I was replacing the rear right hand engine mount last night when the captured square nut twisted in its welded holder. Anyone familiar with this knows the access is very limited. I have a boilermaker buddy coming over this afternoon to see if he can make weld it as is. I've seen him weld using a mirror but this one may be beyond his capability. The only other option I see is to cut an access hole in the side of the frame below the nut. Anyone ever been in this situation?
and the hits keep coming............... Yesterday evening my boilermaker buddy was helping me with the captured nut for the engine mount when he punched a hole in the 1 1/4 supply pipe to the hydraulic pump. I was able to get a pan under it but about half of my hydraulic fluid ended up on the concrete. The only level concrete surface I have for equipment repairs is a drive that runs between my shop and another building. It's the only access to land I own behind my house in a subdivision. Another buddy is finishing the pad for my new 40x64 equipment shop on the land behind my house. Now the dozer is blocking the dump trucks from delivering rock. Of course it's raining today (first rain in 3 weeks) but I have to remove the hydraulic pipe and repair the hole. And I still need to repair the engine mount. I may just put a big C-clamp on it so I can move the dozer out of the way. And it all started with a repair that involved removing just one bolt.
I take it you have no way to just pull the dozer out of the way so the building can continue and deal with the dozer in it's new location?
I thought about moving it. It’s sitting on 6” oak blocks now. If I moved it I’d have to squeeze myself under it while working in the mud. I’d have to move it close to a hundred feet and I don’t have a portable welder. The hole in the hydraulic pipe was welded yesterday and the pipe is going back on today. I should have it fixed by the end of the day today. The building inspector denied my permit Friday so I’m delayed on the building anyway. The inspector is concerned about my building being open on one side and the impact the wind will have on it. I already spent $2500 in May to get approval for the building from a zoning standpoint. Spent $2000 yesterday for an engineer to confirm the design is adequate.
Repaired the twisted off captured nut by welding a nut to the end of a steel plate the same width as the inside of the frame rail. I cut off the damaged retainer for the captured nut. The steel plate allowed me to hold the nut in place so the engine mount hold-down bolt could engage it. The end of the plate is secured from turning by the frame. If I need to remove it, the engine block secures it from turning. I couldn't see any way to weld it in place. I also welded the hole in the hydraulic pipe. The dozer is mobile again and the dump trucks can move.