new to me bobcat 743

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vishrb

New member
Joined
Oct 20, 2022
Messages
4
Hey all. I am a beekeeper out of Colorado. I purchased a refurbished bobcat 743 that has some specific beekeeping adjustments. Mast etc... I was in a pinch and had to order one out of Florida. I had landed a contract last minute to load and unload semi's of bees for canola pollination. I was an idiot and did not fly out or have it looked over. When I got the "refurbished" unit I found that the only thing refurbished was the new paint job. There are a ton of issues but the main ones right now are the engine compression, serious creep, and non-functioning gauges. I tried to use it but 6-ish uses and the hoses started to pop. I had to give the contract away to another beekeeper and send this to a bobcat service center. I lost the contract and overpaid for this unit so I am trying to get a feel for the cheapest way to get it to where it needs to be. The bobcat service center said the creep was due to excessive wear and cannot be adjusted back into spec. Has anyone experienced wear that bad or is there some opportunity to get the creep worked out other than a complete rebuild of the steering? Not trying to second guess them but sometimes places have a standard of repair that they have to meet. Compression was 290, 300, and 300. It is a v1702 engine. trying to work out some paths on this. The service center wants around 10k to put a reman v1903 in it. I have asked around and have found some reman v1702 and v1902 engines with a core charge. Any guess on whether my core is good or is that level of compression loss and how long it was probably run like that mean I would not get a core refund? It does not sound like a v1902 is not much better than the v1702 so I was leaning toward a v1702 reman. Thoughts?
 

foton

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Mar 1, 2018
Messages
1,261
I think the where you can best deal of the two engines , just think you might have to remember you have a little more power to break stuff with the 1902 installed. you sure do not want to do that. if you do not know this the 1702 has a bad habit of cracking the heads if overheated, you might want to pull the head and look at the head gasket and head for warpage and cylinder ridge if you are thinking of a local rebuild or a DIY.
 
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vishrb

New member
Joined
Oct 20, 2022
Messages
4
I think the where you can best deal of the two engines , just think you might have to remember you have a little more power to break stuff with the 1902 installed. you sure do not want to do that. if you do not know this the 1702 has a bad habit of cracking the heads if overheated, you might want to pull the head and look at the head gasket and head for warpage and cylinder ridge if you are thinking of a local rebuild or a DIY.
Honestly, I like the idea of just going back to the motor it came with. Just stay stock and hope to not worry about any conversion kits or anything. what do you think about the creeping issue?
 

wings5j

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Joined
Jan 7, 2008
Messages
189
He is probably right about running out of room to adjust the steering. The parts for a steering rebuild shouldn't be too high and well worth it if you keep the machine. I would be curious what his estimate was on the rebuild? I chose to do the rebuild myself and took several hours but this was all new to me. My guess is the shop could do it in about three hours. Perhaps one of the groups experts will chime in soon.

I found having a factory maintenance and parts manual invaluable, though now I think you can see the parts catalog online.

Sorry to hear about your experience in the purchase as well as the losing of the contract.

If you keep the 743, this forum will help you get it going b
 
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vishrb

New member
Joined
Oct 20, 2022
Messages
4
He is probably right about running out of room to adjust the steering. The parts for a steering rebuild shouldn't be too high and well worth it if you keep the machine. I would be curious what his estimate was on the rebuild? I chose to do the rebuild myself and took several hours but this was all new to me. My guess is the shop could do it in about three hours. Perhaps one of the groups experts will chime in soon.

I found having a factory maintenance and parts manual invaluable, though now I think you can see the parts catalog online.

Sorry to hear about your experience in the purchase as well as the losing of the contract.

If you keep the 743, this forum will help you get it going b
Hey, thanks. I have made peace with it. I have decided to go out of business with my bee company. I have started selling off bits and pieces to get the USDA paid down as much as possible. Looks like I am down to the skid steer and the car hauler I was using to move it around. I think it is in my best interest to fix the skid steer up to the degree that its value hits an ROI point I can live with. That way come spring when keepers are starting to get busy again I can try and get it sold. If I cannot get a reasonable price for it then I will keep it and try and do some bee colony semi-loading and unloading at various pollination areas. So fix her up a bit and sell or use her until I can get a good price and maybe put a little money in my pocket.

An indy mechanic shop has started to get some open slots that is 1.5 hours closer to me and I was thinking about moving it there instead of the bobcat service center. Hoping maybe the hourly will be a bit better but mainly because they are more flexible on how to work through the engine issue. Thoughts?
 

Wayne440

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Sep 24, 2017
Messages
281
...I think it is in my best interest to fix the skid steer up to the degree that its value hits an ROI point I can live with. That way come spring when keepers are starting to get busy again I can try and get it sold...

I respectfully offer 2 pieces of advice-

(1) To me, "engine compression" by itself is not an issue that would make me replace an engine, particularly when you are not much below the Kubota overhaul figure (I think that is 327 pounds for your V1702). More important, how does it start and run? It is using or losing lube oil? How does it sound?

(2) If "ROI" is your goal and the machine is useable as it is, my advice is to stop the "I" part, realize there will be less than satisfying "R" and sell ASAP even if you lose money. Sinking a bunch of money into a machine before selling is practically never a money maker, and if you put it to work after spending serious coin on it you may face another costly repair before finding a buyer - then you are even further down the "R" scale.
 
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vishrb

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Oct 20, 2022
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I respectfully offer 2 pieces of advice-

(1) To me, "engine compression" by itself is not an issue that would make me replace an engine, particularly when you are not much below the Kubota overhaul figure (I think that is 327 pounds for your V1702). More important, how does it start and run? It is using or losing lube oil? How does it sound?

(2) If "ROI" is your goal and the machine is useable as it is, my advice is to stop the "I" part, realize there will be less than satisfying "R" and sell ASAP even if you lose money. Sinking a bunch of money into a machine before selling is practically never a money maker, and if you put it to work after spending serious coin on it you may face another costly repair before finding a buyer - then you are even further down the "R" scale.
Thank you for taking a moment.

I did not get to use it enough before the hoses started to pop. The lines are pretty old and warn. It was a very hard start though. From moment one. Plenty of white smoke if I remember right. It has been sitting at the service center since early August as I tried to work something out with the vendor. The bobcat dealership said it was hard to start because of the low compression. No idea if the glow plug(s) are working. It was a month delayed making it to me and I had the first semi coming in just a day or two when it finally arrived. So no time to have it checked out. Was hoping to get through the contract and get it in. Once warm it is not a hard start. I did not note anything unusual in how it sounded once started.

.
 

Wayne440

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 24, 2017
Messages
281
If it clears up within a few minutes after starting, doesn't consume excessive lube oil and has reasonable power I would not do anything to the engine if my intent was to sell. I would do the least amount of work needed to get it in usable condition (drives forward and backward, turns, lifts and dumps etc.) and put it on the market. Let the new owner fix it up to whatever extent he/she wants to - it might last many years for a person who just needs it occasionally.
 

Markle

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Joined
Sep 8, 2020
Messages
72
3 years ago I bought a dead in the field early 743. Since it had a tooth bucket and good tires, AND the seller only wanted $1500, I bought it. Engine had zero compression. The inspection/access cover ( to access hydraulic oil cooler and radiator) above the engine on the plastic fan housing was gone, which explains why it overheated. Gotta have this plate in place. Make sure you have it. I bought a reman v1702 and it was an easy changeout. Old one slides out; new one slides in. Hydraulic and hydrostatic functions all checked out, except once the engine was out, I found leaking steel tube hydraulic lines that were buried in crap, a common issue with these. I recently got all gauges working with the help of the wiring diagrams in the service manual, and a new key switch. I like the simplicity of the machine though it's not a workhorse. I move firewood crates and dirt. This machine needs functioning glow plugs and I activate them at least 30 seconds warm and 60 seconds cold temps. Your hard start could likely be the glow plug solenoid not working. though I Don't know what you paid or hours on your machine, my humble opinion is that once you replace the blown hyd hoses, and if your hard start is fixed by glow plug system service, you will have a working machine..and why not keep it?
 
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