New Member New Holland L785

[geoff426]

I'm new, I don't know what I'm doing!
Whats up all?
I bought an old 1994? New Holland L785 skid steer last year. So far it's been good. Starts and runs fine in the summer but It needs some maintenance, (filters and fluids). This winter I can plug it in to the block heater and it won't start. Last winter it worked fine but I guess it's colder this year or it doesn't work anymore. After tons of cranking I finally got it but this is not ideal. It was 15* outside. Where would I find the best manual for this thing. I need to learn about it a little bit. It's got a Perkins engine in it and about 5300 hours on it. Also where would be the best place to find parts for this model. Thanks in advance…

 

[mrbb]

welcome to the site
a few things
first off block heaters do go bad, since this is an older machine, it might be in need of a new one?
also, you might have a over ride for the glow plugs, that you can manually cycle to allow more time for things to warm up before trying to crank, that or cycle the key a few times letting it go thru its warming up process a few times, this has been known to help in colder, harder starting diesels in my experience!
some other cold starting tips,suggestion's
you can also, make sure your fuel quality is good and fresh and water free, same goes with battery, a good strong battery will spin the starter faster/stronger and that in turn will help it start better in cold temps
if possible, keep it on a battery maintainer/tender!
if your block heater is found to be good, you can also, add a oil pan heater, a battery heater , to help in colder temps if one wanted too!
but typically a good working block heater plugged in night before, should be all that is needed as for heaters , not that others wouldn;t help, but just typically a good block heater should get the job done, if plugged in long enough and is working correctly!


as for finding parts
typically OEM parts can be had at your NH dealer, or if dis continued(as many older parts are anymore) the dealer should be able to track down most things you need, if not, then its a hunt online and or making phone calls to salvage yards, looking at Ebay and facebook market place and so on, or on forums like this, asking for help finding parts, most forums, have classified sections where you can post want to buy ?? in!

as for owners manuals, and service manuals, again your dealer should be able to get you the, but odds are they will be very costly from dealer

next is again online searches, for either new or used ones,(ebay /facebook market place or just in general searches) and then there are or should be downloadable one's over actually hard paper copies
and again you can ask on forums too!
a service manual might be the better one to invest in,a s it will have way better info for repairs and upkeeps IMO!!~

and

 

[geoff426]

Wow! Thanks for the super informative reply. That is awesome!!

 

[mrbb]

this might interest you, but before buying double check do your part on looking into things deeper, and make sure its a complete manual and not just part of one, plus, if its a PDF file or hard copy, seems like a hard copy, its NOT an original OEM manual, but it should give you a lot of decent info for a few bucks ( $18.00)
if your interested and use Ebay

I personally like paper copys of manuals over PDF files, I;'m old and not into modern tech, plus I like also to use the manual(or add to a binder) and keep track of all records on either manual or added not book to binder with manuals, this way I don;t have to reply on memory on what and when I did things to "X" machine , but I'm sure more modern folks maybe more interested in having things digitally on there devices< your call!
but this is an example of what I found in a quick search for you!

Ford New Holland L781 L784 L785 Skid-Steer Loader Service Repair Shop Manual | eBay

This service manual shows you how to trouble shoot, repair, and overhaul components. NEW HOLLAND L-781 L-784 L-785 SKID-STEER LOADER SERVICE MANUAL. New Print, Complete, Factory OEM service manual has 52 pages.

www.ebay.com

 

[mrbb]

here MIGHT be a operators manual too

check if your serial # matches up on things, it says 1990, but it might go past that too, or might all be the same still on later models, you could maybe call a NH dealer( Messick's NH dealer is a pretty great dealer with several locations and good staff that likes to help, or I always had great experiences with them) and ask if things are the same or if they know of what changes maybe were made, NH was pretty good at just coming out with a new model when they made changed to a model, over major changes to an existing model, pretty sure the LX series replaced the L series when they made the next set of changes to there line of skid steers!

New Holland L-781,L-783,L-785 Skid-Steer Loader Operators Manual, 1990 Edition | eBay

Operators Manual

www.ebay.com

 

[maytag906]

welcome!

 

[Rayhat]

I've owned a 91 L785 for nine years. It is an awesome machine. Ford diesel engine. Bought used with 3000hrs and have just over 4000hrs now. Mostly homeowner use but I have the matching Backhoe, Grappel bucket,Forks,5 in 1 bucket and Auger attachments, along with a couple of homemade ones. I fabricated a quick attach and adapted the old style implements to fit.
I try to have my work done before the freezing temps roll in. If it's bellow 35F I wouldn't even try to start it. It's stored unprotected outside.
If I think I might need it I'll try to get it inside and I put a block heater on the oil pan. It helps a lot.
I use the glow plug preheater button but I have no clue if it works.
I'm in NY so it gets down in the single digits.
Starting the machine isn't even a thought when that happens.
Head gasket blew this year, cost a bit over a ground to have fixed professionally.
Machine with 5 in 1 bucket and a set of forks cost me $5000 originally.
I've replaced several hydraulic hoses and had bushings manufactured for the machine and implements . It had a hairline crack on one of the axle housings that I found a week or two after I bought it. Had that professionally welded in the first month of ownership and don't even think about it anymore. Guess the guy did an outstanding job.
I'm not afraid to use it the way it's intended to be used.
The fuel cutoff switch on the Fuel Injector pump went twice. Replacement from Amazon worked fine. Just did it that's why I mention it.
Machine will crank but not start when that happens. May even seep some fuel down along the block.
Good luck with it, it really is an awesome machine with lots of parts available and a lot of knowledge on this site.

 

[geoff426]

I appreciate the knowledge here. My block heater was screwed into the side of the engine block kinda behind the injection pump. It took a couple attempts but I found one that fit. 3/4NPT thread, the engine got a coolant flush as a result. It was about 35* yesterday and after about 45min of me impatiently waiting I gave it a shot and it fired up with in a few crankings. I'm gonna test it again this morning since it's a little colder and I left it plugged in all night to see how well it starts. Last year it started great in the cold. Hopefully this does the trick.
And yes, I checked the old one and it was dead for sure. The cord was still good and was getting power to it. Just no heat from it.

Again, thank you all for the help on this.

 

[st0ck1ng]

https://www.jensales.com/search?search=NH L785 manual

Got all my manuals from them, because I'm cheap, I bought the digital version, printed them, put them into a binders along with all my maintenance records.

I have the Perkins engine also, it does NOT have glow plugs or an intake heater. Starts well with block heater down to about 10*F, then a very small shot of ether (< 0.25 of a second) and will fire right up.

Don't like using ether but, I figure is is a lot better than cranking over for 30+ seconds to fire.

 

[Rayhat]

Nice pic of the machine think you could add a shot of the block heater location on it. Ild love to add a permanent one to mine.

 

[Coke-in-MN]

Best machine I has was the 785 NH with Perkins , good balance for most work and easy to run.
Curse the day I sold it after getting a different machine .
Ran it for 6 years after buying it used - replaced pump and the valves - had to use old pump shaft as new aftermarket pump had different drive coupling .