Problem with unit hopping or have a chatter when beginning to dig

rhittle · Oct 26, 2014

I have had skid steers and compact loaders for nearly 35 years. I've had most brands but the primary units I have owned has been Bobcat. I'm retired from my landscape company now but I bought a T250 Bobcat to piddle around with. I'm having a problem that when I drop the bucket and start to dig, I get a hop or a chatter and it gets more violent the faster I push. I have had a small amount of this problem with other units but not enough to be a major problem. If I start scraping or digging very slow, with the T250, and continue very slow I can eliminate the hop. I also have a T200 that I have no problem with. Has anyone any idea what causes this or how to remedy the hop?

antfarmer2 · Oct 26, 2014

Check your fluid leval and filters......,..could have a seal sucking air

antfarmer2 · Oct 26, 2014

antfarmer2 said:
Check your fluid leval and filters......,..could have a seal sucking air

Is it in float?

Bobcatdan · Oct 26, 2014

antfarmer2 said:
Is it in float?

Probably need new tracks. Some track machines are so bad, it will rattle teeth you didn't know you had.

rhittle · Oct 28, 2014

Bobcatdan said:
Probably need new tracks. Some track machines are so bad, it will rattle teeth you didn't know you had.

Thanks to all of you. I will check the filter and fluid level but the dealer I bought it from had serviced in March and it sat at their dealership for a long time. I just got it about 10 days ago. I'm sure it's not the tracks. That is an entirely different shake. I have probably had a few dozen skid steers and compact loaders. I have two of my own and our company has 31 right now. I have had some of them have a small amount of the the chatter or surge or lunging. Not sure what to call it. But it was minimal compared to this one. I had a 752 about 30 years ago that was bad about this but can't remember what the dealer did to fix it. It was brand new when I bought it and it started doing the chatter right off the bat. I can work with this machine but I have to start with the idle way down and once I get the bucket digging or scraping I can raise the rpm's. If i had a foot throttle like some of our cat machines it wouldn't be near as much problem. I do remember that I had a T200 that had this problem but not this bad but, it was low on fluid and when I topped it off it took most of the lunging away so that might be it. Thanks again Ron H

antfarmer2 · Oct 28, 2014

rhittle said:
Thanks to all of you. I will check the filter and fluid level but the dealer I bought it from had serviced in March and it sat at their dealership for a long time. I just got it about 10 days ago. I'm sure it's not the tracks. That is an entirely different shake. I have probably had a few dozen skid steers and compact loaders. I have two of my own and our company has 31 right now. I have had some of them have a small amount of the the chatter or surge or lunging. Not sure what to call it. But it was minimal compared to this one. I had a 752 about 30 years ago that was bad about this but can't remember what the dealer did to fix it. It was brand new when I bought it and it started doing the chatter right off the bat. I can work with this machine but I have to start with the idle way down and once I get the bucket digging or scraping I can raise the rpm's. If i had a foot throttle like some of our cat machines it wouldn't be near as much problem. I do remember that I had a T200 that had this problem but not this bad but, it was low on fluid and when I topped it off it took most of the lunging away so that might be it. Thanks again Ron H

Work it around to get any air out

reaperman · Oct 30, 2014

rhittle said:
Thanks to all of you. I will check the filter and fluid level but the dealer I bought it from had serviced in March and it sat at their dealership for a long time. I just got it about 10 days ago. I'm sure it's not the tracks. That is an entirely different shake. I have probably had a few dozen skid steers and compact loaders. I have two of my own and our company has 31 right now. I have had some of them have a small amount of the the chatter or surge or lunging. Not sure what to call it. But it was minimal compared to this one. I had a 752 about 30 years ago that was bad about this but can't remember what the dealer did to fix it. It was brand new when I bought it and it started doing the chatter right off the bat. I can work with this machine but I have to start with the idle way down and once I get the bucket digging or scraping I can raise the rpm's. If i had a foot throttle like some of our cat machines it wouldn't be near as much problem. I do remember that I had a T200 that had this problem but not this bad but, it was low on fluid and when I topped it off it took most of the lunging away so that might be it. Thanks again Ron H

I'm not doubting your ability or knowledge of skid steers. What it sounds like to me is your breaking traction. I dont know what size machines you have used in the past, but I remember going from a T200 to a T250. The first thing I noticed was the increase in HP with the 250. More hp meant easier spinning, especial when pulling dirt in reverse. When you try and pull too much dirt, the 250 will chatter. I learned quickly that by easing the machine into piles it pushes and keeps pushing. When trying to push too fast, it only breaks traction. The 250 is a beast, it doesn't ask questions, and does what its told!

rhittle · Oct 31, 2014

reaperman said:
I'm not doubting your ability or knowledge of skid steers. What it sounds like to me is your breaking traction. I dont know what size machines you have used in the past, but I remember going from a T200 to a T250. The first thing I noticed was the increase in HP with the 250. More hp meant easier spinning, especial when pulling dirt in reverse. When you try and pull too much dirt, the 250 will chatter. I learned quickly that by easing the machine into piles it pushes and keeps pushing. When trying to push too fast, it only breaks traction. The 250 is a beast, it doesn't ask questions, and does what its told!

Breaking traction isn't the problem. The problems starts before I put any significant power to the operation I'm doing. For example, yesterday I was grading the gravel driveways in the local cemetery. I was using a unique leveling tool we made that might look something like you would see on ball diamonds or grading horse arenas. It has a point in the front if I want to start doing a little light scraping on the middle hump of the drive. I would have to start with low rpms and go into the operation slowly and when I got a little momentum going I would increase the rpms. After scraping the hump out of the middle, I would begin spreading gravel with more finesse. Keep in mind I only have about a 6' wide 4" high iron bar that does the leveling. at times after gaining momentum the machine would start lunging again. Sometime I could increase the rpms and it would settle down but most times I would have to start all over. Never did I have enough material in the little scraper to break traction on a wheel loader let alone a track machine. Thanks! Ron H.

antfarmer2 · Oct 31, 2014

rhittle said:
Breaking traction isn't the problem. The problems starts before I put any significant power to the operation I'm doing. For example, yesterday I was grading the gravel driveways in the local cemetery. I was using a unique leveling tool we made that might look something like you would see on ball diamonds or grading horse arenas. It has a point in the front if I want to start doing a little light scraping on the middle hump of the drive. I would have to start with low rpms and go into the operation slowly and when I got a little momentum going I would increase the rpms. After scraping the hump out of the middle, I would begin spreading gravel with more finesse. Keep in mind I only have about a 6' wide 4" high iron bar that does the leveling. at times after gaining momentum the machine would start lunging again. Sometime I could increase the rpms and it would settle down but most times I would have to start all over. Never did I have enough material in the little scraper to break traction on a wheel loader let alone a track machine. Thanks! Ron H.

Could it be sucking air into the hydro system?

reaperman · Oct 31, 2014

rhittle said:
Breaking traction isn't the problem. The problems starts before I put any significant power to the operation I'm doing. For example, yesterday I was grading the gravel driveways in the local cemetery. I was using a unique leveling tool we made that might look something like you would see on ball diamonds or grading horse arenas. It has a point in the front if I want to start doing a little light scraping on the middle hump of the drive. I would have to start with low rpms and go into the operation slowly and when I got a little momentum going I would increase the rpms. After scraping the hump out of the middle, I would begin spreading gravel with more finesse. Keep in mind I only have about a 6' wide 4" high iron bar that does the leveling. at times after gaining momentum the machine would start lunging again. Sometime I could increase the rpms and it would settle down but most times I would have to start all over. Never did I have enough material in the little scraper to break traction on a wheel loader let alone a track machine. Thanks! Ron H.

How many hours are on this machine?

rhittle · Nov 3, 2014

reaperman said:
How many hours are on this machine?

I only have 2300 hrs on this machine.

Tazza · Nov 3, 2014

rhittle said:
I only have 2300 hrs on this machine.

Being a tracked machine, could it be the drive motors?
I'd like to replace the hub oil and check for metal in it.

calypso428 · Nov 4, 2014

Tazza said:
Being a tracked machine, could it be the drive motors?
I'd like to replace the hub oil and check for metal in it.

Im getting ready to do mine when I change out the front idler... What oil do I need to buy? It just says high quality synthetic, but what weight? Is it something I can buy at autozone, and how much of it ?

Tazza · Nov 4, 2014

calypso428 said:
Im getting ready to do mine when I change out the front idler... What oil do I need to buy? It just says high quality synthetic, but what weight? Is it something I can buy at autozone, and how much of it ?

It is a full synthetic oil, i'd buy it from the dealer as if it is not right, you have killed an expensive drive motor....
Other members have found something they feel was correct, but is it worth the risk?

rhittle · Nov 5, 2014

Tazza said:
Being a tracked machine, could it be the drive motors?
I'd like to replace the hub oil and check for metal in it.

The filters where just changed and there were no signs of metal but, I'm going to drain it and check closer.

antfarmer2 · Nov 5, 2014

rhittle said:
The filters where just changed and there were no signs of metal but, I'm going to drain it and check closer.

I belive what they are talking about is not connected to any filters just hi dollar oil in the hub

Tazza · Nov 5, 2014

antfarmer2 said:
I belive what they are talking about is not connected to any filters just hi dollar oil in the hub

Antfarmer is right, this oil is in a different part of the motor that is held in place with seals. They lubricate a bearing that if it was to fail, takes the motor out, that is when you get metal in the case drain filters, not before.
This setup is unlike a machine with tyres, they have oil flowing around all moving parts supplied from the main hydraulic system.

rhittle · Nov 6, 2014

Tazza said:
Antfarmer is right, this oil is in a different part of the motor that is held in place with seals. They lubricate a bearing that if it was to fail, takes the motor out, that is when you get metal in the case drain filters, not before.
This setup is unlike a machine with tyres, they have oil flowing around all moving parts supplied from the main hydraulic system.

Sounds like something I'd better check. I had the cab up on my T250 yesterday and was thinking about my first Bobcat, which was over 35 years ago. It was an 825. They sure have gotten much more complicated over the years. Especially electronically. Thanks, Ron H

siduramaxde · Nov 25, 2014

rhittle said:
Sounds like something I'd better check. I had the cab up on my T250 yesterday and was thinking about my first Bobcat, which was over 35 years ago. It was an 825. They sure have gotten much more complicated over the years. Especially electronically. Thanks, Ron H

I think I would check the shock absorbers on your steering linkage. If you lift the cab you should see a couple shocks that are attached to the steering linkage. On my T200 they were bad and I would get the same chatter when digging. New shocks took care of the problem. If I remember right, Bobcat has a kit to install 2 shocks on each linkage (4 total).

Problem with unit hopping or have a chatter when beginning to dig

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