Repowering a Junk Skid Steer With The Wrong Engine, 

Favorite thing about Sunday morning… having a cup of coffee or two and watching Mustie fix something. What a weird life we live.

I’ve been watching this series and as a bobcat mechanic I’ve found it rather interesting. Just watch that the engine doesn’t overheat. One of the main reasons bobcat engineers put the radiator up top was for maximum airflow to help with cooling. Your radiator cooling is being blocked by the door.. those cutouts aren’t nearly enough to keep the engine compartment cool. Hydraulic oil, especially in summer, with full running gets very hot..it’s like an oven in that engine bay. Just watch your temps for overheating..take care.

Regarding the second wire from the alternator. It goes to one side of an ignition lamp. The other side of the lamp goes to the "run"connector on your ignition switch. When you turn the ignition switch to "run", the lamp comes on as current flows from the ignition switch through the lamp to a winding in the alternator. This provides the initial magnetic field in the alternator for it to start working. As the alternator generates its 12V, the voltage on the wire rises to 12v. There is now 12V applied to both sides of the lamp and the lamp goes out. If the engine stops, the current again flows from the ignition switch to turn on the lamp. If the alternator dies, then the lamp will come on. Just pinch an ignition lamp from an old car. It should be an incandescent lamp of about 5 watts, as an LED will not pass enough current to energize the alternator. I would not leave the alternator wire connected to the 12v without the lamp. Good work on the project mate, I enjoy watching you work and come up with some novel ways to solve problems. All the best from Sydney, Australia.

I’ve been a faithful fan since the early days in the 1 car rickety garage. Glad to see big time Mustie still drops his sharpie in the drip pan like all of us! That’s why people still watch him 13 years into his run. Thanks!

The only other multi skilled engineer I knew who ,like Mustie, was rarely defeated was my Dad.Sadly we lost him 12 yrs ago .As a time served steam loco engineer he could get a better tune out of an engine with a hammer than I can with a whole workshop full of tools.Guys like you are one per generation.Keep on spannering.

Good morning Mustie followers - Have a great Sunday!

I noticed how you poured what I will call “your lucky box” bits all over the floor. Now its a pain to pick up all the bits. Solution would be to line your container with a large cloth or towel then fill with your bits. Next time you need to look for something lift the cloth and open up on the floor. Found what you need… pick up the corners of the cloth and place everything back into your container.

Hi didn't see anyone else mention it: the wiring diagram for the thermoswitch is cooked. The 12v hot should go to the terminal marked C and then the relay trigger should go to terminal 1. Ie take the 12v and move it to the free terminal. That should get it working the way you want it.

I love "Loctite!" I was working in a auto parts warehouse in 1969, when the Loctite Rep came in all excited about a new product. He removed one screw from my glasses & said it would never loosen & come off again! He was right, but I'd wished he did both! There's a few" flavors" of Loctite, and now orange, which holds like red, but comes off like blue. It doesn't "glue" the threads, but rather seals the space btwn the threads so it can't rattle loose. I'm never without my blue!

The " let it fall into the dirty oilbucket " gig never gets old😂😂😂 (been there , done that)😎

Good afternoon fellow Mustie1 fans, from the West Lindsey of Lincolnshire, UK 🇬🇧.

Good Afternoon from Liverpool Mustie has Arrived. 🔧👍🇬🇧

On those alternators the dashboard light is part of the exciter circuit. That's why if you don't have the dashboard light hooked up you might not get power. Sometimes they can spontaneously bootstrap from residual magnetics, but the light passes enough current to get it going. Once it's going the light turns off because the current drops to zero because it self excites after it's running.

A good Mornin from Ontario Canada my Sundays aren't complete without a mustie vid lol

Mustie you prove every week that you can adapt, overcome and improvise when wrenching. Thanks for the entertainment!

I love seeing that old forklift! I remember the video where you picked it up and it looked like such a hopeless piece of garbage. Look at it now! Purring like a kitten and guest-starring in almost every video.

This project ended up being more than you bargained for but it sure made a great video. Thanks.

That's not a 'Ferris' mower, Darren. It's a Toro Groundsmaster 322-D (diesel) and a 72" mower deck. We had a fleet of them where I was the groundskeeper for our local community college. Damn nice mowers!

I know this project has been a thorn in your side, but holy cow has it been informative, entertaining, and just great content. Hopefully you enjoy using the machine and the ends justify the work.

It looked like you went nuts driving that skid steer at the end of the video. Obviously, just figuring it out, but if I were close to someone driving this thing like that, I'd be scared the driver is losing it. You deserve all bits of fun you can have with it, given all the credit fixing it goes to you. Thank you for giving us the chance to watch the process, its been great.

I love the long ones. That's my afternoon taken care of.

Regarding the fan switch. As the two connectors dont connect, but the center and unconnected terminal connect when the fan should be off. Perhaps the unconnected terminal is the common. Swapping the outer terminals over may invert the switch for you....

That little 3-cylinder Kubota is a bit of a paint-shaker isn’t it!

You really did a great job on that unit! I'd have never believed you could have done so much for it with what was available in that garage. it goes through it's paces well also. Great videos!

Thanks for the shop time Mustie1! I dropped my magnetic folding light into the oil bucket lol! The light is still seeping oil!

Eating guacamole watching Mustie, living the dream!

Glad you decided to re engine and make the video for great entertainment and learning. I enjoy all your videos. Curious whatever happened to the case backhoe you built a snow blade for? I bought a used KH-41 Kubota mini excavator over 18 years ago and added + 2000 hours to get it up to its current mileage of 4600 hours and it still has work to do. I can still get parts and while I am no mechanic I can manage most of the maintenance but don’t tackle repairs like a final drive or hydraulic cylinder seal. I do change hoses and adjust the mechanical operating linkages and change the rubber tracks. Machine is for our property maintenance and some offsite favours for family and friends. Fits nicely on a tandem trailer with 3000 pound axles and the Silverado does the towing. It all keeps an 83 year old away from watching too many You Tube videos.

I knew one Sunday morning I'd wake up and have this video to watch. I really enjoy your stuff-thanks Mustie1.

I'm super glad to see this project to the finish. I buy equipment like this, and the wife gets pissed. It's not a bad machine. You're no Andrew or Andris, but you'll get the hang of it. Great series!! 👍👍

Regarding the thermostat switch. I am thinking their diagram is wrong. It looks like you have power coming in on the NO contact of the relay instead of the input. That would cause your exact symptoms. Your not seeing power on the one contact because its the NC contact. I'm guessing C is for the center contact and 1/2 are your output contacts. I'm betting if you switch your power wire over to the contact that was disconnected at 1:27:30 you will see switching power on the other 2 contacts. Ive really enjoyed watching this skid steer come to life. Ran one like it most of my childhood. Mine creeped forward like that too lol.

Good to have a Sunday with Mustie! Did anyone else cringe as the tape got eaten by the hydraulic cylinder? It's a Mustie 1 video, for sure! Warts and all!

And a big hello from deepest darkest Suffolk,England,

the thing I admire most about your videos is how you revive old junk using more old junk 🤣🤣👍👍

Man, it's great to see this Frankenstein moving dirt. That machine can get a LOT of work done.

Morning all from good ol GA

Thanks for letting us witness your struggles with feasibility and mechanics it's a joy to watch.

Hey! 😀👍 That thing seems to work in all directions! 😁👌 This has been a Blast to watch! Thanks M1!

Great finish on the project, I’m sure there is a few tinkering thoughts rolling around. In my humble opinion, you got the best videos. You’re good people. Thank you for your time and effort.

Be careful welding stuff that has been cleaned with brake cleaner, I believe standard brake cleaner has chlorine in which becomes deadly toxic when welding. I think they sell a version without chlorine in that's good for welding. Stay safe everyone 🙏

Afternoon from Essex, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Sunday afternoon is now complete with a Mustie1 video 🎉

As usual, great job indeed ! An old man from France

You know Mustie1 if I worked with you I wouldn’t ever get any work done because you would have me laughing so often. “Captain Hook to the rescue…….” You’re the best

Your creativity is not only inspirational but absolutely brilliant, thinking outside the box.

I wondered thru this series if all your man hours and fabrication was going to be worth it for that small skid steer, but once again all your fabrications and engineering was solid and made good viewing videos Thanks Musty.

Drinking Sunday night cause I don’t care about work tomorrow and watching Mustie. Best night of the week.

The Frankin-Loader is ALIVE!!! Nice work as usual Mustie 😎🔧

I've really enjoyed this series on this Bobcat it's been really interesting how you fabricated everything

Yeah, it showed you're a rookie in a skid steer. It reminded me of when I first learned to operate one. I can still feel the jerking around in it you did figuring it out. Seriously, thanks for sharing your projects with us. It's always fascinating to see the solutions you come up to solve problems.

Hi Mustie, you should probably wire the middle contact on the thermostat to the power feed line, an the fan on one of the outside (can't imagine, wich is the right..); But great Job!!!!!

Looks like that Bobcat is going to be very useful, great job repairing it,thanks for sharing, all the best to you and your loved ones

I want to see Mustie and Eric O work on a project together! that would be legendary!

Huge effort mate - well done! Cheers from Melbourne, Australia!

Mustie - you use a lot of “rattle can” products. The key to good coverage and getting things even and loose is shaking up and shaking up. I have a nice little “Vee” shaped attachment with a cinch strap that fits into my battery recip saw. Shakes the hell out of rattle cans and works great. Found it on Amazon for about $25. I use it all the time w excellent results.

Alternators, I've had bad luck with Alternators on my 94 suburban lately, The factory one died, so I got a replacement from Auto Zone, it locked up tight on me, so had to buy a new belt, replaced it with another one, it caught fire, had to buy a new/used wiring, replaced the belt and another alt, and it fell apart before I put it on the truck. They didn't have another one, nor did the other stores around, I rigged up a 70s style GM Alternator I had laying around, had to change the pulley and rig on a bracket, its only like 70amp, enough to charge and run lights, but running lights and power windows and heater it doesn't like much at all, But I needed that truck as soon as possible, I ordered another one online, will never use a Durlast alternator again I can tell you that much.

You might consider a strip of non-skid on that step above the bucket and before the cab where you climb in.

Texas checking in. Good morning. God bless your Sunday.

I've definitely learnt a lot from this channel since I started watching... But one thing Mustie can't teach me is how to physically keep working on it all.... I'm getting a sore back and legs just laying in bed watching 😂

Smart man, happy to see someone drill before using a step bit. Just because the tips dead doesn't mean it is a useless tool.

Defiantly seems to be the most fabrication you've had on any one project. good job.

So this is now a MustieCat?

This machine and a mini excavator will be great for you when you find those barn finds and the ones Sasquatch dragged into the forest 😂😂 THANKS Mustie for sharing your content 💪🏽💯🤙🏼. ALOHA FROM THE BIG ISLAND🌺

Couldn’t wait to see this bobcat completed. Thanks Mustie

Hi D. Man that was a lot of work!! Now you have an awesome machine. I am really impressed with all of the mods that you had to do!! It really came together beautifully!! Great job as usual!! Love the longer videos. Thanks for all the hard work!!! Darren

Good Morning Mustie1. The stone you used for marking the metal is called soapstone. Love the videos, keep them coming, I watch religiously every Sunday.

Great save on that Bobcat. Perfect machine for your intended uses. The bad news is it's all downhill into a pit of snakes from here if you get into fixing up a mini excavator. Literally a put of hydraulics hose snakes, broken valves and just endless expensive parts. If the machine is old and cheap, it will likely need parts you cannot find or which will not be cheap. Hydraulic hoses are insane and you'll need a shop to make them for you. Thousands gone in a flash. For the excavating work you want to do, in my opinion, you should look for (cringe) a cheap Chinese excavator, under $10K with a gas engine you can easily work on. It will still have hydraulics and no parts availability at all so you will be forced to think up fixes rather than spending big bucks. My fear is that any used Yanmar or Kubota or Deere you can afford will need so much work, and so many parts, it only makes sense for someone using it to make revenue.

What an incredible job! Junk to riches! Great video my friend!

Probably should check/change the oil in the drive gearboxes too. I agree that this was way more work than you anticipated but once it is done, you know that is tip top which might not be the case if you bought an operational one. I just love your channel and look forward to it on Sundays😀

Watching you apply Yankee ingenuity has removed my "fear" of working on my own mechanical stuff. Thanks Mustie1!

That would be a soap stone.amazing work. I always love watching you tinker and wrench on this stuff.

Gotta love a Sunday episode of Mustie1 Darren working on his skid steer castoff he's installing an engine in. Especially since it's almost 3 hours long and i can pause it twice for a nap and again for supper.

You freehand that plasma cutter just like ICWeld.....well, almost...😁

Bug's Bunny would be proud. That one made me laugh.

Good morning Darren from Calgary, Alberta.

I had a blast watching this! Many thanks for bringing us along!!!!

EPIC retrofit! Nothing easy is worth having. All it needs is some lights.

Good morning for the UK. Hope you are all well 👍

That engine is so smooth… you can barely hear it running.. 😂

This project gets my vote for most interesting of the past year.

Hey Mustie lad, a nice long video, really enjoyable, thank you. Best regards from Ireland.

I'd cut a couple of windows in that back cover and put some expanded metal over it to give the radiator some fresh air-help keep it cool !!!

i bet you heard us all saying save the plug for the old hole lol

Congrats, that was quite a battle. You showed a lot of ingenuity in solving the many problems.

Probably need a bigger battery for winter use. That small battery was ok in the fairway mower but might have issues in the cold. Looks like you could have went even smaller with that belt. Usually those have a shroud around the radiator so the air that is pulled in is directed through the engine compartment and expelled through the oil cooler up top. Thanks for bringing us along in this crazy repower of your skidsteer. Glad it worked out.

For the radiator support, it would be far more robust to use square tubing. And then weld the fan support brackets. Or even allow the radiator to rest on a braket with rubber mounts.

I *love* this stuff. "Who left a rag down there?" [removes flaming rag, leaves another rag right next to it]

FYI Mustie, you can fine tune height adjustment on the forklift with tilt lever as opposed to the raise lower lever. Goes much slower

This has been an excellent series. Have really enjoyed watching the process come together and see this old beast come back to life Mustie1 style 👌

Best advice on running a 600 series Bobcat: If it starts bucking back and forth violently, just let go of both control sticks. Thanks for another great video!

Mustie's hair showing his Hippie Days. LOL

Outstanding and awesome as always.Thanks for sharing and taking us along

One Monday morning quarterback suggestion, you might want to make the radiator swing out from the left with a hinge. It looks like there is enough slack in the hoses to allow it to swing out, that way you can get the radiator out of your way with out having to drain it each time.

"Before we make any fire lets get rid of that" - where's the fun in that? 🤷‍♂

Good morning mustie!

Great job Mustie! I've followed this closely. You are a magician and a gifted engineer. Maybe some graphics for it? Home made stencils and rattle cans? Great job bro! So cool seeing this machine in action again.

Glad to see you got it fixed she's a runner 😊

Good Morning everyone.

Ohh to have a lift! That'd be like heaven. I still do the lay on the ground thing.... Morning All!

Great build!!! Loved the series, I would add some sort of vibration dampener for the motor mount. I used old mud flaps one a few of my projects lol

You are one of the happiest guys I know of; awesome! 😊

Kubotas love the glow plugs. I can’t start mine without them.