the welds foe either rebar or grouser and still have to cut to length. I have access to cheap 5/8 and 3/4 rebar, much cheaper than $1000, a local quarry operation does this instead of grouser bar on old track loaders due to high rate of erosion and expense as they can also buy rebar at $250/ton.

 

[Nige]

For grouser bar try Dura-Tuff. It's the only thing we would ever use. Their smallest "Genuine grouser bar profile" is D6 size or 1-1/16" (27mm) height.
If you want square grouser bar they do a 5/8" & 3/4".

 

[DMiller]

Nige, good to hear from you. Just tried dura-tuff, they are working up a estimate including shipping, on really nice aspect, they will cut to length no added charge so they might get my money. Gas axe or plasma still takes a long time to cut 148 grousers.

 

[boone]

Hopefully that deal works out. Interesting, according to the DT web-site they recommend in most cases 110% of the original grouser height. I see the damage you're talking about on those pads- can't blame you for not using those.

 

[DMiller]

Chains on this puppy measure out right at new(28+/-"), maybe a hint of wear so I estimate 80% remaining at a minimum and less snakey than the ones on my machine at present(left rail tries to crawl up front idler during turns). I figure to save the shoes from these chains for a futre set of spares for a little while but will most likely scrap a majority of them due to curling and breakage. In trying NOT to hijack the thread, my old machine does take some serious pressure and distance of movement to get the brakes to steer, at times a little crowd with the hand clutches is enough but using the pedals over a several day period does strain the joints/muscles a bit to where I use liniment and heat pads or a real hot soaker bath to help calm the soreness. Ibuprofen and Aleve are real friends anymore!

 

[DMiller]

All that being said, I just got the email from DT, $590 for a set of 148(two per shoe) 15" bars(yes, precut to length) plus $130+/- shipping to a commercial dock close by. May have just bought a set of 6"G" grouser bars 1 1/16" tall x 5/8" top width.
10 sticks of 20' hot roll square 3/4" is $34/stick roughly, $340 and I still have to cut to length plus it is just hot rolled. Same amount of rods +/- but less life.

 

[Barky]

Dozer vs loader vs high hoe. Now that Im getting more time on this machine I have a observation. Many times I see posts on what machine is best and have spent a lot of time thinking on it myself. Shortly after getting my loader I heard from several buddies that said I should have spent the money on a hoe. Well, here is something I found. As old timers know you can raise the bucket for leverage and help in knocking the tree down, simple enough. And as with a dozer you can get the edge of the bucket under the root ball and rip that out too, OK. But, the best part I found was this. As with a high hoe, you can raise the root ball up and drop it to smash off the dirt. I never realized what a benefit this was until I started pushing out 40 some trees in what will be crop land next year. That dirt really adds up fast !! I have several hundred more to go and man, what a UN-burnable mess that would have been.!! B

 

[Barky]

One more. Hey Dmiller, I asked one of my customers about burning out some AR 400 plate for grouser bar repair. How do you think it would hold up VS actual spec grouser bar.?? I think its the same material backhoe buckets are made of for the general market. B

 

[DMiller]

Difference would be first the taper to the replacement grouser vs flat plate, second the thickness of the steel against the height you set the grousers whether or not the steel sheet would flex too badly and tear itself off the welds. Can see using 3/4" square or maybe 1" square stock but cutting out of a sheet or section of plate would end up expensive or at least excessive as to time. I have looked at excavators, not enough money in my accounts or uses to justify a loan but they do work better/faster, the local excavating contractor has a thumb on his machines so he can shake the root wads really hard and drop most of the soil in the mass back to the holes they came from.

 

[Chum Duffy]

been doing clearing and grubbing for over 30 years have used dozers track loaders wheel loaders and excavators if your clearing and burning a 175c is a good choice as long as the timber size stays under 24 inches not that it cant take down trees 2 times that size it just not very efficient I would way sooner take a track loader over a excavator as long as the ground is dry much faster and you can grade the field as you go

 

[5030tinkerer]

Hah! " it needing every service item in the book due to being neglected". I know your pain. I just bought a 175C myself. The former owner did, what, nothing? The oil looked like mud, he ran it without three teeth on the teeth adapters and wore the adapters down, the 4n1 bucket was way cracked, the tracks are way rusted (see other thread), and leaks galore. Not totally sure I didn't make a mistake...

Is there a parts/maintenance list you've found somewhere yet? Things like filter #'s, recommended change intervals, fluid types, that kind of thing? I got lucky and found replacement teeth adapters by finding an adapter number (!) on the edge of one of the adapters that HAD a tooth on it still (they are ESCO style 25 series, in case it helps anyone), but am spinning my wheels quite a bit tracking everything else down.