FLU419 SEE HMMH HME Owners group

[Another Ahab]

On a different subject, yesterday I finally got my SEE from Australia. It truly is a parts-SEE. Not having opened the bag yet, I can't even tell if it's right or left hand drive.View attachment 647892

It looks like parking that thing won't be too big a problem.

 

[The FLU farm]

It looks like parking that thing won't be too big a problem.

Hey, that one has privileges - it gets to stay in the house. For now, anyway.

Some progress to report today, of interest to those who like the idea of a quick attach adapter on the loader.
It still needs a few minor tweaks, and finish welding, but it all seems to work. If the snowblower will work, too, remains to be seen.

 

[General Hood]

So guys now that I have a mostly running FLU (waiting on the General to ship me a starter excluded), I am looking for additional mods to make her more useful. I just ordered front bucket forks to make her a fork lift. I would love to get some tools for the tool boxes to run off hydro. Does anybody have any or a source that might have them? Where are all the GovPlanet tools removed from these?

I found the original bracket for the auger on the backhoe and have a rental facility close by that rents the Lowe 1650, the original auger, which is still in production. I will likely have to buy some extended hoses too, but at least I can put in some fence posts or drop in some trees whenever I need to with a quick rental.

Sorry for the delay, I was somewhat surprised at what FedEx ground and UPS ground want to ship out a solitary starter, I will PM you and Flu Farm

 

[Skidpad]

FLU Farm, that work on the quick attach adapter looks great! What do you think of the quality of the Titan adapter? Are those the ears off the bucket or did you fabricate new ones and leave the originals on the SEE bucket? So only one question remains about your mod, are you going to try and run auxiliary hydraulics out to the front to let you use powered toys on the new quick attach?

General Hood, I didn't get the pictures of the air assembly taken today. We ended up getting into augering test pits for perking the site but I guarantee a detailed breakdown will be forthcoming.

 

[911joeblow]

Sorry for the delay, I was somewhat surprised at what FedEx ground and UPS ground want to ship out a solitary starter, I will PM you and Flu Farm

I hope i did not come off as a jerk in my post? In reality I am back at work and away from home so I cant play a lot right now anyway. Thanks for sticking your neck out on the electric diagrams.

 

[The FLU farm]

FLU Farm, that work on the quick attach adapter looks great! What do you think of the quality of the Titan adapter? Are those the ears off the bucket or did you fabricate new ones and leave the originals on the SEE bucket? So only one question remains about your mod, are you going to try and run auxiliary hydraulics out to the front to let you use powered toys on the new quick attach?

Skid, that Titan piece is near perfect for our loaders. At least I never found anything affordable that would match it. Still, it's a good idea to check it for being square and straight. One end on mine was a bit off, but not in a way that matters. And once everything is installed, that connector bar becomes useless. Sure is a major time saver while "adapting the adapter", though.
Those are the ears off the bucket. They must have material added in places, and modified a bit in general, but since they have to be removed anyway (to allow the plate to be installed on the bucket) it was probably quicker to reuse them than scratch building new ones.
As mentioned, there's still some fine tuning to be done. Clearances by the lower pivot when dumping the bucket, for example. Also, a little "dumping ability" was sacrificed due to the new angle of the ears. That could be compensated for by mounting the plate to the bucket a bit differently, but I'm putting mine on flat against the bucket.

I've thought about putting a diverter valve on the front hydraulics (like on the HMMH) as I could run my regular snow plow's angle function that way.
In reality, that plow will likely still be used on the tractor (I'm running both front and rear blades simultaneously on it to increase the odds of showing gravel into the ditches, and make it that much harder to operate) and the SEE will be used for the snowblower.
Of course, the big unknown is if the rear hydraulics have enough oomph to power it.

If it does work, the backhoe is coming off for the winter. Mostly because I'd like to lower the center of gravity. It'll be hard enough to upright the SEE after I put it on its side (remember those ditches I mentioned?) even without the backhoe.

 

[Foxyjosh]

OK guys, so I am a FLU419 newbe. I have read all 86 pages and as I did I was working through issues here is the write up but I have some new issues I need help with too.

My FLU has 115 miles on it. All the tires still have knobs on them. It sat in Texas for a LONG time. I bought it as a non runner.

When it arrived it was obvious the batteries were dead so I got OEM replacements ($500!). I then did some basic checks and filled her with fresh diesel and some seafoam to break things up and clean her out. I was getting no dash or starter power so I went right to the fuses first. The fuse boxes were corroded and missing most of the fuses. I cleaned the contacts and replaced the fuses. More items came to life but still no start. So I then went to the relays. I started removing them and tapping on the ground to break them free and started rotating them until I started getting power hear and there. I has two bad relays, Ignition (K1) and Start (K2). Not having 24V relays around I used 12V 30 AMP units to get her going. After priming and such she fired right up. I also had no turn signal switch so after ordering one had the pleasure of figuring out the wiring for it without a schematic. Lots of fun but now everything works as far as lights go save a burned out upper headlight (I just ordered LED replacements). Then the heater blower smoked on me. Turned out it was the capacitor inside the heater box. Since I am not running a radio and dont have any other electronics I just removed it and am back in business.

Do you have the part numbers for those relays? I need to buy all of the ones in the upper left hand corner.

 

[911joeblow]

Do you have the part numbers for those relays? I need to buy all of the ones in the upper left hand corner.

EI has them, part number 0035459605.

 

[General Hood]

I hope i did not come off as a jerk in my post? In reality I am back at work and away from home so I cant play a lot right now anyway. Thanks for sticking your neck out on the electric diagrams.

I live in the boonies, but will make a run to FedEx tomorrow to see if they can beat the UPS ground shipping price, stay tuned

 

[Skidpad]

FLU farm, this is good to hear considering the difference in price between that unit and some others. I'm actually shifting my plans somewhat and will be fabricating/cobbling together a quick-attach adapter for the CAT telehandler instead of the SEE. One of my crew here has a cornucopia of skid steer attachments so why reinvent the wheel? The Titan question was because there is another company that makes a custom bracket for the CAT but at about 5 times the price of the Titan piece. I can buy a lot of extra steel for brackets and such for that $$.

To your comment about removing the hoe for the winter, that's part of my plan too except I am thinking about going truly insane. I'm thinking about taking the hoe and fabricating a duplicate set of brackets and mounting the hoe to the back of the CAT. It has the weight to handle it, plenty of hydraulic juice, and with it's 4x4, cab tilt of 10 degrees, and low center of gravity it might just be perfect for these slopes here if I can get it to work. I have about a mile of trenching and related tasks to do by March and the thought of doing that with my dear SEE makes me shudder.

Plus (bonus round) I get to make the SEE into a truly all-terrain tools/support vehicle without the benefit of the weight up top. I'll put forks on the front bucket and pull the trailer behind for loading and transporting logs, building materials, etc...

Thanks again for the pictures of the quick-attach progress. Those were very helpful.

Make sure to post progress photos of the new 'little SEE'!

 

[FOD]

Dismal progress report, and a stern warning.

Cranked the engine and it fired right up. Only to start running crappy. That's when I remembered that I had turned the fuel valve off when draining the tank, and some idiot forgot to turn it back on.
Never ever, and I mean NEVER, forget to turn that valve on! It took me at least four times as long to get it running right again as it did to get it running the first time, when it arrived as a non-runner.
Still not sure that everything is completely happy in the fuel department, but at least it's now a garage queen. Until I can lube the cylinder seals, and check things out in general, before starting to change the fluids. Which might be next year at the rate I get things done.

Reading this post totally jinxed me. I read it last Thursday and thought "man I hope I never do that", only to turn around and forget I turned off my fuel valve Friday. Went to start up today after an oil change and no dice...even after priming and venting a few times. After about an hour I decided it was football time and I'd come back to it when I was less P.O.'d. Out of curiosity what did you finally do to get it running again?

 

[The FLU farm]

I have about a mile of trenching and related tasks to do by March and the thought of doing that with my dear SEE makes me shudder.
Make sure to post progress photos of the new 'little SEE'!

Go ahead and shudder, Skid. I cleaned out over a mile of irrigation ditches with the SEE. Of course, cleaning them out (although I doubled the depth in most parts) is different than digging one out from scratch. And that the ground is largely flat doesn't much matter when straddling existing ditches.
You'll soon learn to disregard the "Max. 17 degrees" warning. Getting comfortable while doing it is a different story.

As far as any progress made on the "little SEE" goes, it definitely won't happen until winter - unless I manage to break a leg, or otherwise become immobilized.
And suppose I get inspired by General Hood and wax the parts. Then the glue probably won't stick.

By the way, your idea putting the backhoe on the telehandler sounds good, although it'd probably be a heck of a lot easier to find a "backhoe frame" off a SEE and graft that onto the CAT than it would be to make the mounts. Especially if you are anything like me with a torch (I use a lot of grinding discs).

 

[The FLU farm]

Reading this post totally jinxed me. I read it last Thursday and thought "man I hope I never do that", only to turn around and forget I turned off my fuel valve Friday. Went to start up today after an oil change and no dice...even after priming and venting a few times. After about an hour I decided it was football time and I'd come back to it when I was less P.O.'d. Out of curiosity what did you finally do to get it running again?

Stubbornness, FOD, stubbornness. I had given up, too, but decided to try the priming/bleeding procedure a few more times before calling it a day. It was getting dark, and I didn't want to spend the night awake, wondering what was wrong.
About the only tip I can give you is that I filled the primary filter cup twice (with diesel fuel treatment, not having diesel handy) and that might have helped.
What puzzled me at first was that the primer pump had to be pulled up against a fair amount of resistance, making me suspect that the fuel line had been sucked shut, and then sprung down all by itself with some force.
Several times it'd start, but barely run, and only for a few seconds.
When my arms were tired enough from priming I let it run like crap while resting in the seat. Did that two or three times.
Eventually it started running fine, thankfully, but that was after some five minutes, maybe more, of it running very rough.
And sorry about jinxing you.

 

[88FLU419]

Plus (bonus round) I get to make the SEE into a truly all-terrain tools/support vehicle without the benefit of the weight up top. I'll put forks on the front bucket and pull the trailer behind for loading and transporting logs, building materials, etc...
If you do this you will need a weight for the back. I tried my loader with the backhoe off. A full bucket of dirt had the rear tires barely touching the ground! If you tapped the brakes while going forward, they would come right up.

 

[peakbagger]

What puzzled me at first was that the primer pump had to be pulled up against a fair amount of resistance, making me suspect that the fuel line had been sucked shut, and then sprung down all by itself with some force.

Out of curiosity do you have the new style primer pump or the style that came with the SEE which has to be unscrewed?. The new style that EI sells (and ships with their filter kit) makes a lot of difference. They are cheap and its pretty much standard advice to change to one before doing anything else.

Worse case is put the fuel system on a "IV" with a outboard motor tank and primer bulb (they are cheap at any boating supply place) and hook up directly to the hose downstream of the strainer. It makes for faster priming and also is handy to diagnosis if the fuel lines have the vacuum leak issue. The primer pump does pull through the fuel pump so if the fuel lines were really full of crap there could be plug in the fuel pump, which may explain having to pull up on the primer pump. I have not tried bypassing the primer in its entirety and hooking onto the fuel filter yet but that may be an option. Just put the tank up on the FOPs and run the hose down. Remember that the system bypasses fuel back to the main tank so make sure there is room in it. Also remember you need rated fuel hose not just any old rubber hose you have sitting around. If the engine runs fine on the IV then its time to start looking back the hoses and connections at the strainer and the top of the tank.

With respect to operation without the backhoe. Don't do it, definitely a bad thing as physics is going to win everytime. Even folks who plow with the 406 through 416 series pus a large counterweight in the back for plowing.

 

[FOD]

What puzzled me at first was that the primer pump had to be pulled up against a fair amount of resistance, making me suspect that the fuel line had been sucked shut, and then sprung down all by itself with some force.

Out of curiosity do you have the new style primer pump or the style that came with the SEE which has to be unscrewed?. The new style that EI sells (and ships with their filter kit) makes a lot of difference. They are cheap and its pretty much standard advice to change to one before doing anything else.

I have a new style pump I just haven't installed it yet ( I do have the EI filter kit you mentioned). I was going to wait until I finished doing a functional check on all the hydraulics and give the fuel system time to deposit any old residual crap onto the existing fuel filters before I put the new ones in. I'm thinking I'll probably just change them all, now that the fuel system is already down.

Thanks for the help, I'll keep you posted.

 

[Bikers33]

Reading this post totally jinxed me. I read it last Thursday and thought "man I hope I never do that", only to turn around and forget I turned off my fuel valve Friday. Went to start up today after an oil change and no dice...even after priming and venting a few times. After about an hour I decided it was football time and I'd come back to it when I was less P.O.'d. Out of curiosity what did you finally do to get it running again?

Apply air pressure to your (full) fuel tank through the filler neck using shop rags to make a seal. Keep the pressure applied and have someone start cranking the engine, should start after a couple times.......Make sure it's FULL!

 

[peakbagger]

Keep in mind the fuel tank isn't designed for pressure. It has an air relief/flip over valve screwed into it that may or may not work which would need to be plugged (mine was painted shut and full of black crud). The top of the fuel gauge isn't that beefy. In general if you want to go the air pressure route, the amount of air pressure is just a couple of psi. The tank could go slightly oval if its over pressurized. The fuel bleed back to the tank is also looking for a non pressurized tank. I think it on the high pressure side of the injector pump but the downstream tee that gets broken when the engine cover is removed might also be a leak point.

 

[Skidpad]

Hey guys, I need your advice or at least your opinions. After much deliberation I've decided to get new tires. These old Xs are worn out, dry-rotted, bulging, etc... So, there's a vendor in ALA who has Michelin XZLs with 90%+ tread for $350 each. Or, the local dealer can get me the Conti MPT81's for just over $500 each. This is something that needs to be done anyway and I want to see how it improves the overall handling of the SEE before I do anything with shocks, springs, steering, etc... So, what do you think between the two tires, price aside? I plan to stick with the standard 335/80R20s unless someone has a really compelling reason to step up to 365s. For anticipated use, this will mostly be an street truck but there may be times when I go 30-50 miles away for a weekend trip to help a buddy. Thanks!

 

[88FLU419]

I have 365/80r20. They are great. On road, they help keep the rpms down. The best part, that I wasn't even expecting was how much better it rode and handled. I don't think that was due to size increase, but due to the heavier tires. For me, I don't see any disadvantages to the larger size.