I am looking at a 1987 742 with a ford gas engine at a local dealership. They want 5500 for it. They just put in a new starter and the battery looks new. It has 5500 hours on it. Was used on a farm, and it looks like the tilt cylinder was recently rebuilt. The only other bobcats I've driven are my 610s, but this one seems to drive and lift/tilt as it should. I put the nose against something solid and was able to spin all the wheels. Looks like a well used machine, tires are usable. Bucket is about worn out, but still usable for my purposes. Here are the concerns I have: Gas and Hydro filters have 2003! dates written on them. Exhaust manifold appears to have been cracked, then welded, and there is a large hose clamp around it holding it together. The rubber hose from the intake to the filter is broken off at the engine end, and don't know how long it's been like that. There is a vacuum line on the left side of the engine (looking at it through the open rear door) that us just hanging. I can't figure out where it goes. Doesn't affect running if I plug the end or not. The back of the engine is covered in oil. It appears that it is coming from the breather on the top of the valve cover. During my test drive I couldn't see any coming out, and when I pull the breather while it's running there is a bit of vapor coming out. On my 610 before the rebuilt engine went in I had A LOT of back pressure in it, and it's not like that. Just wispy. What is the preferred starting proceedure when cold? Salesman left me to my own devices while testing it, and it took me several tries to get it going adjusting the choke and throttle. My 610 likes full choke and half throttle. Any advice? I got the name of the previous owner, and plan on calling him tomorrow. There is a sticker on it from a rental place that I assume that guy bought it from, which makes me slightly wary. They are listing it for 6900, but gave me the 5500 price. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or pointers. I've been reading in the archives too.
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Collisioncenter
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Hi fugarwe, I can't help you on the starting situation. I have a 742b and it likes it full choke and half throttle until you get it started, then let it run for a few mins and apply half choke, run a few more and no choke. It sounds to me like this poor unit is about used up. Its too bad were not closer, as I just put mine on the market. It turned out that I wanted a little more lift and came across the right loader for the money. I ended up buying a 763 from a very nice individual last night...now I just need to move mine. I don't know if I'm out of line... any of you can chime in, as Im sure most of you have some Idea...1993 742b. 1561hrs. just fully serviced tires 30percent. Im asking 8150 but thats negotiable. Everything works exactly as its supposed to. Ready to go to work
Collisioncenter
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On second thought, your not that far away from me after realizing what unit you were looking at...you should get ahold of me if your interested. Im in southern mn as well...Im guessing about 1.5 hrs from you.
Ain't the internet great? I live about a mile from the dealer. I came home and did some googling, and there was the machine I was looking at. I assume they will be uploading a picture soon. What is attracting me is the price. I have been reading about maintaining a 742 and it seems like a good fit for me as things are pretty easy to get to and fix. I also have a parking lot sweeper that came with the farm I bought (weird I know) that has the same ford engine in it, so if it does blow I've got a spare. If you've got pictures of yours you can send them to me at my user name @ earthlink.net . I've been looking at ebay and CL and machinery trader and prices for these are all over the map. I need to decide if I could get this for 5k, would 3k extra in savings cover me replacing stuff over the next few years? That's why I posted here. Wondering with the described machine what would people's guesses be that will go wrong and I'll be replacing.
Are you located in New Ulm? If so, are you related to Howard? We are freinds through long distance motorcycling.
I really don't like the sound of the intake hose being disconnected, it will have sucked in dust.... Which would mean a re-build won't be far off, as you have another engine that may not be too bad.
The hydrostatics sound good, the filters do seem a bit old, but if it did only light work and few hours over the years, its ok too. I have done 400 hours in 5 years.
I agree with Tazza on that air cleaner hose. The hard starting could be related with worn upper end of motor. It would be a deal breaker for me. I bought a ford tractor from southern mn, it ran good seemed good till cold weather then it would not start. There was a hidden hole in the air cleaner hose. overhauled the engine the whole top end was bad but lower was good enough to put standard bearings back in. Having had one with the ford gas and now one with diesel I don't want to go back to gas.
I really appreciate all the advice. I just came back from the dealership. Short story is I bought it for 5k out the door, with some new filters. I had my renter go over it with me before the dealing started. He agreed that the intake is a problem, and the slight back pressure in the engine indicates it's just a matter of time before major work will need to happen. Checking the hours it only had 350 hours on it since the filter change in 2003. And the rental sticker is from a bobcat dealership who's business name is the rental name. I'm guessing the last oil change was done by them. We lifted the cab and there appear to be no hydraulic leaks at all. The first time I moved it on saturday there were no drips or leaks under it, and again today when we moved it there was no oil underneat the machine. Also, this time it fired right up hardly turned over. It was slightly cooler on Saturday, but not that much. They had pressure washed it when they got it in, I'm wondering if there wasn't some water in the ignition system that needed to be overcome? So, I'm going to need manuals for it I'm sure. And once I wear the rest of this engine out, I'll repower, hopefully without spending more than 2500-3k in the process. And I'm sure you'll see more of me around here asking questions about how to fix it.
Collisioncenter
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Glad to hear that it all went well for you! Hopefully you get many years of use out of the machine. "Like my father always said take care of it and it will take care of you." You'll really like this machine after running a 610, its a huge step up! I might have a manual for your machine, depending on who purchases mine....If your interested just let me know!
Well, it will be awhile before I know if this was a "good" deal or not. Clearly there is big potential for problems. I"m working on basic maint. issues right now. I'd love to get my hands on the manuals. Let me know how that works out.
OldMachinist
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Send me a email to the address in my profile and I'll send you a download link to where I have all the manuals for your machine uploaded.
I bought a 742b a couple of years ago for $1500. Sounds good right? Well....machine turned over but wouldn't start and it was pouring gas out of the non-existent intake. No gauges except a mechanical oil pressure gauge on the motor itself. No dash either. Seemed like a pour choice to purchase but I did anyway. After replacing points and fuel pump and timing motor fired right up and ran absolutely smooth. A small amount of blow by out the breather cap and dip stick. Anyways over the last couple of years I went ahead (on advice of the dealer) to replace the hydrostatic motors, built an instrument cluster added some lights and a general cleanup. Machine works great. So sometimes buying something that looks bad may not be such a problem especially if you can and desire to work on them yourself. Sounds like you got a good deal especially if you're going to use it for non-commercial purposes. I do know that I will have to find a leaking hose pretty soon but that will come next winter. BTW it's not a major leak. Good luck on your new purchase and have fun. Richard
There is a common hose that leaks from teh control block. Not sure if its the same one you are having issues with, but look for the one at the base of the control block with a tight twist, they are known to leak over time. Problem is they are a pain in the butt to access to replace.....
I spend some time with the rig yesterday and today. Took the distributor cap off to look inside, and the rotor crumbled. Screwed around and found that there is back pressure coming out of a vent at the front (back) of the motor. Kind of hard to see, but it is attached to the base of the fuel pump. the screens were all gone out of the filter cap on it. So, I stuck a plastic elbow in there and routed it outside the unit through the rear left tie down slot. That way I can keep an eye on it, and the resulting oil mist will not get in the motor compartment. I took the oil filler cap out of the tennat sweeper with the same motor because it had a cap with a hose fitting on it. On the tennant, the cap hose was routed to the intake filter housing, kind of like in some cars. Also on the tennant motor (it's the same ford 4 banger) the other filter near the fuel pump is not there, but routed through a hose to an intake port after the carburator on the manifold. I don't see a place to route the bobcat like that. Anyway, I took that cap and put it on the valve cover, and then routed that hose to a T in the hose between the air filter and the carb. I read about doing that on another thread. I thought about doing it with both of the hoses, but was worried that if the back pressure gets real bad (and I don't see how it won't just get worse and worse as time goes on), how would I know it? Wouldn't it be bad to route all that back pressure and oil mist through the carb? I like how they did it on the sweeper, but again, how would you know you have a problem if you can't see the smoke and back pressure?
I forgot to mention: I went to the local parts house looking for a cap, rotor, plugs and wires. They don't have a book for bobcat part numbers. I called the bobcat store that is 45 minutes away from me, and they didn't have any of the parts in stock. The plug wires alone were 55 bucks! Two week wait if he orders them tomorrow! Does anyone have regular part numbers so I can get the right parts at my local store? The cap and rotor are different on the tennant machine. On the Tennant the points are fastened by two screws, and the rotor looks like all the other rotors I've seen. On the bobcat the points are fastened by one screw, and have a wire that attaches to a slotted connector, and the rotor was different (what was left of it). I can't believe the thing ran with that crumbly rotor in it.
Oh, and I forgot to mention again, a big public Thank You to Old Machinist for setting me up with manuals for this rig, AND for my 610. It makes life way easier with those. I did find in the manuals the code for the plugs that the local parts house could decipher. But they were worried that those plugs ran hot, compared to some that were listed for a pinto motor. I'm going to take them one that was in the machine already. Of course, that could be the wrong one anyway from someone else who couldn't find the info.
The back pressure is just by-pass, plumbing it into the intake isn't a problem. You won't see how much blow-by there is, just like in a car, but when it gets bad, you will notice the hard starting and lack of power.
Tazza thanks, I'll look at that hose. It would be great if that's all that's causing my leak(s). Fugaware, for the ford motor ask for a ford fiesta or pinto ignition parts. They are pretty interchangeable.
