Need advice on drying out swamped 350B

[hampy123]

Made a big rookie mistake. I was about 3/4 done clearing some tall grass and brush from the "damp" area near my house when I hit a sink hole/underground spring. I the blink of an eye the soil turned to goo and ate the left side of the crawler. Back of the track sunk right in to the top of the track, leaving the machine tilted to the left and the front end up.

My neighbor kindly came by with his mini excavator to help dig me out. He dug the mud out around the machine, but the excavator was too small to pull it out. He ended up throwing his track so we had to fix that and ran out of daylight.

Thats about when things went bad. The hidden spring, and a good rain shower flooded the area we dug up. The machine was at a decent angle with the front end up but the water rose over the side boxes in the back and over the airfilter. Had to pay someone else with a much bigger machine to get it out.

Any advice on drying everything out? I will drain and replace fluids and filters (engine oil, reverser, transmission, hyrdraulic, final drives) I think the drain plugs are already out for the steering clutches....think those will dry out ok? What should I do before trying to start the engine for the first time after changing oil? Should I pull the injectors and crank it to dry?

[Scottyb]

I have had a few vehicles under water myself. Never a crawler though. I am a believer in getting things started and getting them good and hot as soon as possible after getting them out.

I have opened up the clutch cover on a 450b and found a lot of water inside, drained it and dried everything out and have not had problems since. Worked it for a few hours after with the covers off.
So, although from information on this board and elsewhere we know water is bad for clutches, mine still works fine and it is now dry.

I once (1984) put my IHC Travelall 4x4 truck through the ice when fishing.(minus 25 degrees outside) The next day we pulled it out and used propane tiger torches to heat up the drive train, hubs, and engine etc. Drove it home. I changed all the fluids again and more heat from the torches until everything was good and dry. I drove that truck for years after with no problems. No fancy interior on that truck!

Heat might crack a casing if applied to fast so be careful. I always use a long piece of stove pipe with a 90 degree bend on the end. I put the torch in one end with at least 6 feet of pipe so the flames never are directly on anything. cover the whole crawler with a tarp and get it all hot. Not much plastic on a 350b
let us know how you make out.
Scott

[Scottyb]

I was thinking of all the covers that need removing and etc. and thought I would suggest that you remove the throddle cable and blow the water out of it. get it hot like in the oven or something like that and then try to get some oil into it. I need to replace two cables now that are rusted and are hard to move. They do not like water and will rust up if you leave them wet.
scott

[digitup2]

We try to fill the throttle cable with WD40 and shove the water out of the cable as when they get cold they will freeze watch your hydraulic oil and fuel for water contamination I have had several dozers go too dam far this year as we did a contract for 3/4 of a mile of tunnel under a local town I knew what I needed as I did this job twenty years ago but several places it got too deep and we got in too far Just watch the filters and watch the hydraulic fluid for water but the best thing is keep those clutches and break units working let them dry out working that is there best chance to fully recover .Digitup.

[Willyr]

I would pull the injectors and wind over that engine first just to get rid of any water that may have come into the engine.

Your seat may have become water logged. Drill a small hole to one edge if it has new covering. Then stand the seat up on edge to let the water drain out when not in use.

[hampy123]

Thanks for the tips!

Got a few pics uploaded but will try to get some more in later.

Here is the neighbor helping with his little excavator after I got stuck. Hard to see from this pic but the left tool/battery box is touching the ground.


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My real problems came after it rained that night and flooded the area we dug over the toolboxes up to just below the fuel cap.

I got the mud off it this weekend and drained the oil. About 2 gals of water came out before the oil did. I ran diesel through the pan in hopes to clean out any sludge. Once I get it running and hot I will change the oil again.

I loosened the drain plugs for the fuel and hydraulics and didn't see any water come out. Will replace the hydraulic and reverser fluid before I run it just to be safe once the filters come in. Also plan on pulling the injectors and spinning over to make sure there isn't any water that far up.

Do you have to pull the rear counter weight to get to the final drive drains? And if so, what is the best way to remove that weight without getting hurt. I see 2 large bolts on the bottom so I assume you just put a jack under it and remove those two bolts?

[MarkW]

If you drain everything into large pots and heat them up on a turkey fryer, the oil will separate from the water and you can re-use it provided it was new enough to still be useable. Do it once and again a week or so later.

Having said that, there are many people on the forum her who have eons more experience than I so if someone say differently you are probably better off to do what they suggest.

[Scottyb]

I would save it and let that oil settle out as well, heat (even a warm place in the shop) and time would separate it out good enough for me. I would put in the new now, and let the wet oil have lots of time to allow the water to settle completely, assuming the oil was still worth saving in the first place.

Scott

[Willyr]

I think Lavoy gets the winning prize for tractor going deepest under water.