Counter weight removal 350B

[zebqup]

I have a 350B crawler/loader and have to pull one of the final drives. The counter weight/draw bar is in the way and I can't fine a procedure for removing it. Looks like two big bolts on the bottom facing up hold it. Would hate to get those lose while its sitting on a floor jack and then find I missed a bolt somewhere else.

Any suggestions is appreciated.

Ed

[Kaiverol]

I’ll send you something later today. I did my 350B just weeks ago. Still have the weight on the ground, so I will go check bolt locations etc.

[LeonardL]

I don't remember if there are two or four bolts that bolt the counterweight in place. I do remember the draw bar is bolted to the weight and is also fitted into a clevis on the cross bar with a pin going through the bar and clevis from the bottom.

There is a hair pin that holds the drawbar pin in place on the top of the counterweight. As I recall you have to get between the bottom of the transmission case and the top of the counterweight with something to force the hairpin out of the drawbar pin. Somewhat of a pain to get to as I recall.

Once the hair pin is removed the drawbar pin should drop out on the ground or floor. Notice I say they should fall out. I have had them be seized in place and I had to loosen the cross bar to allow the weight to pivot down so I could get room enough to work. This can be a bit of a pain as well. Hopefully yours will drop out with no problem. Or even better be missing entirely which is sometimes the case.

If there are more than two bolts they will go up into the same points as the skid plate on a non counterweight machine. So you should be able to see them if they are there. There will be brackets for the bolts to thread into that are fastened to the final drive housings.

Sorry I don't remember more than this but I have slept since I last removed or installed one of these weights. Just be careful and don't let it get on you. They weigh about 500 pounds.

[zebqup]

Thanks that helps. It looks like there are 2 bolts through the skid plate and up through the counter weight. Should be fun trying to put it back on.

[Kaiverol]

I have some pics of how I removed my weight. As long as I kept blocks on both sides I could lift and move the weight with a roller jack.

[zebqup]

Thanks. Pictures helped. Good idea putting timbers down to skid it out on.

[zebqup]

Leonard thanks for the advice on the draw bar pin. It was covered in grease and dirt and hard to find. I used a piece of 1/8 in. flat bar and pushed the hair pin off. Of course the pin was stuck in place. What a poor design.

[LeonardL]

Yeah those things can be a real pain in the butt. I have to agree on the design idea on this one. In a perfect world they work pretty slick. But after fifty years of never being removed or at least not very often the design becomes a little bit convoluted. I have had to literally cut those pins out with a torch and that was after the battle to get to them.
When you go back with it, use anti seize on the pin and the hair pin. That makes things a lot easier for the next time. Going back in with the hair pin can be done a couple of different ways. One is to fit onto something flat and slide it back in from the rear. Another way is by reaching it from the front of the cross bar. You have to get underneath the crawler so just make damn sure to have it blocked up safely. I always use a bottle jack to keep the pin up in place and then go back in from the rear. But I have also done them from the front.