Newby with CAT 305.5E2 (not CR) -- I think the tracks are toast. Do I need new sprockets?

[John C.]

You stated the issue perfectly. It's cosmetic. It doesn't matter which way you put the hoses for the aux circuit on the stick as long as they don't have any circular torque on them as you move the attachment. There is no paint knocked off that pipe so the bend is as installed. As far as the type of hose goes thumbs, breakers and compactors operate between 2,000 and 3,000 PSI so quality two wire hoses are good enough. A four wire hose will be a lot thicker and stiffer making installation like wrestling a python and it will be a lot more costly.

You can measure the hose while it is on the machine by just using a tape measure along a single line of the hose and include the ends of the fittings. That's how it will be done in a hose shop anyway.

 

[Tones]

Thanks for the clarification. The way the dipper has been fabricated makes go sense to go inside.
Pipes can be bent a little without damage but if it worries you adding 2 x22° male-female bends to each hose would solve the problem

 

[John Shipp]

I had success straightening steel pipes by removing them and using a press with pipe bending die made to fit. Bending them back straight while on the machine itself I've not had satisfactory results.

 

[Baxsie]

Sidetrack: Straightening out the bent hydraulic tubing for the thumb.

Despite the very reasonable advice to leave the pipe bent as it was:



I came up with some split hose to protect it:



Slipped a slightly larger tube over that and reefed downwards . . . very incrementally. Not perfect but somewhat better than it was:

 

[Baxsie]

Went to the local hose shop to get new hoses made. He was happy enough to just put a new end on the one hose, but I decided to "go for it" and got two new assemblies.

What is the name of this fitting? He called it a DIN MINI or something like that?



He assured me they would fit, and they did. Passed the leak test. So All is well but I would like to know what the heck they are called!

Here is a shot of the new hoses, stick extended:



And with the stick retracted:



These are actually 2 inches shorter than the ones that were on there, even so I am not excited about that big droopy loop hanging down.

He was happy to use spiral plastic protection, but I opted for the original style coiled spring protection.

Price without tac was $104/hose $208 total.

Cat SIS2GO quoted $127 each $254 total -- so CAT's price is not at all horrible.

Local shop had me in and out within about 45 minutes.

In other projects, when I walked the digger the 1/4 mile back to the house to work on these hoses, my right track was quote loose. It seemed to pump up again, so I'll give it another try -- but I fear I'll have to take it apart and mess with that track adjuster if it gets loose again.

Once again, thanks for all of your help coaxing this newbie along with this machine.

 

[John Shipp]

With regards to your track adjuster, that's the beauty of running machinery. Just after fixing one thing up nicely, there's another thing coming down the pipeline to tinker with

 

[Tones]

Well done with the hoses, looks proper now.

 

[ZooDad]

Very nicely done.

ZooDad

 

[Baxsie]

Another load of steel:



Running totals:

• Steel recycled: 5 loads, 11,820 lbs, $620 received
• Trash to dump: 2 loads 15,300 lbs, $1095 fee to dump

And a little bit of fun -- found an entire John Deere combine (from the 1950's maybe?) butied in there:

 

[John Shipp]

The yard surface where you're tipping that load of scrap looks interesting design, is it steel rails with dirt between? Not seen like that at a scrap yard before.

 

[Baxsie]

The yard surface where you're tipping that load of scrap looks interesting design, is it steel rails with dirt between? Not seen like that at a scrap yard before.

That is what it looks like to me.

Got a puncture in a rear tire there on the first load. Trying to be careful since then, but there is significant risk driving in a scrap yard !

 

[Baxsie]

Picked out a load of wood:



Eyeballed by employee at 7 Cubic Yards, $84

 

[materthegreater]

Picked out a load of wood:

View attachment 359649

Eyeballed by employee at 7 Cubic Yards, $84

Could have bought a lot of marshmallows for $84

 

[Baxsie]

This is wildfire country. Burn restrictions are pretty strict.

 

[Baxsie]

So the digger operater was trying to break up the wood, and stuck a board through the bed's steel mesh opening and knocked out Rita's rear window. :-(



Amateur -- jeez.

So I made a new grate that is a little bit beefier:



3/8" rods fully welded. Hopeful that will protect the cab window.

Rita's rear window was cracked since we bought her 25 years ago. But it was a window - not shattered glass littering the inside of the cab.

The kinda good thing is that when I just got new windows for Rita, they didn't have the rear window gasket. It has since arrived, but I never got around to installing it. So as soon as I get finished with the grate, I will install the new window with its gasket and it will be better than ever.

Peace.

 

[HarleyHappy]

This is wildfire country. Burn restrictions are pretty strict.

We aren’t even burning our paper barrel at the moment.
Severe fire restrictions at the moment.

 

[skyking1]

what you are doing, it is a great thing. < mandy patinkin in the 'princess bride' voice>

 

[Baxsie]

Let's all play a game called:

! ! LAUGH AT THE NOOB ! !

It will be fun

I have been using the excavator and making progress on cleaning up the dump. 14000 lbs of steel recycled so far, as well as a bunch of concrete, wood, and other trash hauled out.

I have about 60 hours on the excavator since my initial big service, so went to CAT and got 4 more oil sample kits to test the final drives, engine oil, and hydraulic oil. I changed the final drive oil, engine oil and filter, and the hydraulic filter. I should have the analysis back shortly, which I will share here.

So since I got the new tracks on, I have noticed a pretty pronounced curve to the right. I have also noticed that the right track motor seems to be weaker than the left. For instance, If I am facing up hill, I can's start with the right track only. Starting to suspect the right traction motor. Also, the right track often sounds crunchy like it has rocks in it.

So I am talking to the CAT service guy, looking at pressure gauge kits -- mentally preparing for a long, expensive haul trying to figure out the tracking issue.

Then I noticed this:


The teeth on the right sprocket are really worn on the side. W.T.F. ?

So I looked some more some more:


Do you see it? Apparently the sprockets are not symmetrical, and I have the one on the right backwards. That is the bad news. The good news is that I have done this before, so it only took me 1 hour and 30 minutes to break the chain, take off the sprocket, put it back on the correct way, and reassemble:





And what do you know ? It tracks MUCH straighter now. "LASER" does not come to mind, but "banana" is no longer the first thing I think of.

Also, I can now start the right track even facing up hill, and no more "crunchy".

Duh, I feel stoopid for getting the sprocket on backwards. OK, now it is your turn to MOCK THE NOOB!

 

[John Shipp]

I would say that can happen to most of us at some point Fair play to be posting it here though lol.

One thing that we do here is buff the paint off all mating surfaces of undercarriage parts before fitting, using a wire wheel on a 4 1/2 inch grinder or flap wheel. So the paint on your sprocket ring where the bolt holes are would all come off, and then wire brush the rust and crud off the final drive mating surface. You might of done this but can't see on the photos, looks like paint still on maybe. Probably less of an issue on smaller machines but on machines used daily don't want them coming loose on "your shift".