CAT 963 Full Hydraulic Build

[rockNmayhem]

Well many of you guys may remember the Cat tracked loader that Brian had built. I recently acquired it and have started to do some fiddling with it. When I received it the genius people at the post office couldn't read every single side of the box that said which way was up and the model was left upside down to let all the hydraulic fluid leak out. Brian did and excellent job of packing it but there was still a good amount of leakage. Anyways I started to tear into it like a kid at christmas and found all the inner workings were in tact and about ready to go. First things first I cleaned it up and got all the fluid off of the electronics and dried everything out for the night and then broke into it again the next day.

Well in the process a couple of lines were pulled off so I got them back on and fired up the motor with my new esc installed and decided to see what this loader could do. Well to my surprise the bucket worked flawlessly dumping but was a little slow going up so I bled it both directions and it helped it out. Next was onto the arm rams. Now here is where I started to hit a problem.

I began lifting the arm and it got almost all the way up then stalled. I figured I had some air in them as well so I cracked the return lines at the time and got the arms all the way up. I rehooked up the lines and started to send the arm down when all of a sudden I realized it had stopped and all the fluid was pouring out the front seal of the right arm. I couldn't believe it. I didn't have that much pressure behind it and it started leaking. So I tinkered with the pressure and no matter how low I set it through my esc I still had a leak.

Well anyways after spending a few days thinking about it I decided instead of contacting the original mfg of the hydraulic cylinders I would just take time and build my own. So now that we are caught up to today I finally got some time to start on my own setup. Anyways here are a few pics of todays progress on one of the arm cylinders. Now I'm not sure how many seals other models have in their cylinders but I decided to go with four simply to have insurance that I would have no leaks.

I started out by simply making the new cylinder cap and creating o-ring grooves by building multiple layers with offsetting sizes to press fit in and seal up tight on the shaft.





I then took a small c-clamp and mounted it into a small vise and used it as a small arbor press. I am pressing all five pieces together to build the cap in this picture.



Once all the pieces were pressed together I installed the two o-rings in the end cap. There is an inner oil seal and an outer dust seal just inside the front face to keep debris out of the cylinder itself and to help protect the shaft a bit better.



I then turned out a shaft for the cylinder and over sized it by just a few thousandths so I was guaranteed a good seal.







Once I polished up the ram itself and threaded both ends I started making the inner sealing rings and mounted the assembly up to the ram.



My final part for today was cutting the body of the cylinder and honing and polishing the inside so I get a good seal all the way and make sure that the ram slides smoothly while still sealing both directions. I added a little oil to both sides of the ram and pulled it both directions to find out that my seals were holding up and I had no leaks.





Now all I have left to do is build the back cap and assemble the cylinder and hook lines to it. I hope to be able to run these rams up to the 165psi I was getting out of the pump without having anything blow out.

Hope you guys like the progress so far and I hope to have some more updates soon. I really plan on having this done and running good by St. Louis so if all goes well I believe that it may be possible to have it working by next weekend.

Thanks for looking.

Tyler

[dabears]

Looks good! Wish I had the tools and equipment to make stuff like that!

[rockNmayhem]

Got a little time to work on the loader lastnight so here are some new pics. I cut the back out to make room for a cooling fan to keep the pump and electronics cool inside the closed model. I also got the front trimmed out some more to stuff as much in the small space as I can. This little guy will be loaded when it's all done.

Heres some of my latest pics.







And here are a couple of the hydraulics that are gonna be powering this little machine.





Hope you guys like the progress.

Tyler

[Brian in PA]

looks great Tyler!! Your making me wish I wouldn't have sold it! nice job on the cylinder mods.

[rockNmayhem]

Hey Brian, I thank you for selling it and I'll keep it in good hands. Maybe if I ever get up to Indy or you make it to St. Louis you will get to operate it. I'm really hoping right now that I can get the new seals in that I need and get these cylinders done by next week and get it fully operational before St. Louis.

Tyler

[doodlebug]

Hey Tyler, any info on the hydraulic pump? Keep up the great work!

Cheer's, Neil.

[rockNmayhem]

Originally Posted by doodlebug

Hey Tyler, any info on the hydraulic pump? Keep up the great work!

Cheer's, Neil.

Hey Neil, the pump is made my a guy in spain. I haven't run it yet to get the cylinders to work but hopefully when my new ones are done I will be able to get some pressure readings off of it and let you know what kind of power output it has.

Now that I've got my radio setup to where the pump only runs when I actuate the servo's for the valves I'm not too worried about prolonged wear on the motor or excessive heat.

I can currently run the loader around on the floor with just the track drives and when I want to operate the pump I flip a switch and start toggling the right stick for the hydraulics and the pump runs.

I'm hoping to see about 140-160psi out of the pump at full power but that will be dictated a little later once everything is built.

Tyler

[rockNmayhem]

One thing I would like some input on is what should I use for hydraulic fluid?

I know the manufacturer of the pump and hydraulics recommends using antifreeze with this system but that is what was run in it before and it really made everything sticky and gummed up so I will not be going back with it for those two reasons alone.

I'm thinking I will probably just buy a quart of iso 32 hydraulic fluid due to the sheer fact that it is considered a 10wt oil and is should flow nicely and lubricate everything very well.

I was wondering what most of the hydraulic guys use around here and if I'm on the right track.

I also know I have some Lucas brand synthetic fork oil that is used for motorcycles at work and thought maybe that would be the way to go but I have no idea of it's properties or how it breaks down under high pressure and being forced through the hydraulic system and small valve ports.

Any advice or help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Tyler

[carp]

i use this http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...Id_255207#tab1

works well enough
[edit] its iso32

[doodlebug]

10wt should be just fine, that's what my full size Cat equipment run's.
Cheer's, Neil.

[Supermario]

Working on micro hydraulics looks so cool! I've worked on massive shovels and loaders which have huge cylinders, I wish at home , I could build and work on what you have . ..... I guess I can leave my 2 1/4 wrench at work for this stuff eh?

I have no kids, no college fund to worry bout. My plan was retire at 55 ....... now I got the RC truck bug and because of my career, it's only a matter of time before I have a shovel, dozer or loader of my own
My new plan is retire ?........someday..... Lol

Mario

[doodlebug]

Originally Posted by Supermario

Working on micro hydraulics looks so cool! I've worked on massive shovels and loaders which have huge cylinders, I wish at home , I could build and work on what you have . ..... I guess I can leave my 2 1/4 wrench at work for this stuff eh?

I have no kids, no college fund to worry bout. My plan was retire at 55 ....... now I got the RC truck bug and because of my career, it's only a matter of time before I have a shovel, dozer or loader of my own
My new plan is retire ?........someday..... Lol

Mario

Re-Tire-Ment, I go to the tire store, I buy New, I buy Used, I get flat's fixed, I buy recap's! Retirement It's a proven system
Cheer's, Neil.

[rockNmayhem]

It's time for an daily update with some progress. I got my new seals in today and decided I would spend some time assembling one of the cylinders and getting it built. I got everything buttoned up on it and stuck it in the loader just to see what I had and here are some pics of the results. Now only one more identical to this one and then on to the bucket ram then hopefully they all hold good pressure and operate smoothly and handle the pressure better than the original ones that came with this unit.

Anyways here are a few teaser pics from tonights progress.

Fully collapsed:



Fully extended:



And here are a few close ups of the attachment points.





I hope I can get the other one built sometime this weekend and have the model back together next week.

Lemme know what you guys think.

Tyler

[Brian in PA]

Looks great Tyler! Maybe you should start building cylinder kits?

[dabears]

They look great!

[RCP57]

They look great! If it works well you've come up with an easy way to make cylinders without a lot of tooling! What did you use for tubing and are the end caps soldered on?

Thanks, Reg

[Snochaser]

Nice Job as usual Tyler. Making it look easy.

[rockNmayhem]

Originally Posted by Brian in PA

Looks great Tyler! Maybe you should start building cylinder kits?

Brian if these cylinders hold up and work out I may just be able to replicate some of them for others if there was enought intrest.

Tyler

[rockNmayhem]

Originally Posted by dabears

They look great!

Originally Posted by Snochaser

Nice Job as usual Tyler. Making it look easy.

Thanks for the compliments guys. It keeps me goin even when these things take forever to build.

Tyler

[rockNmayhem]

Originally Posted by RCP57

They look great! If it works well you've come up with an easy way to make cylinders without a lot of tooling! What did you use for tubing and are the end caps soldered on?

Thanks, Reg

Everything on these cylinders are out of aluminum and the final product is pressed together for a tight seal. I have nothing soldered on but we will see how they hold up against the pressure that the pump is puttin out.

Thanks for the compliment.

Tyler