Possible to add hydraulic blade shift to Cat 12 8T

looking at the parts book for the 12E, it would not be simple.

Perhaps if you found an old grader with all the components that you could swap over.

Hi, Raklet.
As CCJersey said it is not easy but the simplest method I have seen is not all that hard either. A V-belt drive was taken from the power shaft under the floor to the control box and a hydraulic pump driven from that V-belt. Add a tank, valve, plumbing and the ram and you have your side shift. With sufficient tank capacity and another valve and rams, you could even add moldboard tilt.

Unless you can source the components in good condition 2nd-hand somewhere, it might cost a bit. Choice time - it's up to you whether it is worth it to you to go ahead and do it.

Hope this helps.

I've got an early 8T with the hydraulic sideshift on it. The pump mounts as described and they mounted the valve on the frame in front of the windshield. They Put a hndle on it through the front wall of the cab near the other control levers. I don't remember where they mounted the tank.

Hi, Raklet.
As CCJersey said it is not easy but the simplest method I have seen is not all that hard either. A V-belt drive was taken from the power shaft under the floor to the control box and a hydraulic pump driven from that V-belt. Add a tank, valve, plumbing and the ram and you have your side shift. With sufficient tank capacity and another valve and rams, you could even add moldboard tilt.

Unless you can source the components in good condition 2nd-hand somewhere, it might cost a bit. Choice time - it's up to you whether it is worth it to you to go ahead and do it.

Hope this helps.

Thanks guys. Those are excellent descriptions. I think I'll be able to work something up from that.

Hi, SJ.
Yes, they are having some rather destructive fires down South and some rather destructive floods up North. The current fires now rate as Australia's worst 'natural' disaster in recorded history, ie., since white settlement in 1788. I have placed inverted commas around the word natural because there is not much doubt that many of the fires were deliberately lit by arsonists.

Another reason why these fires have been so severe is that the 'enviro-nazis' have been screaming so loud for so many years about burning off in the cooler winter months to reduce the fuel load on the ground for the summer fire season that hazard reduction as it is called is almost totally non-existant these days. What these 'enviro-nazis' fail to mention is that many plants and trees in the Australian bush have evolved to live with regular fires, to some extent courtesy of the Aboriginals who for over 40,000 years were in the habit of burning off an area before they moved on to fresh pastures. They did this for two main reasons, to drive out the last of the game to where they could catch at least some of it, and to reduce any fuel on the ground to ash and charcoal which acted as a fertiliser.

Then again, some of the homes that have been burnt out were owned by people who 'wanted to live close to nature' and so let the bush grow right up to there homes. Along comes a fire and, Voila, no more home. That is certainly not the case with all of them by any means but a significant proportion fall into this category.

The loss of life is lamentable but, until the 'enviro-nazis' are told where to get off, I think these events will continue to happen.

The floods up North ARE a natural event, courtesy of the cyclone season and the annual 'Wet' up there which happens during our summer months. There have been a few lives lost there too.

Hi, Raklet.
Go for it, M8. Don't forget the photos so that others who may want to do it after you can see how it was done - and so that we can gawk.

I was going to run over to a friends and take pictures of his 8T that has had blade tilt and shift added to it with off the shelf cylinders and some fabrication work. But it is up on the mountain with the snow wing and front plow on it now. I could post pictures in the spring. They run the Hydraulics off of the power steering pump, It was replaced with a larger pump to speed up the response time of all of the added hydraulic equipment, (snow wing lift, blade side shift and tilt, front blade angle change).
Thanks
Ken

I was going to run over to a friends and take pictures of his 8T that has had blade tilt and shift added to it with off the shelf cylinders and some fabrication work. But it is up on the mountain with the snow wing and front plow on it now. I could post pictures in the spring. They run the Hydraulics off of the power steering pump, It was replaced with a larger pump to speed up the response time of all of the added hydraulic equipment, (snow wing lift, blade side shift and tilt, front blade angle change).
Thanks
Ken

Ken,

That is a great idea. If you could grab some pictures in the spring that would be fantastic. I wouldn't mind replacing the hydraulic steering pump on my 8T with a larger one anyway because the current one does just enough to make it steerable and it leaks like an SOB. Have to refill the oil reservoir every day.