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New equipment addition - JD Crawler/Loader

Started by grweldon, December 11, 2013, 08:15:07 AM

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grweldon

I just picked up a 1970 John Deere 350-B crawler/loader with backhoe attachment.  The machine is old, well used and in need of maintenance but it works well.  I've only used it about 3 hours since acquisition.  It has some engine issues, some undercarriage issues and some small mechanical issues.  I'll eventually take care of them.

It really works well for moving all the debris from clearing and pushing it up into a pile.  Last night in 1 hour I took care of a job that would have taken me 8 hours or more to do with the methods I had available before purchasing the crawler.  That custom root rake on the front is a monster!



My three favorite documents: The Holy Bible, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States.

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Root rakes are worth their weight in gold if you clearing. Good find.
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

thecfarm

I worked around one of those years ago and thought he had it all. But that root rake adds alot to it. Good deal. As one of my friends would say,We could do some damage with that.  ;D
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

sandhills

Sweeeet!  The backhoe will be really nice too.

r.man

Nice find, I love equipment that is almost as old as I am or older.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

Buddyw

Nice find !  I like old equipment .
Those older 350's were good machines.

brendonv

Can you explain the use of a root rake like that? 

I've never seen them up here.
"Trees live a secret life only revealed to those that climb them"

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Peter Drouin

Nice JD, you can do a lot of work with that , be sure to tie up the hoses on the back up good , A stick will catch them there  ;)
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

snowstorm

the tracks are to tight. 2.5" of sag. unless the pins and bushings are worn out. in that case they will need to be quite tight to stay on. be careful where you turn. if one track is between 2 stumps it can knock a track off

clww

Congratulations on your new track loader! 8) 8) 8)

I agree that the tracks are too tight.
Many Stihl Saws-16"-60"
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beenthere

Nice find.

Keep in mind, that without a ROPS, when pushing on some trees, that a tree, log, or limb can suddenly come free and slip up over the loader arms and sweep fast over the top of the crawler. That might wipe out the operator above the neck real fast.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

grweldon

Thank you all for the precautionary advice.  I have a protective cover (not ROPS) that I can attach but the backhoe can't go on at the same time.  I've already had to be very aware of the way limbs and trees move when moving them higher on the pile.  Sure wouldn't even like to THINK about one of them coming back and hitting me in the face...

I'll check on the track tightness.  I would have to say that anything that can be loose and worn on this machine... IS!  I was wondering why all the pictures of similar crawlers had tracks that were visibly sagging on the top.  I know the previous owner had to rebuild one tensioner so maybe I'll be lucky and he just over-tightened them.  Doubt it!

Does anybody know what will be the result of running with the tracks too tight?
My three favorite documents: The Holy Bible, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States.

grweldon

Quote from: brendonv on December 11, 2013, 05:48:52 PM
Can you explain the use of a root rake like that? 

I've never seen them up here.

I'm certainly not an expert but I'll take a stab at it...

You lower the bottom portion of the rake into the ground while moving forward.  It has a small, round piece of steel that I use as a gauge as to how deep I am.  As you move forward, the vertical plates grab and pull or cut roots as you move forward.  Depending on how deep the previously mentioned round piece is, it will either knock over or get under small trees or stumps.  This machine was designed as a loader so it has basically flat tracks and not a huge amount of traction so the tracks WILL slip like rubber tires.  This is good since this crawler appears to be a relatively light/medium-duty machine and I hope the slipping will keep me from breaking things.  It's only equipped with a 42HP engine from the factory and my engine is very tired.  Still, with a little bit of work and repeated forward/backward and up/down of the bucket, I was able to remove the stumps/roots of a Chinese Privet clump I cut down a month or so ago.  The main root clump measured about 4' in diameter when it was out of the ground.  Not too shabby, but I wouldn't expect to be able to do this to a pine tree stump that was over two or three inches in diameter.

I can imagine with a root rake like this and a 100HP machine with good traction (grousers) you could do some serious tearing up of the ground!
My three favorite documents: The Holy Bible, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States.

chevytaHOE5674

Tracks too tight can cause excess wear to the final drive and front idler bearings as well as all of the pins and bushings.

Like stated the tracks may be that tight to keep them from from falling off every few feet as they are just worn out.

isawlogs

  The root rake was and is still often used as a brush pusher piller upper in clear cuts that where to be replanted. One would be instralled on a skidder and it would push the brush in a nice long rows allowing workers to plant trees with out having to over come all the brush.
Also it was used in many hydro electric projects to remoce brush from clear cutting of where the water would rise to after the dams where to be built.
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

isawlogs

  TYhose older loose machines can still do a whole wack of work if one is cafrefull enough to not over do it, I'm sure you had a big big  ;D  on your face when that stump clump came out of the ground !!!   

  All I can saye about the machine is '' nice ''  :)
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

snowstorm

Quote from: grweldon on December 12, 2013, 07:44:27 AM
Thank you all for the precautionary advice.  I have a protective cover (not ROPS) that I can attach but the backhoe can't go on at the same time.  I've already had to be very aware of the way limbs and trees move when moving them higher on the pile.  Sure wouldn't even like to THINK about one of them coming back and hitting me in the face...

I'll check on the track tightness.  I would have to say that anything that can be loose and worn on this machine... IS!  I was wondering why all the pictures of similar crawlers had tracks that were visibly sagging on the top.  I know the previous owner had to rebuild one tensioner so maybe I'll be lucky and he just over-tightened them.  Doubt it!

Does anybody know what will be the result of running with the tracks too tight?
there is a button top grease fitting on the track adjuster tube next to it is a bolt with a jam nut. loosen that and it will let some grease out. that will loosen the track. you will need to buy the end for your grease gun that fits that fitting. the front idlers do not have bearings in them. they are bronze bushings with 90w gear oil with flat face metal seals. there is a plug to fill them. if they leak there are worn out. there is a recoil spring behind the track adjuster tube. sometimes they break but not often. if you take some pictures of the sprockets and track pins and bushings it would help. i will need to see the bushings where they contact the sprockets. all the pad bolts must be tight. they along with the bushings being pressed in are what holds the track chain together

Dave Shepard

Quote from: beenthere on December 11, 2013, 08:53:53 PM
Nice find.

Keep in mind, that without a ROPS, when pushing on some trees, that a tree, log, or limb can suddenly come free and slip up over the loader arms and sweep fast over the top of the crawler. That might wipe out the operator above the neck real fast.

That was my thought as well. I had a close call with an old machine when I was new to dozers.

Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

coxy

Quote from: snowstorm on December 12, 2013, 05:00:01 PM
Quote from: grweldon on December 12, 2013, 07:44:27 AM
Thank you all for the precautionary advice.  I have a protective cover (not ROPS) that I can attach but the backhoe can't go on at the same time.  I've already had to be very aware of the way limbs and trees move when moving them higher on the pile.  Sure wouldn't even like to THINK about one of them coming back and hitting me in the face...

I'll check on the track tightness.  I would have to say that anything that can be loose and worn on this machine... IS!  I was wondering why all the pictures of similar crawlers had tracks that were visibly sagging on the top.  I know the previous owner had to rebuild one tensioner so maybe I'll be lucky and he just over-tightened them.  Doubt it!

Does anybody know what will be the result of running with the tracks too tight?
there is a button top grease fitting on the track adjuster tube next to it is a bolt with a jam nut. loosen that and it will let some grease out. that will loosen the track. you will need to buy the end for your grease gun that fits that fitting. the front idlers do not have bearings in them. they are bronze bushings with 90w gear oil with flat face metal seals. there is a plug to fill them. if they leak there are worn out. there is a recoil spring behind the track adjuster tube. sometimes they break but not often. if you take some pictures of the sprockets and track pins and bushings it would help. i will need to see the bushings where they contact the sprockets. all the pad bolts must be tight. they along with the bushings being pressed in are what holds the track chain together
my 350  350b 350c have grease fittings in the front idlers no oil never seen oil in all the ones I worked on  the grease fitting on some of the older ones where called button fittings    take them out and put new ones in get rid of the button fittings

snowstorm

you may have grease fittings in the front idlers      but john deere did not put them there.

coxy

bought them new from 5 star a jd dealer    my dad said that the bercos had oil in them and the rollers to     don't know what to tell ya maybe I got oddballs  :D

snowstorm

when the   c came out i was working for a deere dealer they did not come with fittings in the idler

beenthere

snowstorm
Look at the 350c on jdparts.com. 
There is a grease fitting shown on the front track idler assembly as well as the upper idler assembly.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

snowstorm


grweldon

Thank you guys.  The machine is 43 years old.  Regardless of what it was fitted with originally, wouldn't grease be better than 90W?  If so, would it be prudent to make sure all the fittings will be zerks for my grease gun?

Snowstorm, Coxy... since y'all have a bunch of knowledge and I have barely any regarding this machine (no operators manual either) can you please answer a few questions?

I can't find the fuel filter/separator. Will you point me in the correct direction?  Also, I don't know the interval for greasing or all the points that need to be greased.  Help would be invaluable.  Since the machine uses/leaks oil, can you tell me how much it needs to top it off when the level is at the low mark on the dipstick?  I overfilled last night.  As far as the hydraulic reservoir is concerned, there is a sight glass that shows the level on the side of the tank.  The fluid is halfway on the window when the machine is off and not visible when its running.  Is this correct?  There is a dipstick in front of the shifter.  I don't know if this is for the transmission or the reverser.  Whichever one it is, I can't find the other.

The engine misses.  I bought 3 injectors yesterday and intend to replace them when I get a chance.  When I took a look yesterday after I started it up to raise the loader to add oil, I noticed a bit of fuel leaking from the front injector where it appears the line attaches.  This relatively small engine seems to consume quite a bit of fuel and maybe this could be one of the culprits!  I know there could be other issues, mostly minor.  I'm concerned that once I replace the injectors, the miss will still be there.  Don't know what to suspect then.  I don't even know how to remove the covers to get at the engine.  Looks like it will be an all-day affair!
My three favorite documents: The Holy Bible, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States.

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