Bought a Bobcat 1080b Feller Buncher - Could use some help

[RogerK]

I bought this device; it has 1100 hours on it and weights between 17k and 20k lbs... Does anyone have experience with it?  I want to make sure I am using it well and making sure I understand the controls.

I have contacted Barko about getting me a manual for it. They bought the 1080 series from Bobcat in 1990 as I understand it.

 

[dairyguy]

I bought this device; it has 1100 hours on it and weights between 17k and 20k lbs... Does anyone have experience with it?  I want to make sure I am using it well and making sure I understand the controls.

I have contacted Barko about getting me a manual for it. They bought the 1080 series from Bobcat in 1990 as I understand it.

A skid steer is the most intuitive of any machine to drive since you sit so close to the work.   Perhaps you meant to include a different picture?

[RogerK]

I appreciate the kind way you are asking if I am dumb!    I get the main controls, driving forwards, backwards, lifting and tilting the bucket.  However there is a clutch on the right side of this one, and I have a total of 5 hours running a skid steer (again this was a feller buncher originally) but just has a bucket now.

I am looking to see if anyone knows what else could be attached or has experience working with this model 1080.

Thanks for your consideration! 

[mike_belben]

i came close to trying to buy one that needed some work years ago that i never got to go see, so i only know a little from internet research.  yours has planetary hubs which is good as long as they dont break, you probably get almost 3:1 gear reduction in there so the upstream driveline is seeing a lot less load and i think those "torque hubs" were stronger than the typical straight axle shaft versions.


they are massively heavy in a small footprint, more disruptive on forest soil than the usual churn of a standard 4-7k skid steer,  so those 9 and 10 series barkos and bobcats were renowned for their ability to divine water from the earth in dry season, and get swamped.  im confident its why they faded away.  but boy what a powerful loader.  if soft ground is in your future, tracks better be too.


can you tell us more about this clutch?  ive never heard anything about it.  on the old mechanical clutch steered skid steers before hydrostatic a multi speed belt drive torque convertor was used via a hydraulic master/slave cylinder to give the machine a high and low sort of range.  it looked like a sled convertor but was manual instead of automatic. turtle - rabbit lever.  could it be of that sort?  does this run a direct coupled pump or a torque convertor belt arrangement?

[RogerK]

I appreciate all of the information and I can tell you very little about the clutch.  If you zoom in on the image with the pedals, you can see the new image I have posted here.  It seems to indicate that push the pedal down you have a parking break and if you pull the lever up you engage the clutch...  That is the extend of my knowledge.  Am I reading that sign correctly?  

There is a bar next the left side of the seat that I would classify as the turtle to rabbit control, as pulling it forwards raises the speed of the engine and allows the machine to move with more speed. 

 

[mike_belben]

The RPM bar sounds like regular old throttle to me.  A hydraulic torque convertor would change carriage speed at a fixed engine rpm by driving pumps faster.  And one glance under the hood you would see any belting if the pumps were not direct coupled. 

I wonder if this clutch is literally a rockford style friction clutch to uncouple the engine from the hydraulic pump for easier starts.  If its a perkins im told they can be pretty cold blooded.

[RogerK]

I will be back down to the land the end of the month.  I will take a photo of the engine compartment and post it. 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Most of them I've seen had 4bt cummins in them. I've never ran one but have scrapped two over the years that needed planatary and hydraulic parts that were unavailable or priced more expensive than a replacement machine. Without the sheer or bar saw head they don't weight over 13k lbs iirc. 

Guess the take away is use it wisely as its an antique and parts are an issue. 

[RogerK]

I just got some great information from Barko on the 1080B in the form of a service manual.   They only had one copy, so a guy there took pics of it with her personal cell phone and text them to me. 

[Walnut Beast]

So did you figure out the clutch what it was for or had something to do with the front business?

[Iwawoodwork]

The clutch could be for the clutch disengage that all of the wheel loaders I have operated have so you can stop ford motion while raising the bucket to dump. as mike stated.

[Bruno of NH]

The clutch engages the hydraulics
You want it in when starting so the hydraulics are disengaged.
It helps when starting so the the pumps aren't running.
I have a bobcat 974

[kevin_bouchard]

I just got some great information from Barko on the 1080B in the form of a service manual.   They only had one copy, so a guy there took pics of it with her personal cell phone and text them to me.

Any chance you can post what you received Rogerk? I just bought a 1080B and any information would be helpful. I'm supposed to get a few accessories that weren't originally delivered(tracks, door and the manual). If I get the manual, I'll definitely be digitizing it to share as it seems it's incredibly hard to find information on these.

[kellnerp]

i came close to trying to buy one that needed some work years ago that i never got to go see, so i only know a little from internet research.  yours has planetary hubs which is good as long as they dont break, you probably get almost 3:1 gear reduction in there so the upstream driveline is seeing a lot less load and i think those "torque hubs" were stronger than the typical straight axle shaft versions.


they are massively heavy in a small footprint, more disruptive on forest soil than the usual churn of a standard 4-7k skid steer,  so those 9 and 10 series barkos and bobcats were renowned for their ability to divine water from the earth in dry season, and get swamped.  im confident its why they faded away.  but boy what a powerful loader.  if soft ground is in your future, tracks better be too.


can you tell us more about this clutch?  ive never heard anything about it.  on the old mechanical clutch steered skid steers before hydrostatic a multi speed belt drive torque convertor was used via a hydraulic master/slave cylinder to give the machine a high and low sort of range.  it looked like a sled convertor but was manual instead of automatic. turtle - rabbit lever.  could it be of that sort?  does this run a direct coupled pump or a torque convertor belt arrangement?

I have the books for the 1075. This one should be similar. As for how the clutch works it is pretty simple.

The engine flywheel has a single disk clutch that energizes a transfer case. The transfer case has both hydro-static pumps attached to it as well as the dual flow hydraulic pump. The right hydro-static pump is direct drive, and the hydraulic gear pump and the left hydro-static pump are powered by the transfer case chain. So the clutch disconnects engine power to the entire hydraulic system. It will shut down the lift arms and bucket tilt as well as power to the wheels.

The dual flow gear pump feeds oil to the control block for the hydraulic controls. There is a pressure reducer there that feed oil to the filter under the radiator which in turn feeds oil to the two charge pumps for the hydro-static drive through two additional spin on filters.