Bobcat 630 Reclamation

[SkidRoe]

I hope you have a nice trip.
Hopefully it is something simple. A spark is a good start, a little fuel in the carb should tell you if things are going in the right direction. Not the best advise, but on hard to start engines, i pour in a little fuel in from the air cleaner to the carb, just not too much to flood it. If it's going to start it will at least pop without the use of engine starting fluid.

A shot of WD-40 down the carb works well too. It will run on it without the ring-snapping ignition of starting fluid. Easier to apply than gas, too.

 

[peebeeaitch]

A shot of WD-40 down the carb works well too. It will run on it without the ring-snapping ignition of starting fluid. Easier to apply than gas, too.

4 May 2013
I was fritting around with the carb last night and realised that "full throttle" and "empty throttle" were the opposite of what I had been trying. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Anyway, I got a replacement for the line that I'd seen leaking from the last abortive starting experiment. All I can say is that replacing hoses on the right side of a 630 is infuriating!
A quick shot of quick-start, throttle open, choke on and hey, presto, she came alive!!!!!!!!!!!
Fiddling the yank-ems, I came to the conclusion that the right side motor had been assembled in reverse - actually, as I'm writing this, I think I may have done it correctly, but as the motors are mirrored on installation, I should have assembled the one correctly and the other in the opposite way. No, on second thoughts that is dumb as then I would have guaranteed that both would be turning the wrong way round.
I have spoken on this list of throwing tools. Well, I again, almost did while trying to swop over the lines on the right motor. The wrench just could not get into the space. I eventually ripped out the grinder and "improved" the design:

I am lost as to why Bobcat manufactured the machine like this. It would have been so easy to make the body cutout large enough to allow easy access.
I tightened up the motor nuts. The wrench I had manufactured was now too wide to allow me to tighten up the nuts because the pump was in the way, so I made it more functional by grinding off one of the side bars I had welded on to make it functional.
The chain case was filled with the oil I had stashed from the tank (plus an extra can from the shop):

The final step was to set the pintle cams so that the machine is in neutral when releasing the yank-ems, explained in detail in the manual. Reinstalled the parking brake - which one should do BEFORE installing the pump as it is a job meant for people with infinately more patience than me if done after.
Next, put on the wheels and then:

I parked the little (working) machine up in the shed and then started cleaning up this:

So, with a couple of hours left before my next overseas trip (I'm writing this from China) I have a working Bobcat!
A happy note is that I did not need to bleed any lines. I think the fact that when I was assembling everything I tried to fill all pumps, lines and cavities helped. Also, leaving the machine for two weeks between first trying to start it and it actually starting may also have helped.
A less happy note is that I have clearly cocked up the assembly of the control rods to the control valve. Boom up and down works correctly off the left foot pedal (it's sort of impossibile to assemble this incorrectly as the cross-over bar can only be connected to one valve), but I think I have swopped over the tilt and auxillary valves as pressing the right pedal does nothing except strain the motor and make all of the other hydraulics do weird things. Engaging the auxillary on the yank-em does nothing, but I think the stroke is too limited. I'll try and swop them over next weekend when I'm back.
When I get back I'm also going to run it for a while and replace the engine oil and filter again. I hope the fresh oil has cleaned out all of the crap that was in the sump, then do the wiring, replace the hydraulic oil filter, and install all of the bushes on the yank-ems and tighten down two of the pump bolts, ROPS back on and then I can start doing the stuff I wanted with the machine in the first place, almost 5 months after I started this ordeal.
More soon.

 

[HanSolo]

4 May 2013
I was fritting around with the carb last night and realised that "full throttle" and "empty throttle" were the opposite of what I had been trying. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Anyway, I got a replacement for the line that I'd seen leaking from the last abortive starting experiment. All I can say is that replacing hoses on the right side of a 630 is infuriating!
A quick shot of quick-start, throttle open, choke on and hey, presto, she came alive!!!!!!!!!!!
Fiddling the yank-ems, I came to the conclusion that the right side motor had been assembled in reverse - actually, as I'm writing this, I think I may have done it correctly, but as the motors are mirrored on installation, I should have assembled the one correctly and the other in the opposite way. No, on second thoughts that is dumb as then I would have guaranteed that both would be turning the wrong way round.
I have spoken on this list of throwing tools. Well, I again, almost did while trying to swop over the lines on the right motor. The wrench just could not get into the space. I eventually ripped out the grinder and "improved" the design:

I am lost as to why Bobcat manufactured the machine like this. It would have been so easy to make the body cutout large enough to allow easy access.
I tightened up the motor nuts. The wrench I had manufactured was now too wide to allow me to tighten up the nuts because the pump was in the way, so I made it more functional by grinding off one of the side bars I had welded on to make it functional.
The chain case was filled with the oil I had stashed from the tank (plus an extra can from the shop):

The final step was to set the pintle cams so that the machine is in neutral when releasing the yank-ems, explained in detail in the manual. Reinstalled the parking brake - which one should do BEFORE installing the pump as it is a job meant for people with infinately more patience than me if done after.
Next, put on the wheels and then:

I parked the little (working) machine up in the shed and then started cleaning up this:


So, with a couple of hours left before my next overseas trip (I'm writing this from China) I have a working Bobcat!
A happy note is that I did not need to bleed any lines. I think the fact that when I was assembling everything I tried to fill all pumps, lines and cavities helped. Also, leaving the machine for two weeks between first trying to start it and it actually starting may also have helped.
A less happy note is that I have clearly cocked up the assembly of the control rods to the control valve. Boom up and down works correctly off the left foot pedal (it's sort of impossibile to assemble this incorrectly as the cross-over bar can only be connected to one valve), but I think I have swopped over the tilt and auxillary valves as pressing the right pedal does nothing except strain the motor and make all of the other hydraulics do weird things. Engaging the auxillary on the yank-em does nothing, but I think the stroke is too limited. I'll try and swop them over next weekend when I'm back.
When I get back I'm also going to run it for a while and replace the engine oil and filter again. I hope the fresh oil has cleaned out all of the crap that was in the sump, then do the wiring, replace the hydraulic oil filter, and install all of the bushes on the yank-ems and tighten down two of the pump bolts, ROPS back on and then I can start doing the stuff I wanted with the machine in the first place, almost 5 months after I started this ordeal.
More soon.

Congrats on getting it rolling! That in itself is a huge deal for many of us. I'm confident you'll be able to get the hydraulics sorted out. Won't be long and you'll have the joker digging away.

 

[jerry]

Congrats on getting it rolling! That in itself is a huge deal for many of us. I'm confident you'll be able to get the hydraulics sorted out. Won't be long and you'll have the joker digging away.

I see you think the right hand stick doesnt have enough movement to engage the aux. Check down on the bottom of the stick by the linkage there is a place to drop a 3/8 inch bolt in to limit the movement if you are not going to use the aux .

 

[peebeeaitch]

I see you think the right hand stick doesnt have enough movement to engage the aux. Check down on the bottom of the stick by the linkage there is a place to drop a 3/8 inch bolt in to limit the movement if you are not going to use the aux .

Thanks HanSolo. I honestly could not believe it when it fired up and I could move. This has been the challenge I've taken on myself that has required the most determination ever. I'm happy I wrote this chronical else I don't think I would ever believe what it took in the future. The joys of being a weekend mechanic.

 

[peebeeaitch]

Thanks HanSolo. I honestly could not believe it when it fired up and I could move. This has been the challenge I've taken on myself that has required the most determination ever. I'm happy I wrote this chronical else I don't think I would ever believe what it took in the future. The joys of being a weekend mechanic.

Thanks Jerry. Yip, I can see the hole, but in "neutral" the holes don't line up, hence my suspicion that I've swopped the tilt and aux rods. I didn't change any of the geometry, so the lengths of the rods should have remained the same.
Can anyone confirm that the tilt control rod is the upper control valve and the auxillary the bottom?

 

[Mikefromcny]

Thanks Jerry. Yip, I can see the hole, but in "neutral" the holes don't line up, hence my suspicion that I've swopped the tilt and aux rods. I didn't change any of the geometry, so the lengths of the rods should have remained the same.
Can anyone confirm that the tilt control rod is the upper control valve and the auxillary the bottom?

Glad to hear she lives again peebeeaitch. Skid steers are the only thing I've seen that keep getting brought back to life. Makes me wonder where the used parts come from because I never see them parted out. There was a M444 redone on craigslist this past winter.

 

[peebeeaitch]

Glad to hear she lives again peebeeaitch. Skid steers are the only thing I've seen that keep getting brought back to life. Makes me wonder where the used parts come from because I never see them parted out. There was a M444 redone on craigslist this past winter.

15 July 2013
After a break in work for the last couple of weeks because I was away, I decided to tackle the little machine again.
I think I have tried to find the foam for padding the fuel and oil tanks everywhere. Obviously they're not made anymore (which I was hoping against hope), and trying to find something online or at Menards proved pointless. I was doing the isle-by-isle thing at Wal-Mart and found some aftermarket auto floor fabric. Having used some sprayable contact adhesive before, this is what I came up with:

This is triple layer...
I also, inadvertently, sprayed some of the contact adhesive on the outer layer of the fabric. This is a great thing to do as when one locates the tanks in the correct position, the large adhesive area holds the tanks in place just enough to prevent them flopping around.
Now that the tanks were semi-located, I got cracking on the beginnings of the new wiring:

What I have found depressing about this whole reclamation story is how moving to a new country has destroyed the stock of parts and tools I used to have to my disposal. For example, I had a drawer full of fuses - all shapes and sizes and amperages. I cannot find this drawer anywhere in the hundreds of boxes of lying around in storage. The result being that I needed to stop the wiring while I jumped online to order some new (and as soon as I can find the drawer) duplicate fuses. The same with the bridging bars on the terminals.
22 July 2013
The aftermarket fuel level sender was purchased online, which installed looks like this:

I forgot to take a photo of the fuel vent which was the last item preventing the "firewall" being reinstalled. As I fitted the firewall, I was gratified that some of the bolts could just catch the threads of the nuts when installing. My choice of 3 layers was (I feel) justified - it is a really snug fit.
What was not a snug fit was the horizontal spacing of the oil and fuel tanks which at the point where they touched each other was in effect 6 layers of fabric. This prevented the firewall's bent steel lip from reaching around the edge of the oil tank on the one side and the edge of the tank on the other. Luckily the fabric was quite easy to remove from the one side of the fuel tank, which brought the layer thickness between the two down to 3 (I had originally thought that 6 might be too much, but I would rather have had a too tight fit rather than a clanging and bashing behind me as the fuel and oil tanks flop around. That, combined with the fuel leaking out of the vent and splashing me, turning me into a potential roman candle, was the justification). So, this is the mod (with human clamp assisting):

BTW: If you ever want a magnet that picks up dog hair, spider webs (unseen in years), blades of grass, every bit of dust in the area, or any other item that might be considered dirt, simply spray something with contact adhesive, try really, really hard to keep it clean and somehow, the now unclean item will have collected it all.
Back to the wiring:

Some progress. The wires leading off to the top of the photo are temporary supplies to the main and starter switches which will be replaced when I have an instrument panel again.
The aftermarket hydraulic pressure sender and original hydraulic temperature sender:

HeMan here does not have a helper, so I needed to man-handle the ROPS into place. Notice the new handles on the yank-ems:

At this point, the ROPS would not go back fully due to the fuel tank projecting mm's too far and interfering with the side of the ROPS. You know the feeling: move the ROPS back off the machine, loosen the firewall, cajole the tank in another couple of mm's, hoping it's enough, tighten all of the bolts on the firewall (because the top ones can't be easily accessed with the ROPS in place), move the ROPS back in, better, but still 2mm, repeat.
Complete:

You'll notice the little machine on jack stands. That's because the previous weekend I noticed some slop between the pintle arms and the pump. I had been through the adjustment sequence in the manual with some diligence and was sure that if I simply kept the orientation of the pusher and just took the little bit of slack up, everything should still be neutral when releasing the sticks.
Bad mistake. What I did was to adjust the right hand motor to have a slow creep forward when I released the stick. This had the effect of making the machine, in effect, a mechanical bull. The long and short of it is: there is (in my opinion) only one way to set the neutral. RTFM.

Ok, so now I have an almost working Bobcat. Except it does not charge the battery.
I think I have read every site on the net (literally) on how to buzz the alternator. I am still clueless. So here's what I'm going to try. In the photo below:

there are two black wires and a red to the alternator. My assumption is that the two blacks are from the armature and that the red is the field. I am going to connect the two blacks to the two blacks on the original rectifier. The third wire (white) from the rectifier I am going to assume is charge output. The red wire from the original regulator I am going to connect to the red wire from the alternator, and the other wire (black) I am going to connect to the battery.
Does anyone have anything better to suggest? Like, for example, tying the black wire from the regulator to ground?
Any help appreciated.

 

[Tazza]

15 July 2013
After a break in work for the last couple of weeks because I was away, I decided to tackle the little machine again.
I think I have tried to find the foam for padding the fuel and oil tanks everywhere. Obviously they're not made anymore (which I was hoping against hope), and trying to find something online or at Menards proved pointless. I was doing the isle-by-isle thing at Wal-Mart and found some aftermarket auto floor fabric. Having used some sprayable contact adhesive before, this is what I came up with:

This is triple layer...
I also, inadvertently, sprayed some of the contact adhesive on the outer layer of the fabric. This is a great thing to do as when one locates the tanks in the correct position, the large adhesive area holds the tanks in place just enough to prevent them flopping around.
Now that the tanks were semi-located, I got cracking on the beginnings of the new wiring:

What I have found depressing about this whole reclamation story is how moving to a new country has destroyed the stock of parts and tools I used to have to my disposal. For example, I had a drawer full of fuses - all shapes and sizes and amperages. I cannot find this drawer anywhere in the hundreds of boxes of lying around in storage. The result being that I needed to stop the wiring while I jumped online to order some new (and as soon as I can find the drawer) duplicate fuses. The same with the bridging bars on the terminals.
22 July 2013
The aftermarket fuel level sender was purchased online, which installed looks like this:

I forgot to take a photo of the fuel vent which was the last item preventing the "firewall" being reinstalled. As I fitted the firewall, I was gratified that some of the bolts could just catch the threads of the nuts when installing. My choice of 3 layers was (I feel) justified - it is a really snug fit.
What was not a snug fit was the horizontal spacing of the oil and fuel tanks which at the point where they touched each other was in effect 6 layers of fabric. This prevented the firewall's bent steel lip from reaching around the edge of the oil tank on the one side and the edge of the tank on the other. Luckily the fabric was quite easy to remove from the one side of the fuel tank, which brought the layer thickness between the two down to 3 (I had originally thought that 6 might be too much, but I would rather have had a too tight fit rather than a clanging and bashing behind me as the fuel and oil tanks flop around. That, combined with the fuel leaking out of the vent and splashing me, turning me into a potential roman candle, was the justification). So, this is the mod (with human clamp assisting):

BTW: If you ever want a magnet that picks up dog hair, spider webs (unseen in years), blades of grass, every bit of dust in the area, or any other item that might be considered dirt, simply spray something with contact adhesive, try really, really hard to keep it clean and somehow, the now unclean item will have collected it all.
Back to the wiring:

Some progress. The wires leading off to the top of the photo are temporary supplies to the main and starter switches which will be replaced when I have an instrument panel again.
The aftermarket hydraulic pressure sender and original hydraulic temperature sender:

HeMan here does not have a helper, so I needed to man-handle the ROPS into place. Notice the new handles on the yank-ems:

At this point, the ROPS would not go back fully due to the fuel tank projecting mm's too far and interfering with the side of the ROPS. You know the feeling: move the ROPS back off the machine, loosen the firewall, cajole the tank in another couple of mm's, hoping it's enough, tighten all of the bolts on the firewall (because the top ones can't be easily accessed with the ROPS in place), move the ROPS back in, better, but still 2mm, repeat.
Complete:

You'll notice the little machine on jack stands. That's because the previous weekend I noticed some slop between the pintle arms and the pump. I had been through the adjustment sequence in the manual with some diligence and was sure that if I simply kept the orientation of the pusher and just took the little bit of slack up, everything should still be neutral when releasing the sticks.
Bad mistake. What I did was to adjust the right hand motor to have a slow creep forward when I released the stick. This had the effect of making the machine, in effect, a mechanical bull. The long and short of it is: there is (in my opinion) only one way to set the neutral. RTFM.

Ok, so now I have an almost working Bobcat. Except it does not charge the battery.
I think I have read every site on the net (literally) on how to buzz the alternator. I am still clueless. So here's what I'm going to try. In the photo below:

there are two black wires and a red to the alternator. My assumption is that the two blacks are from the armature and that the red is the field. I am going to connect the two blacks to the two blacks on the original rectifier. The third wire (white) from the rectifier I am going to assume is charge output. The red wire from the original regulator I am going to connect to the red wire from the alternator, and the other wire (black) I am going to connect to the battery.
Does anyone have anything better to suggest? Like, for example, tying the black wire from the regulator to ground?
Any help appreciated.

Good to see you are back into it.
Not sure exactly about the alternator. The only ones i have messed with have an internal voltage regulator.
There is a big lug that goes to the battery, this one only produces power once the alternator is excited by a small lug on the voltage regulator on the alternator. With the engine running, I get a wire from the +ve battery terminal and brush it over the lug on the alternator and check to see if it is producing power.
My understanding of an alternators workings is that power is applied to the armature magnetizing it. This creates power in the field windings that is rectified and goes to the battery. The voltage regulator works by changing the amount of power that goes into the rotor, less magnetism = lower voltage, more = more voltage. The brushes do wear over time too, so they could be the problem.
Ensure power is getting to the alternator, as there should be an inline diode to prevent it draining the battery when the machine is off.
If all this fails, i believe you can pickup a 1 wire alternator at a pretty good price. Simply attach it to the engine, and one wire to the battery and you are all good to go. No need to have switched power to it.

 

[peebeeaitch]

Good to see you are back into it.
Not sure exactly about the alternator. The only ones i have messed with have an internal voltage regulator.
There is a big lug that goes to the battery, this one only produces power once the alternator is excited by a small lug on the voltage regulator on the alternator. With the engine running, I get a wire from the +ve battery terminal and brush it over the lug on the alternator and check to see if it is producing power.
My understanding of an alternators workings is that power is applied to the armature magnetizing it. This creates power in the field windings that is rectified and goes to the battery. The voltage regulator works by changing the amount of power that goes into the rotor, less magnetism = lower voltage, more = more voltage. The brushes do wear over time too, so they could be the problem.
Ensure power is getting to the alternator, as there should be an inline diode to prevent it draining the battery when the machine is off.
If all this fails, i believe you can pickup a 1 wire alternator at a pretty good price. Simply attach it to the engine, and one wire to the battery and you are all good to go. No need to have switched power to it.

Thanks Tazza, I'll give it a bash.
The Wisconsin motor in mine has an alternator hidden behind (and integral to) the fan/flywheel/large block of cast iron on the crankshaft. I wanted originally to remove it, but the "soft" hammer I was using refused to make it budge. I was also thinking of installing a high capacity aftermarket alternator, but there are very few (read none) places for me to mount it to run a belt - the motor is air-cooled.
The only reason that I am hesitant to try a trial-and-error approach to solving this is that I read on some site that not having a ground, or a positive, or something to one of the wires in an externally rectified and regulated alternator can fry the thing in seconds.
Melli suggested that I weld bolts onto the flywheel to remove it, which I think is most definitely the way I'm going to approach this if I can't figure it out soon.
I will keep the list up to date if I manage to find the correct wiring.

 

[peebeeaitch]

Thanks Tazza, I'll give it a bash.
The Wisconsin motor in mine has an alternator hidden behind (and integral to) the fan/flywheel/large block of cast iron on the crankshaft. I wanted originally to remove it, but the "soft" hammer I was using refused to make it budge. I was also thinking of installing a high capacity aftermarket alternator, but there are very few (read none) places for me to mount it to run a belt - the motor is air-cooled.
The only reason that I am hesitant to try a trial-and-error approach to solving this is that I read on some site that not having a ground, or a positive, or something to one of the wires in an externally rectified and regulated alternator can fry the thing in seconds.
Melli suggested that I weld bolts onto the flywheel to remove it, which I think is most definitely the way I'm going to approach this if I can't figure it out soon.
I will keep the list up to date if I manage to find the correct wiring.

Ok, I think I have it figured. And actually, I was a bit of a dufus.
This manual drawing:

shows the three wires coming from the alternator. Two of them are joined after the regulator and rectifier and go to the ROPS connector (the orange wire).
This is the photo of what mine looked like during motor removal:

The unidentified wires are the white from the rectifier and regulator. On the regulator (on right) one can see a T join, so obviously the white from the rectifier gets joined to the black from the regulator. The other side of the regulator goes to the ROPS.
This manual picture:

shows the orange going through the ammeter (third gauge from left) and becoming red which in the image above (duplicated):

goes to the battery via the starter solenoid.
What was confusing me was this:

which is also from the manual and seems to show the joined wires running to a "ground" lug. In hindsight, the lug is the one that connects the wire to the ammeter, and the blank spot in the wire drawing must be where the ROPS connector is located.
So I think I have it. Perhaps smoke this weekend will prove otherwise...

 

[Tazza]

Ok, I think I have it figured. And actually, I was a bit of a dufus.
This manual drawing:

shows the three wires coming from the alternator. Two of them are joined after the regulator and rectifier and go to the ROPS connector (the orange wire).
This is the photo of what mine looked like during motor removal:

The unidentified wires are the white from the rectifier and regulator. On the regulator (on right) one can see a T join, so obviously the white from the rectifier gets joined to the black from the regulator. The other side of the regulator goes to the ROPS.
This manual picture:

shows the orange going through the ammeter (third gauge from left) and becoming red which in the image above (duplicated):

goes to the battery via the starter solenoid.
What was confusing me was this:

which is also from the manual and seems to show the joined wires running to a "ground" lug. In hindsight, the lug is the one that connects the wire to the ammeter, and the blank spot in the wire drawing must be where the ROPS connector is located.
So I think I have it. Perhaps smoke this weekend will prove otherwise...

Ah ha! you have that syle of alternator. Looks like you have hopefully sorted it out. Let' hope when you wire it up, and test it, it doesn't let the mgical smoke out

 

[peebeeaitch]

Ah ha! you have that syle of alternator. Looks like you have hopefully sorted it out. Let' hope when you wire it up, and test it, it doesn't let the mgical smoke out

19 December 2013
I have written in a different thread of my first real work with the little machine and the pain that ensued - here.
Thanks to all on this list that helped out, the machine survived past Christmas. For completeness of the photographic record I am including some shots I took of the repair attempt before I got the little thing going again.
Here is the (semi) stripped carb. Note that the float hinge pin is knurled for a short distance that, when assembled, "interferes" with one of the aluminium webs that form the top body of the carb. Removal of the pin is as simple as pressing a screwdriver on the side of the pin (perpendicular to the pin axis) and gently forcing the pin out.
Note to self: when re-assembling, remember that the needle valve needs to go in before the float, else you can't get it in.
Another note: it is easier to keep the knurled section of the pin away from the direction of insertion otherwise the knurl needs to pass through both webs.

Here is a photo of the two little balls that so almost caused a BIG bonfire:

Here is a shot of the reinstallation of the detent cap. I screwed in the lower (diagonal bottom right) ball retaining bolt with the spring and ball (held in place with snotty grease) just far enough for about 1/2 a thread of engagement. To prevent the bolt from loosening, and the ball and spring bouncing off into some crevice never to be seen again, I applied two Sponge Bob Square Pants plasters to keep the bolt head locked from rotating. You can use any plasters, Sponge Bob Square Pants plasters are not required.

Once the cap was installed again, I dropped the other ball in the top left hole, and installed and tightened the bolt. Before I removed the plaster, I mentally rehearsed and practiced the rotation direction to tighten the other bolt.
To tighten the bolts holding the cap in place required me to use every single extention I own to get the reach past the engine. Please note: if you have ever stood on top of a ladder, trying to use a tape measure, hoping beyond hope that the reverse bend in the tape will prevent the steel from kinking till you get to the point you wish to measure, you have some idea of how difficult this can be. This is like a three dimensional tape measure story with the added complication that the screw bit must engage the screw. Maddening.

 

[peebeeaitch]

19 December 2013
I have written in a different thread of my first real work with the little machine and the pain that ensued - here.
Thanks to all on this list that helped out, the machine survived past Christmas. For completeness of the photographic record I am including some shots I took of the repair attempt before I got the little thing going again.
Here is the (semi) stripped carb. Note that the float hinge pin is knurled for a short distance that, when assembled, "interferes" with one of the aluminium webs that form the top body of the carb. Removal of the pin is as simple as pressing a screwdriver on the side of the pin (perpendicular to the pin axis) and gently forcing the pin out.
Note to self: when re-assembling, remember that the needle valve needs to go in before the float, else you can't get it in.
Another note: it is easier to keep the knurled section of the pin away from the direction of insertion otherwise the knurl needs to pass through both webs.

Here is a photo of the two little balls that so almost caused a BIG bonfire:

Here is a shot of the reinstallation of the detent cap. I screwed in the lower (diagonal bottom right) ball retaining bolt with the spring and ball (held in place with snotty grease) just far enough for about 1/2 a thread of engagement. To prevent the bolt from loosening, and the ball and spring bouncing off into some crevice never to be seen again, I applied two Sponge Bob Square Pants plasters to keep the bolt head locked from rotating. You can use any plasters, Sponge Bob Square Pants plasters are not required.

Once the cap was installed again, I dropped the other ball in the top left hole, and installed and tightened the bolt. Before I removed the plaster, I mentally rehearsed and practiced the rotation direction to tighten the other bolt.
To tighten the bolts holding the cap in place required me to use every single extention I own to get the reach past the engine. Please note: if you have ever stood on top of a ladder, trying to use a tape measure, hoping beyond hope that the reverse bend in the tape will prevent the steel from kinking till you get to the point you wish to measure, you have some idea of how difficult this can be. This is like a three dimensional tape measure story with the added complication that the screw bit must engage the screw. Maddening.

21 December 2013
Tomorrow, 1 year ago I started trying to get a working Bobcat Skid Steer Loader!?!!??
In July I posted of my confusion with the (literally) two black boxes. Here is the result (pic 1 is before crank, pic 2 is after start, pic 3 is after 2 minutes at idle):

I needed to get a gizmo from eBay to attach the heat sink to the DIN rail. Here is the DIN rail with mounted boxes:

As the boxes were originally directly attached to the air duct cowling, I hope that the heat sink and new location won't causing frying problems. I have managed to keep the smoke inside the boxes so far. (The black cable duct runs to the fuel tank.) After about 1 minute the aluminium still felt about ambient so I think I'm ok.

 

[peebeeaitch]

21 December 2013
Tomorrow, 1 year ago I started trying to get a working Bobcat Skid Steer Loader!?!!??
In July I posted of my confusion with the (literally) two black boxes. Here is the result (pic 1 is before crank, pic 2 is after start, pic 3 is after 2 minutes at idle):

I needed to get a gizmo from eBay to attach the heat sink to the DIN rail. Here is the DIN rail with mounted boxes:

As the boxes were originally directly attached to the air duct cowling, I hope that the heat sink and new location won't causing frying problems. I have managed to keep the smoke inside the boxes so far. (The black cable duct runs to the fuel tank.) After about 1 minute the aluminium still felt about ambient so I think I'm ok.

29 December 2013
I tried to spray the ROPS so that my brand new lights would look at least part of the setup. Sadly, all I did was overspray everything, so I removed the ROPS, the "firewall", the chair, the seatbelt, and everything else that might prefer to be black.
In the US, there are four gloss levels (in increasing order): Flat, Satin, Semi-Gloss and Gloss. This is Satin. It refers to the price of the paint, not to any gloss level.
Three spray cans of white delivered this:

(Three of the new working lights are on top of the oil tank on the left.)
And three cans of satin black, this:

The ding in the roof will be fixed when I get my welder. I plan to weld an angle iron across the top with the two legs lying flat forming a 45 degree. This should level up the top of the ROPS.
Very long ago I wrote of the kink in the right lift arm:

I decided to try and straighten this with the ROPS off.
I borrowed two lengths of heavy tubing from work and tied them to the opposite arm. The thought was that the unbent arm, plus two heavy tubing sections would be less prone to bending than the single arm on its own.
In process:

I was working on my own, hence the masking tape to hold stuff in place while greyhouding to the other side of the machine.

I pumped till a line started leaking (a cheap Chinese knock off of a PowerTeam system leads to inevitable results). I contemplated what to do. Really, I need like 400 tons, instead of the 10 (I think) at my disposal. After this contemplation, I gave up.
ROPS reinstalled. Non-slip grip strips installed where I normally step and slip. Seat belt (4 point, eBay special) installed. I also installed the 3 work lights. Two are angled at 20 degrees from centre, with given their 60 degree flood angle, gives 10 degrees additional from each plus the one aimed directly ahead of light. I am waiting for the laser cut instrument cluster then I will take it for a ride outside at night. Suffice to say that it is seriously bright:

There is one of the lights pointed backward as well. I am waiting for the warning flashers before wiring up the whole lot.
Does anyone know an approximate colour match to Bobcat Orange in a rattle can? Something that Menards or another large store would carry? - I really need to paint the engine door.