Help if you can! Track loader died with boom up in garden

[ylekyote]

I have a New Holland LT185b compact track loader that just died in after working her for about 2 hours. She hasn't done this before. Boom is up and I can't lock it out because the safety pin is halfway covered. I was going in reverse to dump a bucket and the dash lights flickered and she went off fast. I heard and smelt plastic smoldering under the rear engine access hatch but it went out as I fetched a fire extinguisher. It would not start or give me any electrical or power at all when I tried to restart. It's dark now so tomorrow I was gonna let her cool down and then check the fuses and get a ladder to see if I can see what smoldered. Any tips for securing the boom somehow for safety? Or for the running problem? This is my first construction machine and I use her for light ranch and gardening chores. Thanks!

 

[Mike10]

You will need to block or prop under the boom so it can not come down. You could also cut pieces of angle iron to place of the rod ends of the lift cylinders..........The smell is a bad sign. Most often when they shut down like that the 5 amp fuse in the engine compartment has blown. It is in the fuse block closest to the engine. If you have had a problem with one of the foot pedals locking up the solenoid for that function could short out and blow the fuse. Another cause would be if you have a short in the seat wiring harness caused by having stuff behind the seat.

 

[ylekyote]

You will need to block or prop under the boom so it can not come down. You could also cut pieces of angle iron to place of the rod ends of the lift cylinders..........The smell is a bad sign. Most often when they shut down like that the 5 amp fuse in the engine compartment has blown. It is in the fuse block closest to the engine. If you have had a problem with one of the foot pedals locking up the solenoid for that function could short out and blow the fuse. Another cause would be if you have a short in the seat wiring harness caused by having stuff behind the seat.

I'm going to put 6-8' round and square wood blocking between boom and the cab, boom and hydraulic arms, and also use same wood blocking to prop up front and rear of boom arms, vertically. I'll use some rachet straps to hold blocking in place. Best I can do, so far. Thanks for the leads I'll check all those this afternoon.

 

[ylekyote]

I'm going to put 6-8' round and square wood blocking between boom and the cab, boom and hydraulic arms, and also use same wood blocking to prop up front and rear of boom arms, vertically. I'll use some rachet straps to hold blocking in place. Best I can do, so far. Thanks for the leads I'll check all those this afternoon.

The cab does not flip off and over the motor. I have to access motor from the rear, through panels around seat, or through the bottom (under machine). I usually lift boom all the way up to remove rear side panels and open top panel to work on motor. I don't think there is a hydraulic release or override. I'll look to see. It's a New Holland LT185B track loader, 2006 year. Do you know if there is a way to lower the boom?

 

[Mike10]

The cab does not flip off and over the motor. I have to access motor from the rear, through panels around seat, or through the bottom (under machine). I usually lift boom all the way up to remove rear side panels and open top panel to work on motor. I don't think there is a hydraulic release or override. I'll look to see. It's a New Holland LT185B track loader, 2006 year. Do you know if there is a way to lower the boom?

I would block the boom so it can not fall. If you lower the boom it will make access even harder. The side panels can be removed without the boom being up. The only way to lower the boom is to slightly open a fitting at the lift cylinder and let the oil leak out. Do not remove the fitting, just loosen it.​

 

[ylekyote]

I would block the boom so it can not fall. If you lower the boom it will make access even harder. The side panels can be removed without the boom being up. The only way to lower the boom is to slightly open a fitting at the lift cylinder and let the oil leak out. Do not remove the fitting, just loosen it.

My battery is fried. Fuses seem fine. About 8 weeks or 50-hours ago I added an additional Ground Negative cable from battery to motor block because the skid steer stopped starting without assistance from a jump. So I checked ground by adding a ground cable and that seemed to fix it fine. Battery checked and charged fine according to a load tester. I've never had a battery do this before. Anyone knows what causes it? Both the Positive and Negative terminals are melted and separated from the top of the battery. It's a tiny 12" long by 6" wide battery, about the same height as a car battery. This is a 3 cylinder New Holland LT185b diesel so I'm not sure how much punch it needs for startup. Any ideas what I should check just to be sure I'm not going to fry a new battery if I install it and splice in new cables about 8" from the terminals? Or should I add entirely new cables (if I can access in this mud hole)? Could my starter be causing any of this? If I had a way to post pictures I'd show the battery, my safety blocking, and the hole it's half in.

 

[ylekyote]

My battery is fried. Fuses seem fine. About 8 weeks or 50-hours ago I added an additional Ground Negative cable from battery to motor block because the skid steer stopped starting without assistance from a jump. So I checked ground by adding a ground cable and that seemed to fix it fine. Battery checked and charged fine according to a load tester. I've never had a battery do this before. Anyone knows what causes it? Both the Positive and Negative terminals are melted and separated from the top of the battery. It's a tiny 12" long by 6" wide battery, about the same height as a car battery. This is a 3 cylinder New Holland LT185b diesel so I'm not sure how much punch it needs for startup. Any ideas what I should check just to be sure I'm not going to fry a new battery if I install it and splice in new cables about 8" from the terminals? Or should I add entirely new cables (if I can access in this mud hole)? Could my starter be causing any of this? If I had a way to post pictures I'd show the battery, my safety blocking, and the hole it's half in.

I removed battery and wires. My POS terminal wire is still good in appearance. My NEG term wire end is toast so I cut off about 4" to good wire. It's a Deka 1,000 CCA maintenance and vibration free battery. Marked 2013. Has small 5/16" (or there abouts) sized threaded studs that protrude from top of battery. Never seen this type before. Not normal terminal stud...probably some stock crap that's special order. I connected my 1,000 peak amps battery jumper box to it but I didn't receive any dash lights and no crank. Still totally dead. Should I be able to jump start the skid steer and operate it with no battery to get it out of mud hole? I checked all fuses with meter. There were two 7.5amp blade (marked on fuse door) fuses in cab ceiling I removed...one was burned open and has emblem of a light bulb next to it. The other had 20 amp fuse in it in error and had emblem of a fuel pump next to it. It was not burned. I don't have any 7.5amp blades so not sure if either these would effect crank. Anyone know of a way to shoot or test my two cable ends to see if any resistance or short may be on one or other that caused failure? I can't see where they lead. I suppose it's possible it was just a bad battery that shorted out. Likely the culprit...I hope. Was gonna find a dying battery, put in skid steer until started and then run it for a while and see if the battery reacts like this one. I don't want to fry a new one.

 

[Mike10]

I removed battery and wires. My POS terminal wire is still good in appearance. My NEG term wire end is toast so I cut off about 4" to good wire. It's a Deka 1,000 CCA maintenance and vibration free battery. Marked 2013. Has small 5/16" (or there abouts) sized threaded studs that protrude from top of battery. Never seen this type before. Not normal terminal stud...probably some stock crap that's special order. I connected my 1,000 peak amps battery jumper box to it but I didn't receive any dash lights and no crank. Still totally dead. Should I be able to jump start the skid steer and operate it with no battery to get it out of mud hole? I checked all fuses with meter. There were two 7.5amp blade (marked on fuse door) fuses in cab ceiling I removed...one was burned open and has emblem of a light bulb next to it. The other had 20 amp fuse in it in error and had emblem of a fuel pump next to it. It was not burned. I don't have any 7.5amp blades so not sure if either these would effect crank. Anyone know of a way to shoot or test my two cable ends to see if any resistance or short may be on one or other that caused failure? I can't see where they lead. I suppose it's possible it was just a bad battery that shorted out. Likely the culprit...I hope. Was gonna find a dying battery, put in skid steer until started and then run it for a while and see if the battery reacts like this one. I don't want to fry a new one.

Sounds like the battery shorted out or the starter may have remained engaged. Not to likely any of the fused circuits caused the problem since the wiring would have fried before the battery cables. The positive battery cable goes to the starter and from there a wire sends power to the start relay under the engine fuse panel and then a wire sends power to the fuse blocks. Use a test light or volt meter to check where you have power. That battery is common in the ag industry and should not be hard to find.

 

[ylekyote]

I removed battery and wires. My POS terminal wire is still good in appearance. My NEG term wire end is toast so I cut off about 4" to good wire. It's a Deka 1,000 CCA maintenance and vibration free battery. Marked 2013. Has small 5/16" (or there abouts) sized threaded studs that protrude from top of battery. Never seen this type before. Not normal terminal stud...probably some stock crap that's special order. I connected my 1,000 peak amps battery jumper box to it but I didn't receive any dash lights and no crank. Still totally dead. Should I be able to jump start the skid steer and operate it with no battery to get it out of mud hole? I checked all fuses with meter. There were two 7.5amp blade (marked on fuse door) fuses in cab ceiling I removed...one was burned open and has emblem of a light bulb next to it. The other had 20 amp fuse in it in error and had emblem of a fuel pump next to it. It was not burned. I don't have any 7.5amp blades so not sure if either these would effect crank. Anyone know of a way to shoot or test my two cable ends to see if any resistance or short may be on one or other that caused failure? I can't see where they lead. I suppose it's possible it was just a bad battery that shorted out. Likely the culprit...I hope. Was gonna find a dying battery, put in skid steer until started and then run it for a while and see if the battery reacts like this one. I don't want to fry a new one.

I got an aging (2010) low maintenance car battery that has 600cca and it seems to work fine until I track down an inexpensive AGM sealed battery. Got her outta the mud and such. Thanks! I was thinking about going with another Deka for $170 delivered because the Optima and other part store brands were $275+. I'm going to use the tapered battery terminals because my NEG cable is now fitted with that female type and I retrofitted the POS term by attaching a car terminal to it. I'm wondering what the minimum CCA is suggested for these New Hollands?

 

[mmsllc]

I got an aging (2010) low maintenance car battery that has 600cca and it seems to work fine until I track down an inexpensive AGM sealed battery. Got her outta the mud and such. Thanks! I was thinking about going with another Deka for $170 delivered because the Optima and other part store brands were $275+. I'm going to use the tapered battery terminals because my NEG cable is now fitted with that female type and I retrofitted the POS term by attaching a car terminal to it. I'm wondering what the minimum CCA is suggested for these New Hollands?

Batteries can explode. I had one let loose once & it sounded like a pipe bomb went off. That battery was only 2 years old & the charging system was perfect. The only thing I could think of was that the batteryvfroze internally.

 

[SWI Don]

I removed battery and wires. My POS terminal wire is still good in appearance. My NEG term wire end is toast so I cut off about 4" to good wire. It's a Deka 1,000 CCA maintenance and vibration free battery. Marked 2013. Has small 5/16" (or there abouts) sized threaded studs that protrude from top of battery. Never seen this type before. Not normal terminal stud...probably some stock crap that's special order. I connected my 1,000 peak amps battery jumper box to it but I didn't receive any dash lights and no crank. Still totally dead. Should I be able to jump start the skid steer and operate it with no battery to get it out of mud hole? I checked all fuses with meter. There were two 7.5amp blade (marked on fuse door) fuses in cab ceiling I removed...one was burned open and has emblem of a light bulb next to it. The other had 20 amp fuse in it in error and had emblem of a fuel pump next to it. It was not burned. I don't have any 7.5amp blades so not sure if either these would effect crank. Anyone know of a way to shoot or test my two cable ends to see if any resistance or short may be on one or other that caused failure? I can't see where they lead. I suppose it's possible it was just a bad battery that shorted out. Likely the culprit...I hope. Was gonna find a dying battery, put in skid steer until started and then run it for a while and see if the battery reacts like this one. I don't want to fry a new one.

Originally they have a group 31 battery that is used in a lot of commercial trucks. It is also commonly used to retrofit onto tractors that were originally equipped to have 2 smaller batteries. A group 31 is typically a good thing. A group 31p should fit the battery box and hold downs and have posts for you new cable ends.