Down again

[Rolando]

After three pumps without fixing the problem insufficient hydraulic flow to run my mower, they finally figured out that the problem was some restrictor valve that was stuck. But now after about two weeks of use, the engine will run but I'm getting the "!" General Warning light with the 50-41 code: "Rear PWM Error OFF".

Hydraulics and Auxiliary Hydraulics will work, but it won't respond to the Drive Pedal either in Forward or Reverse so I can't move it at all.

Of course this has to happen on a Saturday morning when I had work planned for the whole weekend. Does PWM stand for Pulse-width Modulation? Is this a motor control issue? Does anybody know what this is about?

 

[dylan]

Rolando
Sorry to hear about your continued promblems. I don't know what that error code means.

Maybe we should consider trading machines. My problems for yours. Does that sound fair?

Good luck getting operational.

Cheers Dylan

 

[Rolando]

Well, I just talked to the road tech and gave him the problem code. He looked up the code and said they would have to pick up the machine again. So much for my hope that they could come out and just replace some part.

 

[IslandTractor]

You are having lousy luck. Does your state Lemon Law apply?

 

[Rolando]

I'm not sure if I can apply the lemon law because I've owned the Toolcat for nearly a year, even though I only have about 130 hours on it. I didn't use it a lot the first six or seven months, but when I moved into my new place and really started to work it is when problems started up.

They're going to extend my warranty six months, since it's been out of commission for so long. I don't know if I'm just shaking bugs out. I'll have to see how it goes after I get it back. I was hoping for a lot better reliability from Bobcat. For whatever it's worth, it doesn't seem that the other guys in the forum have had as much trouble with their Toolcats.

 

[odleefs]

Rolando,
Sorry to hear about your continued bad fortune with your TC!
Steve

 

[Rolando]

Just an update on my problem. They tell me that the problem was that some wires shorted out and it's been fixed. I'm hoping to get it back tomorrow. I've got huge piles of pine tree trunks and branches to gather up.

By the way, on another subject, I decided to follow Dan's (dsb5610) advice and switch the flat head connectors on the hoses to the grapple to reverse the controls. I can't tell you how many times I dumped a load when I wanted to tighten the grip. I decided I'm just stuck on moving the switch to the left to tighten and right to let go.

 

[dsb5610]

Rolando,

Shorted wires right after having repair work done sounds like someone made a mistake. Hopefully they replaced the wiring harness where the short was instead of patching the existing wires. I would ask to see the repair.

On the grapple, you said you are stuck with it tightening when the switch is moved to the left and opening with it to the right. This is how it works on mine. As I recall yours originally worked just the opposite. Maybe I misread your post. Did it change after you switched the flat-faced ends?

dsb

 

[Rolando]

Yeah, what I meant was that my brain was stuck in wanting to close it by moving to the left and opening to the right. Now that they're switched my brain is in sync with the way the grapple works.

By the way, they tell me that a branch snagged some wire underneath, which is reasonable since I had been crawling over a lot of stuff cleaning out the pine tree crowns that the loggers left behind. Looks like this one was my mistake and I need to take back my recrimination about the reliability, at least so far. Although it does seem that there shouldn't be wires exposed underneath for a branch to catch on. But in any case, I just got it back and I'm back in business.

 

[Rolando]

dsb,

You were saying that your grapple was connected to function that way to begin with. Just out of curiosity, what kind of grapple do you have? I remember reading somewhere that Bobcat sets up their aux hydro controls backwards from what most everyone else does, hence my problem the way the grapple came from the factory.

I wonder if the Bobcat grapple functions the right way (in my opinion) from the get-go?