740a Series VI

Hey,

Just picked up a Volvo/Champion 740A series VI and I'm new to running graders, so I figured I'd jump in with this machine since it seemed like a good starting point. It runs and drives fine, and all the functions work, though there's some stuff I need to sort out.

A few things I'm wondering about:

1. Where's a good place to find parts and service manuals? I spotted one on eBay from the states but it's pricey.

2. I've got what looks like a cylinder problem—either 1 or 6 depending on how you count them. It smokes blue at idle with a slight miss. Under load it's mostly fine, but after I shut it down it starts smoking again. I checked the exhaust manifold and the cylinder closest to the front was cold when I first started it. I'm guessing it might be an injector issue? I've read those are pretty common trouble spots on these.

3. Is there anywhere in western Canada that wrecks these machines? I'd like to find a mold board in better condition than mine without dropping $7800 on a new one from Volvo.

Member 4 is up in Alberta and has talked about places to get manuals and parts, so he'll probably jump in when he sees this. Yeah, everything Volvo costs a fortune. The slide bushings on the moldboard are plastic and run 600 bucks each side.

I just picked up an auction lot for a decent price that included some duramide wear parts and a bunch of other Champion stuff.

This site has some Series 2 and 3 info that might be useful anyway.

I checked and Elvaan Equipment Solutions in Edmonton and Ontario used to be the go-to for Champion and Volvo graders, but they went bankrupt last year unfortunately.

I thought Elvaan bought Jade Equipment and then went out of business, with everything auctioned off earlier this year maybe? I'm hoping to track down a wing once I get the engine sorted. Mine came with the mounting posts but no actual wing attached.

You caught my post before I fixed it. I was planning to get a phone number when I found out about the bankruptcy. There's a guy named Kyle Martin on Facebook who supposedly has some Champion and Volvo parts. I'm not sure if the receiver was still moving any inventory though. You'd think there'd be some snow wings around at least. Champion machines were pretty common up here in Canada. Someone mentioned a place in Saskatchewan, I think, that stocks Champion parts. I'm up in Edmonton and I really wish I'd known about that auction sooner.

The guys who bought Jade went under? I haven't ordered from them in a while, but that's rough to hear. Volvo's been decent for me the last few years on parts I've needed, though I wouldn't be surprised if that changes at some point. Quick question though—is Series VI a typo, or does a Series 6 machine actually exist? I was under the impression the Champions painted in Volvo colors before the B series were a Series 5.

The Series VI came out in 99, and there's a brochure available on the graderspro site. I've had pretty good luck with Volvo for what I've needed so far, but the parts guy mentioned that since my serial number starts with 31, I'm in better shape than some of the older machines. He said the 20 serial numbers can be tough to find parts for.

That's interesting. I've got one too that I thought was a series 5, so now I'm going to have to look into it more carefully—sounds like it could actually be a series 6.

Yeah, Volvo does stock some parts but the pricing is rough—way higher than what you'd pay for Cat or JD stuff. It's a shame Jade isn't around anymore; they really knew what they were doing and had a good selection of used inventory.