never again

[coxy]

will I pull a fuel tank out of a 518 cat  >:( the winch, bottom skid plate ,arch and fenders had to come off what a night mare mine is/was full of rust bad enough that every 2 days it was plugging the filters looking in the tank with a light looks like ill be cutting the bottom 3in off the tank and putting new steal to help rid the rust trouble the rest of the tank and sides look like new there must have been a lot of water sitting in the tank as it sat for 3 years before I bought it I have had it little over 5years but the last year its been getting bad with the filters plugging with rust

[jdeere540a]

That sounds like a pritty big job. I almost had to pull the tank in my 540a once you have to split them in half.

[Autocar]

I am not sure if it would pay you to look into replacing it with a plastic tank. They make about any size anymore. At least the rust problem would end.

[coxy]

if anyone has ever done a tank in one they will tell you it must have took them a month to figure out how to build one there is so many angles  about 10in from the front it has a 3/4in drop for about 2ft then steps back up to normal so the winch bolts don't hit it then on the bottom in the back it has a 10in longx 8 wide and about 4in deep divit in the tank so it clears the rear end housing and it wraps around the back drive shaft with a cross over line so it drains the tank even    the guy/gal that designed that tank should be put away for life 

[finding the trail]

 Been there, Cat used to have a policy of 24 hr parts or it's free. Had a drive shaft come apart and it made quick work of the tank. Thought there was no way the local dealer had a new tank so it would be free. Ended up the overnight plane ticket would have been more than the new tank. We bought a new mig welder cheaper and repaired it ourselves. 

You should probably change the u joints on the drive shaft while your there. Please use genuine CAT parts.

[coxy]

do you remember how much it was  I cut the bottom out of one side tonight it was just about rusted through the bottom   filled a pound coffee can half full of rust  and its not all out yet   up the sides its rusted pretty good about 2-3in thinking about taking that 2-3in off and just making it a little shorter may loose 2-3gal of fuel but I don't work that hard anymore to run out of fuel  :D

[lopet]

Nothing worse than plugged filters and a engine starving for fuel.  I could never figure out why they had to place the fuel tanks below  the winch. What a pain if you ever have to drain or flush the tank. Don't know much about cats, but isn't there any room for a side mounted truck fuel tank on the front half ?
That would also eliminate the problem with the kinked hoses. Just giving you ideas coxy, but now you already have it cut apart.  ;D

[coxy]

wish there was a place to mount it on the front but a 50gal tank takes up a lot of room don't think there is room enough to put a 5gal tank up there they even have the air tank  stuffed under the radiator  one nice thing that came out of the night mare is I was finely able to  evicted 8 critters for not paying there rent  ;D

[finding the trail]

  Good luck, My night mare was probably late 80's so almost all is forgotten.

[coxy]

I think ill go to the docs office before calling cat that way if my heart gives out I can get the help I need  :D 8)

[coxy]

the tank is no longer available  8) 8) so ill fix this one

[OntarioAl]

Coxy
May I suggest since you are going to repair the tank place  a bung in the bottom  of the tank so that you can drain the accumulated water and crud fuel.
just a thought
Al

[whitepine2]

the tank is no longer available  8) 8) so ill fix this one

You might go to an airport and get yourself some sloshing compound. Get all loose rust and crap out use stones and turn tank around and around to get all you can. Then
use the compound as directed and let dry like overnite. This will cover any rust and even small holes and leave the inside with a glass-like cover. I have used this many times on old one-lunger tanks makes them better than new on inside.

[coxy]

Coxy
May I suggest since you are going to repair the tank place  a bung in the bottom  of the tank so that you can drain the accumulated water and crud fuel.
just a thought
Al
[/q there is 3 drain bungs in the tank but they where plugged with rust and the only way to clean them is now but you can bet ill open them up a few times a year now ill have to get my daughter to post some pics of the rust I took out of the tank

[lopet]

wish there was a place to mount it on the front but a 50gal tank takes up a lot of room don't think there is room enough to put a 5gal tank up there they even have the air tank  stuffed under the radiator  one nice thing that came out of the night mare is I was finely able to  evicted 8 critters for not paying there rent  ;D

I see your point, assuming you don't wanna give up your cab access from the right side, otherwise you could just hang a fuel tank on the side of the cab .  You only have to make sure that it won't hit the rear tire.
Well you decided to fix it now.   Good luck

[coxy]

its not that I don't want to give up that side there is no room the steering cylinder is there and I only have about 2ft of room between the tires when its turned and the tires are just about bald  ;D going to start welding it up tomarrow  went to 3 plumbing 4 auto stores today and no one had 3/4in threaded female bung to weld back in the new bottom  so I took a 3/4 hydro fitting and cut it to make a bung worked good it sticks up in the tank about 1/2in so now the cross over line should not get plugged up with crap for a while  I have pics but have to have my daughter post them

[GRANITEstateMP]

Coxy,

Not sure if there are any racecar / chassis type shops around you, but a lot of the time they will have weld in bungs?  Just an idea.

[coxy]

first thing I'm going to do to night is go by a plasma cutter they are sweeet I had a friend cut 13/4in off the tank sides to get rid of the rust and that's what he had nice clean  and straight  cuts  got it all welded up and going at 1:30 and get it pressure tested ill find out how good my welding is if it don't leak I think ill stop at the local jin mill and had a cold 1-2  :D 8) 8)

[Autocar]

You would think that someone would have some kind of spray in liner that would seal to the sides of the tank.

[DelawhereJoe]

Just looked at the title of this thread  and it said "Never again b{u}y Autocar"....ah ha ha ha.... I used to drive an Autocar I'd only be broken down for 1-12 hours a week, but when she ran, she ran...42k empty and would just about keep up with a car off the line....sorry to hijack.....

[coxy]

well didn't go to the gin mill had 2 small leaks that hardly made any bubbles but got it sealed up and back in now comes the hard part putting the winch , arch and skid plates back on

[GRANITEstateMP]

  Good to hear you got it back together Coxy.  Pretty bad, on the on road equipment, you worry about it rusting out from the outside, Woods equipment is rusting from the inside out!

[coxy]

I'm  looking at it this way the skidder is an 81 and all most rusted through  I'm 46 so if it lasts 30 years ill be to old to work ill be on the beach chasing the 20year olds around  :D 8)

[lopet]

Your skidder is already +35 years old and probably doesn't owe you anything.  A little more realistic would be, run it until something mayor brakes.

Why you're not going to the beach while you're still in shape.  :D  Sorry, couldn't resist. 

[mills]

Your skidder is already +35 years old and probably doesn't owe you anything.  A little more realistic would be, run it until something mayor brakes.

Why you're not going to the beach while you're still in shape.  :D  Sorry, couldn't resist. 

I thinks he's afraid he may catch one!  :D :D :D