Anyone know anything about bobcats? (skidsteers)

hscrugby

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Location
Raleigh, NC
I rented a bobcat for the nice long weekend.
Figured plenty of time to move some trees, and finish tearing up my yard properly.

Well, it made a "strange" noise, warning light came on, but didn't shut off. Used it a bit more, then shut it off, hopped out did some stuff came back, and the hydraulics won't engage.
It has an "error" indicator:
"General warning. This comes from updated software on the controller but not on the advanced displays so they do not know they correct error."


Not very helpful, mucked with it a bit, disconnected, reconnected hydraulic lines no luck. Opened the motor compartment, and it looks like it sprayed either oil or dirty hydraulic fluid all over.
Ugh.
I can't even figure out how to check the hydraulic fluid to see if it's low.

(Mainly just ranting at this point, since I now have paid for a bobcat until Monday that I can't use)
 
Well, after looking, and using some common sense, I think it's actually oil.
NOT hydraulic fluid. And it's just the bobcat being smart thinking, "if you can't use the hydraulics, you won't do anything stupid like keep using it"
Ugh.
But I did check the oil, and that level is fine. Oh well. Time to sit on my bum and drink beer for the long weekend. :D

http://picasaweb.google.com/chris.humphries/BadBobcat#


alh6.ggpht.com__jjMQi4Y0I9w_SS8XKtd87gI_AAAAAAAABzs_LaOtwalTl14_s400_IMGP1837.JPG
 
You try kicking it? I see you already went the "unplug it and plug it back in" route.

Looks like that oil's been there for a little while.
 
braxton357 said:
You try kicking it? I see you already went the "unplug it and plug it back in" route.

Looks like that oil's been there for a little while.
Click to expand...

Nah, that oil is at most only there since I've been running it.
Aka since this morning.
The tree spade thing I've got has a seperate control panel, and uses clips to hook to the battery. So I have to open it, and clip it on to use it.
I used it yesterday afternoon, and unclipped it to make the light go off. And it was not covered in oil then.

Kind of bad pictures, but it gets the point across.
Mainly just annoyed I spend 500$ for renting it and the tree spade, and won't be able to use it.
Hopefully they'll make good by it come Monday. But we'll see.
I mean, I'd think they would appreciate me not "rigging" it to make it work and destroying the engine completely or something.
Who knows.
 
I agree that doesn't look like fresh oil. A similar thing happened to my walker mower which is driven by two hydraulic motors. For me, the hydraulics were fine but a belt attached to the wheel motor was slack. Basically a tension spring had come lose and cut all drive hydraulic power. I know a mower is a lot simpler than a bobcat. just a thought.
 
on November 12th i killed a 35-40 lb. bobcat at my hunting lease. I had never seen one that big, and im getting it mounted. It was not skid-steer.
 
Sounds electrical,

Don't mess with it if you do something wrong & make it worse you will be responsable for the damages. The hydraulics & electronics on heavy equipment are very expensive. The rental company have the hours of the machine when it was rented explain the issue & they will make it right.
 
Jeff B said:
Sounds electrical,
Don't mess with it if you do something wrong & make it worse you will be responsable for the damages. The hydraulics & electronics on heavy equipment are very expensive. The rental company have the hours of the machine when it was rented explain the issue & they will make it right.
Click to expand...
Yea, only problem is, since I was renting it over a long weekend, I had plenty of time. So even if I can get another weekend, I'll only have it 2 days, best case. (granted same hours, but I tend to stop a lot and do other stuff.)
 
bobcats have a green or yellow push button at your upper left hand panel that should be the hyrdaulic release. well, actually it just releases the solenoid that locks the hyd. system (similar to a cummins feul shut down). this solenoid can also be mechanically released with the park brake pedal. the hyd. lock out engages each time you raise the safety bar or shut down the machine...sometimes i'll go through spells when my machines will only work by the pedal release...no idea why

i'm with the crowd on the oil inside the door...it looks old. also looks like somebody had that machine on its side:lol:
 
most rental yards have a 24 hour number you can call and they will send out a service tech usually within a few hours. I had several problems with the bobcat I rented to work on the trails and they came out and fixed it. They even gave me an extra day for free since i had problems with it.
 
99ncxj said:
most rental yards have a 24 hour number you can call and they will send out a service tech usually within a few hours. I had several problems with the bobcat I rented to work on the trails and they came out and fixed it. They even gave me an extra day for free since i had problems with it.
Click to expand...
Yea, cept over the holidays no one answered it. :(
and since they are closed, it's how I'm paying for "one day" and getting it until Monday.
Blah. If they fix it and let me "keep it" a few days, I won't be able to touch it again until next Thursday at the earliest, so that wouldn't help me much.
small45 said:
bobcats have a green or yellow push button at your upper left hand panel that should be the hyrdaulic release. well, actually it just releases the solenoid that locks the hyd. system (similar to a cummins feul shut down). this solenoid can also be mechanically released with the park brake pedal. the hyd. lock out engages each time you raise the safety bar or shut down the machine...sometimes i'll go through spells when my machines will only work by the pedal release...no idea why
i'm with the crowd on the oil inside the door...it looks old. also looks like somebody had that machine on its side:lol:
Click to expand...
I tried the release button, it works, since it does what it's supposed to and kills the engine if it's running, and then releases the pressure. The park brake on this one is a switch up top too. Tried flipping that on and off. (I've pushed every damn button in it :D )

As for the oil, The pic is misleading. It is new oil. I mean, it might always do that, and they had wiped it off before I got the thing, but there was NO OIL on that trunk, hood, cover, door whatever yesterday when I disconnected the tree spade. Today I was just using the combo bucket, and it made a noise, and the auxiliary hydraulics cut out. (I can still lift the arms) I just can't use the grapple on the bucket, or the tree spade. And since it's obviously not happy, I'm nervous about using it, and causing real damage.
I don't want to buy a bobcat with a blown engine.

Why do you think it was laid on it's side? I actually thought this one was in pretty good shape?
 
:bounce2:Hey if you get an extra few days I'm free during the day I'll be happy to operate it for you:bounce2:
 
small45 said:
bobcats have a green or yellow push button at your upper left hand panel that should be the hyrdaulic release. well, actually it just releases the solenoid that locks the hyd. system (similar to a cummins feul shut down). this solenoid can also be mechanically released with the park brake pedal. the hyd. lock out engages each time you raise the safety bar or shut down the machine...sometimes i'll go through spells when my machines will only work by the pedal release...no idea why
i'm with the crowd on the oil inside the door...it looks old. also looks like somebody had that machine on its side:lol:
Click to expand...

Yeah, the oil inside the door is classic bobcat motor oil. The dipstick can shake loose then the machine can spray motor oil all over... great fun.

Hydraulic fluid has a dipstick on the reservior, you'll see it as a fill cap a couple of feet above the fuel tank, dipstick should be right next to it (I'm pretty sure its the same side).

As for the "strange" noise, was it a whine, a grind, etc? It might give a hint at least. In the cab towards the front you should find a couple of studs with nuts on them, the nuts hold the cab down on the body. Take them off and lift up the cab to see most of the hydraulic lines.

Given what you say, if you can still run some hydraulic functions and the motor still runs well then I'd guess its a hydraulic problem rather than electric. May have lost a pump/motor/hose/hardline. If you have fresh hydraulic fluid, look for your highest point where you see fluid, add more fluid and look for where it comes out when you try to use the accessory functions.

Sorry I can't be of more help, sucks to have a machine down.

Edit: I too am curious why this machine has been on its side...

Double edit: The thing is, if it was a hydraulic leak and you were getting a low fluid warning, you'd see a LOT of fluid and the machine would whine like crazy even when you try to move it. Be doubly sure the engine is in good shape before you run it to troubleshoot the hydraulics.
 
Archdukeferdinand said:
Yeah, the oil inside the door is classic bobcat motor oil. The dipstick can shake loose then the machine can spray motor oil all over... great fun.

Hydraulic fluid has a dipstick on the reservior, you'll see it as a fill cap a couple of feet above the fuel tank, dipstick should be right next to it (I'm pretty sure its the same side).

As for the "strange" noise, was it a whine, a grind, etc? It might give a hint at least. In the cab towards the front you should find a couple of studs with nuts on them, the nuts hold the cab down on the body. Take them off and lift up the cab to see most of the hydraulic lines.
Click to expand...
I checked the oil at the dipstick, so not sure if that was loose or not. (Since I pulled it out? Maybe it was?)
As for the "strange noise" it's hard to describe. It was kind of like if it was running and making the noise of a Jetta TDI then suddenly it shaked a little and was making the noise of a huge dozer or something.
It did it once for about 15 seconds, then the second time for about 30 seconds. RPMs hadn't changed either time since I was using the hand throttle thing.

I checked under the hydraulic oil cap, and didn't see anything to check the level. (It's on the opposite side of the fuel tank. :) )
I might go out and dork with it a little today, but with my luck, i'd get it fixed at like 6. Then it's raining tomorrow and sunday.
:(

blah.
 
hscrugby said:
I checked the oil at the dipstick, so not sure if that was loose or not. (Since I pulled it out? Maybe it was?)
As for the "strange noise" it's hard to describe. It was kind of like if it was running and making the noise of a Jetta TDI then suddenly it shaked a little and was making the noise of a huge dozer or something.
It did it once for about 15 seconds, then the second time for about 30 seconds. RPMs hadn't changed either time since I was using the hand throttle thing.
I checked under the hydraulic oil cap, and didn't see anything to check the level. (It's on the opposite side of the fuel tank. :) )
I might go out and dork with it a little today, but with my luck, i'd get it fixed at like 6. Then it's raining tomorrow and sunday.
:(
blah.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm at home the machine is at work so everything's coming from memory :flipoff2: The dipstick on ours is next to the hydraulic fill cap.

Either way, after thinking about it I'd say just leave it be. Even checking for a leak would require filling the reservior, and if you don't have bobcat fluid on hand you could cause a warranty issue for the rental company. SAE 30 motor oil works perfectly well as bobcat fluid, but since they're already gonna look at it you'd hate for them to try and say it was the non bobcat fluid that caused the problem. If its old enough to not be under warranty and you've practiced the phrase "that could have been ANYONE that rented this machine" enough that you say it convincingly, go for it

Nah, as has been said the rental company will take care of you, you'll still get to use a working machine at some point.
 
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