Kwikway Loader Resurrection

[Jrblanke 857]

Disclaimer, I don't know what I'm doing, so I'm doing a mixture of what makes sense to me, and what is cost/time effective.

 

Update: 

Last night I added just shy of 1 gallon of AW68 hydraulic fluid and 1 cup of diesel fuel and run the pump last night for 30 minutes. Pump was hot to the touch but I could keep my hand on it. I cycled the cylinders 3 to 5 times each. I'm going to repeat this process again tonight or tomorrow, and then drain. 

 

I'm not clear on how to get the fluid out of the hydraulic cylinders. Do I need to crack the line open then move it by hand? Or do I have someone operate the control valve while I move the bucket or loader by hand? 

[Handy Don 12,174]

Heat is an enemy of hydraulics, especially the seals in cylinders and elsewhere. Normally, the mass of the fluid reservoir and the cylinder walls absorb and dissipate that heat so the pump doesn't see it (one reason why there is a reservoir to add volume to the system). Industrial/commercial systems have fluid cooling radiators.

I would never add anything to the fluid as a cleaning agent because it is so d****d hard to get everything out of a closed system without significant disassembly. Diesel in a gearbox is different, since there is only metal in there and a residue is unlikely to harm it. If there is known contamination in a hydro system, you will likely end up disassembling it anyway.

[Jrblanke 857]

 

Good morning. Just wanted to post an update. Basically, I love this thing. I’ve put about 6 hours on it this past month and boy is it a time saver! I can’t believe I let it sit so long without using it. I guess I let “perfect” get in the way of “better” when it came to my restoration/resurrection plans go.

 

 

 

Anyways, old football and weight lifting injuries make it difficult to do things like shovel rock or lift 200+ lbs. I’m usually OK to lift heavy things as long as they are less than about 130 lbs. I used to be the guy everyone called to help move stuff. Times have changed, and as Dirty Harry would say, a man has got to know his limitations. This weekend was one of those times. Dad and I were going to lift the swing set we built for my kids, and I had to say no. This sucked, knowing that I’m 35 and he is 63, but he also doesn’t have the same issues that I have. Anyways, I used the loader to set it upright after construction, then move it into position. Man it sure did save my back.

 

 

 

So what’s next? Well, a few things. Like I said I’ve put about 6 hours on it. 4 hours of which has been moving gravel. I’ve noticed a few things.

 

1. I am losing traction when I back up with a load. I believe this is because I don’t have enough weight, and because I am over loading the bucket. It’s the snow bucket, and from my crude calculations it will hold about 5 cubic feet of material. If a cubic foot of gravel weighs 100 lbs, then I am at least loading it to capacity if not over loading it. I have 240lbs of weight on the tractor (140 of the back, and 100lbs in wheel weights). According to the manual, it should have 280lbs of counterweight. So I could either remove the bulldozer tracks that I have bolted to the rear weight bar and get some suitcase weights, or I could load the tires. I’m tempted to load the tires but I need to do a little more reading. One thing I don’t want to do is overload the loader and cause things to bend, crack or break.

It is difficult to steer under load.

 

2. The original turf Dico tires I believe are to blame for this. My 520H has the gear reduction steering so it should be more easy to steer. I would like to replace the front tires with some higher ply ribbed tires. I think that will improve my steering.

 

3. To keep the bucket from rusting out, I'm planning to power wash it after I finish moving the gravel, and spray paint the parts where the paint has worn off. I can tell where it had water standing in it for a long time, the bucket is pretty pitted. 

 

4. The last issue is with the 520H itself. Its got 1160 hours on it, and while it runs well, I’ve noticed it puts out a puff of smoke on start up or if I rev it up when its not hot. Ive only put about 8 hours on the machine in about 6 years. It came with some kind of motorcycle oil. I can’t remember off the top of my head, but it might be AMS oil. I plan to change it soon and see what happens. It could be that it is just normal wear. This is my first Onan P220.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Jrblanke

[lynnmor 7,302]

I have the Kwik-Way weight bucket on the rear with two 75 lb. wheel weights inside, and 75 lb. wheel weights on each rear wheel.  It seems like that is just enough and adding more will surely work the tractor too hard.  Your loader is rated at 350 lb. lift.  The manual is available here.

 

I always get a puff of smoke when cold starting my Onans, with horizontal cylinders there will be some oil creeping past the rings.  I use SAE 30 Kohler oil because it has the correct amount of ZDDP anti-wear additive.  ZDDP (zinc) additives are available but know that using too much will cause corrosion and it is impossible to calculate how much to add. The SN oil is for catalytic converter equipped vehicles to protect the converter at the expense of wearing the engine.

 

I have 4 ply turf tires inflated to 24 PSI, the higher pressure helps with steering and load carrying.  I think that rib tires will have much less ground contact and less float.

[wallfish 16,988]

Glad to see you finally putting it to work James!

A weight box or suitcase weights on the back should help. It's more "Counter weight" than weight applied directly on the rear wheels.  As in, it's located behind the rear tires to leverage against the front weight and ( depending upon the amount of weight ) should help more to lift some weight off of the front tires compared to just filling the rears. Just like the loader's load is lifting the rear up causing traction loss and even more so in reverse. Filling the rears will certainly help with the traction issue but not the heavy steering at all.

Tri-Ribs helped with easier steering on mine. Only steer when the tractor is moving is a good practice. You'll get used to it .

 

[lynnmor 7,302]

7 minutes ago, wallfish said:

Only steer when the tractor is moving is a good practice. 

 

Just another lost art, we old geezers learned to drive when few cars had power steering and learned first hand the considerable stress put on tires and steering components.  Now go to a mall and watch the people turn from lock to lock without moving an inch.

[wallfish 16,988]

17 minutes ago, lynnmor said:

Just another lost art, we old geezers learned to drive when few cars had power steering and learned first hand the considerable stress put on tires and steering components.  Now go to a mall and watch the people turn from lock to lock without moving an inch.

Just look for all the pits in people's driveways too if they're asphalt! LoL  No power steering and manual transmissions back in the day

I was at a job that they just let vehicles drive on the new asphalt that morning. Some Kid turning around laid waste to a small area directly in front of the store turning his big truck around! That site company's foreman went ballistic! That kid ONLY turned the wheel when the truck was sitting still. To make it worse he could've just drove around the 1/2 empty area in 1/2 the time to turn it around.

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by wallfish

[lynnmor 7,302]

55 minutes ago, wallfish said:

Just look for all the pits in people's driveways too if they're asphalt! LoL  No power steering and manual transmissions back in the day

I was at a job that they just let vehicles drive on the new asphalt that morning. Some Kid turning around laid waste to a small area directly in front of the store turning his big truck around! That site company's foreman went ballistic! That kid ONLY turned the wheel when the truck was sitting still. To make it worse he could've just drove around the 1/2 empty area in 1/2 the time to turn it around.

 

I put in a new $5000 driveway and then the utility tree trimmers immediately fouled it up with their bucket truck by doing what you said.

[Jrblanke 857]

Thanks guys! Good suggestions. I'll keep my eyes out for some suitcase weights. My biggest concern with the difficult steering is because i just feel like I am putting unnecessary wear on the steering components. My 84 toyota pickup is non power steering and a 5 speed. Even though its light, its still manual steering with a manual trans. Makes me feel at least a little bit redeemed among "geezers" like @wallfish that talk about the olden days. 

 

 

 

 

[953 nut 55,120]

Glad to hear that everything worked out well.                      

A weight box makes all the difference in the world. Mine hangs off the three point hitch so the weight is about three feet behind the rear axle and has about 150 pounds of brick and stones in it. The weight box made a big improvement in steering effort and stability. Loading the rear tires also added stability and gives much better traction.

Edited September 7, 2022 by 953 nut

[lynnmor 7,302]

12 hours ago, Jrblanke said:

My biggest concern with the difficult steering is because i just feel like I am putting unnecessary wear on the steering components.

 

Your 520H has larger spindles and much larger tie rod ends than other Wheel Horse tractors, so they should hold up.  Since there are no bearings in the front axle those three grease fittings should be used often.  It is best to jack up the tractor when greasing those, the loader can be your jack but just don't go way up and get body parts under.  One would think that the large tapered roller wheel bearings would never fail, but I have had two sets fail, so check for play or roughness while jacked up.

[Handy Don 12,174]

1 hour ago, lynnmor said:

Since there are no bearings in the front axle those three grease fittings should be used often. 

Your '95 520 with the swept axle and 1" spindles should have load-bearing thrust bearings, (#45) in this image.

@lynnmor's advice about hoisting the front when greasing will help the grease get down to those.

 

 

[lynnmor 7,302]

1 hour ago, Handy Don said:

Your '95 520 with the swept axle and 1" spindles should have load-bearing thrust bearings, (#45) in this image.

@lynnmor's advice about hoisting the front when greasing will help the grease get down to those.

 

 

 

The larger worry is the #43 axle wearing, there are no bushings and to repair it you need to bore and install bushings.  Boring the axle will weaken it.  I install a #44 under the #42 snap ring to reduce play and help with keeping dirt and water out of the axle.  Pumping grease in the #46 fitting till it comes flushes the axle will help get dirt out and reduce wear.

[Handy Don 12,174]

40 minutes ago, lynnmor said:

help with keeping dirt and water out of the axle

Great point. I've put caps on top of the spindles to help with that as well.