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FLU419 SEE HMMH HME Owners group

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BELinNC

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Yep, that is a very nice looking SEE! You are way ahead of the game with those Pirelli tires compared to the original Michelins which always look to me like balloons getting ready to pop. That ripper bucket is scary cool! Wish I had one on my SEE. Seems like a great machine that should handle all your projects.
 
MogPoggers

MogPoggers

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Location
Jamestown, New York
The only complaint I have so far, other than the RPM switch not working, is that I'm 6'4" so the cab is a bit of a tight squeeze... but I'm used to that - this world is not built to spec for me usually.

FYI: If anyone is looking for another SEE right now, the driver that delivered mine said that the seller (John from Heavy Steel Surplus in Marengo, Ohio) had about a dozen of them. He also said he saw an HMMH there, and I know those are a bit harder to come by than the SEE. John was a pleasure to work with. You probably won't find his phone number anywhere online, but I have it if any of you are interested in something he has.

He also makes hydraulic hoses. He made the ones on my SEE, and says he can make them up to 1.5" diameter. I don't know what his prices are like, but thought I'd mention it.
 
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peakbagger

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Location
northern nh
BELinNC said:
I feel your tallness pain! I am 6'5" and have the same issues. I ended up taking out the puffy/padded headliner on my SEE. It helps a lot. Just a tin roof now!
Click to expand...
I am only 5'10 and I think its cramped in there !.

That has to be a recapitalized unit as it looks like new. Yup you got the rare hein werner ripper bucket. Its a beefy rig. I saw reference somewhere that they only came with the stock bucket and if anyone in the army tried to order one, they had to have a darn good excuse. The trade off is that it doesn't cut a very neat hole ;) My local soil is mostly granite boulders and its capabilities get used. There is a technical report in the Misc tech forums that compares the ripper bucket to the regular bucket in digging permafrost in Alaska. The conclusion was the bucket is not the limiting factor, its the amount of downforce you can put on it, when I am really going for it on rock, I end up dragging the entire SEE towards the hole. I needed to dig a trench across a large piece of granite ledge one day, it took awhile but I scaled off about a foot of that ledge.

With respect to the remote throttle, the easiest fix is that the throttle linkage is misaligned. The only way the remote throttle will work is if the hand throttle is about mid travel (well above idle). The linkage is very complex and on occasion things bend and the hand throttle will be off. Given the hours and condition of your rig I doubt its that simple.

The remote throttle will not work if your air pressure is low, as long as its in the normal range and the warning light is not on you should be good. The SEE preferentially saves air pressure to supply the brakes and turns off the air to the remote throttle 4WD and Diff locks if the air pressure drops.

Next easy issue, there was an Army technical tip that the remote throttle switches were failing from water getting in them. The inventory got switched to new supplier and it was recomended to change them out with the new style. I switched mine out with a switch for marine use when it fell apart when I removed it. Those collected tips are in a Misc Tech Section, I got them from someone else on the Benz World site and assembled them in one PDF and indexed them.

The final thing to check is if the remote bucket switch is working. You should be able to lift and drop the bucket remotely from the backhoe seat with this switch. If I remember the remote tool hydraulics solenoid is another way of checking but having gotten a shower of hydraulic fluid from a hose connection I suggest avoiding that test ;)
If the bucket remote doesnt work, then my guess is the fuse that supplies the systems on the rear deck is blown. With the hood off and standing in front of the SEE it is the red 16 amp fuse in left most slot on the right side fuse block. If it's blown you might have another issue with the hydraulic oil fans but I wont go into it until you report back.
 
MogPoggers

MogPoggers

Member
45
95
18
Location
Jamestown, New York
peakbagger said:
I am only 5'10 and I think its cramped in there !.

That has to be a recapitalized unit as it looks like new. Yup you got the rare hein werner ripper bucket. Its a beefy rig. I saw reference somewhere that they only came with the stock bucket and if anyone in the army tried to order one, they had to have a darn good excuse. The trade off is that it doesn't cut a very neat hole ;) My local soil is mostly granite boulders and its capabilities get used. There is a technical report in the Misc tech forums that compares the ripper bucket to the regular bucket in digging permafrost in Alaska. The conclusion was the bucket is not the limiting factor, its the amount of downforce you can put on it, when I am really going for it on rock, I end up dragging the entire SEE towards the hole. I needed to dig a trench across a large piece of granite ledge one day, it took awhile but I scaled off about a foot of that ledge.

With respect to the remote throttle, the easiest fix is that the throttle linkage is misaligned. The only way the remote throttle will work is if the hand throttle is about mid travel (well above idle). The linkage is very complex and on occasion things bend and the hand throttle will be off. Given the hours and condition of your rig I doubt its that simple.

The remote throttle will not work if your air pressure is low, as long as its in the normal range and the warning light is not on you should be good. The SEE preferentially saves air pressure to supply the brakes and turns off the air to the remote throttle 4WD and Diff locks if the air pressure drops.

Next easy issue, there was an Army technical tip that the remote throttle switches were failing from water getting in them. The inventory got switched to new supplier and it was recomended to change them out with the new style. I switched mine out with a switch for marine use when it fell apart when I removed it. Those collected tips are in a Misc Tech Section, I got them from someone else on the Benz World site and assembled them in one PDF and indexed them.

The final thing to check is if the remote bucket switch is working. You should be able to lift and drop the bucket remotely from the backhoe seat with this switch. If I remember the remote tool hydraulics solenoid is another way of checking but having gotten a shower of hydraulic fluid from a hose connection I suggest avoiding that test ;)
If the bucket remote doesnt work, then my guess is the fuse that supplies the systems on the rear deck is blown. With the hood off and standing in front of the SEE it is the red 16 amp fuse in left most slot on the right side fuse block. If it's blown you might have another issue with the hydraulic oil fans but I wont go into it until you report back.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. Given what you've said, it may simply be that I didn't have the hand throttle set high enough; I was running just above idle as I tested things. I'll go out again in a little while and try again at maybe 2000 rpm. If it still doesn't work, I'll start looking at the other solutions.

I'll take some video while I do it, too. It won't be a great video because my camera gimbals and drone were destroyed in the fire recently and I haven't replaced them yet, but I'll do my best.
 
The FLU farm

The FLU farm

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MogPoggers said:
Given what you've said, it may simply be that I didn't have the hand throttle set high enough; I was running just above idle as I tested things. I'll go out again in a little while and try again at maybe 2000 rpm.
Click to expand...
On my FLUs the switches have always worked with the hand throttle low enough that the engines barely stay running. And as I recall, the high idle switch should take the RPM to about 1,800 - in other words, lower than what you're about to test with.
 
MogPoggers

MogPoggers

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glcaines said:
The item is part of a rifle mount kit. The base should be on the floor.
Click to expand...
Thanks! At first I thought it might be some sort of dipstick added to make checking the oil easier. I yanked on it a bit, but it is rubbery and flexible so couldn't be a dipstick. A system for securing a rifle makes a lot of sense. I didn't take note of anything on the floor, but I also wasn't looking.

I took a few videos... a walkaround, engine startup, light checks, and loader/backhoe operation - but the final video was corrupted, and now I have to head out to do some things so I don't have time to re-record that one before dark. I'll get it done again tomorrow, splice them all together and put them on Youtube.

The rear bucket control switch works just fine, but upping the engine speed did nothing to help the rear RPM switch. I guess I'll have to break out the multimeter and check the linkage to figure out what's wrong. Also, the horn didn't work, and the right rear passenger side brake light was not flashing when I had the hazards on.. it was just lit solid. So hey, that wiring diagram seems like it might come in handy sooner rather than later.
 
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The FLU farm

The FLU farm

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MogPoggers said:
A system for securing a rifle makes a lot of sense. I didn't take note of anything on the floor, but I also wasn't looking.
Click to expand...
I noticed that mount in the photos posted earlier, and wondered if there was room to shift with a rifle in there. The base is towards the rear wall, by the way.
Sure haven't seen one in a FLU before.
 
MogPoggers

MogPoggers

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The FLU farm said:
I noticed that mount in the photos posted earlier, and wondered if there was room to shift with a rifle in there. The base is towards the rear wall, by the way.
Sure haven't seen one in a FLU before.
Click to expand...
I don't currently own any rifles (the fire got those as well) - but as soon as I get another one, I'll try it out and see how it works.
 
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peakbagger

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Teh htr
MogPoggers said:
A stick - I think I can probably locate one of those ;)
Click to expand...
You may want to look at this thread

Remote Throttle and Auxiliary tools - Chasing down a fault | SteelSoldiers Probably want to skip the hydraulic fluid shower ;) Having gone through it I can guess what wire is disconnected as the routing is not great.

I do want to emphasize that the Technical manual electrical diagnosis section will be very helpful, when the wiring diagram was not available it was a key part of my figuring out how to sort out the rat damage to the wiring harness. Its also a lot easier to read.

One of the Army's tech tips is to move the clamps on the aux hydraulic hoses so that the space between the coupling and the clamp is long enough that the two couplings can be connected to each other. That cuts down on them flopping around a bit and more importantly allows the hydraulic fluid trapped in the hose reel (quite a lot of volume) back to the hydraulic system by running the tool hydraulics on occasion. If someone manages to contaminate their hydraulic fluid and needs to change it out, that is a possible reservoir of the old fluid. With my rig, the hose on the reel was shaded from sun and was in good shape but the length of hoses near the connectors and exposed to sun and flopping around had UV damage and caused the spraying leak when I got the tool solenoid to work.
 
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peakbagger

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northern nh
One thing to track down is a spare tire and rim. There is place in VA that sells that size Pirelli on Ebay. The trick with rims is they have to be disk brake rims. Unless you have a hoist, one person is not going to be able to lift tire and rim in place. In pinch one person can get it out and on the ground and then the bad one can be thrown in the front bucket to get home. The factory jack is very long stroke custom hydraulic jack. There is guy on Ebay that sells them.

Make sure you put never seize on the threads of the bolt that holds the spare in place.
 
MogPoggers

MogPoggers

Member
45
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Location
Jamestown, New York
peakbagger said:
One thing to track down is a spare tire and rim. There is place in VA that sells that size Pirelli on Ebay. The trick with rims is they have to be disk brake rims. Unless you have a hoist, one person is not going to be able to lift tire and rim in place. In pinch one person can get it out and on the ground and then the bad one can be thrown in the front bucket to get home. The factory jack is very long stroke custom hydraulic jack. There is guy on Ebay that sells them.

Make sure you put never seize on the threads of the bolt that holds the spare in place.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've started to look around for a spare... the mog just isn't complete without it.
 
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