My Bobcat 610 axle seal repair. Cheap but good.

[alchemysa]

I think I bought the worlds dirtiest 610. I had to scrape inches of encrusted oil and dirt from every nook and cranny. Every thread was rusted badly. Many of the nuts could only be removed after squeezing them with a nut splitter. Anyway, its stripped now and the old oil is draining out. In a few days I'll throw a couple of litres of diesel into each side and flush it out.

But the purpose of this thread is to explain my inexpensive axle repair. I was pretty pleased with how it worked out.
All 4 axles were leaking badly so they were all removed. The pic below shows them with arrows pointing to the badly worn oil seal surfaces. My first thought was "This could get expensive".
The axle in front was obviously not original and already showed signs of a past repair. When I pulled off the seal a collar came off with it. (See the ? mark). This was a surprise as the parts diagram shows that the sealing shoulder is a fixed part of the axle. (As it is on the other 3 axles). Its not supposed to be a separate piece. It also had the remains of an old 'easy sleeve' around it. (Not shown in the pic). I fixed this collar permanently back in position with a couple of set screws prior to it being re-sleeved. By the way, those 'easy sleeves' are very expensive and are not suitable for such badly worn axles anyway, so they were not an option in this situation.

(Below). Heres a close-up of one of the axles. You can see how chewed out the sealing surface is... a result of filthy oil and grit working its way under the seal from inside and out. All the oil sealing surfaces carry 2 oil seals so in total there are 12 oil seals. (2 on each back axle, and 4 on each front axle.)

(Below). Heres a shot of a front axle with the inner collar and the oil seals fitted. In the parts book they call this a 'stop'. Interestingly the stops have 2 seals fitted, not 1 as shown in the parts book. (I think the parts book is incorrect).

OK, now heres the good bit. The seals are 'Chicago Rawhide' or 'SKF' part number 20006. All 12 seals are the same size. They are made to fit a 2 inch axle shaft. Fortunately for me, 2" (outside diameter) is also a stock size for stainless steel tube. (For example, its commonly used for handrails). A meter of tube cost me just $13, which was enough to make a half dozen sleeves with plenty of tube to spare. The tube wall thickness is 1.6mm.
I found a guy locally who lathed down the axles and 'stops', and press fitted the sleeves for me. And he gave them a little polish too, all for $180. So for less than $200 I had the axles back into a condition that should long outlast me.
The pic below shows the tube, with one of the old oil seals around it.

And heres the finished result. (Below). 4 sleeves are pressed around the axles near the hubs, and 2 sleeves are pressed around the 'stops' at the top of the axles. The stops are part of the front axles only.

Heres another shot of the 'stops' and some leftover pieces of tube.

I've ordered all new oil seals. The best value was 'EB Atmus Co' in Massachusetts. $9.42 each with free shipping to a mate in North Carolina who will post them to me in Australia. (Over here these seals would probably be at least $30 each). The email service was also very good so I would recommend them ... http://www.ebatmus.com/seals_skf.html
Apart from a lathe (which I don't have, but want) the tools required are pretty straight forward. To remove the axles the only 'special tools' needed were a pipe wrench and a thin home made spanner to undo the the big nuts inside the case at the front and rear. The pipe wrench will do the rear nuts just fine but the front nuts are narrower and in a tighter space. I didnt have a suitable spanner or shifter so I just cut a piece out of some old 4mm plate.
To get the bearings off the axles you might need a press. The workshop manual says you can use a puller, but no way were the bearings on mine coming off that easily. So I bought this old screw press for $100. Man I love it. I should have bought one years ago. I reckon it paid for itself in a day and I've already used it for other jobs.

So thats it. Maybe the story will help someone else who is pondering the expense of fixing their leaky axles. I did all 4 for under $200 plus the cost of new oil seals.

 

[6brnorma]

Alchemysa…..I am always impressed with your ingenuity. This is a great idea. Here are my thoughts however. First……the speedy sleeve …… I have used them on much worse axles then what you have there and they worked just fine. The trick is to be sure to use a steel epoxy under them prior to pressing them on. Permatex or even JB Weld but I like the eight minute permatex the best. You don't have much time to work once applied. If you do not use the epoxy…..chances are, it will leak and chances are it is going to leak around your sleeve if you did not use something. The kits from Bobcat come with "Thread lock"…….it does not work. Second…….at one time prior to the mergers/buyouts, the 20006 seal was a two sided metal seal (very high quality)…..that is no longer the case. Bobcat supplies in their kit a (I believe) South Korean seal VAY #F8132…..it is the original 0.25 wide with double steel sides …….excellent seal. Also available and I use all the time is SKF #20005……it does measure 0.334 wide however but is double steel AND double lip.
The problems……the speedy sleeve when placed on the axle and bottomed out leaves about 0.10 of the seal surface unused (as much as 0.25) and with some bearings/axle combos renders the inner most seal useless as it has no surface to seal against. Your shims should eliminate this issue. I overcome it by only driving the speedy sleeve deep enough that the sleeve covers the inner most part of the shaft then I recess the seals slightly outward to give more sleeve surface to work with.
Last….price…….near as I can tell you have about $306.00 tied up in yours……if you buy the Bobcat kit at $56 plus the four extra seals…..you'd have $265.00 invested…….food for thought. Pros and cons……but that is one heck of a job you did there.

 

[6brnorma]

Alchemysa…..I am always impressed with your ingenuity. This is a great idea. Here are my thoughts however. First……the speedy sleeve …… I have used them on much worse axles then what you have there and they worked just fine. The trick is to be sure to use a steel epoxy under them prior to pressing them on. Permatex or even JB Weld but I like the eight minute permatex the best. You don't have much time to work once applied. If you do not use the epoxy…..chances are, it will leak and chances are it is going to leak around your sleeve if you did not use something. The kits from Bobcat come with "Thread lock"…….it does not work. Second…….at one time prior to the mergers/buyouts, the 20006 seal was a two sided metal seal (very high quality)…..that is no longer the case. Bobcat supplies in their kit a (I believe) South Korean seal VAY #F8132…..it is the original 0.25 wide with double steel sides …….excellent seal. Also available and I use all the time is SKF #20005……it does measure 0.334 wide however but is double steel AND double lip.
The problems……the speedy sleeve when placed on the axle and bottomed out leaves about 0.10 of the seal surface unused (as much as 0.25) and with some bearings/axle combos renders the inner most seal useless as it has no surface to seal against. Your shims should eliminate this issue. I overcome it by only driving the speedy sleeve deep enough that the sleeve covers the inner most part of the shaft then I recess the seals slightly outward to give more sleeve surface to work with.
Last….price…….near as I can tell you have about $306.00 tied up in yours……if you buy the Bobcat kit at $56 plus the four extra seals…..you'd have $265.00 invested…….food for thought. Pros and cons……but that is one heck of a job you did there.

To be clear……I use the SKF #20005 in conjunction with the VAY #F8132 …….the SKF to the outside. Gives you three lips towards the fluid.

 

[alchemysa]

To be clear……I use the SKF #20005 in conjunction with the VAY #F8132 …….the SKF to the outside. Gives you three lips towards the fluid.

6brnorma.... If I had your experience and advice with the speedy sleeves before hand I might have gone that way, but the supplier's video on youtube made it look like they were mainly for a badly scored axle, not one that was worn as much as these. Also there was the remains of a speedy seal already on the front right axle. It had conformed to the shape of the worn axle so it was pretty useless and it had worn through in a couple of places as well. Your advice on using Permatex would probably have prevented that. My other fear was that if I messed up fitting the speedy sleeves I would have blown any cost saving over the method I chose. Everything is so expensive over here that you just can't afford mistakes. Alternatively you have to wait quite a while for parts to arrive from the U.S. From a technical perspective my method was pretty simple. I knew the costs beforehand and there wasn't really much that could go wrong.
Regarding the oil seals.. Yes I noticed the difference between the old ones and the new ones I have ordered. I wondered about the quality. The double lip ones sound good. What are they worth? But anyway, the workload and working conditions for this Bobcat wont be anywhere near as tough as yours so these new ones should do fine. Actually I reckon 4 of the old seals are still in good condition so I'm thinking of putting them on the front axle inner 'stops'. If they leak i can get at them easily, but I doubt they will because they fit so snugly on the new sleeves.

 

[6brnorma]

6brnorma.... If I had your experience and advice with the speedy sleeves before hand I might have gone that way, but the supplier's video on youtube made it look like they were mainly for a badly scored axle, not one that was worn as much as these. Also there was the remains of a speedy seal already on the front right axle. It had conformed to the shape of the worn axle so it was pretty useless and it had worn through in a couple of places as well. Your advice on using Permatex would probably have prevented that. My other fear was that if I messed up fitting the speedy sleeves I would have blown any cost saving over the method I chose. Everything is so expensive over here that you just can't afford mistakes. Alternatively you have to wait quite a while for parts to arrive from the U.S. From a technical perspective my method was pretty simple. I knew the costs beforehand and there wasn't really much that could go wrong.
Regarding the oil seals.. Yes I noticed the difference between the old ones and the new ones I have ordered. I wondered about the quality. The double lip ones sound good. What are they worth? But anyway, the workload and working conditions for this Bobcat wont be anywhere near as tough as yours so these new ones should do fine. Actually I reckon 4 of the old seals are still in good condition so I'm thinking of putting them on the front axle inner 'stops'. If they leak i can get at them easily, but I doubt they will because they fit so snugly on the new sleeves.

I think you did a great job on this……going to save the idea in case I need to use it someday. My guess is the 20005 seal is rather expensive. I happened to find these on Amazon for $14.00 including shipping so I bought all he had which was about 25 or so.

 

[Tazza]

I think you did a great job on this……going to save the idea in case I need to use it someday. My guess is the 20005 seal is rather expensive. I happened to find these on Amazon for $14.00 including shipping so I bought all he had which was about 25 or so.

Nice job indeed, thanks for sharing

 

[alchemysa]

Nice job indeed, thanks for sharing

Just to complete the story. All 4 axles are now reinstalled. I decided to put them back in before before prepping the body for painting. Theres lots of rust etc to clean off so I figured it would be best to plug a few holes to keep the crap out of the chain cases.

Anyway I'm very happy with the feel of the new seals and sleeves. Everything feels like new now. I made my own gaskets out of 1.5mm gasket paper. ($24) . I bought a 15mm punch ($5.30) to knock out the bolt holes. That was well worth it. I don't know what genuine gaskets would have cost (if they are available) but they would probably be expensive by the time I landed them over here. I also ran a thin web of silicon on both sides of the gaskets and let it cure for a couple of days before installing. That way it helps the gaskets to seal but it wont stick like glue to the body.

You might notice the ribbon of felt around the axles. Its sitting in an indent right up against the seals so it wont move. It will prevent grit from getting into the seals and wrecking them again.

You can also see that my inner hubs are the 'front brake' type. I dont know if this machine once had brakes, or if it was just a common thing to fit this style of hub regardless of whether it had brakes or not. Its got me wondering if I can fit some kind of parking brake to this machine.

Anyway, the axles are done, so now I can get back to two major jobs. Cleaning and painting the frame, and rebuilding the engine.

 

[Tazza]

Just to complete the story. All 4 axles are now reinstalled. I decided to put them back in before before prepping the body for painting. Theres lots of rust etc to clean off so I figured it would be best to plug a few holes to keep the crap out of the chain cases.

Anyway I'm very happy with the feel of the new seals and sleeves. Everything feels like new now. I made my own gaskets out of 1.5mm gasket paper. ($24) . I bought a 15mm punch ($5.30) to knock out the bolt holes. That was well worth it. I don't know what genuine gaskets would have cost (if they are available) but they would probably be expensive by the time I landed them over here. I also ran a thin web of silicon on both sides of the gaskets and let it cure for a couple of days before installing. That way it helps the gaskets to seal but it wont stick like glue to the body.

You might notice the ribbon of felt around the axles. Its sitting in an indent right up against the seals so it wont move. It will prevent grit from getting into the seals and wrecking them again.

You can also see that my inner hubs are the 'front brake' type. I dont know if this machine once had brakes, or if it was just a common thing to fit this style of hub regardless of whether it had brakes or not. Its got me wondering if I can fit some kind of parking brake to this machine.

Anyway, the axles are done, so now I can get back to two major jobs. Cleaning and painting the frame, and rebuilding the engine.

Looking good so far!
Have you had good success with silicone on gasket material before? I'd have just used something like loctite 515 on the gasket material and bolted it up. There is a good chance you will never need to remove them, and if you did, it would still come off.
Will look great painted, waiting for more pictures.

 

[alchemysa]

Looking good so far!
Have you had good success with silicone on gasket material before? I'd have just used something like loctite 515 on the gasket material and bolted it up. There is a good chance you will never need to remove them, and if you did, it would still come off.
Will look great painted, waiting for more pictures.

Tazza, the cured silicon seemed to work fine for this purpose. I probably didnt really need it but I didnt want to be doing this job twice. It doesn't stick really strongly to the gasket paper so i would only use it in a situation where both sides of the the gasket are fully captive. You wouldnt want bits of silicon dropping off and falling into oil galleys or the like.
One other thing came up that may be of interest to 610 owners. The left hand swivel bearing that supports the jack shaft was seized. The set screws had dropped out and the shaft was simply rotating inside the inner ring. (Fortunately it was oily enough to not damage the shaft). This is the bearing that is closest to the drive belt and driven sheave so its under significant pressure.
I could not 'unseize' the bearing so I decided to remove the seals from one side of the bearing and take a look. It was totally dry and didnt have a trace of oil or grease. It even had rust inside. It was a 'Koyo' brand, made in Japan, which I suspect was not the original bearing. I think the original bearing and housing had been replaced long ago. (The swivel bearing on the right hand side is SKF brand, which is still fine).
I have ordered another bearing but I have now got this one cleaned up and spinning again so I'm thinking of greasing it up and actually using it again. It wouldn't be sealed perfectly any more but this is the side of the bearing that is open to the chain case so it would be oiled continuously by the spinning chains, the same as other bearings in the chain case are. I would however swap it to the other jackshaft. Its just a thought. I'd need to keep an eye on it.

 

[thynes]

Tazza, the cured silicon seemed to work fine for this purpose. I probably didnt really need it but I didnt want to be doing this job twice. It doesn't stick really strongly to the gasket paper so i would only use it in a situation where both sides of the the gasket are fully captive. You wouldnt want bits of silicon dropping off and falling into oil galleys or the like.
One other thing came up that may be of interest to 610 owners. The left hand swivel bearing that supports the jack shaft was seized. The set screws had dropped out and the shaft was simply rotating inside the inner ring. (Fortunately it was oily enough to not damage the shaft). This is the bearing that is closest to the drive belt and driven sheave so its under significant pressure.
I could not 'unseize' the bearing so I decided to remove the seals from one side of the bearing and take a look. It was totally dry and didnt have a trace of oil or grease. It even had rust inside. It was a 'Koyo' brand, made in Japan, which I suspect was not the original bearing. I think the original bearing and housing had been replaced long ago. (The swivel bearing on the right hand side is SKF brand, which is still fine).
I have ordered another bearing but I have now got this one cleaned up and spinning again so I'm thinking of greasing it up and actually using it again. It wouldn't be sealed perfectly any more but this is the side of the bearing that is open to the chain case so it would be oiled continuously by the spinning chains, the same as other bearings in the chain case are. I would however swap it to the other jackshaft. Its just a thought. I'd need to keep an eye on it.

Thanks for the information. Tim in Mass

 

[6brnorma]

Thanks for the information. Tim in Mass

alchemysa…..I need to get you a 'Green Card' so you can come up here and go to work for me. My guys can break machines fast enough to keep you busy.
One thing though….I am all but positive that you have the wrong bearing for that application. I need more photographs to be positive but here is what I see. That bearing should have 'eccentric' bore holes on the 'outboard' side, allowing the collar to lock onto the shaft by use of a pin spanner wrench (or a punch)….'set screws' alone will not hold the shaft in place. On the 'inboard' side of the bearing….the bore will be 'concentric' and flush to the bearing allowing enough clearance to the sidewall for the required movement of the bearing. I can not count the number of times I have found these bearings in use……they work for a while but always fail or cause other problems prematurely.

 

[alchemysa]

alchemysa…..I need to get you a 'Green Card' so you can come up here and go to work for me. My guys can break machines fast enough to keep you busy.
One thing though….I am all but positive that you have the wrong bearing for that application. I need more photographs to be positive but here is what I see. That bearing should have 'eccentric' bore holes on the 'outboard' side, allowing the collar to lock onto the shaft by use of a pin spanner wrench (or a punch)….'set screws' alone will not hold the shaft in place. On the 'inboard' side of the bearing….the bore will be 'concentric' and flush to the bearing allowing enough clearance to the sidewall for the required movement of the bearing. I can not count the number of times I have found these bearings in use……they work for a while but always fail or cause other problems prematurely.

6brnorma. Heres a couple of pics of the seized 'Koyo' bearing.
The bearing on the other jackshaft was SKF brand but was exactly the same in appearance. As soon as I saw them I thought it was a pretty poor arrangement, with just 2 little set screws to lock it in place. If you have seen plenty like this then Bobcat must have been fitting them as standard at some stage. I've got a replacement bearing coming. It was just $18 on Ebay. Same design though.

 

[6brnorma]

6brnorma. Heres a couple of pics of the seized 'Koyo' bearing.
The bearing on the other jackshaft was SKF brand but was exactly the same in appearance. As soon as I saw them I thought it was a pretty poor arrangement, with just 2 little set screws to lock it in place. If you have seen plenty like this then Bobcat must have been fitting them as standard at some stage. I've got a replacement bearing coming. It was just $18 on Ebay. Same design though.

Yes …. that is the wrong bearing. No….bobcat never used that bearing. What happens (because it has happened to me) is that you go to a bearing house and ask for the correct bearing…..it is an unusual bearing so the bearing house takes the specs and gives you the more common (but incorrect) bearing. It fits but does not work as intended. First: there should be no lip at all on the inside of that bearing. Depending on the bearing make and the make of the housing that you use…..lay a straight edge across the housing with bearing installed and you will find that you are bolting the bearing solidly against the sidewall of the bobcat leaving the bearing unable to align correctly. If this happens you will eventually cause problems with the jackshaft sheave wear. Second: The outer lip should have an eccentric locking collar. This locking system holds the shaft firmly in place and stops axial movement of the shaft resulting in abnormal chain and gear wear as well as grinding sidewall metal off due to bearing contact. And….doesn't toss those dang set screws into your chain and gears.

 

[6brnorma]

Yes …. that is the wrong bearing. No….bobcat never used that bearing. What happens (because it has happened to me) is that you go to a bearing house and ask for the correct bearing…..it is an unusual bearing so the bearing house takes the specs and gives you the more common (but incorrect) bearing. It fits but does not work as intended. First: there should be no lip at all on the inside of that bearing. Depending on the bearing make and the make of the housing that you use…..lay a straight edge across the housing with bearing installed and you will find that you are bolting the bearing solidly against the sidewall of the bobcat leaving the bearing unable to align correctly. If this happens you will eventually cause problems with the jackshaft sheave wear. Second: The outer lip should have an eccentric locking collar. This locking system holds the shaft firmly in place and stops axial movement of the shaft resulting in abnormal chain and gear wear as well as grinding sidewall metal off due to bearing contact. And….doesn't toss those dang set screws into your chain and gears.

I see them for sale now on both Amazon and E-bay for about $30.00………..Fafnir and Timken pt#RA 104 RRB

 

[6brnorma]

I see them for sale now on both Amazon and E-bay for about $30.00………..Fafnir and Timken pt#RA 104 RRB

Interesting that we are on this subject. Today I am tearing a M-610 to the frame that I bought about 5 years ago and have used commercially for the entire time. When I get to that bearing it has an eccentric locking collar and I assume everything is correct, however, when I try to remove the jackshaft sheave and shaft, it will not clear the hydraulic filter. I know immediately that something is wrong……..sure enough when I pull the bearing…..it is a bearing I have never seen. It has the locking collar but has the lip on the inside……Federal Mogul/BCA/Vanguard bearing #W104. I do not know what make the housing is as it had no identifying marks. That was a first for me.

 

[alchemysa]

Interesting that we are on this subject. Today I am tearing a M-610 to the frame that I bought about 5 years ago and have used commercially for the entire time. When I get to that bearing it has an eccentric locking collar and I assume everything is correct, however, when I try to remove the jackshaft sheave and shaft, it will not clear the hydraulic filter. I know immediately that something is wrong……..sure enough when I pull the bearing…..it is a bearing I have never seen. It has the locking collar but has the lip on the inside……Federal Mogul/BCA/Vanguard bearing #W104. I do not know what make the housing is as it had no identifying marks. That was a first for me.

6brnorma... The bearings in mine had about 2mm of clearance. Just enough to allow sufficient swivelling. I bought a small second hand lathe recently so I've shaved another 1 mm off the inner lip. An angle grinder might also have done a good enough job . If I can work out a way to lock the bearing to the shaft I'll re-use them. (Maybe a shallow keyway in the shaft with a corresponding keyway in the inner ring?). If it doesn't work out I'll buy the the ones with the locking collars.
I read one of your posts somewhere where you said these things can be a bit of a money pit, and if you had your time again you might have chosen a later model. Do you still think that? So far I have found this thing to be reasonably straight forward and repairable at a reasonable cost. I'd hate to be having to repair a later model (let alone a fleet of them) with heaps more hydraulic components and more complicated electrics.

 

[6brnorma]

6brnorma... The bearings in mine had about 2mm of clearance. Just enough to allow sufficient swivelling. I bought a small second hand lathe recently so I've shaved another 1 mm off the inner lip. An angle grinder might also have done a good enough job . If I can work out a way to lock the bearing to the shaft I'll re-use them. (Maybe a shallow keyway in the shaft with a corresponding keyway in the inner ring?). If it doesn't work out I'll buy the the ones with the locking collars.
I read one of your posts somewhere where you said these things can be a bit of a money pit, and if you had your time again you might have chosen a later model. Do you still think that? So far I have found this thing to be reasonably straight forward and repairable at a reasonable cost. I'd hate to be having to repair a later model (let alone a fleet of them) with heaps more hydraulic components and more complicated electrics.

I think with your talents you will find a way to make that bearing work just fine. How about a small indent in the shaft for the set screws? That would be much simpler then the 'keyway'.
This model Bobcat does exactly what I need. I've worked on them since the late 1970s. I have enough new & used parts on the shelf to build 4 or 5 of these things from scratch, so, no I wouldn't make a change. Not to mention that my knowledge of the hydrostatic models could fit into a thimble. The M-610s are not a "money pit" for me but they can be for folks with little knowledge of the machine, limited tools and mechanical abilities and the inability to source parts at a reasonable price. In fairness though…….with the same parameters …. the "money pit" label would apply to any model machine and like you say……hydrostatics are not nearly as straight forward. My son (who takes care of most of the day to day management now) has approached me on a couple of occasions about upgrading to the current industry standard machine. I've told him …… sure……half a million dollars will get you there……..end of conversation.

 

[alchemysa]

I think with your talents you will find a way to make that bearing work just fine. How about a small indent in the shaft for the set screws? That would be much simpler then the 'keyway'.
This model Bobcat does exactly what I need. I've worked on them since the late 1970s. I have enough new & used parts on the shelf to build 4 or 5 of these things from scratch, so, no I wouldn't make a change. Not to mention that my knowledge of the hydrostatic models could fit into a thimble. The M-610s are not a "money pit" for me but they can be for folks with little knowledge of the machine, limited tools and mechanical abilities and the inability to source parts at a reasonable price. In fairness though…….with the same parameters …. the "money pit" label would apply to any model machine and like you say……hydrostatics are not nearly as straight forward. My son (who takes care of most of the day to day management now) has approached me on a couple of occasions about upgrading to the current industry standard machine. I've told him …… sure……half a million dollars will get you there……..end of conversation.

After numerous distractions I'm back to the Bobcat. Nothing really exciting to show ... but it might interest 610 owners.
I'm starting to paint the frame. I'm working in sections. Inside front section first. I scraped and treated the rust and applied a think coat of cold galv where required. The worst spot was on the cross beam below the hydraulic control valve. Lots of caked on dirt and oil here, and its hidden away, so the conditions for rust were perfect. Very pitted and ugly but fortunately I was able to clean it up before it got serious. Then a coat of white applied with a brush. When the whole frame has been done like this I'll finish with a couple of spray coats. This Bobcat has had a hard life. You can probably see all the chips in the paint but I'm not trying to return it to showroom appearance so I'm not worried them.

I'm working on the rear section now. With the engine out, the main rust zone along the top of the fuel tank is easy to see and clean up. But theres another rust zone thats not so obvious. On the right hand side, the curved plate around the air intake is a real trap for mud, stones and oil. The plate normally extends all the way down to the fuel tank with nothing more than a small weep hole to let out moisture. But the weep hole clogs up pretty quickly from all the crap that gets in through that triangular hole on the left of the pic. I used my little plasma cutter to remove a piece of plate and clean out the rubbish. Left much longer the rust here could have got nasty. Its a pretty bad design by Bobcat. I wonder if they altered it in later 610's?.

Hopefully I'll have more to show in the near future.

 

[6brnorma]

After numerous distractions I'm back to the Bobcat. Nothing really exciting to show ... but it might interest 610 owners.
I'm starting to paint the frame. I'm working in sections. Inside front section first. I scraped and treated the rust and applied a think coat of cold galv where required. The worst spot was on the cross beam below the hydraulic control valve. Lots of caked on dirt and oil here, and its hidden away, so the conditions for rust were perfect. Very pitted and ugly but fortunately I was able to clean it up before it got serious. Then a coat of white applied with a brush. When the whole frame has been done like this I'll finish with a couple of spray coats. This Bobcat has had a hard life. You can probably see all the chips in the paint but I'm not trying to return it to showroom appearance so I'm not worried them.

I'm working on the rear section now. With the engine out, the main rust zone along the top of the fuel tank is easy to see and clean up. But theres another rust zone thats not so obvious. On the right hand side, the curved plate around the air intake is a real trap for mud, stones and oil. The plate normally extends all the way down to the fuel tank with nothing more than a small weep hole to let out moisture. But the weep hole clogs up pretty quickly from all the crap that gets in through that triangular hole on the left of the pic. I used my little plasma cutter to remove a piece of plate and clean out the rubbish. Left much longer the rust here could have got nasty. Its a pretty bad design by Bobcat. I wonder if they altered it in later 610's?.

Hopefully I'll have more to show in the near future.

No….they did not change the design. Thankfully, I live in a very dry climate and have not had to deal with that problem often. You are at the point in your rebuild when you find all the nasty surprises these buggers throw your way. Lookin' good.