Buying a Case 1816

[JaseBosto]

I am purchasing a 1816. It has the original Tecumseh motor in it. The guy I am buying it from has a good reputation for honesty in this town so that's a good thing.
It starts right up and runs fine. It will need a belt replaced soon(worn).

I am getting it for what I consider a real good price.

Questions for all you: What should I go over on this machine as proactive maintenance? Anything I should be checking out? Any tips on make the belt changing a bit easier?

Thanks in advance.

 

[foton]

I do not know if you want to keep it all orginal or not but if you do not know this tecumseh has been out of production for quite a while now , I would be looking for a good parts engine ,expecially ingition parts. I know most of the mag/coils are long gone and there are conversions out there but I had timing issues with the one I got it ran ok but not as good as the orginal. good luck

 

[JaseBosto]

I'm not really interested in keeping it original. I am getting this to be useful on my property for things such as firewood and other farm duties.
I wanted a small skid steer for the portability. I plan on maintaining the engine as good as possible, but if/when it goes I will replace it with whatever engine is most ideal and for a reasonable price.
What engine are people putting in these 1816's now?

 

[foton]

I do not know about case but there is you tube videos of people using the harbor freight predator they have a new 15+ hp single cylinder in bobcats. the 500 bobcat I had was retro fitted with a 18 hp wisconsin 2 cylinder air cooled it worked ok. I think predator has a 2 cylinder 20 some horse power about 1000.00 bucks. but to make life as easy as possible you need to use what ever crank the machine was designed for. And pick a engine from there.

 

[JaseBosto]

So here it is. It runs well. Engine is a Tecumseh but I do not think its the original engine, the way the engine mount is clearly modified. No way to know how long ago this engine was put in.
The guy I got it from did some rewiring including the box with the switches in it.

As for how well it move around, I have never operated a 1816 before. I have operated other older Case skid steers though.
Its a little jerky but not bad. When I move the sticks forward or backward there is some amount of play before it will move. This could be normal or it might not be. So I will go over all the linkage to make sure everything is tight.

 

[JaseBosto]

Trailer handles it easily.

 

[foton]

I think that is a 16 hp ohv engine those are pretty tuff , maybe just good maint. on your part and that engine will last longer than you. hahahah the only thing I would do is make a screen to cover the flywheel fan to stop leaves and whatever from getting sucked into the cooling system. I think in the late 60 ies sears roper garden tractors used that engine.

 

[JaseBosto]

I think that is a 16 hp ohv engine those are pretty tuff , maybe just good maint. on your part and that engine will last longer than you. hahahah the only thing I would do is make a screen to cover the flywheel fan to stop leaves and whatever from getting sucked into the cooling system. I think in the late 60 ies sears roper garden tractors used that engine.

How smoothly should the machine move around?

 

[foton]

I have never ran a case skid steer but the machines that I have ran ( bobcat ,cat ,wacker-neuson)all take a different touch on the controls, but that one having such a short wheelbase will increase it being jumpy I would think. I would try running it only as fast( RPM wise) as you need, till you get the feel for it.

 

[haymaker]

My 542B is a rough rider compared to the S510 almost twice the weight.

 

[Rlachermeier]

I have an 1816C. Mine has the original Onan engine. As far as the jerkiness goes it all depends upon the throttle at least as far as my experience goes. On a side note when I picked up my Bobcat 753 I was going to get rid of the 1816C I'm really glad I didn't because the 1816 comes in much more handy on smaller jobs.

 

[JaseBosto]

I changed the hydraulic oil filter and most of the fluid. It made a huge difference.
The implement pump belt was loose, I tightened that up and sprayed belt conditioner on the belts. They will have to be changed at some point but are in acceptable condition for now.
Changing the filter made a huge difference. It looked like the hyd fluid was fresh but it was clear the filter has not been changed in a very long time.
The machine isnt jumpy at all now. It operates exactly as I feel an older skid steer should.

I also changed the engine oil. There was not a pipe to make draining engine oil easier. Because of that I am certain it was neglected in years past. Also because of that it was nearly impossible not to spill oil everywhere. But I did plumb up 3/8 NPT to make the draining process very easy because I plan to change the oil very frequently.

 

[JaseBosto]

Little update. Since I got the 1816 I noticed that the engine rpms were very difficult to control. If the clutch wasnt engaged the rpms would skyrocket. Turning down the throttle lever would only decrease rpms a little bit but at that point if I engaged the clutch the engine would stall. I realized this is definitely a governor issue.
So I took a look at the manual for adjustment. Followed the procedure and in doing so I realized that the governor spring was hooked to the incorrect point. There are six holes and it was supposed to be hooked to the lower right hole, and it was hooked to a middle left hole.
I corrected that, and adjusted the governor arm again.
The result was it now runs as it should, engine rpms are easily controlled and now the machine can be run at an appropriate rpm instead of redline rpms.
At any rpm, the machine is now even easier to control and runs and operates exactly as it should.

 

[haymaker]

Got to love a cheap easy fix!!