New and Taking on a Big Project L455

[Dragos28]

Hey there, I'm looking at picking up an L455 with no engine.

I have zero knowledge on skidsteers, but I have slept at a holiday inn, that coupled with youtube and i'm pretty much an expert.

I am currently using my neighbors BobCat for the past year and while he doesnt mind, and i repay him by doing all the maintenance and repairs. I do want to have my own.

I have a couple of acres of land, here in Edmond, OK and i'm always doing some sort of project that requires some skid steer assistance, mainly because i've got a bad back so i'd much rather the machine do the lifting.

Back to the L455, assuming that is even the correct model. I have yet to pick it up and verify the model and year. Hopefully I will go today, just waiting on the seller to confirm he can borrow his BILs FL to help load the L455.

My thoughts, my first thought might be crazy and it's probably just going to stay a wild idea.. but it would be cool to do an electric motor to turn the hydraulic pump, the electric motor and batteries would help with all the weight. but i also have zero knowledge in electric setups. Not that I couldnt figure it out...
My second thought is to put a v-twin engine in it, either a gx690 or a predator, i actually have a spare B&S v twin, but it has a conical shaft so maybe even that engine would work if i can fabricate the linkage.
I'm not afraid to weld and fabricate brackets, so in that regards i should be able to do the conversion.

So if anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

A little bit about me, i'm a father of 3, love spending any and all free time with my kids outside, riding dirtbikes or on the lake wakeboarding.
I do have a slight obsession with Toyotas.

My 14yo son loves to drive it off road and I've become his spotter lol

when we're not out on the trails, or on the lake or camping we ride dirtbikes

And somehow when i find free time in between shuttling 3 kids to 3 different schools at 3 times each with their own activities, and running two businesses. I like to weld, garden and take on new projects lol
like welding up a wrought iron fence around the house

anyhow, this is turning into a weird dating profile.

Hopefully I can pick this L455 up, if not it'll be something else but my goal is to have my own skidsteer on a budget.

 

[skidsteerforum]

Hey @Dragos28 welcome to the Skidsteer Forum. What a great introduction and dating profile. lol Great photos too. Well, please feel free to use the search for anything you need and post all your questions in the forum so it gets more visibility. Looks like you've got a lot of work to do. Knowing how to weld is a plus!

 

[mrbb]

first off , welcome to the site

I enjoy seeing folks restoring, fixing and using older equipment, rather than it just getting scrapped!

BUT that said, are you sure this is a project you want to take on? and please don't take this as a negative, and NO bash or likes meant here!
just offering some thoughts on things before you go into it!


as these older machines are getting much harder to find parts for them, as most all have been discontinued a LONG time now,
and I believe this model doesn't even have the modern quick attach, so finding implements , or having to add an adapter will be in the need, adding to costs!( I could b wrong, too hard to tel from your pic;'s)

add in the crazy prices hydraulic hoses have come to, and you can very easily sink a ton of $$ into a project past what its worth or ever will be!
so it will end up having to a project for fun, and not practical use here, is this what your after!

if not, I might suggest finding a better candidate to start with, that in the end will have you a useful machine for yrs to come and not end up with a machine that 's not worth what you end up in it!

best of luck to you no matter what!

 

[Dragos28]

first off , welcome to the site

I enjoy seeing folks restoring, fixing and using older equipment, rather than it just getting scrapped!

BUT that said, are you sure this is a project you want to take on? and please don't take this as a negative, and NO bash or likes meant here!
just offering some thoughts on things before you go into it!


as these older machines are getting much harder to find parts for them, as most all have been discontinued a LONG time now,
and I believe this model doesn't even have the modern quick attach, so finding implements , or having to add an adapter will be in the need, adding to costs!( I could b wrong, too hard to tel from your pic;'s)

add in the crazy prices hydraulic hoses have come to, and you can very easily sink a ton of $$ into a project past what its worth or ever will be!
so it will end up having to a project for fun, and not practical use here, is this what your after!

if not, I might suggest finding a better candidate to start with, that in the end will have you a useful machine for yrs to come and not end up with a machine that 's not worth what you end up in it!

best of luck to you no matter what!

Thanks, i traded a walther p22 that ive had for over 15. years for it. so worst case scenario, the tires are new so i can sell those, if i want i can part it out or scrap it.

my first attempt will be to power it up and see if the hydraulics work. if it does than i can give it more love, if it doesnt then i will decide to either pull the pumps off and scrap it.

 

[mrbb]

Thanks, i traded a walther p22 that ive had for over 15. years for it. so worst case scenario, the tires are new so i can sell those, if i want i can part it out or scrap it.

my first attempt will be to power it up and see if the hydraulics work. if it does than i can give it more love, if it doesnt then i will decide to either pull the pumps off and scrap it.

before scrapping it, you can maybe try parting it out, as I said, a lot of these older machines parts have been long discontinued, and as such, there some times are older owners looking for parts,
Not big sellers, but , might net mote than a scrap yard would pay!

ebay/ facebook market pl;ace and likes, or on this site even in the classified section, just food for thought!

again best of luck to you, and post back if you get it running and proceed!

 

[Dragos28]

before scrapping it, you can maybe try parting it out, as I said, a lot of these older machines parts have been long discontinued, and as such, there some times are older owners looking for parts,
Not big sellers, but , might net mote than a scrap yard would pay!

ebay/ facebook market pl;ace and likes, or on this site even in the classified section, just food for thought!

again best of luck to you, and post back if you get it running and proceed!

Thanks, yeah i do hope it runs. i'm assuming the previous owner wouldnt have put a new cylinder on the bucket and new tires if it was running poorly. from what they said, they had it revved up really high and blew a rod out the block..

 

[jakc]

I think once you see the ridiculous new/used cost of replacement parts for these machines you'll want to start with something a little more complete and newer. These machines are nothing but money pits!

 

[Dragos28]

I think once you see the ridiculous new/used cost of replacement parts for these machines you'll want to start with something a little more complete and newer. These machines are nothing but money pits!

That may very well be the case. But im going to try and if it fails, then ill part it out and scrap the rest

 

[st0ck1ng]

Welcome to the forum.

I have a 1989 L785
1) yes parts CAN be hard to find, but so far, (in my case at least) findable
- being able to weld (i assume you can fabricate) DOES simplify things as you can move mounting points around to replace pieces with non-OEM parts if necessary
2) as to total cost, if you were looking to flip, I'd say absolutely not, but as you want something to use for the foreseeable future, I'd say go for it. One of the beauties of these machines is that they are STUPID simple to work on
-- After a VERY quick search, a used machine of similar size is going for between $12k-28k, now it comes down to how much time and effort you want to put into it.
3) Based on pictures alone, I would replace all the hydraulic lines that are difficult to get to, I just replaced all of mine (minus the boom and bucket hydraulics) while I had the pump out for new seals, no it wasn't cheap at $1,000 but it was worth not having to pull the pump again.
4) Electric motor - interesting idea, electrical on these systems are simple, so shouldn't be a huge learning curve, would be very interested in the outcome AND operability of what you come up with.

Finally, this sounds like a great father/son project.

Good luck, keep us updated.

 

[Dragos28]

Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[mrbb]

added wrong post

 

[ward]

Other then running out of juice in the batteries I could see an electric motor working great as you normally run a skid steer engine wide open so a system that is on or off would work fine, just let the hydrualics warm up a bit before driving and your first few minutes keep your driving slow so you don't cavatitate the drive pumps, the lift pump will be ok with a on or off system.

 

[Dragos28]

Other then running out of juice in the batteries I could see an electric motor working great as you normally run a skid steer engine wide open so a system that is on or off would work fine, just let the hydrualics warm up a bit before driving and your first few minutes keep your driving slow so you don't cavatitate the drive pumps, the lift pump will be ok with a on or off system.

I really do like this idea, for now i'm going to throw the 20hp v-twin engine i have laying around in there and verify that the hydraulics function. and if with the 20hp if it operates good enough and doesnt bog down i may just leave it alone.

but if that proves that hey it works it just needs more balls, i'll either look into a bigger engine or an electric motor.

i do have a new Navitas electric motor setup laying around, its a 48v 4kw... and from googling, that shows it only has around 15hp... which i also find hard to understand, they're showing that motor on golf carts popping wheelies, i'd assume it has more hp... or maybe it has to do with the torque... idk, its shows 45-60nm of torque.. i'd have to do some more research or maybe just find a bigger electric motor if this one doesnt have the umph necessary.

ideally i'd like to use what i have laying around and spend any necessary $ on new hydraulic hoses if necessary.

Speaking of which... would it be worth it to buy my own hydraulic hose crimper, hose and fitting? or just take it to a shop and have it done professionally?

 

[ward]

When I worked in the rental industry we had our own crimpers and hoses I think it was aroquip, and could make most hoses we needed however I have no idea what the cost were for fittings I do know a couple of years ago I bought 2 hoses for a John Deere 3038e compacpt tractor the 2 hoses were 1/2 the price of one hose from John Deere the fittings were slightly different however worked fine with out rubbing, I know back in 2000 a crimping unit with the different collets for hoses from 1/4 inch 3/8 1/2 and 3/4 inch hoses that we keept in the service trucks, were in the 1500 dollar range you still need to buy the bulk hose and fittings, a person could take inventory of what is on the machine 90 degrees vs straight, male vs female, pipe vs JIC , I doubt if that unit would have flat face we did not see them until late 1990s on equipment,
Once you have the hoses replaced on the unit I suspect you will only need to replace hoses that have a lot of movment however I have seen hoses under the seat of units blow just due to their placement forward drive hoses seemed to blow more then the reverse which makes sense as they get more flexing yet I doubt I replaced more then 2 hoses a year and we had about 20 to 25 skid steers out on rent most of the time if not dirt work they were rented out for snow removal only around thanksgiving and christmas did we see most of the skid steers in the yard maybe about 75% woud come back in.
In short I think if you have a hydraulic shop that just makes hoses it would not be worth it however if it is one and a half hours away maybe it would and weekends can be a problem.

 

[mrbb]

I'll throw in my 2 cents here

YES having the ability to MAKE your own hoses would be awesome and could save hundreds if not thousands p[ending how often you need hoses

BUT, unless you have many machines and often need to make hoses,(or plan to offer services, which then opens you up to liability and possible other things, business lic, ins and so on off the books cash deals, are a dying thing due to folks suing each other IMO) )
SO, honestly I don't think its cost effective for the average person

as till you stock up hoses of several sizes, as there tend to be several differeit sizes on most machines, (add in if hoses are not stored right or used in a timely fashion, they can go bad, dry rot, and??(examole of this, is,a a local farmer near me, thought about getting into making his own hoses and sell some to locals

but kept hose rolls ina shot that got super hot in summer, and in two yrs, all his BRAND names hoses dry rotted on him,
I sadly had him make me up 6 hoes as he was way cheaper then local shops

only to have to return all the hoses due to being cracked from dry rot, and hoses were Not very old,(less than 4 yrs and he ended up refunding me, a total loss on things)
add in all the different fittings one would kinda need to have on hand, and then set aside a spot in a shop to keep all things,

and IMO< the idea starts to fad away
BUt again in a ideal world, it would be great to have ability to just mnake, as youc an save a LOT of $$$

here is a very good video on a guy that just did this
he has very good videos with honest info

for him, lots of machiens and lots of friends in same like bisinesses, its well worth it for him

but an average guy, I doubt its cost effective!

in today's world, if you NOT in a rush, there are many online hose making shops, way cheaper then local shops,

but local shops tend to get most business, due to there faster, and when a hose blows for folks using machines for money making, down time matters
and this is why hose shops IMO get away with the prices they charge

as there getting crazy with prices OVER what just the parts costs
example , $ 100 or less in parts(in hose and fittings) and then charging $350+ for making it!
at my local shop, thats a LOT for a few minutes of labor, (2 yrs ago was $150 for all same hoses too )

but there again counting on folks having a machine on a JOB site going down and HAVING to get it back up ASAP!

But here is a link to the video, he goes into costs and details on things, little long maybe, but might be worth you watching it

 

[Dragos28]

Thanks! it was just a thought... but yeah it sounds like its not feasible to make my own

 

[ward]

There is a second thought that dosent require all the equipment and that is (screw together hydrualic hose fittings) I have seen quite a few of them but have only seen 2 blown off the hose, it really makes field reapair quick as you just need some wrenches and new hose. as for special long reach 90degrees Ithink you would still need to buy from a shop. Also they are resuable fittings provided they are not damaged.

 

[Dragos28]

There is a second thought that dosent require all the equipment and that is (screw together hydrualic hose fittings) I have seen quite a few of them but have only seen 2 blown off the hose, it really makes field reapair quick as you just need some wrenches and new hose. as for special long reach 90degrees Ithink you would still need to buy from a shop. Also they are resuable fittings provided they are not damaged.

Surprisingly it was quick and I feel affordable to have hoses made here locally

 

[st0ck1ng]

Throw some progress pictures in once in a while.

 

[Dragos28]

Throw some progress pictures in once in a while.

Unfortunately not much progress other than degreasing and cleaning. Got most of my components in for the engine to pump linkage but ill need to use my neighbor's lathe and hes going to sell it to me! after he walks me through its basic usage. Ive always wanted a lathe!! He used to build and race stock cars and hes in his late 80s so hes actually wanting to sell off all his tools so I maybe getting a lot cool old-school fabrication tools.
Im in the process of relocating my rented warehouses to my newly built warehouse so I've got a few things on my plate.