are there any flu419's left?

[peakbagger]

You may want to PM Speedwoble. I think he had a SEE with bad transmission and seems to know his stuff. He also fabricates cab lifting brackets that you will need at some point. He makes them up and Expedition Imports sells them. I hope the transmission issue is external to the transmission. You got your SEE for a good price, even if you have to lay out bucks for new transmission it may be worth it. I would Check C&C Equipment and EI as possible sources.

It sounds like you have the right attitude for owning a SEE. Some folks are in way over their heads but it looks like you know what you have. Out of curiosity was the rock drill you used a Stanley rock drill that SEEs came with or did you use something different? Given my soil conditions I expect I will be splitting more than a few boulders and was curious how the stock SEE rock drill works on real rock? I have considered setting up fixture to mount the drill on the bucket and use the bucket to grunt the thing in place and hold it while drilling.

To date I haven't seen many females who appreciate the charms of a SEE

 

[The FLU farm]

To date I haven't seen many females who appreciate the charms of a SEE

They're envious.

 

[Speedwoble]

a dead SEE could be very well be the opening to a semi lucrative SEE parts business for US New Englanders, good luck.

As someone parting one out, I can say it is only SEMI-lucrative. I sold my good transmission to a fellow in Ohio on here and he would be the one to chime in on inner workings. I sold my bad transmission to a fellow in NH who may be willing to part it out. I can try to get you in touch with either of them.
I still have the chassis and backhoe parts from mine to sell. Also rims, injector pumps, and other minor engine parts.

 

[impulse787]

looking for a spare rim shipped to dallas ga 30157 no rush

 

[patrol578]

Thanks to everyone for the support. FLUFarm, I'm not sure how much you would learn from me, but at least we could all laugh at my mistakes together.

My biggest challenge right now is not having a place to work on it. Parts swapping I can do laying on a tarp on the snow, but pulling the transmission is another story entirely. The closest thing I could come up with for a lifting frame would be some logs lashed together...talk about shade tree. Even to tip the cab to really get at things, don't I need to pull the FOPS?

I'm not sure I would have the patience to part it out, but it's a thought.

 

[The FLU farm]

Hey, it may be something simple.
Not that simple is all that easy when working on the ground in snow, but it still beats working on complicated stuff, on the ground and in the snow.

 

[patrol578]

Peakbagger, my drill is the Stanley HD45, same as came with the SEEs, just without the green paintjob. My experiences with it have been mixed.
However I believe it was definitely used in its previous life, as opposed to most of the former military drills I have seen which look like they just bounced around in a toolbox for 20yrs.

I say mixed, because when cold, it goes through rock quickly and effectively. In the granite-like rock we have, it seemed to go through the first 3 inches in minutes, but then slow down dramatically. The power of the hammer strike decreased significantly as heat increased. I don't know enough about these tools to say whether that is due to tool temp, hydraulic fluid temp, or insufficient nitrogen charge, for example. I used 1-1/4 inch bits.

I drilled dry, primarily because I didn't have water at the site until much later. I had six bits which I would switch out every 3-4 inches. They were cheap (bought on closeout) and I only managed to destroy the carbide on one or two. I also had a single, much more expensive bit, with what were supposed to be better carbides. It did not drill as fast as the others, and would reduce the rock to flour, rather than small chips, which was also harder to clear from the hole.

Back to heat management. By constantly exchanging bits I could keep them from overheating, but it was much harder to keep the tool from doing so, and becoming ineffective. I searched all of the HD45 literature available, but was not able to find a listed duty cycle for this tool. IIRC, I could drill around three hours before it became completely pointless, then take a two hour break, then get another hour and a half to two out of the tool.

It was during this phase of our relationship that I determined her cooling fans didn't work. Even digging out stumps with the backhoe, I never felt any hydraulics get too hot to touch. When drilling, that kind of heat was a regular occurrence. To cool the fluid, I resorted to piling bags of ice around the hydraulic tank, and could keep its temperature comfortably warm to the touch. Unfortunately, the tool would still get very hot, and only function for about five hours in a day.

As far as your idea of attaching the drill to the bucket goes...it may work. I have to admit though, there was more of a learning curve to drilling in rock than I imagined. Just starting a hole takes some effort as the bit wants to either wander off point or bounce around, even with the 45lb tool standing on it. The hammering is more like that of a breaker than that of a modern electric hammer drill. I also found that it drilled fastest when allowed to bounce just the right amount. Those weekends breaking rock would leave me pretty beat up.

 

[lurkMcGurk]

patrol578, That's a lot different than my experience this winter with the drill. For starters I had the 2 or three bits that came with the machine and used the smaller one too. I think a 1 1/4 or close to that. I have all kinds of rocks thanks to the Laurentide Ice Sheet 35K years ago. I experienced no noticeable heat on the drill or hydraulics. I too have dug for a couple hours with the hoe and never seen the fans engage but have felt the hydraulic fluid heat up. Didn't seem to heat up with the drill.

I don't recall if you mentioned but did you switch the oil for hydraulic fluid , I switched to hydraulic fluid. ONE rather amusing thing I had happen was after taking a day to drill holes in some rocks I was on a weird angle and flipped the switch on the Drill to reverse out (because its heavy sideways). I had used the reverse direction switch once or twice prior. When I reversed out this time I noticed the switch was much smoother and easy to turn, it was much smoother turning back too. So when I started on my next hole what had been a 3-4 hammer drill strikes a second tempo turned into a MUCH faster tempo and I was able to go much faster!

So aside from putting in way too much time I inadvertently sped up the drill by either flipping something loose inside it or maybe released an oil clog or something? Much like my experience with the rest of the Mog if I ran the drill awhile things shake loose and I think in mechanical terms it becomes Happy.

Not sure if that helps or if the fluid is clogged somewhere or what. Only other thought is I also didn't know the auxiliary circuit works WITHOUT putting the PTO on. Didn't know that at first. So with feathers and wedges I've split some stone and am looking forward to doing some more when it warms up a bit. Hope that helps and post pics!!!! My Foreman is only 4 feet tall for reference, heart of a LION!

 

[peakbagger]

I have heard my fans turn on in Northern NH when digging with the backhoe. The hydraulic cooling fans are a known issue with SEE's. Water leaks in via rotten grommets into the motors and rots out the interior. They normally short out and cause the fuse to blow but I guess could just as well just fail open. Its been awhile but I seem to remember the temperature switch can be jumped on the terminal box on the back side of the fan. Both of mine were bad. I found some of roughly the same size and right voltage on Ebay and made up an adapter plate.

Good to know on the hammer drill. It will be few months before I get to play with it. Years ago I played with air powered rock drill and agree it was a PITA to get the hole started. It would be nice if it was an air cooled drill. I think Stanley makes (or made) one that looks just like the SEE drill with and air connection. Of course with the new OSHA standards on silica dust I dont think it could legally be used.

 

[The FLU farm]

I have heard my fans turn on in Northern NH when digging with the backhoe.

Yeah, with enough hard digging I've had them come on during 70-degree days.

The surefire way to make them run is with the snowblower, even though it's obviously only used when it's cold. Which makes sense since the system is working full bore.

 

[Pinsandpitons]

Anyone know off-hand what the temp switch is set to? This last summer I had them come on when I started the machine up. (hot day, machine sitting in the sun)