2000 Bobcat 334 Mini Excavator - Just bought- Weak lifting and digging force.

[paxaran]

Hello,

I am new to this forum and to excavators. I just bought a "solid" Bobcat 334 with "2100" hours on it. It was from a few hours drive from me an I could not see it in person but the seller showed me it working a digging. But when I got it, the was much weaker than the rental machine i had last week which is much newer, but had only a 27 HP engine vs 40 HP for the 334. Anyway, I noticed it was not nearly as strong, maybe half. The fluid sight glass had the ball at the bottom, but could that really account for such a poor showing or am I looking at a financial headache? I will top the fluid off when I get back to the machine next week, but I cant seem to find definitive information that my Hydraulic actions would be week if the fluid is low. I hear no weird noises, though the pilot sticks seem to flop around and offer no resistance. Any knowledge learned here would be greatly appreciated.

 

[laurencen]

had a 442 that had low oil, the oil would get minute air bubbles in it foamy and have low power at the drives, had to sit a couple days to get air out and topped it up, fixed the issue and good after, did you notice air in the oil?

 

[LD1]

Start with topping oil off for sure.

What functions are weak? Are they all the boom functions? Hows the drive? Can you lower the blade and push some dirt with it in low range? Steer okay? Can the boom lift the machine?

Might be time for a pressure gauge too.