G'days guys I was wondering if some of the people here on HEF's could help me with my latest project I am after as many photos of the articulation point on a the trucks so i can learn a bit from them I am trying to work out how the cab stays upright while the back can lay over. Any ideas on how to build this would be great also or any feed back you can offer as this one kind of has me stumped how it build this bit. Anyways guys thanks in advance.
CAT use and osletation point which is mounted behind the main artic, they have a large threaded locking ring which holds the front to the back
So you expect us to tell you how so you can build them and sell them? Get a grip JGS, and I was just strating to think you were coming around a bit here.
Greg mate , ok all i was asking was about them it would be no differant is anyone asked how to service one , I am sick of your narrow mind
AT least I have a mind.
Mate i think you must have a sad little world greg if all you do is hunt around on the internet , for things to start b itching about , your business must not be too good as it seems you have a hell of a lot of time as you seem to always go out of your way to post something negative about nearly anything i say. But you know as they say "An empty can makes the most noise"
Me thinks the mods are gonna have a word to you two Jokers. Perhaps it's gonna be handbags at 10 paces, although JGS knockoff handbags might not cut it with the good ole US semi automatic variety:beatsme
But we shouldn't need to, should we? Everybody knows the rules, and the standards we strive for in our discussions with each other. (Hint: The discussion here falls well below those standards.) :cool2
Oi you talking about handbags or handguns?
I figured an articulation joint is an articulation joint. I would think usually your not going to have a tipping problem as long as you limit the range of oscilation in the joint. You build them into your loaders it really shouldnt be that difficult for you. I am curious why dont you assemble loaders in Austrailia?
I've seen two types of joints on artics. The first was already described. The second type is a ball bearing type. The back half is made to rotate clear over so the cab doesn't roll over with it. The height of the box puts a lot of leverage over the wheels and the places these machines go at times makes in inevitable that the box will flop over some time in its life. Figure that most of the people driving these rigs couldn't get a license to drive the highways and the roll overs can get down right regular.
thanks john yeah what we wanted to do basically is just working out the safety bit of it. as yeah they seem to roll over a bit these things. hey tell me this do you know if they are ever replaced ? as i cant say i have ever seen it done or anyone ever talking about it. P.S sorry digger mate just seems me and greg always get under each others skin but i am sure we will work it out one day lol
So basically, the hitch consists of two parts; an articulation point and an oscillation point. The only variations I've seen are in where the oscillation point is placed; either in front of or behind the artic point. DJB (who later became Cat), amongst others, put the oscillation point behind the artic point. Moxy put their oscillation point in front of the artic point with the consequence that when the body falls over, the cab takes a nose-dive and the operator quickly learns where his seat belt is.... Are they ever replaced? Lack of grease will see them fail like any other component. Cat had some problems with early 730s and 740s due to assembly and QC issues. I've repaired maybe six and they've been good ever since.
To add to what is posted already, you have 2 parts to the hitch. First is the vertical pins, usually one upper and one lower, just like on a wheel loader. This gives the side to side steering action. These are pins maybe 3 to 4 inches, or around 80 to 100 mm, give or take. Sometimes they are in bushings, sometimes in a bearing arrangement, or a combination. Then comes the horizontal portion that allows the oscillation/rollover of one end separately from the other. On Volvo, that I have a few of, it is a large, +/- 12" tube, about 18" or so long. It rotates in a pair of large bushings, and is held in place by a large "nut" threaded onto the end of the tube. The bushings wear over time, and need replacing at some point in their life, and there is also a front and rear thrust washer that will wear out. As it wears, you keep the hitch tight by turning the nut, but there comes a time when the machine needs split apart and new bushings installed. If you run it too long, it will need expensive machine work, and has the potential to pull the threads and allow the truck to separate. That is not a good day when it happens. There is another design that uses a rotec style bearing much like an excavator, but I have no experience with those.
Had a couple of 550B trucks flop the back ends over. It's a major pain to put those dogs back on their tires again. It would be far worse to do the cab as well. The operator was a pin ball in the cab if his seat belt wasn't cinched up tight. Flop over a cab and you would have to clean up the mess with a fire hose. We split those rigs a couple of times for bushings and repair of the nut. We blocked the back half, took things loose, tied a wheel loader to the front of the truck and an operator drove it off the lug. We would leave the cables a little loose and watch the operator's eyes get real wide when the front of the truck started go on its nose.
well I was thinking of having a censor in in the cab in the seat belt hitch to make sure hey cant move the machine with out the seat belt on but then i was wondering would it be practical and also what if that has a problem.
Fairly pointless, in my humble opinion. If old mate doesn't want to wear it, he'll just run the belt behind the seat and fasten it. And think of the endless litigation possibilities......
yeah i was thinking that also, if they dont want to wear it they can always get around it. and i want to say thanks to all the guys who have given me feedback on this it has helped me out heaps.
They run lights on some haul trucks (red or green) on the outside of the cab to show if the op has their seat belt on.. some of them where found to do exactly that buckle the belt in and sit on the belt.. we option some of our trucks from factory with red seat belts which can be picked out quite easily if the guys are or arent wearing them
we had one spilt in half on a site once (another contractors, not ours) bolts broke on the locking ring retainer and the front half took off without the back half haha was quite funny watching the the truck leave site with the rear end reversed onto the trailer and the front half nosed up to it front ways lol
wow that would have been a fun ride taking off and leaving the back behind. well we are hoping that we will have our first one out for display at the end of march will be going into Vic in aus for testing. It will be interesting to see how it goes,
Mate the main reason why we dont do it in australia is just parts and things. honestly if i was american i would do it in america. you guys actually manufacture engines , axles , transmissions and things in australia we dont have anything . so if was to do it in australia i would still be importing all the parts into australia from china and where else. I have already stated that we would open a factory in australia if we ever got busy enough to do it. Also australia it is not easy for a small business to open up shop like it is in china because of the over heads and things. we estimated it would have cost at least 10-15 times more to open the factory in Australia compared to china. Also the articulation point in the loader sadly is different from the trucks as when a loader goes over the whole lot dose. we are just wanting to make the trucks safer would could do it the same way but its just not safe in my mind.
I didn't realize that about Aus. Importing would be no fun with shipping delays and such. I can understand the differences unique to use as far as articulation joints go. Thanks for enlightening me.
I know some of the forestry machines have a similar hitch to the trucks in the centre. I think its the Rottnee harvesters that have a large bearing that all of the hoses and cables go through. This is not the most ideal setup because to replace it, EVERY hose and cable have to be unhooked and fed through the new bearing. I think the only way a bearing setup would work on a truck would be with hydraulic or electric drives.