'73 - 450B Crawler/Loader/Hoe Restoration

[cordlesscarpenter]

Before I forget... regarding the ether injection port, a lot of owners are doing the mod that I linked to a few posts back because it will allow you to use any brand of ether with any nozzle under the tip BUT if you don't want to do the mod, I have found one can that DOES have a tip (once the finger nozzle is removed) that will work in the stock design of the ether port. *** The can you would look for is made by Motor Medic, it has a red label and black cap. It also says "30% ether - our highest content, contains upper cylinder lubricants". It can be found at Oriellys or Lowes and a bunch of other places I'm sure.

One thing I might add, keep in mind that the ether port body is not made of steel, it is made of aluminum or magnesium I suspect, either way, it's soft and gummy so I recommend drilling with a machine or at least brace your drill against your body very well if you are forced to use a hand drill and run at a higher RPM with slower feed rate, if you don't use higher rpm and a lighter feed pressure, it will suck your drill bit right in.

In my head I had switched gears to putting on track chain until it dawned on me that task will be much easier to just hook and roll them on using the sprockets once the engine is situated. So now I'm back on the cylinder rebuilding path until parts arrive for the pump rebuild.

[cordlesscarpenter]

I simply cannot get the cylinder retaining nuts to break free... I tried spanner wrenches, hammer and punch, bigger hammer and bigger punch and even a 3' pipe wrench. The spanner and hammer & punch methods just marred up the notches and even chipped one corner off. As for the pipe wrench, I can't really get the proper bite because the genius' at JD and their brilliant idea to make the collar/nut only 1/4" wide. As far as I know, they work just fine and frankly, I'm running out of time to get up to Montana and start building... I need to get up there and build my a small cabin before next winter, so I've decided to forego the cylinder rebuilds for now. Breaking the nuts free will likely be easier if the cylinder is on the machine anyways (that's how I've done every other cylinder I've rebuilt) and since I'm going to have them on the machine, I can test them at that point (before putting on an attachment)... if they pass muster then I'll wait to rebuild them until they have issues.

Since I'm not doing cylinders or tracks yet, I went ahead and started in on the backhoe since it needs to be operational and at least not look like total poopoo. I got the console torn apart and all the hoses that will be replaced (which is every hose on the hoe except 4 and that's because they are new) numbered, marked, etc. I forgot to take a photo of where some of the hoses connect at the manifold though so 6 of those hoses will be super fun to figure out haha.

Happy Easter / Passover / Just another day... whichever you like

[77 Ford]

I've had to put heat on the cylinder ends around the gland to get some of them to break loose. If you pay close attention you'll notice cylinders on older equipment with black ends (about 2" back) and that is what causes that.

I tried punches in the past and it never really works out. If the gland spanner wrench (mine is 3/4" drive so I've got 3' breaker on it) will not break it loose I add heat till it does.

[DrLoch]

I've used a air hammer with and without heat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBP8yfM6Vbc

[cordlesscarpenter]

As you can imagine, adding heat to separate parts is quite common in my world and unfortunately will likely be part of the equation for separation of these cylinders when the time comes, but if I can avoid heat on cylinders, I will... I have had bad experiences with heat and cylinders in the past. My most recent example was separating the track adjusters on this machine last summer. I added heat to separate and in the end it took me strapping them to a big tree and pulling the other end with my other dozer to pull them apart because all the rubber seals melted. I don't like adding heat to cylinders for two reasons... when you add heat and then add massive toque, there is an increased chance of twisting or warping the cylinder (granted less in this case because it's at the end of the cylinder) and the second reason is I don't like the idea of heat and rubber in the same sentence. In the end though, the reality is that yes, I'll likely have to add heat (carefully) when the time comes.

I read about the air hammer trick, maybe on here or some other forum, unfortunately I just sold my nice air hammer as part of slimming down my belongings... figures haha

I had a scare last night... As most of you know, I am moving to the mountains of NW Montana this summer and coincidentally, the boxes that the 2.5 gal HY-GARD jugs come in make perfect moving boxes. So I was packing up some books and tossed one box on the shelf that just happened to be at head height and it said "PLUS-50 II, 15w-40", my heart sank as I had never in my life purchased this stuff and the box looked just like a HY-GARD box. I thought NO WAY! Did I just dump 8 gallons of 15w-40 into my transmission? I thought maybe my JD dealer grabbed the wrong box on accident thinking it was HY-GARD and didn't notice, I surely didn't notice. I actually lost sleep over it, then I woke up this morning, looked at the box again and realized... that was the box they grabbed to put my 4 gallons of COOL-GARD in. WHEW! what a relief!

Off to get all my hoses made and get back on the hoe resto...

[cordlesscarpenter]

Not much to report really, been working on the backhoe removing paint and priming all day.

Dropped off all the hoses for the hoe yesterday and parts are slowly coming in for the pump rebuild...

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Yep. More paint prep. Boring to do, not to read about. But you had the best day this week: Fire In The Holes! Only way you get a better day than that with this tale is: When It Crawls Again!

Oh, and my parts guy reuses boxes too. I can see where that would scare the crap out of you.

Stan

[cordlesscarpenter]

Good morning crawlers!

Yeah, the box scare was not cool as it was happening but man, what a relief once I realized it was all good. And you're totally right Stan, startup day was a great day, awesome to hear her come to life but the leaky PS pump was a real downer and I need to get that challenge behind me and get this old girl crawling again!

Today will be more of the same... backhoe paint prep, sanding and wire wheeling with the angle grinder. I do need to run to town and drop off the last two hoses (the two main quick disco hoses) for the hoe and pickup the rest.

[boaterri]

When you go to pick up those two main disconnect hoses bring a wheelbarrow full of money. Those two aren't cheap! (or even reasonable)

[cordlesscarpenter]

LOL, I picked up all the hoses today and they built the other two while I waited. That was a lot of hoses and yeah, wasn't cheap. I am gonna clean up the discos and try and re-use them, I'll replace them only if they leak . The leak fairy should cut me some slack after the PS pump bs.

[cordlesscarpenter]

Storms threatened so no paint prep... instead I installed all the hoses on the hoe so it should at least be functional. Although tricky figuring out which hose went where due to me forgetting to take enough pics, I got lucky and there is a pic of exactly what I needed in the backhoe manual. Once I get Ol' Daisy crawling again, I'll be able to back right up to the hoe and get it off the ground with ease to prep and paint her bum.

Now I need to decide whether to get the original seat re-done (original metal back and bottom are actually in fair shape and the cushions are actually whole but crackling pretty good) or figure out an alternative seat option. The hoe is a 93 Series A, has anyone on here ever put a different seat on one that fits and functions well?

I Also need to bend and thread both outrigger levers as one broke while unloading it and the other has already been repaired a few times. I just happen to have (2) 1/2" rods just the right length so that's a good start. And of course I need to figure out handles for both outriggers and both boom control levers.

[cordlesscarpenter]

Yesterday, I took a day off from Daisy.

Got up early this morning and removed all paint, prepped and primed all the backhoe hinge seat parts as well as the front covers. The covers will get their paint today and the seat parts will get sprayed OCY with the rest of the hoe via cup gun. I also got the two outrigger levers bent to the right angles and threaded (also prepped and primed). Now I just need to come up with something for handles/grips with 1/2-13 female threads or find something cool to drill & tap .

The last 3 remaining power steering pump rebuild parts were finally shipped and should be here tomorrow. Hartville Hardware out of Ohio ... half of me wants to drive up there and give 'em what for, they are the worst at price gouging and they always take their swett axx time shipping parts. The other half of me is just glad they have the parts because in many cases, they are the only ones that carry certain stuff and when I can't find salvage parts, at least I have somewhere to turn SMH. Perfect example... The original handle grips I need that screw on to the control levers, they want $161.05 ea. Grainger sells a viable option for less than $10.

Still don't know what I'm gonna do about the seat cushions, perhaps I could give it a go myself or find a local upholstery shop? Any suggestions?

[Al Swearengen]

Still don't know what I'm gonna do about the seat cushions, perhaps I could give it a go myself or find a local upholstery shop? Any suggestions?

With the new, stretchy material they sell on Amazon, I did my motorcycle and quad seats last year. Watched a couple videos, no problem. Much cheaper that sending them out.

[boaterri]

On my 9300 backhoe attachment we took the cushions off cut new foam to match original and recovered with marine upholstery vinyl. Ours had wooden bases so we used about a million stainless steel staples to secure it. Used "T" nuts to bolt the seat to the frame.

[cordlesscarpenter]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll look into the stretchy seat covering (might work as a temp solution) but I will likely tear it apart because one of the bolts snapped off plus I need to get to and remove the rust and re-paint (still has the original metal bases) then new foam and some kind of outdoor fabric like the marine vinyl Boaterri spoke of. I can't for the life of me figure out why manufacturers insist on making things like seat bases for outdoor equipment out of steel or wood... screams rot or rust in just a few years time. Maybe that's the point, then they can get you to buy a new seat ha.

I've also thought about bolting on an aftermarket seat (that would no doubt be more comfortable), I just don't know which ones will bolt up with minimal additional bracketry. I tell ya, the hardest part was finding the hinged seat bracket itself, I was so happy to locate one and get a good deal on it... it was about a year before I found one that someone that would sell just the seat. I'd truly like to make one from scratch but time will not allow for the learning curve right now, I need to get headed north soon.

Got the hoe and a few loader hyd lines all pressure washed and outrigger levers painted this morning (black, to distinguish them from the operator levers which will be OCY). Will continue on the hoe paint prep and priming after lunch. Hoping to paint the hoe sometime next week and then get on the pump rebuild.

The last of the pump parts won't be here until Monday apparently