Just bought my first skid steer, a bocat 600. I have many questions! Can I adapt it to the quick attatchent system? Can I then use standard attachments, or on my 600 are my aux hyrdalics not powerfull enough? I have only used newer hydro drive bobcats, so this is taking a little getting used to. Are there any forums dedicated to just the older non-hydro drive bobcats? Thanks for any and all info!
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It will have the same *power* as most machines in your age bracket. It will have the same pressure, but different flow. Newer machines have higher pressure and higher flow, so its really hard to gauge *power* in that respect.
Being a clutch drive, you won't have the same control as a hydro machine but you get used to the controls. With hydrostatic drive, they say you have the most torque when moving slowly. You will especially notice this when going up a hill and you can feel and hear the engine bogging down, you simply ease off a bit and keep going. I'm not sure how the clutch drive goes with this though.
There are a few members here with the same machine as you have, i'm sure they will throw in their advise.
Being a clutch drive, you won't have the same control as a hydro machine but you get used to the controls. With hydrostatic drive, they say you have the most torque when moving slowly. You will especially notice this when going up a hill and you can feel and hear the engine bogging down, you simply ease off a bit and keep going. I'm not sure how the clutch drive goes with this though.
There are a few members here with the same machine as you have, i'm sure they will throw in their advise.
Tazza is right. Your machine only has 9.5GPM flow, so whatever you use has to be rated at that or less or it won't work properly. The clutches are lubricated with hydraulic fluid as well, and the steering system is not as smooth as hydrostatic and tends to bog the motor down, or wants to get jumpy in tight turns when you have a load on it. You'll have to play it by feel. I'm going to modify mine for the quick-tach system as soon as I get it put back together. I'm going to make mine from scratch, and haven't laid it out yet, so can't really help you on dimensions just yet. Adapting one from a newer machine is an option, but it will take quite a bit of modification. Might be easier starting from "jump street". I posted a question about it here: http://www.skidsteerforum.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=54&frmView=ShowPost&PostID=26396 (if the link works). If not it's under Bobcat/General Questions. OldMachinist was kind enough to provide a like to download the dimensions of the SAE standard for the quick-tach system that most manufacturers use.
My first Bobcat was an M610. My first skid steer was a Mustang 1700. For years I had used them and got used to the characteristics of a clutch drive system. When I had a summer job that required me to operate an 843 Bobcat I got to use hydrostatic drive for the first time. That seemed strange because of the vibration in the controls and noise it made. The biggest difference was being able to push dirt harder by giving only slight movement to the levers. Probably the biggest surprise to me was the difference in turning. On an old clutch drive Bobcat you have to pay attention to the balance of your load and the surface you are working on. If you load your bucket so the weight is the same on all 4 wheels and try to turn on pavement it will stall the engine. So I would have to add more dirt to tip more forward or make the turn on the dirt instead. Since there is no hydraulic drive on the older Bobcats it only has a hydraulic pump for the bucket and lift arms. That is a lower flow system not suitable for augers, trenchers, grinders or other motorized attachments. The old-fashioned backhoes, grapples and buckets fit and work fine. The dimensions and attachment points of the quick attach do differ from later models. You can modify it rather easily though. Once I got my own 843 Bobcat I stopped using my M610 for just about everything. The only advantage it has is that instead of a noisy hydrostatic drive it has the silent clutch drive and has that pleasant "tractor" sound. For use in a suburban setting is is a lot quieter. Also the lower flow and hydraulic pressure is ideal for my Fairmont hydraulic chain saw that I use by standing on the M610.
Oh man, I was really hoping to get an auger for drilling holes for this. I guess that that won't work then on the 600? Any way to modify the pump to have higher gpm? So I noticed that you can adjust the "drive belt," to spin faster or slower by opening the rear pulley or by closing it. I had to move a very big tree trunk and I stalled the engine a couple times until I opened the pulley and tried it that way. Does this mean that by doing that it will give it more lower end torque? As soon as I got it home and used it, it started leaking gas from around a seal on a device right before the carb that looks like the bowl on a carb, but seems to be upstream from the actual carb. I tried to go to NAPA to get a carb rebuild kit, but they said I needed the model numbner off the carb. They wouldn't go by just the engine or bobcat model number. Where can I find the carb model? I ended up tightening all of the flat head screws up and it stopped the leak for the most part. One of my spark-plugs was totally loose, but upon tightening it, the engine didn't sound any different. How much is a new muffler for one of these? Thanks for your replies
Even with the lower GPM flow rate, you will get an auger to suit it. Lower flow will just make it spin slower, it should still have the same power up to the point that the relief opens. It may not be as efficient as it would be on a newer machine, but it will work.
Tazza nailed it. If you use a smaller auger you should be ok. Just don't expect to be tossing dirt 6ft in the air.... As far as your other questions...That's exactly what that lever does. It controls the travel speed by varying the width of the drive pulley. The higher it rides the faster the machine goes, but the less torque you have. The lower it rides, the slower it goes, but more torque is available. The "device" that is leaking is either a fuel bowl or fuel pump. If it has a glass bowl on it, it's a fuel bowl. If so, get rid of it and put a large inline filter on it between the tank and fuel pump. Any autoparts store carries them in metal or plastic. I have a plastic one so I can see fuel flow and watch for water accumulation and dirt buildup. The fuel pump is round, all aluminum, and has like 10 screws(not sure offhand) around the top of it, and bolts right to the engine. If the engine is running good, and the carb itself isn't leaking, I would leave it alone. As far as a price on a muffler, it varies. You can check the local farm stores, tractor places, or have a look on eBay. Hopefully this helps.
As far as modifying the pump? Nope. It's a fixed displacement pump. Besides that, if you put a bigger pump on it, it will require more power to run it. You can either run into issues with the engine stalling, or worse yet, twisting the drive shaft off the distributor or breaking something else. I wouldn't advise a bigger pump. Only a bigger machine.
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Pressure is the important figure for auger work. If you don't need to turn a huge diameter bit and you satisfied with a modest rpm it will work just fine.
Flow or gpm is the augers speed/rpm.
The max pressure available in psi is what determines the maximum torque the auger drive bit will make.
Ken
Okay that is all good to know. It sounds like it must be the fuel pump housing then. Not sure how that is driven then as it doesn't look mechanically driven? I think I wil have to track down a manual for this thing! I am going to need to get a quick tach system up and running as any attatchments seem to have it. I have to be able to swap a digging bucket with a flat edge bucket at least for sure. The bucket that came with the machine does not have a flat edge and does not have teeth, so it is not really good at digging or at smoothing anything out! My friend thought we could weld a peice of 1/2" mild steel onto the bucket for now to have a smooth edge, anyone else try that? That is great to hear that an auger will work on this. I realize that it won't spin super fast but as long as I can dig out some fence post holes I will be happy.
The fuel pump is driven internally by a push rod. As far as the cutting edge, 1/2" mild steel would work temporarily. AR plate may be a better choice if you can find it. Check local steel yards, they may have it. Or fab shops that work on heavy machinery. If they don't have any, they will probably know where to get it. We rebuilt a few big excavator buckets with it. It's very hard stuff and should hold up well. The quick-tach for your 600 may be a hard find. I've only seen pictures of them. But, if you root around long enough, you may find one. Otherwise, you'll have to build one from scratch, or modify one to fit. But if you want one bad enough, you'll find a way. Manuals are available on eBay I know. Other members here may know of other places where you can get one. Maybe from Bobcat. I have one, but it would probably cost a small fortune to get it copied.....
The smaller augers are largely useless here. Most ground here is rock, and you need power to drill holes. I have tried several augers on my M610 and none of them did much better than a hand held unit. The smaller backhoes are a much better choice in my opinion. Put one on your M610 and start digging, really beats a shovel!
Thanks, for the info. I rented a tow behind hydralic auger to dig some holes and that did not break through the rocks in the clayey soil here. I had to hire a college kid to dige out the holes to pour footer columns to support a deck I was building. I was dreaming of getting an auger and being able to blast some holes to sink fence posts or sono-tubes in.
About all I can say is take good care of it, keep your pennies close, and your eyes open. When you get the chance to get a bigger machine, do it. You'll be amazed what you'll find if you are always looking
