• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

electric over hydraulic steering

timandkim

New member
hello im new to this forum so i hope im doing this right . i have a 1981 bombardier muskeg carrier . i was wondering if any one had some ideas on changing it to electric over hydraulic steering . the machine is equipt with live hydraulic run off the pump on the side of the four cyl perkins . any info would be great thanks
tim
 

fogtender

Now a Published Author
Site Supporter
Contact a local Hydraulic shop, they should be able to set you up. Trying to explain what to do on the Internet is a bit of a stretch from here. Plan on spending some coin though for the transition.
 

pixie

Well-known member
SUPER Site Supporter
Welcome to this forum, timandkim !

Is there a reason you don't want to go with hydraulic assisted steering that some Muskegs ( like mine :) came with ?
 

Attachments

  • MurryIntW.jpg
    MurryIntW.jpg
    94.8 KB · Views: 896

longbed454

New member
Welcome to this forum, timandkim !

Is there a reason you don't want to go with hydraulic assisted steering that some Muskegs ( like mine :) came with ?

Hi Pixie I'm curious about your hydraulic assisted steering on your Muskeg how does it compare to the arm strong steering on the J5? Does it steer way better?

Thanks
 

timandkim

New member
thanks to the reply guys the steering on my muskeg looks different than yours mine has a bleed able system much like a brake system it leaks and needs to be filled and bled every time out . not sure how it all works but 2 cylinders ran off a joy stick seems alot more efficient . how would i contact boggie and when would be appropiate not sure what that means he with a kangaroo?????????
 

pixie

Well-known member
SUPER Site Supporter
Hi Pixie I'm curious about your hydraulic assisted steering on your Muskeg how does it compare to the arm strong steering on the J5? Does it steer way better?

Thanks

Hi ! It steers a little easier but not as much as you'd expect.
Planning a turn and pressure on/pressure off counts almost as much as hydraulics. I have never driven a Muskeg or Skidozer without the power assist and they are longer than a J5 so it may be making a big difference that I don't know about !
My J5 brakes are new and it's pretty easy to steer especially after it warms up. Applying force beyond a certain point doesn't make it turn faster.

Of course, you are asking someone who has tracks on a quad ( year 'round some years) with no power steering so Armstrong is my middle name :yum:
 

longbed454

New member
Thanks Pixie so maybe new brake bands are the way to go before trying to convert to power assist steering
Thanks again
 

Chip

New member
Tim, if you have the power assist like Pixie's, the pair of small levers in her photo would be mounted right on the front frame of the driver's seat, and the big levers for the manual steering are mounted to a bracket on the floor under the dashboard. there would be four master cylinders on the bracket, one each for the clutch, the brake and the two steering levers. If these are what is leaking, a rebuild kit is only about $22 (Carquest # BRK M157). The bores of the master cylinders may be pitted from rust, but as Boggie told me, you could fill the pits with JB Weld (2part epoxy putty) and hone them smooth. A new complete master cylinder is available as well- it was used in Dodge trucks as a clutch master cylinder in the 50's and 60's. I took all four out and fixed up the two best ones and used them for the clutch and brake, and junked the manual steering system and just use the hydraulic. The power assist system uses different slave cylinders than the manual only system according to my parts manual. Later Muskegs used a double piston master cylinder for the steering instead of two separate ones, which might be what you have, but rebuild kits should be available for those too.

If the leaks are in the slave cylinders, you probably have to go to Boggie or Prinoth or someone else who handles Bombardier parts. Where ever they are, brake fluid leaks cause lots of rust destruction, so fix 'em soon, clean the metal in the area and repaint it before it eats away too much!

Does your live hydraulic pump run power steering, or something else?
 

timandkim

New member
hello the steering system has 2 master cylynders that feed out of one resivour . the hydraulic pump runs the blade and 2 feeds to the back , i dont think it is conected to the steeering the levers or the master . i really want to switch it over to a joy stick , this would make it more user friendly 12 hour days pullin on them levers gets pretty old fast .
 

pixie

Well-known member
SUPER Site Supporter
Timandkim, the machine is a 1972 and the operator sits in the middle.
 

timandkim

New member
the pics of your muskeg are great pixie and i agree there are alot of muskeg out there they are very unique in disign and versitility . we have a 500 gallon water tank that is heated by exhaust for winter . in the summer it hauls water to forest fire ground crews in the winter we haul water to build ice roads on muskeg swamps that are to soft to hold a water truck . it is also equipt with pumps to haul water to sno making machines that make sno to build road crosings on remote ice roads . on its days off it pushes sno and pulls a groomer grooming sled dog trails for our sled dog racing teams . it works hard kinda rusty but trusty . i want to do a major up grade to the cab but that means shutting it down and spring break up is the only time to do that hopefully this spring . pixie what do you use yours for and what do you have for a tranny in it .
tim
 

pixie

Well-known member
SUPER Site Supporter
Tim, I use mine to haul a hydraulic/grapple wood trailer and for general riding around on my land. It has a New Process Gear 435L manual transmission and yours probably has the same trans.

It sounds like your machine works hard. Do you have a factory blade ? I'd really like to build a blade for mine.
 

timandkim

New member
hello no pixie my blade is not factory we made it . works good but the machine has to be serious wiegh down to keep it stable or it is very nose heavy , like a dozer without a ripper.
 

Chip

New member
Hi Tim, I've also been trying to figure out a blade system- does yours mount on the outside rails or between the tracks on the center tub? I've got a front winch on mine, and so it liked to stand on it's nose too (turns real easy with only a couple feet of track on the ground!). I mounted a logging winch on the back so it's more balanced now.

Pixie, do you hitch your trailer to the stock pintle hitch or do you have a lower hitch for it?
 

timandkim

New member
hi chip our blade is attached to heavy 4x4 tube that is mounted under the front bumper that allows it to lift very high ,very handy for pushing wind falls and snags out of the way and not having them come up threw the wind shield . i think for next winter im going to put a leon blade on with a draw bar that goes all the way to the back . im trying to get some pic on here so my explanations dont sound so dumb but having camera trouble our daughter lost the charging cord for the camera . hope to pick one up today
 

pixie

Well-known member
SUPER Site Supporter
Chip, I made a thing to lower the hitch height. It survived a pretty good torture test the other day :clap:

Tim, I'm looking forward to your pictures ! I'm working on designing a winch and fairlead thing for the back but it's not going to weigh a lot. I hope I can make a front blade out of an old Fisher plow that doesn't weigh too much, either.
 

Attachments

  • MurryHitchworksW.jpg
    MurryHitchworksW.jpg
    102.4 KB · Views: 355

timandkim

New member
pixie we live in a logging area there is a fair few wrecked skidder laying around the bush . lots of old clark\treefarmer skidder have bolt on arch some came with a grapple that closed with a winch system called a hydro wrap . might be a option save building one from scratch
tim
 

timandkim

New member
here are some old pics with the 500 gallon tank and of the front showing the 4x4 tube that the blade mounts to soon ill get some new pics with the blade on showing how it pins on
mc1 mc2 mc3
 

dpaulson

New member
I put a leon blade on my muskeg, but I cut the a-frame short and mounted the frame to the front pipe and tub. I put about 15 ft of 80 lb railway rail for balast though.
picture.php
picture.php
 
Last edited:

timandkim

New member
that is great wow is there any chance you have a close up pic of the modification of the a frame and how it mounts on . if you dont mind i would like to copy your plan . your paint job looks really good . what year is it looks like same as mine i hope some day we can give it a face lift like that . what kind of steering do you have
tim
 

pixie

Well-known member
SUPER Site Supporter
Good looking machine, dpaulson :clap:

Do you groom trails or do something else ??
Without the ballast it must be pretty easy to do a nosestand !

I'm really hoping to keep the blade closer to the body even though I'll sacrifice most of the angling. And I'll probably use a hydraulic cylinder on each side of my cab to raise and lower it. Some of the factory blades had thier rear pivot point on the side/axle framework and I'm going to use that, too. I'm only aiming to push snow, not dirt.

Thanks for the idea about the skidder parts, Tim. I have a hydraulic winch already and I'm trying to keep the whole rig light. Besides, I need a mud season project :smile:
 

dpaulson

New member
I went a got a couple more pics. This is a 75 model.

You will notice that my grousers are a bit different than yours. This was our first season for grooming trails, and we could not steer when we lost traction in the deeper snow. It was completely useless. I cut these extensions out of plate and welded on the existing grousers. There is no slippage now. It will now lug the engine down that it is necessary to downshift to as low as first gear, where it would only spin before. The ride is a lot smoother too. Some extensions have broken off due to the cleats being made of a very hard steel, but I will redesign the cleats so they will be held on with the bolts that hold the original grousers on.
picture.php

picture.php

picture.php
 

timandkim

New member
that is very impressive that idea will work perfect on our machine pic says a thousand words i think im going to have to call in sick tomorow so i can work on it . thanks again for the info
 

timandkim

New member
hi forgot to ask did you weld them on while the grousers were bolted on the belt and what do they perform like in the summer
 
Top