Dig-It towable Backhoe partial restoration

[Kernopelli]

The stabilizer feet on mine flip over and have the rubber pads on one side and metal cleats on the other.

WA11banger......I kept wondering what you were referring to about the nice condition of my unit. Went back and looked and then remembered I had posted a pic in the backhoe thread of a Dig-It. I don't have any pics of my personal machine and just posted one I found on the net to demonstrate/represent what they are since very few people know what they are or seen one. I wish mine looked that nice. It is functionally great and everything works as it should but the paint is far from "nice". I think it sat outside in Verizon's yard for several years before it was liquidated and it shows. Probably same or even a little worse than your paint. I too plan on an complete sand blast and repaint.

 

[sparc]

If you take that tow bar assembly off, heat it with a rosebud and it should bend. Probably need a template to get the correct shape, you can see in the second photo that they had a slight offset originally. You could also take it to a body shop that does frame straightening, they'd have the equipment to do it.

I don't believe there is any offset. My Dig-it looks identical to this one (mine is a model 158) and I will check next time I am over at the property where its at.

The model 158 does not have the collapsible axle for getting through tight spaces. I think that was the model 148 and could squeeze through a 36" wide opening IIRC.

This is my model 158


They are nice for working in yards as they have a light footprint and don't tear up the lawn much at all.

When you hook up to your truck to pull it don't forget to unlock(freewheel) the drive wheels or you will damage the drive motors.

Here are some photos of a model 148 I found on the web a couple years ago.

 

[Wa11banger]

Kernopelli, Man I wish mine had flip over pads on it.. I see the pics that sparc uploaded and I think I will make a pair using those pics as a reference. My apologies about the mistaken identity on your BH.. HAHA I saw those pics and said man I hope I can get mine to look that good one day

sparc, I agree I don't think they had any offset built in. It appears by rough measurements that everything was originally square.. I also believe the problems started for this machine when they cut the pintle hookup off and put on the ball.. The welds are substandard and I think they did it live on the machine which allowed it to tweak when they cut it and they never put it back straight before welding it all back together. I also have the 158 so no collapsible axles, that would be cool though even tighter spaces would be accessible. I have had to push it around quite a bit to get it on and off the trailer as well as pushing around the garage so I have gotten familiar with the axle hubs operation. Man I would hate to forget those and ruin it, those pump motors look expensive

Well curl cylinder is rebuilt and ready for pickup nice one day turn around.. That guy also sells bushings of the size I need but had to order the last two as he didn't have enough in stock. but since I am going out of town for the holidays I wont be picking anything up until I return.

 

[sparc]

Are you familiar with how to disengage the hubs.

 

[dwellonrooftop]

I to purchased a Dig-It a couple months agoand could not find much info but I found Go For Digger and called them (basicly the same but parts do not interchange) and they gave me the name and tele. number of a fellow who could and did help me, even sent me an owners/parts manual.I'm still working on mine but did take the carb. apart and gave it a good cleaning (purrrrs like a kitten now). Also the hydraulic oil needs to be 10w 40 any cheap motor oil will do.had to completly flush mine because it was milky. He has a supply of bushings and makes the pins I believe.
I don't want to give his info here but if you email me I'll shoot you the info and maybe try to scan the manual if you like.
martinruth@fuse.net

 

[Wa11banger]

Ok got some more time working on the dig-it today.. Here's a quick run down of where it's at

I got it running again and it purrs like a kitten at idle and roars like a lion at 3600rpm.. Runs smooth at all throttle settings as well. Had to purchase a new carb, it wasn't an exact match but was 52mm Walbro and had all the proper settings. It works very well and no modifications were required to fit it. Also had a bad fuel pump, it was leaking fuel past the diaphram into the block also so between the stuck float and the bad fuel pump there was no way it was going to run well. But the block has now been completely washed out I cranked it over for quite awhile with out spark to make sure it was well lubed again before starting it. Appears no damage from the two times the case completely flooded.

Got the rebuilt bucket cylinder installed no real big issue there but all of the bushings were shot for the bucket so new ones of those are on order.

Will start the complete flush of the hydraulic system next. I think the process I am going to follow is drain the reservoir, clean and refill. Then remove the return line, start the tractor and run it with the wheel controls pulled forward until the fluid runs clear. This should purge the recirculating portion of the hydraulics. Then I'll pull all the lines at the cylinders and run each circuit clear. Then, cycle each cylinder by hand to empty them of old fluid before reconnecting. This should give me the maximum amount of fluid flush I can do without extra machinery and systems I dont have with only the small cost of having to deal with some air for a little while.

Also we have solved the weight debate. By the scales it weighs in at 2762 pounds. Thats with about a half tank of gas..

I am still on the fence about deciding just a functional refresh or do a complete restore.. will decide that once I get the bushings replaced and it out of the garage digging again.

More to come on this soon.

 

[dwellonrooftop]

Sounds good, glad you got her going.

 

[Kernopelli]

Here is a link to Dig-It's sales brochure. https://doc-0k-14-docsviewer.google...cPOdNw6&hash=hfgchgo21u5lh59dv2civdoh66qgnam2

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B83X6geOtrUQYjktd0lFaV9CWW8/edit?pli=1 This is the original link I had to the brochure but it would not load for me unless I viewed it as a print command preview. (?)

 

[Wa11banger]

Haha. Awesome. Its almost ready to go back into service. I found new original air cleaners and they actually beat the bushings and pins to the house. I am hoping the bushings and pins show up tomorrow so I can start the process of putting it back together tomorrow.

The only problem I am struggling with is now that it is running so well, do I leave it alone? Or tear it all down and perform a ground up restore on it. I know thats probably more money qnd work than it is worth but its an ingenious piece of hardware that I think would last near forever if I knock the rust off, blast it clean, and repaint it proper.

 

[Kernopelli]

To restore or not to restore? That is THE question. I am in the same place, my son really wants to start a repaint this winter. I definitely want to repaint ( really, all mine needs currently) sometime but just don't have the time. I say, if it is something you want and have the time, do it! I also think it is worth doing, I have noticed the rough looking units don't sell for much....clean, functional units go for twice as much. Just saw a clean used one the other day on an equipment site for +$7K.