345BL - How long should the stick stay in the air?

[Jeremy Whittaker]

I finally started putting my 345BL to work on my property. I believe I read in the manual that in order to fully pressurize the hydraulics you should extend the stick all the way out and turn it off(don't recall where I read this). When I do this the stick will stay up for about 30 minutes to an hour(wasn't timing it just working on other things and seeing when the bucket was down). I don't have any leaks underneath and I tested it pretty well before I hauled it up there for leaks. So I'm wondering on an old 1998 machine like this is 30 minutes to an hour pretty standard? Or should this be more "infinite"? I changed out all my hydraulic oil and filters. I'm an amateur so there's a chance I did something wrong. I'm trying to determine if I need to open up the two filter chambers and replace/check the rubber o-rings perhaps air is leaking from the chamber causing it to not get fully pressurized?

I also believe this may be related, when I try to turn the tracks in opposite directions to spin the excavator it just stops. It won't actually spin around. In order to turn the machine I have to do this maneuver where I go both tracks forward/backward (which works fine). Then I'll keep one track engaged while letting up on the other. This usually allows me to "inch" my way around so I can spin the machine.

Anyways, looking for some feedback or things you guys think I can check out based on these issues. Thanks as always.

 

[skyking1]

Jeremy, you need to learn the bucket turn. It helps any excavator but it really helps heavy ones.
Just hammering counter pedal and expecting results is not a good practice.
Where it won't ever work: when you are in a hollow spot, where both ends of the track are holding most of the weight. That is a bad spot to turn in general.
Where it might work: on the opposite, a knob where you are bearing on the middle of the tracks on both sides and the nose and tail are off the ground.
Bucket turning can be a little scary and downright dangerous if you don't take your time to learn it. When you get it going, it is an undercarriage saver, a time saver, it really keeps the jobsite in better shape too.
On the boom staying up:
it can leak internally in the cylinders, either one on the boom cylinders, or at the valve spools or both.
Unless you intend to hang some iron up and get out of the seat and go put bolts in it ( A really bad idea!), then don't worry about that creep down.
If a boom cylinder leak gets bad enough it will warm up with the bypassing fluid and you can find it. I doubt this will be the case.

 

[Jeremy Whittaker]

Jeremy, you need to learn the bucket turn. It helps any excavator but it really helps heavy ones.
Just hammering counter pedal and expecting results is not a good practice.
Where it won't ever work: when you are in a hollow spot, where both ends of the track are holding most of the weight. That is a bad spot to turn in general.
Where it might work: on the opposite, a knob where you are bearing on the middle of the tracks on both sides and the nose and tail are off the ground.
Bucket turning can be a little scary and downright dangerous if you don't take your time to learn it. When you get it going, it is an undercarriage saver, a time saver, it really keeps the jobsite in better shape too.
On the boom staying up:
it can leak internally in the cylinders, either one on the boom cylinders, or at the valve spools or both.
Unless you intend to hang some iron up and get out of the seat and go put bolts in it ( A really bad idea!), then don't worry about that creep down.
If a boom cylinder leak gets bad enough it will warm up with the bypassing fluid and you can find it. I doubt this will be the case.

Appreciate the feedback. I have no idea what I'm doing so I just wasn't sure if these were expected behaviors or if I messed something up doing my maintenance. Sounds like it is normal and I just need to learn the intricacies of my machine. I will check out that bucket turn. Thanks!

 

[Nige]

Jeremy, I don’t know where you were reading but attached are the performance standards for a 4SS machine which is I think what you have. Don’t be too surprised if your machine doesn’t come up to spec on one or more tests. It will most likely be as a result of its age.

Bucket turn, aka jump turn. The bigger the machine the better it works. For a machine the size of a 345 you need to be gentle on the swing - Jump Turn

 

[skyking1]

the thing I caution the newest users on is being gentle in every aspect, and especially setting yourself back down. Also a few small bites is better than trying to get 120 degrees on your first attempts.
I use a lot of single tracking in turns too. It just depends on the goals and conditions. What you never want to experience is trying to get a track back on, and that goes for any machine but a 345? Yikes that is a bad day!

It's too bad one of us was not closer to show you the ropes.

 

[etd66ss]

I never learned the bucket turn, been using my CAT 225 for 15+ years. I was always afraid of damaging something on such an old machine.

 

[jon holt]

As far as the stick in the air, it all depends on the shape of the circuit. When the parts get some wear on them they will not hold as long and drift down. There are drift specs and are usually just a couple of minutes, somewhere around that. I have never heard about purging air by putting the stick in the air and shutting the engine off, but I am by far not an expert. As far as the track turning that is pretty much normal depending on what you are in. If you are on concrete then it should turn with the travel levers in opposite directions. Anything else and the procedure the other guys talked about is the way to go.

 

[Nige]

If you do it with care then you are putting no more weight on the swing bearing than you would with a good full bucket of material and the boom/stick extended fully out.

 

[skyking1]

I never learned the bucket turn, been using my CAT 225 for 15+ years. I was always afraid of damaging something on such an old machine.

I was running a 225 15 years before you got yours. it is a spastic pain in the ass to master on the -200 cats, but we did it.

 

[Jeremy Whittaker]

Jeremy, you need to learn the bucket turn. It helps any excavator but it really helps heavy ones.
Just hammering counter pedal and expecting results is not a good practice.
Where it won't ever work: when you are in a hollow spot, where both ends of the track are holding most of the weight. That is a bad spot to turn in general.
Where it might work: on the opposite, a knob where you are bearing on the middle of the tracks on both sides and the nose and tail are off the ground.
Bucket turning can be a little scary and downright dangerous if you don't take your time to learn it. When you get it going, it is an undercarriage saver, a time saver, it really keeps the jobsite in better shape too.
On the boom staying up:
it can leak internally in the cylinders, either one on the boom cylinders, or at the valve spools or both.
Unless you intend to hang some iron up and get out of the seat and go put bolts in it ( A really bad idea!), then don't worry about that creep down.
If a boom cylinder leak gets bad enough it will warm up with the bypassing fluid and you can find it. I doubt this will be the case.

I learned the bucket turn last weekend, awesome! Appreciate the advice.

 

[skyking1]

cool! is that not easier?
Sometimes I single pedal a track forward, sometimes things are right for the counter pedals. Sometimes it is single pedal one back. As you get used to the feels, you will note what seems just about effortless and also look back and see how much each turn tears up the ground.
It is not a coincidence that the turn that disturbs the least dirt is also the easiest on the machine.

 

[Jeremy Whittaker]

It's like butter. The comparison

cool! is that not easier?
Sometimes I single pedal a track forward, sometimes things are right for the counter pedals. Sometimes it is single pedal one back. As you get used to the feels, you will note what seems just about effortless and also look back and see how much each turn tears up the ground.
It is not a coincidence that the turn that disturbs the least dirt is also the easiest on the machine.

Feels like butter melting. It's effortless. It took me a couple of attempts but works flawlessly. Also, you're right sometimes for a slight shift I'll still hit the one pedal thing.