Hello, Glad to be here...

[Lakeview]

Hello. I found this site through another crawler board and love it. I already spent hours looking through here.
I have some questions about a 350 Loader that I just bought. I will try to post some pictures later. It has a Drott 4in1, detachable backhoe and reverser. The man I bought it from said it was a 1974, but I am wondering about that. Plate on dash reads E735001048CD. I had run across a breakdown chart somewhere, but can't seem to find my way back to it. It has the fuel tank on one side and hydraulic tank on the other. It also has the old type metal emblems. Someone has done some seat modification for backhoe use and used a big truck high back air seat on it.
The good part, it was only $1800. The bad stuff. It has a small fuel leak. Some hydraulic cylinder leaks. My main concern is the steering. Sometimes you can pull on a lever and it turns great, other times it will not turn at all. If you pull both levers it will stop fast, and if you kind of play with them it will turn again. Also, the levers come back to the seat, a lot of travel. I don't think it has power steering, no hoses to be seen. And the last problem. I ran for about an hour yesterday and when you shift from reverse to forward it will lag. I have not checked any fluid yet. Will the Tractor Supply general type fluid be ok, or should it be the 303 type I have seen mentioned here? I have an International 500 and the stg clutches can be changed from the top. This is not that way? right? Final must be removed? I am not an equipment operator and am wondering if the internet has something a man might look at to get the fundamentals of dirt moving?
Any help would greatly appreciated. Thanks for the site.

[KenP]

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[digitup2]

Send us some photos of your unit .If the tanks are on the sides on the back of the unit this could be a European build ?.It would be a great find as all we have seen and experienced in this build have Been 450s.This crawler may not match any serial numbers we have but don't worry any it would be a rare crawler for sure!!.Digitup.

[Lakeview]

Thanks for the quick replies. I know it is not a B model, it doesn't have the air cleaner below the dash, it is under the hood. I can see the clutch/brake covers without removing anything and figured if it had power steering I could see hoses, valves, something. So the numbers on the dash cannot be deciphered to mean anything? I found where the engine number tag should be, but it is gone. I will look for another tag. This machine has a tank on each side that is for sure factory.
So, the reverser has a "lag adjustment"? It does have reverse in the transmission and it is a five speed, I think, maybe four. I know when I first looked at it I put the trans in reverse and the reverser in reverse and it went forward. I do have a 350B operators manual, but thats it. I have been watching Ebay for a service manual.
I worked in parts for a yellow Deere dealer in the late 70's, but have not retained any of that knowledge.
Thanks for the info, will try to post pics tomorrow (may need help) and I feel confident the people here will be able to tell what I have.

[Lakeview]

Well, I have pictures but don't know how to post. If I click on "img" nothing leads me to posting.
This thing has the fuel tank on the left side and the battery/hydraulic tank on the right side. It has no factory seat, it has been modified so nothing to attach a serial number plate to. Would the number be in a hidden location like cars, for theft purposes?
Yesterday, checked fluids, added about two quarts to reverser. Ran machine for about 2 hours. Towards the end of running shifting from reverse to forward the machine had no pulling power. I could push clutch in and out then it would "kick in" and pull strong. Then I noticed a light smoke haze coming from the right side floor. I shut it off and could here what sounded like a coolant leak, but it was coming from under the floorboard. Also, the reverser dipstick had backed out and when I unscrewed on it there was pressure coming through it also. What problems would I be looking for? I looked at the JD online catalog and saw the reverser has a pressure relief valve. Could it have a problem? Clogged filter? Does the reverser have to be drained to change the filter? Reverser pump? Any ideas? I don't have a huge knowledge of hydraulics. I have a parts manual and a service manual coming from Deerelydeparted. I did some shopping and I thought they had some good prices on the manuals. If someone will tell me how to or where to go to post pics, I will post some. Thanks for any possible help.

[Lakeview]

[IMG]http://i1042.photobucket.com/albums/b42 ... 010287.jpg
Ok, hopefully the photobucket thing will work. If the pictures come through maybe someone can tell what this is. The backhoe has a tag and it starts out with 93, so I assume it is a model 93.

[Lakeview]

[IMG]http://i1042.photobucket.com/albums/b42 ... 010289.jpg
A couple more photos. One of the previous posts pictures shows the track frame mount or adjuster mount with a crack and looks loose. Is this a big problem? Both sides look loose, but only one cracked. Should I try tightening? Breaking bolts? Not going to be running it daily, just "recreational" use.

[Lakeview]

This one got left out. Its funny the details you don't notice til you start looking at pictures of your stuff.

[KenP]

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[Lakeview]

Thanks, Ken. Yes, I would like to know what the original seat setup was. This deal is on square tubing,(the seat needs some help) you can pull up and reverse the seat, but it needs to be drilled to put a pin in to raise it up. The trans dipstick is visible in the picture with the shifter, it has a hex nut on the top of it. No PTO, don't appear to have had one. The left lever is the modified version of the reverser. The lever is original, the last man changed the bracket.
Would the frame mount bolts come out, you think? Without breaking off?
I'm no expert, but I thought the undercarriage was decent. The pins/bushing look good. The sprockets are getting a little sharp. The idler and rollers have good meat on them. What else would I look for on the track? My main concern is what is causing pressure to build in the reverser?
Oh, also been reading here about the roosa master fuel pump problems, this machine has CAV pump.
Thanks for the response. Anyone else have any light to shed?

[Lavoy]

I would bet that it is an import machine. There are no bolt holes for the fuel tank, so it was born in the configuration it is in now for the most part. On the 450's, they will call them an "A" I believe. My guess is this is a Mannheim crawler, there should be a tag somewhere.
Neat find to say the least. There have been pics of several 450's set up this way, but never seen a 350.
Lavoy

[KenP]

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[Lakeview]

Thanks, Ken. The machine does have a tach and a seperate hour meter with, I think minutes, on it. I had never seen one like it before. The tach doesn't work, but is one of the things I would like to repair. The cage is heavy, (channel and angle) and I have a second piece that bolts on after you take the backhoe off. It bolts to the hoe mount and existing cage. I agree, its still not enough. The engine serial plate is gone. Only a shadow and evidence of where the rivets were. I have not been back on it since the reverser problem, but that would be an idea about running with the dipstick loose. Looking on the JD parts site, I see a pressure relief valve in the body of the reverser. Not sure what its function is. I am waiting on the parts and service manuals I ordered. Although at this point they may not be very useful. My plan is to change the reverser fluid and filter. I can see the filter housing on the side. The bolts have fallen out of the rear of the belly pan and I did not notice it. It has gotten bent out of shape a little. I figure while I have it off I'll check out the underside. I am going to remove the floor plates and investigate the reverser and look for more numbers. Can anyone direct me to where pictures of a 450 of this style would be? Will post more pics soon.

[Tigerhaze]

Hi Lakeview-

There was a thread about a 450A owned by a gentleman from Sweden (named Ulf). This thread was really good because there was some in depth discussion of the CAV injector pump and also some photos (on page 4 or so):

http://www.jdcrawlers.com/messageboard/ ... a&start=60

Also there was a gentleman named Kraig (I think from Georgia as well)that had one as well and posted a link for pics:

http://www.jdcrawlers.com/messageboard/ ... light=450a

[JD-thomas]

Hi I have one of those import machines. And from your pics I would say you have a 350A machine. In regards to the seat mount, mine is similar except mine has two cylinders( kinda like that hold up a car hood) one on each side to give something like an air ride. I will post pics later dont currently have any. I like my machine being able to run the hoe and run the crawler from the same seat is sooo nice.

Here is a video just briefly shows that there is a piece of steel behind your seat missing too. I found this video when I first got my machine and was looking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXkTvjGPmA8

I did find a service manual thru the deere book store website, looked but I didnt see a 350A just the operators manual