Would you trade your 743 for a difference machine?

[MalcolmV8]

Hey Guys,

I have a feeling my 1986 743 is going to need a reman engine at some point and I'm trying to decide if I want to spend the money on a reman engine or just replace it with something better. What's better? well I guess you don't know what you don't know. I've never owned or driven another skid steer so I have nothing to go by.

This is a DIY unit I use at my house. Building a 105x80 block garage so it's done a ton of work and I still have to do the 105x40 pad out front (tons of grading), build up about 5 feet of dirt in layers compacting on the one 40 foot side run, driveway etc.
But outside of the garage it's a great general unit around the property. I use the forks for lifting heavy stuff and saving my back, pulling engines out the back of my truck or lifting transmissions etc. I have a million uses for this thing and love having a skid steer so much even when the garage project is done I'm keeping it lol.
I've noticed a lot of models are bigger, I do like how this unit is fairly compact and "nimble" around the yard and garage etc.

As for the issues. Well darn thing over heats frequently it seems. I can hear coolant boiling in the pipes / engine when I shut it off. It did this right as I purchased it a year ago. After some diagnostics I replaced the radiator, installed a thermostat, added an over flow bottle (it was missing), new radiator cap etc. and I thought I had the cooling issues resolved. Then just recently the over heating thing happened again only my new temp gauge didn't budge out of the green which is really annoying. I shut it off and sounded like boiling water. Checked it next day once it had cooled down and radiator was empty. Guess it's consuming coolant as it doesn't leak where parked. Filled it and thought issue would be done but nope, I still hear little bits of boiling or bubbling, nothing to bad but still hear a little when shutting it off after a bunch of work.
I also see some nasty white jelly looking substance on the blow by tube and on the motor compartment floor where the blow by tube points. Possibly oil / coolant jelly but can't tell.

Anyhow if this thing craps out on me, is there a better model I should be looking for? or just rebuild this sucker?

Thanks
Malcolm

 

[fortworth-cowboy]

Hey Guys,

I have a feeling my 1986 743 is going to need a reman engine at some point and I'm trying to decide if I want to spend the money on a reman engine or just replace it with something better. What's better? well I guess you don't know what you don't know. I've never owned or driven another skid steer so I have nothing to go by.

This is a DIY unit I use at my house. Building a 105x80 block garage so it's done a ton of work and I still have to do the 105x40 pad out front (tons of grading), build up about 5 feet of dirt in layers compacting on the one 40 foot side run, driveway etc.
But outside of the garage it's a great general unit around the property. I use the forks for lifting heavy stuff and saving my back, pulling engines out the back of my truck or lifting transmissions etc. I have a million uses for this thing and love having a skid steer so much even when the garage project is done I'm keeping it lol.
I've noticed a lot of models are bigger, I do like how this unit is fairly compact and "nimble" around the yard and garage etc.

As for the issues. Well darn thing over heats frequently it seems. I can hear coolant boiling in the pipes / engine when I shut it off. It did this right as I purchased it a year ago. After some diagnostics I replaced the radiator, installed a thermostat, added an over flow bottle (it was missing), new radiator cap etc. and I thought I had the cooling issues resolved. Then just recently the over heating thing happened again only my new temp gauge didn't budge out of the green which is really annoying. I shut it off and sounded like boiling water. Checked it next day once it had cooled down and radiator was empty. Guess it's consuming coolant as it doesn't leak where parked. Filled it and thought issue would be done but nope, I still hear little bits of boiling or bubbling, nothing to bad but still hear a little when shutting it off after a bunch of work.
I also see some nasty white jelly looking substance on the blow by tube and on the motor compartment floor where the blow by tube points. Possibly oil / coolant jelly but can't tell.

Anyhow if this thing craps out on me, is there a better model I should be looking for? or just rebuild this sucker?

Thanks
Malcolm

So out of experience, I would keep that machine and just rebuild it or replace the engine if the engine is bad. Maybe needs just a new head gasket.
Unless you wanna spend at least $15000 - 20000 for a newer used machine, where you might have to dump some money in.
I wanna say, that for what you use it, you have a solid machine. Spend $4-8k to build that machine up and it should last you a other 10 years.
Maybe start with a coolant flush and also clean your radiators. How is the belt from the fan? If that belt is worn,, rotten damaged it will not cool good either.
Maybe take some pictures and post them here, then I can tell you more.