Hi all, Now I am not 100% sure but someone bodged the self aligning bearings in the end of the equaliser on my machine. There is a solid steel bush in there with a taper on each side to allow it to roll with the track movement; Not good especially since I want to fit the new bearings, pin and end bracket out on the track frame (which we have in stock). My question is could I cut the ends off the equaliser and machine out the mess then weld it back on; Is the steel of that part "cast steel" and would it cope with stick welding? That is assuming I can't find a machinist to put a 177KG beam on a vertical mill to do it for me. Keeping centres is going to be difficult; Does anyone know the centre width of this part ? Or anyone with a good used part ? Cheers //
Portable boringbar and borewelder will do, or bore it out and insert a bushing or bigger o.d. Bearring, looks like ordinary torington bearrings Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk
As a machinist, the weight wouldn't scare me. Even a Bridgeport could handle that, especially if you hung one end off and used an outboard support. Clean it up nice before you take it in. As dutchcat said, the easiest would be to bore oversize and fit bushings with the snap ring grooves in them. They would be easiest made on the lathe separate. It isn't a huge deal to weld up the bores and do it all in solid metal either. I wouldn't cut up a sound bar to machine the ends and hope to get it put back together aligned and stress free. Greyson
No one in town with an boringmachine or large mill? Case of beer and a carton of sigarets will come a long way, and showing some interest in the machineshopguy's work ofcourse Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk
Thank you; Very good idea, especially since I just saw a quote from the U.S. will be nearly $10,000 AUD delivered for after-market new; Which most is shipping and fair enough.
Great advice; There is a machine shop in our local town (Mudgee, although with three coal mines local you'd think more !) and I will call in to see if they like it as you said, also another at Dubbo whom is very very experienced (D Graham and Sons) and has replaced three ramshafts for me in the last ¼ century plus some more. I have a small machine shop and the bush would be easy, just blank one side off with enough clearance to remove the outer bearing then snap ring the other end and press it in. Back in about '95 when I rebuilt this machine, the uniballs on the rear "C-Frame" were into the housing so I machined it out to take a bush and snap ring, they are still there and solid, coated in grease these days, which wasn't the habit of the prior owners' I reckon.
True, yes! The bearing is a uniball or self aligning, where the centre is snapped in via a split in the outer, very standard SKF: GEZ200ES-2RS ID: 50.8mm (2") OD: 80.96mm (3.175") Width: 44.45mm (1.75")
I regularly repair D8 9 and 10 equaliser bars. I sometimes did the ends on the machine with a line boring machine and I have done many on the mill. I would never put a sleeve in there as it gets quite a shellacking. I overbore them,weld them with an auto welder and machine back to standard. Often when the bearing is retained both sides with a circlip I will put in a step for the bearing to go against and a circlip groove on the other side.
Thank you RayF; Most appreciated advice, if nearby I would be on your door asap. Good news for me (right inline with all the suggestions above) is that I have located a local engineer who is prepared to tackle it which is really good to know. Next thing is to have the machine back at base to get that beam out (think the backhoe might come in handy here) and locate a new pin and bushes for the centre pivot whilst I am at it.
Well it is time to fix this mess in my tractor's suspension and in about six hours I have the equaliser out on my workshop apron; It isn't pretty as someone has pushed two steel bushes into the eyes for the self aligning bearings. My engineer won't be worried about these as I plan to press them out before taking it into him later in the week. The parts delivery from the U.S. didn't work so well, we only have a bracket and pin for one side's track frame, however I have located another pin (costly in AUD - $300) and plan to have the brackets rebuilt and bored. Here is what the equaliser looks like so far. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Looks fixable
Thanks; Yes it is all with my engineer now for a proper fit of the self aligning bearings (D34668 / GEZ 200 ES -2RS) and yesterday I fitted the centre bushes (D46403) with a drift I machined to depth them into the bar at 5/16". Probably the biggest day turning metal into swarf that I have had for several years.
Hi all, Our beam repair went smoothly and our Engineer David (0419 479 211 / central NSW) left no stone unturned in due diligence to repair the neglect. Currently working very nicely and seeing an easy application of grease to the uniball bearings where I couldn't lubricated anything the way it was prior. I'll let the images tell the process:
And, I'll let the images tell the process:
And,
And,
And,
Thats a nice fix and I imagine it was a lot less than the price you were quoted for new parts. I like the brush cage on the dozer too, looks heavy duty.
You all down under must have some serious monsters for trees or hanging in the trees to build cages as those, looks good, great repair.
Thanks, yes the equalizer quote was about $9,000 USD delivered from the US to Australia in after-market, there was a possibility of a wreck and probably the same problem as I started with, so repair is the much easier option to keep the work local and under control. I do regret a little not tackling this when the machine first had a full work over just after we bought it twenty one years ago; It probably has cost some chain wear, still better late than never.
Thanks, yes the canopy is standard for export into Australia, with exception for the horizontal engine sweeps and winch access port on the right hand side expanded metal screen (next to the hydraulic controls). This machine was originally forestry use and had been badly abused in its earlier life, all fixed now and going like a top; Personally I won't operate anything unless it is in its best possible position of maintenance; Its just how I am, whether it is a Honda ag bike, electric drill, backhoe or dozer, to get the best from them they need quality inputs.