CAT 963 Full Hydraulic Build

[steamer]

Tyler, fantastic job on the track loader. Might just get have to one myself. Just a quick question if you don't mind. The motor mounting rings, are they a push fit on the motor or are they installed with loctite.
Thanks Rob

[Espeefan]

Wow, Tyler, this has to be the nicest Bruder RC conversion I've ever seen. Great metal work, and beautiful machining. Quite the fit, to get all of the components inside the chassis, but you really pulled it off. I'd like to see some video, when it's all done.

[dabears]

Looking great!!! The lights are a much needed addidtion! Great work on it!

[Stuart]

Terrific work! really neat fit inside that small space, are you sure you have enough bolts holding the motors in though?!

Are you going to use oil in the hydraulic system or anti-freeze?

Looking forward to seeing it in action.
Stu

[rockNmayhem]

Originally Posted by steamer

Tyler, fantastic job on the track loader. Might just get have to one myself. Just a quick question if you don't mind. The motor mounting rings, are they a push fit on the motor or are they installed with loctite.
Thanks Rob

Thanks Rob, the conversions are really quite simple but I like to make things a little more difficult if I can so I make all kinds of extra parts out of habit.

Anyways the motor mounts are attached to the motors with a tight center bore along with four set screws to adjust the motor and hold it firmly in place. I have no locktite on them currently but once I have everything good to go I may add a little blue locktite to the set screws so they don't have a chance to back out.

Originally Posted by Espeefan

Wow, Tyler, this has to be the nicest Bruder RC conversion I've ever seen. Great metal work, and beautiful machining. Quite the fit, to get all of the components inside the chassis, but you really pulled it off. I'd like to see some video, when it's all done.

Nathan thanks for the compliments. I have a lot of extra time into this build than I originally thought I would but hopefully in the end it will pay off and be able to do about anything I want it to do besides break hard ground easily. I can't wait to put the hydraulic pump to the test and run several buckets though it to see how it handles. I've already got a snow plow and blower attachment in the design stages as these last few days with these snow storms has had me thinking it'd be quite fun.

Tyler

[rockNmayhem]

Originally Posted by dabears

Looking great!!! The lights are a much needed addidtion! Great work on it!

Thanks Aaron, looks a little different on here than a phone pic huh? I'll have to get some more shots with the whole cab back on and the correct voltage to the lights. They are a little brighter and more of a pure white than the pics show.

Originally Posted by Stuart

Terrific work! really neat fit inside that small space, are you sure you have enough bolts holding the motors in though?!

Are you going to use oil in the hydraulic system or anti-freeze?

Looking forward to seeing it in action.
Stu

Stu, thank you for the compliments as well. The tight fit in this model makes for some innovative thinking but everything seems to be fitting quite nicely inside the model and I should have some extra room to spare for a sound unit later on.

As for hydraulic fluid I have been doing a lot of testing with different oils and weights and I had pretty good luck with a fully synthetic 10wt oil but over a prolonged running period it broke down too much and caused the motor to work too hard for what I wanted so I am back to running an RV antifreeze in the system. Now I know some people don't like it because of its alcohol content in it but so far I have seen no ill side effects from it and until I do I'm gonna keep running it. My pump seems to love it and stays cold even during continuous run of about 7 minutes before I shut it down cuz the motor temp was starting to rise from continuous running.

If anyone has any more questions just fire away I'm willing to help out any way I can for others looking to do a conversion.

Tyler

[rockNmayhem]

Another update tonight as I spent some time finishing up some wiring for the lights and got the two power switches installed and working. Here's a new pic of the old Sabertooth being installed on the bottom of the plate and some of the wiring. The only thing missing in this pic was the bec that is set for running the lights on the loader.



I also got the wires run through the cab and everything put back in tonight so no wires are visible unless looking from the ground up through the doors but I hope nobody is that low to see them. I was going to block off the back of the lights so they were sealed up but I decided to leave them alone as I like the look of an interior light in the cab for night use. Now I really need an operator in there so it doesn't look so empty.

Anyway here are a few different angles trying to show the light output of the loader in a dark room.











Thats all the pics I have of the lights tonight but I hope to have some more soon with the new goodies installed inside and running.

Now to start on the front rollers and get the tracks back on the model.

Thanks for looking everyone and thanks for all the great compliments.

Tyler

[Kaf343]

Looking good Tyler, nice work so far. Looking forward to more. The interior light is a nice add, I like it.

[Azorean]

AMAZING...

[WhiteWolf McBride]

Rock:

Great lighting, but two points:

When the bucket lifts, it'll block a good portion of the cab-top lights beam. Won't you want a second set on the nose of the beastie?

And the lights in the cab seem to be pointed into the operator's eyes. Wouldn't they be better on the back corners of the cab pointed forward, at the instrument panel? And you don't want them ~too~ bright... or white... otherwise the glare off the front window blinds you. Mebbe a redish tint?

Then again, I'm not familiar with real ones, so if I'm wrong, enlighten me please?

Just thinking as the driver of a vehicle at night...
WhiteWolf, light-sensitive.

[rockNmayhem]

Originally Posted by Kaf343

Looking good Tyler, nice work so far. Looking forward to more. The interior light is a nice add, I like it.

Thanks Keith I appreciate the compliments. I should hopefully have more to show later for ya.

Originally Posted by Azorean

AMAZING...

Thank you.

Tyler

[rockNmayhem]

Originally Posted by WhiteWolf McBride

Rock:

Great lighting, but two points:

When the bucket lifts, it'll block a good portion of the cab-top lights beam. Won't you want a second set on the nose of the beastie?

And the lights in the cab seem to be pointed into the operator's eyes. Wouldn't they be better on the back corners of the cab pointed forward, at the instrument panel? And you don't want them ~too~ bright... or white... otherwise the glare off the front window blinds you. Mebbe a redish tint?

Then again, I'm not familiar with real ones, so if I'm wrong, enlighten me please?

Just thinking as the driver of a vehicle at night...
WhiteWolf, light-sensitive.

WhiteWolf thankyou for the comments. I plan to add a couple of lights to the front of the loader as well eventually but for right now all I have is the cab lights. The main reason for the cab lights was to know when the power switch was on and it was ready to go. It just so happened that it worked out good for interior lights too. The light that is in the cab is simply the light emitted back from the led's causing the interior dome affect. It is a little bright in the pitch dark room but it's something that'll work for me as I really don't intend to use this loader much at night.

In all reality the interior cab lights would be behind the operator and much dimmer but in this case the leftover light from the roof lights works for me.

I hope to be able to find some sort of lights to stick on the front somewhere so that I get plenty of light no matter what the bucket position is. I'm also contemplating adding a couple of small ones to the rear as well that I can flip on and off when I want 360* light out of the loader.

Thanks for all the comments guys.

Tyler

[Snochaser]

Wow I missed the updates. Great work Tyler, nice and clean with custom machining as usual. Are you going to use the stock tracks?

Ben

[dabears]

Is it done yet???? Quit slacking!

[rockNmayhem]

Originally Posted by Snochaser

Wow I missed the updates. Great work Tyler, nice and clean with custom machining as usual. Are you going to use the stock tracks?

Ben

Thanks for the compliments Ben. I am going to use the stock tracks on it for now as I have no idea what the sprocket pitch is or anything else so I'll let be on that part for a while till I end up breaking something maybe.

I was running the loader around before the Sabertooth gave out on me and they seemed to work pretty well on the concrete and short carpet. I will run them and see how they hold up now that the model is touching 5lbs and climbing. I have yet to add the fluid to the tank yet so that'll add a little weight. I'm also thinking about sticking a few ounces in the rear if I have enough room to help counterbalance the machine a little better and keep it planted. I know if I propped the bucket up full of 7lbs it got a little tipsy.

Tyler

[rockNmayhem]

Originally Posted by dabears

Is it done yet???? Quit slacking!

Ya ya ya I know you're ready for some more pics and a video. If Robot Market Place would ever get my order to me that I ordered on the 15th I'd be further along. All I'm waiting on now is still the Sabertooth and the two new servos. All I have left is plumbing the new lines and making some new valve adapters and I'll be up and running.

Tyler

[WhiteWolf McBride]

Hmm, lighting solutions...

The cab interior leakage is easy enough to deal with, and get that red 'night-vision retention' option I mentioned - just use a bit of that Tamiya translucent lens paint (or some dollar-store fingernail polish) and dab some on the backside of the LED's inside the cab. I've had to do the same to avoid LED's lighting up a lexan R/C body, and its a cheap and easy solution (though I used silver, then black)

As for the forward lighting, well, there are a few ways I can think of.

One method is using ~two~ pair of lamps, mounted on the nose, one above the bucket, one below, so that when one of the sets is obstructed by the bucket, the other set is clear. This method would take a bit of calculation in where to place the pairs.

Another method is mounting a snowplow-like spread-bar on the lift boom, about where that bend is at the end of the CAT logo. Put the lamps on the ends of the arms, and they should shine past either side of the bucket. Problem there is as you lift the bucket, the lamps will tilt up...

A variation of the spread-mount is ~if~ the forward wheels have partial fenders, put the lamps on the outer edges of the fender/mudguard, using a support-rod to hide the wiring (it'll look like a fender-support/stiffener)

Does that help you out?

WhiteWolf
- afeared of hydraulics (the mess and the prices!)

[rockNmayhem]

Ok so it's been a while since I last updated this build but I am getting so much closer now to having it ready for the April show. I have everything hooked up and running on it now and thought I'd give a little update. It's also time for its first video of it moving rather than just pictures but that will have to wait a little bit as it's loading so here are a few pics to hold you guys over for a while.









I'll have a video up after a while for you guys.

Tyler

[rockNmayhem]

Well I got the video uploaded finally and here it is. Sorry to keep everyone waiting but this should make up for it hopefully. Now to let the snow disappear and get out in the dirt and make some marks.



Hope you all enjoy.

Tyler

[apfubar]

Well done!