Cat TH62 1996 - trailer pulling and transmission

[PuG]

We've just bought a Cat TH62, 1996, previously owned by South West Water and comes with a big pack of service history. Just over 6500 hours. Dealer whilst getting it ready found debris in the rear diff, turns out the axle end plate had a chunk missing and chewed its way down so they've replaced crown and pinon plus overhauled rear axle (at there expense). They've been using it themselves for six months in the yard.

Driven though never owned a telehandler - bit of upgrade from our MF35x with her front loader.

Researching Cat's are know to be susceptible to diff failures? presumably from torque wind up, any suggestions on what to avoid doing with them? obviously ideally not working on hard standing which we don't have a problem with here.

(if you look at any telehandler they all have issues and seems luck of the draw)

Steering modes - the ones I've used are mostly left in 4 wheel steering, technically 2 wheel steering on the roads for "legality"?, but does anyone use 2 wheel for any other reason? assuming not space limited, can it be kinder on the machine.

Trailer towing - farm on my own so obviously a logistical problem toeing with the tractor, and it does come with a pickup hitch. Any reasons not to pull a bale trailer with about 9/10 tons of hay? Non braked, balanced trailer but as the handler weight is around 6700kgs its brakes have got to be pretty good. Does it destroy the transmission? Mostly field and track but with a short steep and hairpin back lane road (no traffic to speak of so speed is not a problem).

Cheers, James

 

[icanshootwell]

Hi James, the earlier th 62 would over heat if towing for long periods, say 8 to 10 ton up long hills, they did sort the problem out on the later models with better cooling, even the early 90s jcbs would over heat hauling bales in summer.
Most th stay in 4 wheel stear all the time around the yards, you just need to realign the wheels every now and then, as it will start to crab a little if you dont. You wont want to use 2 wheel steer around the yard, trust me. Not heard about diff probs on them, may be i am just lucky with the ones ive had, or it gets well serviced and looked after, I went to fetch some f beat the other day from a large farm, the th that loaded me had round bale net, wrapped around the prop shaft. And they wonder why they break down

 

[Full of bull(s)]

Think the yellow roof (95-2000) version was prone to diff problems. I have one of the first black roof models never any trouble over 13000 hours now. Used to tow a lot with it though not any more. Keep looking for another as a back up but the black roof ones are like hens teeth think they must go for export. If you put them side by side they are very different machines though you wouldn't think so from a photo

 

[ACEngineering]

Diff problems were common on cat th62 the new crown wheel and pinion (been out for many many years) is a different number of teeth on crown and pinion and alot stronger. Still same ratio just less teeth but chunkier.

Handlers dont tow like tractors do personally on and old one i wouldnt be towing 10 ton and certainly not unbraked.
Transmission on the whole is good but they dont like water in them if the oil cooler leaks.

Many also have weak planetary hub gears which in time crack in half from the lub holes in centre of gear when they do it normally wecks everything in the wheel hub which is maga expensive if a used one is not available.

 

[roscoe erf]

personally if you want it to last you i would not tow with it i do not and never have done with mine

 

[PuG]

thanks for the replies.

Are the replacement crown and pinion from CAT the up-rated ones? or model specific to the newer TH models.

In the South of France so will keep an eye on the temps

Cheers,

 

[ACEngineering]

thanks for the replies.

Are the replacement crown and pinion from CAT the up-rated ones? or model specific to the newer TH models.

In the South of France so will keep an eye on the temps

Cheers,

It was the axle manufacture that upgraded the part not CAT.
Axles are clark hurth bought out years ago by Dana Spicer.

Same crown wheel and pinions used on alsorts of other makes of machines at the time but cat were the ones that had the most trouble with it and matbro. Not so much manitou as they had soft shift built in to transmission so was smoother shuttling between forward and reverse.

On the cats it was more common for the front crown wheel to fail first so hopefully its already been done by now.

 

[Full of bull(s)]

It was the axle manufacture that upgraded the part not CAT.
Axles are clark hurth bought out years ago by Dana Spicer.

Same crown wheel and pinions used on alsorts of other makes of machines at the time but cat were the ones that had the most trouble with it and matbro. Not so much manitou as they had soft shift built in to transmission so was smoother shuttling between forward and reverse.

On the cats it was more common for the front crown wheel to fail first so hopefully its already been done by now.

The cat shuttles very smoothly in third but jolts badly in second. Every one I've ever driven has been the same.

 

[ACEngineering]

The cat shuttles very smoothly in third but jolts badly in second. Every one I've ever driven has been the same.

Yes because there is no soft shift or modulation of pressure to clutch packs. Manitou used same series of transmission on some machines but had duel modulation for soft shift in forwards and reverse which they still have now on new stuff unlike jcb and others.

 

[icanshootwell]

I do think its important to run a th machine up to temp in the mornings in colder weather, mine can be a little clunky, but when its warmed up, its very smooth, they recommend the same with spud harvesters,

 

[cat]

got a 2002 th62, now with 12500hrs, fantastic machine never had anything big spent on it, wish cat still made them.
I do the same as icanshootbad start it in the morning and leave it 10 min before feeding and beding

 

[leone75]

I think the problem with the front diff was people changing from 2 to 1st under load impacted on the failure rate, i new crown wheel is a stronger one.
I also think the perkins engine in these was better because it had a stanadyne pump fitted rather than Delphi on the competition, makes the engine perform better.

 

[Sparkplug]

From memory the Cat TH 62 was one of the fastest machines on the road in it's day, and with a so relatively small amount of oil in the axle / diffs and hubs that rarely got changed on most farms, failures were common. Often you would see the " spacer plate" between the axle casing and diff casing where the brakes fluid feeds the cylinders had been changed, and yet on a Manitou with the same manufacturer of axle, you would very rarely see any changed. Chassis used to crack and fail all round under very hard work, but I suppose they must have sorted that over the years. I seem to remember it may at the time been the only TH with a diff lock, a button on the floor between the pedals - the worst possible thing you could put on a TH - maybe @ace can confirm as it is a bit in the distant past - but treat it very carefully - I guarantee it will come back to bite you big time unless you are extremely lucky - best of luck. @cat has been very fortunate after 12500 hrs, but by 2002 they must have resolved previous problems. If you are on concrete a lot, keep all tyres with equal wear to prevent wind up, and tyre pressures all the same - it all helps

 

[ACEngineering]

I think the problem with the front diff was people changing from 2 to 1st under load impacted on the failure rate, i new crown wheel is a stronger one.
I also think the perkins engine in these was better because it had a stanadyne pump fitted rather than Delphi on the competition, makes the engine perform better.

Only if that silly air boost thing is set up right at the back of the injector pump! have had to tweek all TH62 machines I have had the misfortune of dealing with

 

[ACEngineering]

From memory the Cat TH 62 was one of the fastest machines on the road in it's day, and with a so relatively small amount of oil in the axle / diffs and hubs that rarely got changed on most farms, failures were common. Often you would see the " spacer plate" between the axle casing and diff casing where the brakes fluid feeds the cylinders had been changed, and yet on a Manitou with the same manufacturer of axle, you would very rarely see any changed. Chassis used to crack and fail all round under very hard work, but I suppose they must have sorted that over the years. I seem to remember it may at the time been the only TH with a diff lock, a button on the floor between the pedals - the worst possible thing you could put on a TH - maybe @ace can confirm as it is a bit in the distant past - but treat it very carefully - I guarantee it will come back to bite you big time unless you are extremely lucky - best of luck. @cat has been very fortunate after 12500 hrs, but by 2002 they must have resolved previous problems. If you are on concrete a lot, keep all tyres with equal wear to prevent wind up, and tyre pressures all the same - it all helps

Ah yes I forgot about chassis cracking just behind the cab in front of were the 2 self levelling rams mount
And the swan neck on the booms and the main boom section cracks just in front of the main boom pivot pin or self level rams? cant quite remember which some were round there any how.

Yes they had a manual diff lock on the front axle which was a bit odd don't know why they didn't just use limited slip diffs like others did? I have a CAT TH62 diff unit under the bench as it happens probably end up in the scrap bin next time I move it!
The spacer plate you refure to being changed on a lot of cats is because if the broken crown wheel tooth gets jammed in between the crown wheel and the pinion it forces the whole diff sideways and cracks the bit of casting the outer diff carrier bearing sits in. Had this on a matbro once. I have one of them spacer plates used in stock as well

Bought a used CAT TH62 front axle a while back that some one had robbed the crown wheel and pinion out of, I only wanted the wheel hubs

 

[Full of bull(s)]

Only if that silly air boost thing is set up right at the back of the injector pump! have had to tweek all TH62 machines I have had the misfortune of dealing with

Ours has been held open with a cable tie for years! Suddenly had no power, thought turbo had gone to start with turned out to be that. Don't hold it open all the way though goes like hell but doubles diesel consumption! Are the oil ports on the bottom of the compensator rams prone to leaking through the pin mounting? Noticed mine has developed a weep of oil down the chassis, not coming from the hose connector, coming from the pin and it isn't grease. Noticed on a couple of advertised 62's in pics there is a compensator ram taken off led me to think possibly for a repair to a common problem?

 

[ACEngineering]

Ours has been held open with a cable tie for years! Suddenly had no power, thought turbo had gone to start with turned out to be that. Don't hold it open all the way though goes like hell but doubles diesel consumption! Are the oil ports on the bottom of the compensator rams prone to leaking through the pin mounting? Noticed mine has developed a weep of oil down the chassis, not coming from the hose connector, coming from the pin and it isn't grease. Noticed on a couple of advertised 62's in pics there is a compensator ram taken off led me to think possibly for a repair to a common problem?

Ram seals dribbling down? Would dribble down the back side of rams due to the angle they sit?

 

[ACEngineering]

Ours has been held open with a cable tie for years! Suddenly had no power, thought turbo had gone to start with turned out to be that. Don't hold it open all the way though goes like hell but doubles diesel consumption! Are the oil ports on the bottom of the compensator rams prone to leaking through the pin mounting? Noticed mine has developed a weep of oil down the chassis, not coming from the hose connector, coming from the pin and it isn't grease. Noticed on a couple of advertised 62's in pics there is a compensator ram taken off led me to think possibly for a repair to a common problem?

They quick easy way to adjust this is bend the bracket the valve sits on as the linkage is almost impossible to get at and adjust.

 

[Full of bull(s)]

Ram seals dribbling down? Would dribble down the back side of rams due to the angle they sit?

No the ram dry as a bone around the top. I have also noticed with our big auger bucket on when full the crowd ram leaks back slowly sometimes not always though and curiously leaks faster when using the third service to the auger. Just old age probably. Buy a new one and everything locks up solid every time you get a decent bucket full! I know which I'd rather have

 

[ACEngineering]

No the ram dry as a bone around the top. I have also noticed with our big auger bucket on when full the crowd ram leaks back slowly sometimes not always though and curiously leaks faster when using the third service to the auger. Just old age probably. Buy a new one and everything locks up solid every time you get a decent bucket full! I know which I'd rather have

Also cat th62 run low pressure on the aux circuit so dont work very well with a shear grab. Think the are very low like 150bar or less? You can adjust this up to main pump pressure if needed. Not sure why cat thought that was a good idea on a farm?