289C great design...almost

[ConstSvcs]

I was visiting my daughter this weekend and had the chance to checkout a 289C. I was amazed at it's size and features. Really seemed like a beast. Nice beefy track system that seems like it will wear very well.

The big disappointment was the exposed hydraulic lines and wiring harness that powers each track drive motor. This could surely have been concealed or protected as far as I can see. What was CAT thinking ????? Mud,Rock,Brush ????

They are almost there.........................see these camera phone images :

[SiteSolutions]

That's one thing about my T-190, the lines to the drive motors are pretty well armored... can be hard to clean it out thoroughly but better than having your day ruined by a little stick.

[Bleed Green]

couldn't the lines under the tracks be harmed when cleaning out the tracks when there is mud packed in them? Seems that a shovel could do some damage to lines that are exposed like that.

[Junior M]

this was discussed here when someone first got word of them...

[ConstSvcs]

this was discussed here when someone first got word of them...

Hmmm........must have missed that Junior.....

[BIGBEN2004]

Heck they didn't even put hose raps on them. If your not going to cover them with a metal shield of some type then they should have at least put hose rap on them. I like how Takeuchi has theirs concealed behind metal plating and any hose on the machine that is exposed and can't be a steal line then they have heavy hose rap on them including the hoses in the engine compartment. Come on Cat I would think these kind of things would be common sense by now.

[Junior M]

Hmmm........must have missed that Junior.....
Yeah, it was back in December or so I believe, but we had the same discussion about the hoses and wiring in the undercarriage being exposed..

[mrsops]

Constsvcs your 100% right what was cat thinking not covering those hoses. I don't understand why they wouldn't. That machine should come with a back up camera to

[bobcat_ron]

You have to be some kind of idiot to tear those lines with a shovel, I mean really, how hard (and sharp is the shovel) to puncture a hydraulic line with 2 steel mesh wraps and 5/16" of rubber thickness?

Cat's hoses are the toughest I have ever seen, my brother's ex-dumbass employee who did all his brush cutting, tore couplers and solid pipes off the 320CL's boom before the hoses even stretched, and they aren't much bigger than the ones going to the C series drive motors.

I've had re-bar get in between there and no problems.

[AWJ Services]

I mentioned it months ago and was told by someone on the Forums that most of the Cat skidsteers have been that way for some time and it has not caused a problem yet.

[MackCat]

I mentioned it months ago and was told by someone on the Forums that most of the Cat skidsteers have been that way for some time and it has not caused a problem yet.
I had an ASV Posi-Track with the hoses the same way and i mowed R.O.W. with it for 11 years and never had any problems with the hoses at all. I have a CAT 297C and haven`t had any problems on it either.

[BIGBEN2004]

I had an ASV Posi-Track with the hoses the same way and i mowed R.O.W. with it for 11 years and never had any problems with the hoses at all. I have a CAT 297C and haven`t had any problems on it either.

A company I used to work for had a 267 with exposed lines and we replaced them a couple times in the four years they had it. They are very hard to replace since they curl up in the belly pan and usually broke in some of the most muddy conditions imaginable. What broke them was usually brick and re bar.

[ksss]

I mentioned it months ago and was told by someone on the Forums that most of the Cat skidsteers have been that way for some time and it has not caused a problem yet.


I have read of numerous people who have run a stick up through the bottom of their BC causing all sorts of problems. What are the chance that could happen? Apparently better than it would appear. I am sure in a mulching application you could tear them up. Maybe demo but I doubt you would see a tracked machine in that environment. 'Course in a mulching application, they usually become a mobile Bic lighter first.

[Digdeep]

I had an ASV Posi-Track with the hoses the same way and i mowed R.O.W. with it for 11 years and never had any problems with the hoses at all. I have a CAT 297C and haven`t had any problems on it either.

I used to sell this against the Positrack MD70, HD, and 4810s back in the day because the Bobcat factory guys said it would be a big problem. It never really materialized based on what the ASV customers told me and I stopped.

I guess all that ground clearance on the ASV machines helped to prevent any kind of problem although I can't say much about the CAT CTL because they haven't been out all that long.

[bobcat_ron]

There's nothing to worry about, really to put this whole "exposed hoses will cause problems" deal to rest, think of it this way, you dudes with VTS equipped machines, all that traction and weight is provided by 2 small hydraulic motors with 2 chains going to 1 axle each, a whole lot more can go wrong with that then a few hoses getting rubbed or chaffed by a wayward branch or re-bar on the Cat CTL's.

[CAT powered]

If it's that worrisome to you guys then just weld some steel to a hinge and weld the hinge onto the machine so that it'll cover up the hoses and you can swing it back to change the hoses if they ever need it. It doesn't need to be terribly thick steel. Just enough to keep wayward branches out.

[SiteSolutions]

I have read of numerous people who have run a stick up through the bottom of their BC causing all sorts of problems. What are the chance that could happen? Apparently better than it would appear. I am sure in a mulching application you could tear them up. Maybe demo but I doubt you would see a tracked machine in that environment. 'Course in a mulching application, they usually become a mobile Bic lighter first.

I had a 1" sapling come up through the drain hole in the bottom of my T-190 when backing up. Broke the bottom out of the hydraulic oil reservoir. Including the tow, it set me back a good 1500 bucks.:cry:

That sucked.

Any time I get in the woods, I just figure in a little extra to cover me breaking something. Of course, on this particularly expensive job, it was my folks' church and I was just doing it to be nice.

:dizzy:

[Junior M]

I had a 1" sapling come up through the drain hole in the bottom of my T-190 when backing up. Broke the bottom out of the hydraulic oil reservoir. Including the tow, it set me back a good 1500 bucks.:cry:

That sucked.

Any time I get in the woods, I just figure in a little extra to cover me breaking something. Of course, on this particularly expensive job, it was my folks' church and I was just doing it to be nice.

:dizzy:
Hmm, I'll keep that in mind, I've never really looked at the underside of a T190. I've never had one upside down to take a good look at it, yet.. :D :laugh:

Depending on how big the hole is, when I get one I'll think about welding some sort of lid on it.

[bobcat_ron]

Hmm, I'll keep that in mind, I've never really looked at the underside of a T190. I've never had one upside down to take a good look at it, yet.. :D :laugh:

Depending on how big the hole is, when I get one I'll think about welding some sort of lid on it.

That "hole" is an elongated drain hole for the belly pan, there's 2 of them, trust me, you need them to stay open.

[Junior M]

That "hole" is an elongated drain hole for the belly pan, there's 2 of them, trust me, you need them to stay open.
Why do you need to keep them open? You couldnt make some sort of lid, that you could take off when needed?

[bobcat_ron]

Why do you need to keep them open? You couldnt make some sort of lid, that you could take off when needed?

It's risky enough getting underneath a 9000 pound machine and trusting your life to what ever supports you have holding it up, and bolts shear off, look at the way belly pan guarding is held on the underside of logging equipment, that's how it's done.

[Junior M]

It's risky enough getting underneath a 9000 pound machine and trusting your life to what ever supports you have holding it up, and bolts shear off, look at the way belly pan guarding is held on the underside of logging equipment, that's how it's done.
what do you mean thats how its done?

I've never looked at the belly pan on logging equipment.

and good point about getting under equipment, that guy that hauled dirt for us got killed from just a bush hog. so your saying just take the chances with it being open?

[bobcat_ron]

what do you mean thats how its done?

I've never looked at the belly pan on logging equipment.

and good point about getting under equipment, that guy that hauled dirt for us got killed from just a bush hog. so your saying just take the chances with it being open?

We have bars welded to the belly pan plates to keep the bolts from getting sheared off, they will still drag in the mud.
The holes have to stay open to allow water to drain, if it sits too lonmg inside, it will rust and if it's anything like the manure "water" I go through, it's corrosive enough to eat seals.

[Junior M]

We have bars welded to the belly pan plates to keep the bolts from getting sheared off, they will still drag in the mud.
The holes have to stay open to allow water to drain, if it sits too lonmg inside, it will rust and if it's anything like the manure "water" I go through, it's corrosive enough to eat seals.
Oh, okay, I get what your saying, that makes perfect sense..

[ConstSvcs]

This all said............it (289C) seems like a nice machine.......

[SiteSolutions]

Those drain holes could have a piece welded inside the chassis, a few inches above the hole, so nothing could come straight in, and not work any worse than they do.

Which, they don't work that freaking great to begin with. I end up reaching down into inches of muck to get them to drain right.

A builder I was working with decided to rent him a Deere skid and had a similar experience with rebar and the fuel tank.

The cheapest and easiest solution I think is to learn from your mistakes and be mindful of what is around you and how much it could cost you if you let it... although I haven't given up on the idea of rigging some sort of guard inside my '190.

[BigDigger]

I agree, I would be very happy with that machine.

BTW on that video test we saw of all the major brand CTLS digging out of a big pile of dirt *the hard stuff to dig* we saw the PT80 struggle etc but the Cat did just fine digging in and filling the bucket....the bobcat certainly didn't look any stronger in that instance, or the case for that matter....and they all had the same bucket...

just saying....you mileage may vary, but I think "Case Fanboyism" is the kryptonite for the cat machines....they work fine until a Case guy tries it out......hmmm wonder why :dizzy::laugh:

[mrsops]

I agree, I would be very happy with that machine.

BTW on that video test we saw of all the major brand CTLS digging out of a big pile of dirt *the hard stuff to dig* we saw the PT80 struggle etc but the Cat did just fine digging in and filling the bucket....the bobcat certainly didn't look any stronger in that instance, or the case for that matter....and they all had the same bucket...

just saying....you mileage may vary, but I think "Case Fanboyism" is the kryptonite for the cat machines....they work fine until a Case guy tries it out......hmmm wonder why :dizzy::laugh:

If i recall the guy in the t320 in that video was scooping up full buckets of dirt.. I could of swore the guy running the cat was not getting full buckets of dirt

[BigDigger]

If i recall the guy in the t320 in that video was scooping up full buckets of dirt.. I could of swore the guy running the cat was not getting full buckets of dirt

Swearing don't make it true :laugh::)

[BIGBEN2004]

What video is this? I wanna watch it.

[Tigerotor77W]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCXl36zsfJY

there are five, I think, which you can find in the "Related Videos" sidebar.

[CarterKraft]

As to the exposed hyd lines...

In my 7 1/2 years working for one of the highest volumn selling dealer in the world I have changed one hose and a hand full of ORFS seals and a few STOR boss seals. None of which were damaged from a wayward object.

In my experiance lines that are guarded to well fill with material and that abrasive material then grinds its way through the covers of the hoses causing a rupture.

While the hoses look vulnerable, much like the loops on the loader arms for the work tools, they aren't a problem, period.