JLG LJ500 Little John stand-on mini skid steer

[shaeff]

I recently acquired this little guy, haven't gotten a chance to work on it yet but figured I'd make a thread about it. Shouldn't need *too* much tinkering to get it going. I know it ran last year, and I did get it to "pop", albeit for just a few seconds. I'll post updates as I find time to mess with it.

I figured, since these are pretty uncommon, borderline rare, and there's not much information on them, that anyone else with info on them, if anybody has one they'd like to share, anything at all to do with the JLG LITTLE JOHN LJ500, post it in here. There used to be a Yahoo Group called [little_John_Rocks] LJ500, but it seems that Yahoo Groups are no longer in existence and it's email chain only. While it may not be a mighty skid steer, it's "useful as a pocket on a shirt" as I've read elsewhere.

Here's a link to the only two threads I could find on here about the LJ500:
arizonian needing help with a rare skid steer
LJ500 Little John 500 manual wanted

control valve squealing on stand up skid steer

And a touch of good information from one of the above threads:

This seems to be a very common problem with these machines.
#1 The Little John does NOT use "Hydraulic oil" for it's hydraulic supply. Rather it uses SAE 10w30. This was found by a member of my little_john_rocks yahoo group in the troubleshooting section of the manual I set him up with. It reccomends that if you have low forward back moving power to switch from the 10w30 to 10w40. I changed mine twice before finding out I was using the wrong oil.

#2 From my personal experience chain tension plays a role in power at the wheels. The manual shows proper deflection along the bottom most run of chain as being only 1/4" Since the chain changes direction so many times I am convinced it makes a huge difference if your chain is very loose. More power with both wheels turning at the same time rather than the chain binding.

#3 JLG sold to another company shortly after LJ was built and the new owners concentrated on the big lifts.
The company that does at least try to help is Manitex. So far no luck but they will know the machine.

I'll leave with this picture of when I first got it, had to lift it off with my MF35 Utility Loader, as it doesn't run yet:

Last but not least- Gordoninvt emailed me the manual for this machine. If anyone wants it, I'll be happy to share. PM me your email address and I can send it. I printed the entire file, then re-scanned it as a searchable document. The searchable document is too large to send via email. I may be able to put it in a zip folder and we could try that way but no guarantee. Otherwise, you can send me a small flash drive and I can just copy the file and send back. Whatever. It's 50.1MB.

 

[EddieWalker]

Love seeing old iron come back to life. Do you have a specific task for it once it's running again?

 

[shaeff]

Love seeing old iron come back to life. Do you have a specific task for it once it's running again?

Thanks, me too! (Hence, the MF35)

I'll be using it for spreading top soil around, especially on my septic field where the MF is too heavy, maybe moving snow if I don't have the plow on the truck, general tasks around the yard. It's nice that it's reasonably light weight compared to the MF, and 4wd too. It came with some pallet forks as well, and if I remember correctly, the bucket/forks are self leveling. It'll lift about 500lbs with a 175lb operator. That means I need to add a bit of weight to the operator side of it, as I'm generally around 150lbs.

From a quick inspection, needs tubes in left side tires (or a sealer like Slime) as they both go flat overnight, some welding near the upper cylinder mount (right about at my upper belly area), new bowl on the carb, possibly a carb job but when I had it pop on me yesterday it sounded ok, might need the tilt cylinder repacked, seems loose to me but I'll judge that once it's running, and I know the P.O. put hydraulic oil in it instead of SAE30 like it supposedly calls for.

There's not much info on these, even on the web. I've found three YouTube videos, not much info about them though. I'll eventually find a manual, but they're few and far between and expensive.

First things first, find time to get it running.

 

[shaeff]

A few pics of the cracks at the upper cylinder mount at the back of the machine.

Looks like it goes under the information tag. I'll have to peel 'em off and check, or lift the loader arm all the way up, block it (set it on my retaining wall?) and see if I can weld it up from the back side. Not sure yet, but I'll definitely need to address this before catastrophic failure and/or injury to the operator... most likely myself!

 

[kwbretired]

That could have been bad if it broke under load. Think l would peel off the sticker & grind out the crack then weld from both sides. The sticker is toast anyway even if you weld it on the back side.

 

[ddbackhoe]

While it may not be a mighty skid steer, it's "useful as a pocket on a shirt" as I've read elsewhere.

I'll leave with this picture of when I first got it, had to lift it off with my MF35 Utility Loader, as it doesn't run yet:

A portable hydraulic unit is how I like to think of our skid steers. The minis are very cool and do have a place of their own. Sometimes, anything is better than a shovel and wheelbarrow .
Anything you can share about the knowns on it? Engine size, etc. You mentioned bucket and forks, what kind of quick attach does it use?
A site/article that you may find to be helpful.
Can Engine Oils Replace Hydraulic Oils?

 

[shaeff]

That could have been bad if it broke under load. Think l would peel off the sticker & grind out the crack then weld from both sides. The sticker is toast anyway even if you weld it on the back side.

My thoughts exactly! Definitely going to peel the decals off. I’ll try to preserve them as best I can. Should be welded from both sides for sure, wasn’t really thinking earlier. I’ll drill out the ends of the cracks, burn them in hot from both sides, then grind smooth and probably fishplate just to be safe.

A portable hydraulic unit is how I like to think of our skid steers. The minis are very cool and do have a place of their own. Sometimes, anything is better than a shovel and wheelbarrow .
Anything you can share about the knowns on it? Engine size, etc. You mentioned bucket and forks, what kind of quick attach does it use?
A site/article that you may find to be helpful.
Can Engine Oils Replace Hydraulic Oils?

Yep, I’ve seen pics of these LJ500 machines with auxiliary hydraulics, but mine doesn’t have that option. With an open center gear pump style system, it’s easy enough to “T” off and make some aux. hoses with quick connects. No issue there.

Definitely better than a shovel! It’ll be helpful when my driveway washes out, won’t have to maneuver the MF35 around and leak oil everywhere haha! (Needs a rear main seal and PS hose)

The engine is a Wisconsin Robinson W1-390 with 5737hrs on it. I *think* it’s 11hp, but can’t say for sure yet. I’ve read 9hp, I’ve read 11hp. It directly drives a gear pump through a Lovejoy coupler. The spool valves are made by Duke’s Fluid Power.

The bucket is 40.75” wide, the forks are 36” long. I’ll post a pic of the quick attach style, along with a few more in the next post.
Bucket attach:

Fork, fork is upside down in this pic.


Edit: I forgot to mention that supposedly the factory manual calls for SAE 30 to be used as hyd. oil. If what’s in it works, I may leave it, but I’ll get it running first before I decide.

 

[shaeff]

So, I pulled the carb off today, when I removed the bowl I found this:


So I figured it needs a gasket, a washer for the bolt, and since it’s so dirty in there, I checked the tiny bowl filter/screen on the petcock. Wow. PLUGGED!

This is what came out!


So, pulled the tank. Yep, that’ll be fun. It’s got so much junk in it with a little fuel that when I shake it, it sounds like a maraca!


Texted my friend, he’s going to lend me his ultrasonic cleaner for the carb. Maybe I’ll put a new needle in it. Maybe. Doesn’t look too bad actually.

That’s all for now, until I have free time again!

 

[shaeff]

Small update:

The tank is pretty well trashed. There's so much junk in it that I'm going to have to either coat it or keep constantly shaking nuts and bolts around in it with some thinner to get all the crap loosened up. I'll continue that route for now, but once I get the carb back from my buddy I'll just pop my pony tank onto it for the time being. It's only about 1.5gal but it'll allow me to move the machine around and even use it a little.

Carb is with my buddy, all disassembled, sitting in an ultrasonic cleaner. The bowl looked like it had some sediment in it, but the rest of the carb didn't look so bad.

Other good news, I'm on my way to pick up a spare motor for it, Wisconsin Robin 11hp for $20. If the tank on this one is good, I'll just swap it over and harvest any needed parts off of it. Can't beat the price...

 

[shaeff]

Got a few minutes and snapped more pics of the (potential) donor engine. Carb is in great shape, it’s got the right air cleaner housing on it, the tank is clean, the filter bowl/screen is clean, overall, well worth $20!






And lastly, I’m apparently blind because my LJ500 DOES indeed have hydraulic remotes, they’re just in a different location than I expected them to be. Either way, it’s difficult to believe I missed them because they’re right in front of my face!

I’ll eventually be using a low speed high torque wheel motor to build a post hole auger for this machine. Reversible is nice: