Re-power a Bobcat 825 skid steer...

[D2Cat]

New project. I got this beast from a local farmer who said he smelled antifreeze when he ran it. He had a mechanic remove the head. Mechanic said he though a sleeve was cracked. Engine difficult to find and expensive to ship, so he sold it.

The engine is a Perkins 4108, four cyl. 108 CI. Often used in sail boats, various brands of skid steers in the USA, but many industrial and automotive uses in Europe. It's a wet sleeved engine so that adds considerably to rebuilding costs, because the sleeves need to be removed, then new sleeves installed, then machined for new piston... so a Kubota V2203 came into question.

I have a friend who works on big tractors, up to 250HP, and he loves Perkins engines. I remember finding a Massey Super 90 setting in a barn yard a few years ago and he was over there the next day negotiating for it and had it running and on a trailer in an hour. I called him to ask about if he knew where I could get a Perkins or information or parts. When I told him what size I needed he said he never heard of a Perkins that small!

I mentioned to him I was thinking about getting an engine that was used in refrigeration units for trucking. He told me his brother's step-son had a trucking business and lost his refer contract, so he took the units off and sold them. He bought two of them and still had one out back.

So that's what is going into this Clark/Bobcat.

North Idaho Wolfman has been my coach! I have to adapt the coupling from the hydraulics to the flywheel. Need a different oil pan to have room so the engine crankshaft can line up with the hydraulic pumps. Have to fabricate engine mounts....

Here's some pictures. A couple of the skid steer, and it's filth, one in Martin's back field, then on my trailer, then removed.

 

[D2Cat]

A couple more pictures.

 

[D2Cat]

Got the flywheel machined to accept the flange that mounts the U-joint to the hydraulic pump. Replaced the refer style oil pan with a Kubota oil pan. Got the dipstick hole drilled and installed dip stick sleeve. Got engine set in machine. Built leveling rods to get engine in correct place to fabricate engine mounts. Have engine connected to hyd. pump.

 

[Wbk]

I did something similar, I used a an old compressor trailer and installed a used refer motor that I paid $200 for I used it to drive a hyd. pump for a little drill rig.

 

[85Hokie]

Len -

after looking through this again ------ man I cannot wait to see this thing working again!!!!

How goes it? SLow???

 

[D2Cat]

The man at the machine shop said 1 week. That's why I dealt with him, the other shop said 3 weeks before they could get to it. Well, I got it one day short of 5 weeks. BUT...I got it!!

Got a couple of obstacles to think through, but that's what makes it fun.

 

[Daren Todd]

Can't wait to see that baby run I like the solution for keeping the engine in place while your trying to level it

I used to have to slide the engines forward on some of my old pumps to replace the drive coupler. My crane on the service truck had just enough butt to take the weight off so I could slide it with a long prybar. But wouldn't lift the engine.

Every now and then I would hook on to one that was sitting at an angle . Then when I go to slide the engine back, the darn thing would take off Once the bloody thing dropped off the skid, I would have to call the contractor to send over a trackhoe or backhoe to set the engine back in place would have to drop the bolts into the feet for the engine mounts, then shim, and then jack the engine back and forth till I got the halves of the drive coupler back square. Sometimes it would take me a couple minutes. If the skid was at an angle, it was at bear. It was at fight to slide it uphill, and down hill was usually too easy.

 

[D2Cat]

I was trying to get the engine lined up by using wood pieces and then some shims like used for getting doors plumb. Every time I adjusted one, two would move another direction. Decided I need to come up with something different.

I went to my metric bolt selection and found a couple that threaded into the bell housing tapped holes. Just welded a heavy 1/4" thick washer onto the head of the bolt and used all thread with a nut at the top and bottom to make it stay. Pretty easy, simple, inexpensive and quick....and works!

Looking at McMaster Carr for vibration-damping mounts for my fabricated motor mounts. Way, way, way, less expensive then Bobcat, and it looks like a perfect fit. Not sure how hard they should be but I'm going to order 65A durometer, oil and gasoline resistant.

 

[D2Cat]

The Kubota V2203 engine got a steel oil pan to replace the one used by Carrier. It has a drain plug on the side and one on the rear.

I'm going to use the one on the rear. The pan needs a hose to go over to the right side of the skid steer frame where there is a hose barbed connection and a plug on the outside to drain engine oil.

Not much room to play with, and I want a valve to reduce the mess when removing the plug. Here's what I came up with. EZ oil drain valve. Hose from the 90 to the hose barb with two clamps and done! Threads had to be 16mm x 1.5 pitch.

 

[RCW]

Not much room to play with, and I want a valve to reduce the mess when removing the plug. Here's what I came up with. EZ oil drain valve. Hose from the 90 to the hose barb with two clamps and done! Threads had to be 16mm x 1.5 pitch.

'Cat - looks like the ticket.

Had a similar setup on my JD425 tractor with a Kawasaki twin cylinder. That valve was brass IIRC. Always treated it gently......

 

[D2Cat]

I've got one on my Dodge truck and it's been there for a while. Never any trouble and it's real handy for getting a sample to have sent in for testing. And changing oil is a no-mess deal.

The truck has this brand, but they didn't have one with a 90 deg. bend.

https://www.fumotooildrainvalve.com/?gclid=CM7rueXfldQCFUW5wAodkEECyg

 

[Lil Foot]

Len- I like the leveling rods, great idea. I will file that one away for future use.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Len,

Is there any way to safetie that valve closed? or is the plastic "clippy-doodle" for that purpose? Other than that, I am sold.

 

[D2Cat]

The valve is spring loaded and the lever has to be raised about 1/8" and then rotated 90 deg. to open the ball valve.

This valve is located in a place on the skid loader where nothing can get to it to even bump it, then a 14" piece of hose will get the oil to the connection on the frame, and then there is a plug on that!!

Yes, that clip is a "feel safe" device designed for "worry warts"!!

 

[NF6X]

My Bobcat 753 (with a Kubota engine; I don't remember the engine model number) didn't even have a valve for the oil drain. The oil drain hose had a male flare fitting crimped onto the end, which was then closed off with a screw-on cap. To drain the oil, I'd open the rear door, pull out the short drain hose, and unscrew the cap.

I sold the Bobcat to help fund buying my L3301HST, which is my first tractor. It now has 30 hours on the clock (arrived with 4, then I put 26 more on it), and I'm loving it!

 

[CaveCreekRay]

NF6X,

You have had both. A friend of mine is thinking about a Bobcat but I am trying to steer him towards a BX25 or larger. He wants it for general grading/yard work. Seems to me the Bobcat tears up the ground a little when you drive it, as opposed to a tractor. And, I am not sure if a skid steer can reach as high with the loader.

What are your impressions having had both?

 

[NF6X]

You have had both. A friend of mine is thinking about a Bobcat but I am trying to steer him towards a BX25 or larger. He wants it for general grading/yard work. Seems to me the Bobcat tears up the ground a little when you drive it, as opposed to a tractor. And, I am not sure if a skid steer can reach as high with the loader.

What are your impressions having had both?

Driving in a straight line, a Bobcat with industrial tires tears up the ground about as much as a tractor with industrial tires. But as soon as you turn, the Bobcat tears up the ground more. Turning in place really tears up the ground a lot.

The Bobcat's big advantage is maneuverability in tight spots. But all of the attachments on a Bobcat cost a lot more than comparable 3-point attachments. When you put an attachment on the Bobcat, you lose the bucket. On a tractor, you can have a bucket mounted at the same time as a box blade, backhoe, brush cutter, etc. For example, while I was mowing weeds with my brush cutter, I had the bucket handy for the occasional pile of stuff that needed to be pushed around.

The biggest annoyance on a Bobcat, in my opinion, is that you need to climb over the bucket to get in and out. When working solo, this can occasionally mean climbing in or out with a load on the bucket or forks, which is both inconvenient and somewhat dangerous. Getting in or out with a load raised on the implement is especially dangerous. This isn't an issue on a tractor, since you can get on and off the tractor while staying clear of any load on the loader.

My Bobcat was both useful and fun. But I saw that all of my smart rural neighbors have tractors, I've seen how they use them, and I finally decided that a tractor would be more practical for my land maintenance tasks than the Bobcat. And it's also fun! I have one not so smart neighbor who doesn't have a tractor. Instead, he hires a couple of idiots to do things like mowing 5 acres of weeds with an ordinary lawnmower. Don't be an idiot... buy a tractor!

Seriously, if your friend really wants a Bobcat, he will make it work for him. But having had both, I think a Bobcat is better suited for construction type jobs, and a tractor is better suited for general property maintenance. Notice that except in the most tightly constrained construction jobs, the Bobcat isn't the only implement around. The contractor also brings in a skip loader, backhoe, excavator, dozer, etc. as the job dictates. For a property owner who can only afford a single piece of equipment, the goal is to cover as many of those capabilities as possible at minimum cost. Tractors are pretty versatile in that regard, especially if you can afford to include a backhoe.

That little BX25D looks like a great value to me. I wanted a bigger frame, more weight, and bigger tires for my very hilly 5 acres and hard-packed soil, but I sure like the price point of the BX25D.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I will ditto what NF6X said.
I have both and the bobcat can move dirt and snow far better than the tractor, but the tractor does a far better job at leveling, grading, tilling, maintaining than the bobcat.

 

[NF6X]

I do wish I could have afforded to buy the tractor, keep my old Bobcat, and buy a brush cutter for the Bobcat... a front-mounted brush cutter would have been handy for poking into corners around my fenceline.

I still haven't figured out how I'll clear brush on hilly parts of my property that are too steep for either a tractor or a Bobcat, though. I'm considering maybe laying a cable or chain along the top of a hill, forming it into a big loop that I can connect to the tractor drawbar down on more level ground, and then using the tractor to drag it down the hill in order to scrape off the dried brush. Any ideas? Maybe I should start a new thread for this.

 

[D2Cat]

http://www.img2.ritchiespecs.com/rbir/2007212/1813400_1.jpg