RanchTX
Member
So I just bought a 2011 Cat 305.5D CR with 3800 hours from a municipal water department. It was on auction and inspections weren't allowed, thanks COVID. The price was too good to pass up, so I bought it.
Now that I've been playing with it, there are two big issues. One is that the swing seems kind of weak. Corresponding with that is overswing when fully loaded. The machine will swing anywhere from a quarter to half turn too far once the joystick is returned to neutral. I'm guessing I'm having an issue with pressure settings on the cross-over relief valves on the top of the swing motor?
Second, there is significant play between the swing bearing, 1.2 inches to be exact. When I was running it, it didn't matter how stable or level the ground I was on, it felt like I was on uneven ground and shaky. That's when I took it back to the shop and could visibly see the gap when lifting the cab up off the ground by the boom. That's when I put a dial indicator on it and had to take a double-take when I was seeing 1.2 inches. I reckon that could also be the possible source of the somewhat weak swing I was experiencing.
The machine came with an 18-inch bucket, with the teeth missing and the bottom portion of the bucket was literally ripping away from the sides, despite what appeared to be them being welded back once already. I assume the cause of this, along with the worn-out swing bearing, was the water department guys probably trying to pop up chunks of concrete on roads, etc when trying to access water pipes and that was an extreme load on such a small machine. Compound that repeated hell on the machine over a couple thousand hours and here we are.
With all that said, if I were to delve into the swing motor and fix it and replace the swing bearing, is there any other 2nd and 3rd order effects I may be missing from such abuse over the life of the machine or it is likely confined to the issues I have found?
I own a Cat 304C CR and a John Deere 230C LC, so I have a good frame of reference to compare this machine to, especially to my 304. This 305 is real strong everywhere else, hydraulically speaking and from the little time I've spent on it, will run circles around the 304, which is only slightly smaller. The motor looks good too.
Just wondering if it's worth being a fixer-upper or I should just slap a for sale sign on it and cut my losses?
Now that I've been playing with it, there are two big issues. One is that the swing seems kind of weak. Corresponding with that is overswing when fully loaded. The machine will swing anywhere from a quarter to half turn too far once the joystick is returned to neutral. I'm guessing I'm having an issue with pressure settings on the cross-over relief valves on the top of the swing motor?
Second, there is significant play between the swing bearing, 1.2 inches to be exact. When I was running it, it didn't matter how stable or level the ground I was on, it felt like I was on uneven ground and shaky. That's when I took it back to the shop and could visibly see the gap when lifting the cab up off the ground by the boom. That's when I put a dial indicator on it and had to take a double-take when I was seeing 1.2 inches. I reckon that could also be the possible source of the somewhat weak swing I was experiencing.
The machine came with an 18-inch bucket, with the teeth missing and the bottom portion of the bucket was literally ripping away from the sides, despite what appeared to be them being welded back once already. I assume the cause of this, along with the worn-out swing bearing, was the water department guys probably trying to pop up chunks of concrete on roads, etc when trying to access water pipes and that was an extreme load on such a small machine. Compound that repeated hell on the machine over a couple thousand hours and here we are.
With all that said, if I were to delve into the swing motor and fix it and replace the swing bearing, is there any other 2nd and 3rd order effects I may be missing from such abuse over the life of the machine or it is likely confined to the issues I have found?
I own a Cat 304C CR and a John Deere 230C LC, so I have a good frame of reference to compare this machine to, especially to my 304. This 305 is real strong everywhere else, hydraulically speaking and from the little time I've spent on it, will run circles around the 304, which is only slightly smaller. The motor looks good too.
Just wondering if it's worth being a fixer-upper or I should just slap a for sale sign on it and cut my losses?
