Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Just for you, to keep ya coming back for more:bounce::bounce::bounce:

http://youtu.be/EnaMTkVFJfk

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Wow yup I love it lol. I want to build a custom trailer a wanted a huge low boy but I'm loving the ease of operation in this.

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Just listened to weather, more snow possibly end of week. Hopefully this will be last snow of season. The backyard pit faces south so hopefully I can get some stick time on the new controls of the cat. Got her painted and starting to put together.
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3kqk8tsv.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...pszt3i5mxu.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0athapnt.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...psnaemq9xq.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...psxzolf4bf.jpg

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Trailer looks good, works amazing! Need to have the driver get out and lay some step lumber down so he doesn't abuse the equipment getting on and off!:p:p:lol::lol::D
Paint on the excavator is looking good too.;)

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

You'll have plenty of stick time down South in York.

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Looking very good coop great job

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

The weather for me has taken a turn for the worse too, snowing the last 3days, got about 6" of slushy wet snow everywhere. :(

Good looking start on the 345 paint job. :cool:

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

We might be about 1500 miles apart but keep getting the same weather:(. Lol!!!

Got most things done today and just got back from dinner so much wanting to lounge on the couch but had to keep playing!! Have some bolts to paint and need to make some decals but for the most part she is close to done. Have to put a little shine on the hood too.
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...psc6ueodap.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9mzvjben.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...ps872krpom.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3olwtykf.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...pskqaobm5n.jpg


The old orange for color comparison, I had a pea green back drop (old sheet) and it throws the color off. The paint I had on hand was same I used on dozer. It's old cat yellow.
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6dvvdntw.jpg

http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...psd6owckka.jpg
And a side by side with the d11. It may be a bit big on scale size for the 349 but the cabs look close to scale. I ended up chopping an inch or so off bottom of cab to get more 1:14 scale.

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Hope to be somewhat use to different stick controls. Changed to cat controls. Or be aware of rookie loading trucks:).

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

My cell phone rarely opens pictures on this site anymore and I don't know why. Sometimes I can click on the question mark and it takes me to photobucket but not yours. Drives me nuts because I can't see all the wicked updates! I'm sure it looks great RW! I'll be checking this as soon as I can get near my home computer.

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Don't worry reg, it's company paint, purple with Stars and Stripes and a big RCP decal on back :)!!!

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Perfect! I love purple!lol Thanks for hooking me up.;) Got my fix and I can sleep easy tonight now!

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

I just swiped a new can of cat yellow from work today!!!
rw you can load my dump truck @ York I not scared of rookie loaders

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

I hope to start getting some descent weather. I don't want to have it down there with no time to get bugs worked out. Need to program some curves for the track motors. Too touchy and too fast. Have to center valves and end stops. Want to add some curves for down boom. And have too big of a pump in it so have to find that right speed vs flow for just the right amount of digging power. I also have the track esc that have a brake setting-want to be able to lock the tracks for a little more break out force instead of having it roll like before. Don't want too much that it will just pull machine. Kind of like what joe has done with setting his up. Only he actually did the math and I will do the redneck way,, dig, adjust, dig , change, mess something up, not know what I'm doing, try the math, fail, dig some more, get mad/frustrated, read something that makes sense wishing I would have done that to start with and then set it up right. :). That way I'll have it working well by the time I'm around someone else that knows :). And have some scratches and paint missing.

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Very Niceeeeee job coop amazing

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Ok I've had a sloppy old machine digging around live gas lines, hook up electrical distribution boxes live and have been aware of situations but trying to get the decals on square and flat has my nerves playing a game of finger football!!! Had to take a brake after the two side and back decals!! Have two on boom and the little fake tail light decals to do.
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...psoh8kaw9y.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...pskbq6tl7g.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2gomw6iu.jpg

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Thats some amazing work right there..

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...psihicz5df.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...pstv98fr9c.jpg

And both side boom decals.

Done, on to the next one :). Now the not so fun part of dialing in the rx/tx controls. I'm also working on side extension boards for the trailer, I glued two layers together hoping to achieve the right arch to match the trailer camber. I was close but not perfect, about 1/8" above in front and back. When I'm sorting them I will keep weight on them and someday they may lay flat matching trailer.

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

The decals look great Cooper, now we need to see it on that masterpiece of a trailer!

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

As soon as I get the side boards done I'll make a video. I'm also working on printing a plate to house the servo that will unlock the fith wheel on the truck. Then it will be completely lounge chair approved!!! (With cup holder). :lol::lol::lol:

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

I was wondering why you had to reach down and unlatch the fifth wheel in the video you did, I had a hard time not making a comment at the time :cop::lol:

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Do you have a rpm tester(mechanical or electronic)? 4500rpm

And I set the pressure to 18bar, that's plenty of power to dig loose soil with 14mm pistons & the 42lbs model won't move.

And no mix on the valves with the pump, just turn the pump on & leave it to run one constant speed.

Caterpillar controls are bass ackwards, JD controls are best. ;) :D

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Blahh blahhh blahh JD controls,,,,,, lol!!! I'm a cat man!!!

Yes, I was planning on having the pump run a constant speed. I do have it on a switch for off/on then use one of the dial pots to change speed for different situations. I haven't messed with best pressure yet, I know the cylinders, hoses and such will handle much more pressure than needed. I didn't really understand exactly the flow/pressure of these pumps so figured get the bigger one. They are really great pumps but I should have got the smaller flow one. Couple things I've been wanting to get I don't have, one- rpm sensor and two- a servo tester. Both aren't expensive and I'm bass ackwards when it comes to that stuff, don't hesitate to get some expensive tool but contemplate on the cheep small stuff?!?! Go figure! I'll let ya know where I end up with rpm and pressure /relief. Thanks joe.

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...psnjx46grs.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3tjrmpzb.jpg
Got the truck servo hooked up. Pic s above are the hitch locked and unlocked. Didn't try it with truck yet. :)

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Looks like should work fine. Time for some armchair truckin'

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Almost, it works pretty good. I started taming the excavator rx controls. Before I did that I had to drive up on trailer with the ex, side boards are a must !!! Not much room for touchy controls driving up the neck.



Hey joe , I just sent ya an email about pump if ya have an idea would appreciate it :).

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

http://youtu.be/ZQ2fhhMkTsY

Here is a video of a problem I'm encountering.
The valve center has been established and messed with so it's not drifting because of not being centered.

I completely disassembled the cylinder to check piston and shaft seals and replaced with new.

When I reattached the cylinder I worked all air out with temporary lines hooked up into glass of oil, then turned on pump to squirt oil out of lines before attaching to make sure air was purged completely from system.

I am currently hooking another spare cylinder up to valve to completely eliminate the lines, hard lines, and cylinder in question to see if it does same thing. Trying to trouble shoot everything before tearing apart valve. As that's the last thing I want to do, I've never taken one apart and don't know about seals inside or what sizes let alone having a spare if it isn't damaged and I damage it from removal.

In the video you can hear the squealing I'm referring to. I originally thought it was gears between motor and pump but now I'm thinking it is just oil being pumped. When I started it up this morning it was gone but returned. And if I'm getting air sucked into system I would surly think oil would be leaking out also. I have no leaks anywhere, valve, hoses, fittings, cylinder, all dry.

What do you guys think? Valve seal? I'll post up again on results of swapping cylinder out to see if it does same.

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

I was having a similar problem with the bucket cylinder on my loader and it turned of to be a bad o ring on the piston letting the oil blow by. It wood move but had no power and I had no leaks on the cylinder at that time. Hop this helps

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

That's what I was thinking originally, I replaced piston seal and it still does it. In the process of using a different cylinder to see if it does it with that one. I didn't check piston , possibly I made a mistake in the manufacturing of the piston. But when I had it apart I worked the piston in the cylinder and it created a lot of resistance when line was sealed so I think the cylinder is good. ??

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Cooper as a quick guess I would say it's the piston seal or o'ring. Take the cylinder apart and my bet is you'll find the culprit. If it was a valve seal you'd have to push all the oil out of the cylinder back through the valve to the tank. You're not getting that much resistance so it's a short bypass meaning some where in the cylinder.
Also pretty sure it's the bypass valve that's making all the squealing noise too. That's why the pitch changes with speed, it's the volume of oil going through it that resonates the relief spring and ball!
Rob

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

I had the same issue with my 4200.
it would do the same as yours dose in the video. I spent ages on the valve , centring it and scratching my head.
I had a spare new ram , swapped it out and problem gone, stripped old ram and found the seal worn and letting oil flow around it, ram would move but under load it had no power.

cheers andy

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Ok I swapped stick cylinder out and used the one I had for the failed dump project. No way was I going to hold that from extending or retracting by hand. And when valve centered I couldn't move it. So thanks for the input guys, I am pretty sure it's not the valve. No on to next thing, maybe I had used the wrong piston to start with. I know I made a few to try and dial in the right size. Not like I could find directions on what diameter piston to make :). It's not much but if it's off a few hundredths it may be just what's going on. Not sealing against cylinder inner wall or piston groove. Might even make a double ring piston this time if I have room. I doubt that I would have honed the cylinder too much. Kind of funny thing as I remember adding a couple washers to the end of piston to act as a stop so stick arm didn't bottom out on boom. And was supposta make new one to eliminate washers. Well I am now. Tear apart cylinder again and have to get the calipers out and check what size piston I have in there. I do believe I wrote down dimensions on the is project. Never wrote anything down (that wasn't on dry erase board) when I built dozer, regret that :).

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

My pump sorta sounds like with no valve movement, but my pressure is set much lower than yours. You're at 350psi, I'm at 252psi.

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Combination of two things I think. Piston is not right size to seal well with ring. And the piston is allowing oil to flow from bolt holding it on, and then between piston id and shaft that piston slides over. Basically the bolt holding it on was loose and those washers are bad. And I m pretty sure I grabbed one of the wrong pistons when assembling.

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Ok put the cylinder back together with original piston, this time I removed the two washers I had on end and replaced with washer with rubber backing. Will prevent any leakage from bolt hole through piston. And it works now!! And to think I was thinking of getting into that valve assembly. Thanks for the input guys, helped a lot!!!

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Haven't had any stupid animal pics lately so,,,,

I don't think I impressed these two worthless clowns, only reason they came out to garage is wife is away and it's feeding time. !!!!!!

http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...pspe4hmczp.jpg
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...psfuemttqe.jpg

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Cool I'm glad you got it fixed so we can see some good vids that shovel looks amazing by the way good job����

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

Thanks, I'm tempted to go get a skidsteer scoop of screenings and dump in garage floor. Snow on ground again and weather looks to be cold again :(. I need that material for placing under deck anyway. Humm may just be the indoor climate controlled digging experience I need on the new controls. :) :)

Re: Great Dane excavating co.
 

I would just put some plastic down and go for it. Then again never mind the plastic and just leave the dirt there for winters to come!!