bobcat 543 b

[buddy]

bought an old 1994 543 with 1543 hrs. it seems to run very good no leaks no smoke and starts well with @ 30 seconds on glow plugs. can any one tell me if thease were good machines or if I need to watch for any pittfalls. it will be used for snow removal and some light rocky mtn. dirt work @ the cabin. keep in mind the bucket is not the original and is probbly not much good for anything but snow. it has factory block heater. it will be used in very cold weather @ 10-20 below at 10'000 ft. Its deisel 3 cyl. kobota hope it will start at thease temps. if its plugged in. have changed to 10/30 synthetic oil.any thoughts on hyd. system fluids ? i believe reading on this forum that is is probbly reg 10/30 oil. any help would be greatly appreaciated.

 

[Tazza]

There are no issues with it that i'm aware of.
With the block heater, it shoudl still be ok in those temperatures. The only thing i'd do is start it and run it for a while to warm the oil up. The colder the oil gets, the thicker it gets too. My manual said to engage the aux hydraulics to dead head the oil so it runs over the relief valve that will cause the oil to heat up faster. It will warm the pumps up so they are at a better temperature.
I don't know what others do to warm their machines when it below freezing outside, i'm sure they will give their 2c worth though.

 

[hoardac]

Have one up here in northern Maine. I just have a oil pan heater and it has always worked well. Usually let it run for 10-15 minutes on real cold days then move all the cylinders and let it sit for a few more and it has worked well so far. I have always used the DTE 24 hyd oil but we used to use straight motor oil at the mill years ago till they got a new supplier. Only thing I forgot one year was to treat the diesel with anti-gel and that is the only time it would not start. This will be my eight winter with this machine and it does a great job. Had a rear main seal go, a bad sensor and some sort of crap growing in the fuel tank but other than that it is a true work pony(not big enough to be a horse). It is not as big as a lot of machines but with some patience and time it can really do quite a bit of work.