ASTEC TF300B User manual

TF300B Trencher
Operator’s Manual
AU103168
C7B

Safety Decals on this machine use the words Danger, Warning or Caution, which
are defined as follows:
•DANGER: Indicates an immediate hazardous situation which,
if not avoided, will result in death or serious injury.
The color associated with Danger is RED.
•WARNING: Indicates a potentially hazardous situation which,
if not avoided will result in serious injury.
The color associated with Warning is ORANGE.
• CAUTION: Indicates a potentially hazardous situation which,
if not avoided, may result in minor or moderate injury.
It may also be used to alert against unsafe practices.
The color associated with Caution is YELLOW.
© 2005 Astec Underground
THIS SAFETY ALERT SYMBOL INDICATES IMPORTANT SAFETY
MESSAGES IN THIS MANUAL. WHEN YOU SEE THIS SYMBOL,
CAREFULLY READ THE MESSAGE THAT FOLLOWS AND BE ALERT TO
THE POSSIBILITY OF PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH.
IMPROPER OPERATION OF THIS MACHINE CAN CAUSE INJURY OR DEATH.
BEFORE USING THIS MACHINE, MAKE CERTAIN THAT EVERY OPERATOR:
• Is instructed in safe and proper use of the machine.
• Reads and understands the Manual(s) pertaining to the machine.
• Reads and understands ALL Safety Decals on the machine.
• Clears the area of other persons.
• Learns and practices safe use of machine controls in a safe, clear area
before operating this machine on a job site.
It is your responsibility to observe pertinent laws and regulations and
follow Astec instructions on machine operation and maintenance.

I AU103168 C7B
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TO THE OWNER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
TF300B TRENCHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
AFTER DELIVERY CHECK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
RIGHT, LEFT, FRONT AND REAR OF MACHINE . . . . . 2
IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
MACHINE COMPONENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
SAFETY/DECALS/HAND SIGNALS . . . . . . . . . . . 5
SAFETY MESSAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
PERSONAL SAFETY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
UTILITY SAFETY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
BEFORE OPERATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
FAILURE IN OPERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
MACHINE OPERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
PARKING THE MACHINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
CAST DUCTILE IRON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
MAINTENANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
BURN PREVENTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
PRESSURIZED HYDRAULIC FLUID AND GREASE . . . . 8
HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
FIRE OR EXPLOSION PREVENTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
FIRE EXTINGUISHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
READ OPERATOR’S MANUAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
SAFETY DECALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
HAND SIGNALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
INSTRUMENTS AND CONTROLS . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
INSTRUMENT PANEL AND CONTROLS . . . . . . . . . . 13
KEY SWITCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
THROTTLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
FORWARD/REVERSE LEVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
RIGHT STEERING BRAKE LEVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
AMMETER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
SPEED CREEP CONTROL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
TRENCHER BOOM LEVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
LEFT STEERING BRAKE LEVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
TRENCHER CLUTCH LEVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
NEUTRAL INDICATOR LAMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
RANGE CONTROL LEVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
BACKFILL BLADE CONTROLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
LEFT STEERING BRAKE LEVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
RIGHT STEERING BRAKE LEVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
FORWARD/REVERSE LEVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
BLADE ANGLE CONTROL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
BLADE LIFT CONTROL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
SEAT BELT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
ENGINE OPERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
RUN-IN MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
OPERATING IN HOT WEATHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
OPERATING IN COLD WEATHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
STARTING THE ENGINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
ENGINE SPEED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
BOOSTER BATTERY CONNECTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
PARKING AND STOPPING THE ENGINE . . . . . . . . . 20
MACHINE OPERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
STEP AND HAND RAIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
OPERATOR POSITION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
TRENCHER OPERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
TRENCHER BOOM TYPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
TRENCHER CHAIN AND TEETH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
BACKFILL BLADE OPERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
TRANSPORTING THE MACHINE ON A TRAILER . . . . 26
LUBRICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
GENERAL SAFETY BEFORE SERVICING MACHINE . . 27
PLASTIC AND RESIN PARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
ENVIRONMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
ENGINE HOURMETER/TACHOMETER . . . . . . . . . . . 27
CAPACITIES AND LUBRICANT SPECIFICATIONS . . . 28
LUBRICATION/MAINTENANCE CHART . . . . . . . . . . 29
ACCESS DOORS AND COVERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
LUBRICATION POINTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
FLUID LEVELS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
ENGINE LUBRICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
OIL VISCOSITY/TEMPERATURE USAGE CHART . . . 34
AIR FILTERING SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
FUEL SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
HYDRAULIC OIL SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
TRANSMISSION AND GEAR REDUCTION HOUSING 40
TRENCHER DRIVE CHAIN LUBRICATION . . . . . . . . 41
ADJUSTMENT/MAINTENANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
TRENCHER DRIVE BELT TENSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
TRENCHER CLUTCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
TRENCHER DRIVE CHAIN TENSION . . . . . . . . . . . 44
TRENCHER DIGGING CHAIN TENSION . . . . . . . . . 45
TRACK ADJUSTMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
ROLL-OVER PROTECTION STRUCTURE . . . . . . . . . 48
SEAT BELT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
FIRE EXTINGUISHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
ELECTRICAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
BATTERY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
OVERLOAD PROTECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
SEAT INTERLOCK SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
MACHINE STORAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
SPECIFICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
BOOM IDENTIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
ENGINE DATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
OPERATING DATA AND DIMENSIONS . . . . . . . . . . 56
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A1

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
AU103168 C7B II

1 AU103168 C7B
TO THE OWNER
TF300B TRENCHER
PIC00118
This manual contains important information about the
safe operation, adjustment and maintenance of your
Astec Trencher. Refer to the Index at the end of this
manual for locating specific items about your machine.
This Trencher conforms to current safety regulations.
Use this manual as a guide. Your Trencher will remain a
reliable working tool as long as it is kept in good working
condition and serviced properly.
Do NOT operate or permit anyone to operate or
service this machine until you or the other persons
have read and understand the safety, operation
and maintenance instructions in this manual. Use
only trained operators who have demonstrated the
ability to operate and service this machine
correctly and safely.
This Trencher, with standard equipment and authorized
attachments, is intended to be used for general earth
moving purposes, handling, ditch digging, etc. Make sure
that the machine is properly equipped and follow the
instructions and safety precautions in this manual.
Do Not use this machine for any application or
purpose other than those described in this manual.
Consult an authorized Astec dealer on changes, additions
or modifications that can be required for this machine to
comply with various country regulations and safety
requirements. Unauthorized modifications will cause
serious injury or death. Anyone making such unauthorized
modifications is responsible for the consequences.
This Operator’s Manual is to be stored in the manual
compartment equipped on this machine. Make sure this
manual is complete and in good condition. Contact your
dealer to obtain additional manuals. Contact your dealer
for any further information or assistance about your
machine. Your dealer has Astec-approved service parts.
Your dealer has technicians with special training that
know the best methods of repair and maintenance for
your Trencher.
BD01C043
AFTER DELIVERY CHECK
Two copies of the After Delivery Check are in the back of
this manual. One copy is for you and one copy is for the
dealer. Make sure that your dealer does the After Delivery
Check after the first 100 hours of machine operation.
Your cost for this inspection will be for filters, oil and/or
other accessories. If the dealer comes to your machine,
there can also be a cost for the time and distance
traveled.
Operator’s Manual Storage Under The Hood