Hydraulic question. Just curious..

[Scottyb]

If my 350b did not run could I hook up my Bobcat or Case hydrostatic drive garden tractor with the same fittings (and fluid), to the backhoe hoses, and, pressurize the crawler system to raise the loader out of the way for repairs. I had thought of trying this when I was fixing the starter on a 350 some time back and wanted to know if this would work before I broke something trying?

I have a working pump disconnect on my crawler.

Or...Heck, maby I could have left the pump connected and started the crawler that way?

I used a jack and blocks on that repair to lift the loader.

I finally remembered to ask the question.

Scott

[LeonardL]

I wouldn't try this. You could pressurize your crawlers system by connecting to the pressure line for the backhoe. However the return line for the backhoe goes to the return on the crawler system. In other words it goes back to the hydraulic tank or reservoir on your 350.
This line wouldn't return oil back to the machine you are using as a pressure source. You would have to return directly back from the control valve on the 350 to your source machine. Otherwise your oil will flow from your source machine and would return the oil into the 350s Hydraulic tank. That would take oil away from the source machine and take a chance of running it out of oil and then overfilling the 350s tank.
If you have a Bobcat, why not just use it to raise the loader boom and bucket with a chain? Tie the hydraulic control lever back in the raise position or have someone hold it back while you lift the bucket up and out of the way. Once you have it up where you need it to be, release the lever and block the loader in place.

[Scottyb]

Leonard,

Thanks for the reply, I will not try this. However my motivation was that I live much of the time in a residential neighbourhood in the city but my crawlers are usually at the cabin property 2 hours away and, often I will bring one home to work on it on the trailer in the driveway. I do not usually keep a bobcat at the city house but I have room (weight) on the crawler trailer to bring the small case 444 tractor here on the same load.
So I am fixing things at the city home that do not usually require other equipment to do the job. Lifting the loaders using the jack and blocks is working, but every time I do it I keep thinking that there might be a better (easier) way.

again thanks...
Scott

[LeonardL]

Scott,
I assumed sense you mentioned the bobcat that it was there and available. So I apologize for that.
Do you have a ROPS on your crawler? I have used a chain hoist and long chain anchored over the top of the ROPS and down to the draw bar of the dozer. I hooked the other end of the chain hoist to a chain that I ran down each side of the hood and hooked the ends of the chain to the lift towers on the dozer. This was a 350 dozer and not a loader. But I think you could figure a way to hook to the loader boom or down to the bucket to do the same thing. Just a thought...
To do this hydraulically would mean some doing. Although with a little thought and ingenuity it could be accomplished. But the amount of work involved compared to how many times you would actually get to use it would be the downer to the whole thing. By the time you paid for the parts and did the actual restructuring, you could hire a small crane to come along and lift the boom and bucket up.
I understand all too well how you would want to get this to where it would be easier to work on. Especially when you are having to bring it back to a urban setting and no real place to work on it. And no one wants to drag 4K worth of tools out to the middle of nowhere only to find that you still need a different tool that you didn't bring or have in the first place.
So... It comes down to deciding how far you want to go with this and how much is it worth. To me, the few times that it would be handy wouldn't be worth all of the trouble and expense. But that's me!! Good luck!

[whiteclipse16]

Not to mention if the bobcat doesn't use the same hydro fluid as the Deere that could cause problems by mixing the two.
Good idea in theory though Scotty

[Tigerhaze]

I was thinking that if you were backed up to a tree you could use a large come along or winch to raise the loader boom from behind. I dunno if I would want to be the one cranking on the come along though

[LeonardL]

I've seen some things in the past that would curl the hair on a bald guy! I realize that we are bringing out the funnies at Scotts expense but some of these would have made the funniest home videos if I could have gotten them on tape.
The best one involved using a tree to anchor to. When I saw how the guy, a friend of mine, had hooked the chains it all looked good and should have worked. But as they say.... Poop happens!
This fellow had backed his trailer up to a large Elm tree in his back yard. He had winched the loader, a 450, onto the trailer and it was already pretty far back on the deck. The trailer is a goose neck style trailer.
He then climbed up on top of the ROPS and attached two chains around the tree up as high as he could reach and then ran the other ends down to the bucket on the loader.
His intention was to pull forward with his truck, a Ford 550 Super Duty and hopefully raise his loader in the process as he inched away from the tree.
For some reason he had un-boomed his machine and it was sitting free on the deck of his trailer. He had also left the machine in neutral and with the park brake off after winching the machine onto the trailer.
When he pulled forward with the truck all he succeeded in doing was to roll his 450 back off the deck of the trailer and onto the dove tail portion and there was no controlling it from that point on!
It momentarily raised his trucks rear end up off of the ground which left him with only the front wheels on the ground. As the machine continued to roll off the trailer it was shoving the trailer and truck even further forward and away from the machine. All the time it was trying to lift the nose of the crawler in the process which was now almost off of the trailer. When the machine finally went off the end of the dove tail it allowed the truck to settle back down to the ground but at an odd angle as it had forced the rear end around and it was just a whisker of an inch away from the wall of his garage.
Now he was almost into the side of his garage and just a few feet from hi neighbors privacy fence. The loader was sitting on it's hind end with the trailers dove tail still about half way under the machine.
We had to take the neighbors fence down so he could pull forward enough to get the crawler off of the trailer. Then we had to fix the 450 so he could pull it back on to the trailer and then back the whole thing out of his neighbors yard which was upsetting his neighbors wife terribly!
In the end the repair didn't require the raising of his loader at all. I could have fixed the darn thing out on the job in the first place. His problem was the usual mouse eaten wires behind the dash panel.
This episode all took place in less than a few seconds and the only ones to witness it was my friend and his neighbors yellow lab who seemed to be dumb founded by it all. My friend said the dog just kept walking around the truck and trailer and seemed to be smiling. He did pee on the trailers tires at one point and marked the mess as his own.
Anyway just be careful out there what ever you try.

[Al Swearengen]

Ha! Funny how it all makes perfect sense AFTER the fact!

[LeonardL]

When my friend called me, all he said was "Hey dude, I could use a little help". When I pulled into his drive, the first thing I saw was his neighbors dog sitting on his haunches looking at the mess. Then I could see the 450 with the loader chained to the tree and it was sitting just about like the dog was! I would love to know what that dog was thinking because it was clear he knew something had happened and it had his attention.
My friend met me with a grin and turned his back side to me and told me to go ahead and kick it because he knew that is what I was wanting to do.
Instead I just knocked his hat off and we went to work to clean things up. His wife had already kicked his behind, several times and his neighbors wife was in line ahead of me!
But you are so right about how things become clear after the smoke and dust has risen.
I think what got my friend the worst, was his wife asking him if he had learned anything. She then said maybe he should ask the dog!