Sick and weak is no way to fix a bobcat undercarriage

I am doing 100% better than three weeks ago when quite honestly I thought I bought the farm. Now in typical fashion, I get a little stronger to try to do some work, and the damn bobcat breaks. It appears my left hydraulic drive pump just had a massive failure. I was able to get the machine next to the house, and my wife and our neighbor helped to remove the track, remove two frozen bearings, and a frozen rear idler. There is a front idler, four roller bearings, a rear idler and drive sprocket which makes up a bobcat undercarriage. Two bearings and the rear idler are bad, and the replacement parts will be about $800, and the left hydraulic pump will run about $2,500 new, or I can get a rebuilt one for about $1,500 if I give them my old one. The problem is that this machine shop is in Dayton Ohio, and that is probably an 8 hour drive, but I must make sure the rebuilt drive is EXACTLY like my existing drive, and I am running out of weather for seeding the flood damaged areas of the islands. So right when I thought I might be feeling good enough to post again, I will be worn out for a couple of weeks dealing with the usual failures you have when maintaining machines. I am so weak, but I am finally getting out of bed and walking around, and waiting to hear from NW on the trials. I will post a photo of the tear down, and while we are getting the new parts I am going to paint the undercarriage areas to dress it up a little bit so after I pass she will have the parts invoices and show a buyer a clean machine.

So glad to see your name and to hear from you....back to my old saying now, please take it easy. I don't like not hearing from you.

Glad to hear you're feeling better too.

You are one tough son of a gun. You get more done in your condition than I do without it. Glad you're feeling up to it, but still, take it easy, conserve your strength. In any case, great to hear from you.

Echoing exactly what zsomething said, except to add: Sea, you're a nut case -- but you're OUR nut case. Good to see you here.

Incredibly tough day. I have the feeling if I stay bedridden for another three week period, I will not be getting back up. I am pushing the pain threshold, but I was sweating today and using my remaining muscles. The Doctors at the Feinstein school of Medicine isolated 30 patients who are living longer than all the stats tell us is possible, and after interviewing me for 90 minutes, I simply said I believe hard physical work and keeping the mind active work incredibly well with endocrine cancer. I also am very lucky that the raising of my shots from 30 mg sandostatin to 60 mg have seemed to slow the tumors. I am on a list to see if I can get in the prrt trial, but right now I am celebrating my ability to still work, although Linda is correct.....my wife and daughter think I am certifiable doing this work, but I am actually in less pain when I am straining with weak muscles than being in bed slowly letting atrophy set in on all my muscle groups.

Well be primed the base areas of the left side of the bobcat, took off rock shields, took off all three lower roller bearings, and the rear idler. I placed the order with a company and expect UPS on Friday to put the idler, and bearings on the machine. We are still two hours of work away from freeing the main drive hydraulic hoses from the hydraulic drive motor. Once we are able to disconnect the hoses and bolts holding the drive to the undercarriage, I will use the lull with sturdy ropes and transfer the drive to a home made shipping box we are going to build with 2x4s and hopefully the texas company who will take 14 days to rebuild our drive motor can arrange for the pick up on Tuesday. Here is the work site and machine as we wound down tonight.

A rosary for you tonight to get into the trial.

Sounds as if there's no job too complex or difficult for you, "sick and weak" or otherwise.

Certainly would be interesting to see the results of that study on long-lived patients...wonder how long it'll be before publication.

Sea, if/when you have a few minutes while you're not doing anything (HA), could you please refresh us on the trials - what they're all about/what they entail? Can no one give you any idea when you'll have an answer as to your qualification/participation? Seems cruel to leave someone in your situation hanging so long.

The PRRT is a European total body radiation treatment which uses a biological blend which allows the radiation in three treatments once each month to attach to the existing tumors of an endocrine cancer patient. At the end, Steve Jobs traveled to Europe for this treatment, but because he did not listen to doctors and had a liver transplant at the University of Missouri, he only lasted two years and the PRRT was NOT successful in his case. If I was able to fly Brussels and spend about 30k out of pocket, I might be eligible, but because I have been receiving 5 radio embolization surgeries on my liver, a Nuclear specialist will have to review my total radiation even to see if this treatment is an option. The trial at NW would be free, but it has been waiting for 9 months to get the state of Illinois approval on the procedure.

The thing which is exciting for me is that PRRT has a 90% success rate on advanced endocrine bone mets which seem to be contributing the most to the pain levels. This is not a cure. It simple gives a patient an additional 36 months on average of quality life.

I have had the doctor send to the State of Illinois four weeks ago the prescription approval forms for medical pot for terminally Ill patients who are not expected to live six months. I have yet to receive my photo ID after three calls. The bias against pot is incredible. The alcohol and restaurant associations have been fighting the expansion of the same across the country and have a huge lobbying machine which helped draft absolutely paranoid Illinois legislation. For critically ill people in Illinois it has become a joke. If I was just getting an ordinary medical pot card and was not terminally Ill, they would charge close to a thousand bucks and require that I get fingerprinted to get a prescription. Although there are days I am unable to post because of a diminished cognitive function due to pain, I am doing well enough now to realize our world is getting quite insane as to our priorities and who are making public policy decisions. We will call again today for the card, but waiting a month when a person three weeks ago could not sleep at night from pain is a joke. Fortunately, I am sweating again and working my asz off on another project, and despite the challenges have never been happier in my life as I had two successive weekends with the grandkids as my children see my condition advance. My youngest grandson who is five, just gave me some mean comments(not really) so I pretended to pout and act hurt, and he replies......"don't worry papa.....I am just messing with you" We begin working in another hour and all is good.

Primed the white areas with spray paint, and black area of the undercarriage. Going to Lowes to get some Valspar which matches bobcat orange and will touch up areas where I have banged into things over the years. I can no longer cut grass because the surface of the islands are mostly stripped of grass from the three week flood in July, and incredibly uneven and rough which causes discomfort on my tailbone met. However, once the bobcat drive and undercarriage has been repaired we have this incredible attachment which is called a soil conditioner which is a chain drive off a hydraulic drive motor which has four inch spikes which churn the top soil and level the surface. As long as we can seed by October 15th, we will be good for any spring floods. Summer floods which last over a week kill the grass. A spring flood where the grass is dormant can take a week flood without losing the grass. The grass provides a nice surface to keep the soil from eroding in the next flood. The bobcat will be prettier if nothing else, and at least I am working an getting off my asz.

Without your intervention... would natural grasses and cat trails grow wild there?

Would the island even exist anymore?

Seaoat, you are the most amazing man I have never met.

Mr. Oats I have to agree with many others here, you are amazing you just are! I certainly have known many hard headed, gritty, determined folks in my life but you sir take the cake!  I am so pleased to know that you have aroused out of your 3 week slump and feel well enough to get up off your butt and do what you do . . . like impossible shit that few would tackle . . . amazing is such an inadequate term . . . . you're an inspiration and lastly this forum misses you tremendously!

Joanimaroni wrote:Seaoat, you are the most amazing man I have never met.

Sea, thanks for explaining the PRRT treatment. That 36 months (and less pain) sure sounds pretty great vs. the alternative!

And the Bobcat is looking beautiful.

And the Bobcat is looking beautiful .


I need to see the finished project... with the orange paint.

Without your intervention... would natural grasses and cat trails grow wild there?

Would the island even exist anymore?


There have been only four owners of the islands since the United States gave a grant to the original owners in the 1830s who built a dam and mill. That group went bankrupt as the railroad relocated ten miles north in the 1860s when a gravel company bought the islands and continued mining river rock until the 1950s when a local farmer bought the islands and farmed them until 13 years ago when we bought the islands. The prior owners dumped concrete along the shorelines and protected most of the islands from erosion, and put in connecting causeways which allowed him to get his tractor on the main island to farm. He planted black walnuts on the outer island where there is now a black walnut and maple forest which is beautiful. Cattails do not survive on the shoreline of a river which regularly has eight foot water level change. We have taken the former farmed portion of the islands and have natural high grasses with pathways and open areas where I plant pasture grasses which we can cut low and hold the soil together to allow vehicles to drive over all areas of the islands without rutting the soil which is very easily eroded without a tight grass mat.

We have lost one smaller island we owned in the flood of 2008. It is just gone. About a mile down stream after the floods and ice jams this winter, a small fifty foot by fifty foot islands just appeared, and the crazy river rats around here put a big American Flag on that gravel bar, and it has become the place where people gather on Sunday afternoons to park their pontoon boats, grill, and socialize. We got rid of all our boats because I simply have become too weak to maintain them, and the ice in the winter can take down a maple tree, and any boat lift is playing russian roulette. So when the farmer put in almost a two miles of concrete jetties every 100 feet he has made the islands as near as permanent as an island can be.

I have ordered the paint, the bearings, idlers, new bobcat decals, but I had a bad day yesterday as I am not strong enough to remove the final hydraulic hose from the main drive. It is sad to see your body waste away, but if I cut the hose, I am no longer nimble or flexible enough to get below the cab and pull that hydraulic line and get a new one. Ideally, I will try again later today if I can gather some extra strength and hopefully be able to salvage the hose connection and get new fittings from bobcat when we attach the rebuilt drive unit. Silly short term projects are very fulfilling and I appreciate all the kind words, but you know.....I do not even have the strength to mess with anybody as I am tuckered out, and would probably doze off mid debate in my current state......oh and that medical pot......for the second time the state has told my wife that my doctor's office failed to send the request after telling us they did....I am finding out that older and sick people really get little of their former respect.......I would normally have a firm discussion with my Doctor's staff, but honestly I have a sense of providence that I have less and less control over the course of my life, and rather than being angry, I am simply celebrating each ironic detail confident that all this has some meaning.

My daughter is taking tumeric capsules 3x/day to reduce inflammation (Nature's Nutrition). Also, my doctor recommended that I take flax seed to combat bursitis. (Buy the whole seed and grind it in a coffee grinder; add to smoothies or sauces).

OK...enough of that. I have to tell you what happened to my friend/plumber. He was excavating a holding pond for a private business. The owner decided to be helpful and fill up the gas tank before he arrived...put gasoline in a diesel machine...it bucked like a bronco and threw him off the back...he's fine now, but I'm sure it wasn't funny then!

My brother at six decided to help all the guests at my grandparent's home who parked in the driveway in North Birmingham by filling their gas tanks up.......with the water hose.......four cars later I have never heard so many southern Baptist using swear words in my life.....my brother became a legend, as each car was towed to a shop where they drained the tanks. It was easy to be my grandmother's favorite after that event.

My neighbor came over with a torch and the last fitting was finally removed from the hose....we ship it in the morning if the plan comes together and we can build a shipping container.

2seaoat wrote:My brother at six decided to help all the guests at my grandparent's home who parked in the driveway in North Birmingham by filling their gas tanks up.......with the water hose.......four cars later I have never heard so many southern Baptist using swear words in my life.....my brother became a legend, as each car was towed to a shop where they drained the tanks.  It was easy to be my grandmother's favorite after that event.

My neighbor came over with a torch and the last fitting was finally removed from the hose....we ship it in the morning if the plan comes together and we can build a shipping container.

Outstanding!

Joanimaroni wrote:And the Bobcat is looking beautiful .


I need to see the finished project... with the orange paint.

OOPS, obviously I missed that part. Well, I don't care, I like it white. lol

RealLindaL wrote:

Joanimaroni wrote:And the Bobcat is looking beautiful .


I need to see the finished project... with the orange paint.

OOPS, obviously I missed that part.  Well, I don't care, I like it white.  lol

Gotta see some orange

My son is playing golf today at the course we talked about before.. He was super excited to play again this year.

You should be very proud of your son. This course is extremely exclusive and Jerry Rich is working to host the US Open. He had the women's rider cup there six years ago, and this summer he got the NCAA final tournament. This used to be Michael Jordan's home course and a few of my golf buddies who were members would invite me out and I had watched Jordan in person play basketball, but you do not realize how big he is until you see him on a green with normal sized folks. My granddaughter just went to girl scout camp for a week adjacent to the west border of the course. The hickory, oak, maple, and natural streams make this a special place. If you would, ask him what he thought of the artificial tee box with astro turf on one hole, and ask him if he got to see Jerry's auto collection? Jerry is hated by my wife, but that is another story for another day.

This is the before photo:


This is the sanded and primed after photo, but before the final finish coat and new decals are applied: