2wd RTV 900 conversion

K

Kaptain

New member
I'm new here and have two RTV 900's I maintain; or should I say try to keep functional for a dairy. Both RTV's have around 6000 hrs on them. Their main purpose is to carry milk bottles and feed to calf's. The condition of the RTV's are shocking, then again they drive through mud and crap back and forth all day long.
I've been turning wrenches for this dairy for 4 months now and last week both machines were down. I got one going again after an oil change, fuel filter, and cleaning the linkage for the throttle and HST.
The other is about to loose the front left wheel. I noticed on both machines the drive shaft to the front axles were missing, my boss told me that they removed them after replacing them a couple times. Operators were told to stay out of the mud. Theory is, you don't have 4wd so stay out of the mud. So far I have yet to see one stuck anywhere.
Back to the RTV's with the front wheel; I tore it down somewhat yesterday. The half shafts from the front axles are still in place. I would like to further this 2wd conversion and remove all unnecessary components hoping to minimize front bearing failures. I notice that mud builds up around the front half shafts and eventually the moisture gets into the bearings and well the wheel bearings fail. I could replace the axle shaft boots, which I believe keeps the moisture out but it's just an additional cost. The front shafts are just an unnecessary moving part in my opinion that can cause potential failure. Any suggestions on how I could convert these machines completely over to 2wd?
The main problem with the two RTV's is people who don't care. We have gone through numbers of employees who treat our equipment poorly, it's frustrating on my behalf since I have to repair them. We have even gone as far trying to slow them down by welding a plate in the "H" part for the gear selector blocking of High gear. They have still managed to run these machines into "who knows what" bending the brush guards into the hoods.

The 2wd conversion is the my main focus as of right now, but from what I have been told, both machines go through wheel bearings and u-joints very quickly. Now that I have found this forum I hope to find some ways to repair the premature wear part issues.

However, in spite of all the issues I am impressed that both machines have lasted this long.
 
my God. 6000 hours. That is a blessing. Let me do some thinking.

Whoa, that got my attention.

I will say, they might run into things, but I will never believe they will really hurt that engine if the oil is changed properly. That two wheel drive idea is going to take a little thinking.
How much $$$ are the owners willing to put into these high hour machines ?

..... two guns
 
It would be cheaper in the long run to FIRE all of the bad help.
What you probably need to do is find a way to mount some new spindles on the A arms .
But then you would need to pick up new hubs and all the works.It would also be easier to have the so called help wash out the underside of the machine daily but thats probable a long shot.
 
get some new boots and put a plug or make a plug for the small axle hole. yank out the axles and install the new boots packed with grease.you can make a plug by just filling up the end of the boot with silicone and letting it dry for a day or so then install it or you could take a small piece of broom handle and cut it about 1"long and use it for a stopper. other than that there is no way to keep water and mud from getting into them bearings. even with new sealed boots you will still get seepage into the bearings so it might be best to just install new boots and leave the axles in place. but what ever way you go you need to put new boots on if they are busted.
 
Peanut said:
yank out the axles and install the new boots packed with grease .....
Click to expand...

Pack that RTV with the Amsoil
Synthetic Polymeric Off-Road Grease, NLGI #2

IT WILL KEEP THE WATER OUT. WE USE IT DOWN HERE ON EQUIPMENT THAT HAS TO STAY RUNNING IN WATER.
IT WORKS AND SAVES MUCH $$$$$$ ON BEARING REPLACEMENT AND EQUIPMENT WEAR ...
 

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.... watch this video
It will get you attention !!!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqvq5IHjHTg[/ame]
 
yup pack dem things with lots of grease.if it was me i would keep the shafts in place and pack the new boots with grease.
 
I'm impressed these things are still in service after 6000 hours of abuse. It's probably not worth it but the new style drive shaft with it's beefier design would probably never need to be replaced on these units. It's about a $700 fix. It would also get rid of the carrier bearing that the old style shaft had.
 
if the have several machines with over 6000 hours of abuse.

I would honestly say, don't spend any money on them. Work 'em till
they blow, and mark it down as great investment, got the $$$ work out
of them.
And then replace them with a few more RTV's.
Everything has it's limit, Everything !!!!

........ two guns
 
Two Guns is right. Abused machines are a money magnet. If somebody kept abusing my equipment then I would have to take it out of their check or they could walk. I've take care of mine and have 3912 hrs on it. However, I don't intend on putting any big bucks in it since it is getting closer to the point of putting more in it than it would bring if sold.- I 'm keeping the oil and filters changed but holding the line on high dollar stuff. I just did the rear ujoints and bearings/seals myself for around $150, instead of $700-900 dealer , using after market parts and also replaced the cooling fan with an after market one for $72 instead of the $400+ the dealer wanted for the part. A set of Peanut's stick stoppers would always be handy no matter the age of the machine because they would deflect a lot of that abuse I would think. . I use my RTV everyday to make my living and will be saving up for a replacement of some kind in the future but will never skimp on oil changes - bordercollie
 
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Why spend 10 grand for a new one when all it needs is bearings and seals. Plus they will just tear a new machine up. We could fire them only to hire a new one that's just as bad. Most are min.wage workers. the guy who broke the machine had to use a wheel barrow, imagine having to haul feed back and forth 500 yards with a wheel barrow in the mud. I haven't had a chance to work on the down rtv, and probably won't have time til next week. More important things to repair. I will update when I get a chance.
 
i would make them haul the feed the old way and with no power equipment after a few months they will learn to respect what they had.you could always just mount a small head cam in the rops and let them know they are being watched at all times. when they bring it back broken review the video and if it was from pure neglect make them pay for it.most time just the idea of being watched is enough to keep them inline.
 
How about removing the front differential. There's only 4 nuts that hold it in place. If your c.v. shafts were already out of the hubs, drive shaft was disconnected, the only things left are 4 -14mm nuts and a vent hose. The hubs are sealed on both sides so the c.v. axles being in place shouldn't matter. It's gotta be easier than all that cutting. Anyone see any problems I'm overlooking?
 
well being the nice guy that i am you could just ship them to me and i'll watch over them for you.lol
 
Two Guns... great info on that Amsoil off-road grease. I'm going to look into that for farm tractor and FEL.

Keifer, a RTV wannabe
 
Conversion was finished yesterday. I was busy with other equipment so one of the other guys completed it. He removed the front diff and both half shafts, but kept the portion of the half shaft that the castle nut bolts on to keep everything together. Looks like it's going to work well.
 
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