Cracked blade along the sideshift rail on a 140H, I drew an arrow to point it out better. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2550/3905996490_f981d40f06_b.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2565/3905211525_51311cde34_b.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2650/3905987570_7396f2e1b8_b.jpg
Nasty!!! Looks like a fairly young machine, will Cat stand over it? Is it an on-site repair or will it need to be removed?
Our welder had it gouged and welded back up square in about 3 hours (on site). No problem =)
I've never seen cracks in that area before. My 140G had cracks on top of the heavy diagonal tube braces that run from the rear of the circle out to the moldboard support pivot points. Right on top of the flat braces that come up from the big cross tube. No idea what caused them. My 143H had a MAJOR crack/break in the right side of the blade mounting, about a foot above the tilt pivot. I called our Cat dealer and they sent me repair guidelines, patterns, etc., for re-enforcing plates, and the fix is still holding. This is another area where they really made improvements with the M-Series. The blade support/tilt is much more rigid, and it really shows when you are chattering across a rocky piece of road. One thing you might want to try- there are shims at the bottom end of the center sideshift insert bracket. Remove just enough from the front and rear to eliminate any excess clearance. This, along with all of your other circle and sideshift adjustments should keep you tight. Also, when adjusting or changing center SS inserts, back out the four bolts that clamp the bracket to the cross pipe. It makes the job much easier. I'm glad your repair went well. How many hours are on this machine?
While my M was away, I was using our oldest 140H, 1996 w/14,500+ hours, and found a crack in the back of the moldboard, just like the one shown by Vantage TeS. It was about 8 1/2 feet long. This moldboard had been burned up well beyond the bolt holes, and repaired several years ago. I don't know if the crack was there way back then, or if it appeared after the repair. We will be fixing it before the machine gets winged up for winter. I will be checking with the other operators to see if this crack is showing up in any of our other machines. smoothoperator...dude, where's my blade?
I've seen those before also. I've been thinking they happen when the wear plates that carry the blade on the square bars are allowed to get sloppy in their pockets. That point loads the bar and allows shock loading to no end. I'd like to hear other points of view and repair experiences. My experience is that the blades are very repairable by any competant welder.
I agree. This could easily be the case with this machine. It has had quite a few operators. It is now our spare blade, which means anyone can jump in and play the part. They get loose, used and abused, and neglected. Some (NOT ALL) part time machine operators don't know or don't care about how tight a machine is, or should be. It isn't always the operator's fault. If these problems are told to a supervisor, and no repairs or adjustments are made, the machine turns to junk, and becomes a burden to the entire operation. Sometimes it is better to say goodbye to your old machine, than to watch it slowly turn to junk at the hands of someone that just doesn't care. Sorry, I'm ramblin', and I'm not a ramblin' guy. smoothoperator...don't want to see it happen...again
The crack took about 2 hours to fix, simply gouge out alont the crack and then fill with weld. You could be right about the plates (brass I think) if I remember correctly everything was fairly loose on this machine when I spun the blade for the welder (not my machine or site, I happened to be helping out that day).
Smoothoperator Hope you will get this response to an old post. We just purchased a 130G. Good overall machine but the moldboard has quite a bit of slack in it. I am not real familiar with graders and have never done any work on the moldboard and circle. Seems like most of the slack is in the moldboard and the circle where the shoes meet the circle. Can you tell me what we need to do to tighten the blade up? Is it a matter of replacing bushings and shims or is more work involved. It does not seem to be wear into the main parts. Can you tell me the process for doing this repair?
We had 160h crack the frame between drivers on the sloper arm side. CAT repaired it under lifetime frame warranty no hassles!
Nothing surprises me anymore Steel ain't made like it used to be