I need some advice of how to safely remove the backhoe Swing Tower on my 580SK so I can replace the Upper and Lower Swing Tower Bushings. I do not have a hoist or crane available, so I thought about digging a trench so the dipper and boom are down, then use jacks and blocking to lift the backhoe enough to drive the tractor forward a little to expose the bushings. I may have to remove a few hoses. I appreciate any advice.
Welcome to HEF 33horse! :drinkup
I put bushings in an E for the first time, and I found the picture I took. Laying the hoe down may work. If it is left in the shape of an A then you do have to provide support so the boom doesn't fall over. Leaving the hoses attached allows correction with the boom controls, to slide the pins in and out. If I want to slide something sideways easily, such as a swing tower on a wooden block, I use a steel plate on top of the block. Not sure of the SK lower pin, tapered isn't it?? Never worked on a K. I used a 20 ton jack and hit the side of the tower with a 10 lb sledge, to brake the taper pin loose. Vibration works well on a taper especially if the shaft is free of any load. The E bushings go in hard. Many repairs have been done in the field with wooden blocks, jacks and pry bars. I pushed a lower bushing in from the bottom once on a D, with great difficulty. Make sure you have a new thrust washer in case you need it. Hope this helps a little, Phil
580SK Swing Bushings Phil, This is good information and very helpful. Blocking and sliding sideways looks like great idea. My SK looks just like the picture. I'm guessing the blocking you refer to is lumber like 6x6 or better. I may lay the boom flat and weld an I beam to my bucket to keep the boom from tipping. A picture really helps without having to explain. Thanks !! I welcome any further advice or comments. I'll be taking pictures to share here when I start on this. Steve
Still Looking for Ideas Just to refresh this thread, I am still looking for some ideas on how to safely replace my swing tower Bushings and Pins on my Case 580SK. It's not how to replace them, it's how to safely replace them by separating the Boom tower from the Tractor without a hoist. See the picture provided by Phil. He has some good experience, but I would like to hear from others that have taken on this task.
Might try digging the bucket into the ground. I did this to replace the boom bushings on a 235 once, dig the bucket in good, took the pins out of the boom, used the hoist and crowd cylinders to lift it up (keep a close eye on the hoses) just enough to push the old bushings out and press the new ones in. Might not work with a backhoe because you would have no other connection to help stabilize it, (like the hoist cylinders on an excavator) but it is worth a thought.
just in my mind here i would look at pulling off the bucket and dipper stick so that you could lay the main down flat on blocking, then after pulling the swing cyls and pins, you could roll the machine forward a little to replace the bushings.
I have always shifted the boom sideways as pictured with good sucess, bushings do go very hard.
This is working for me. I have a 3ft bucket fully open and supporting that end. Wider better I figure so less tendency to tip. I extend the engine hoist so it pulls tower off to the side in order for bushings to clear. Careful of hoses. I know it’s an old thread
Not sure it’s possible without sone kind of a hoist tho
Holy thread resurrection Batman. Lol
In a you tube video of a Super E a capable young man did the same thing with the engine hoist and used a come along to pull the boom side to side for easy access to the bushings and pins and he had to cut all the bus out and press them all back in.
lol, oh ya, I forgot , I ended up using a come along as well. Thank bud
Did you have to take any of the hoses off. I will be doing this on my E this summer.
Don't forget that fancy umbrella attachment when you do yours. It'll keep the sun off yur beer.
Yep, loved the umbrella idea. I might set up one of those canopy’s because some of us have to work on the damn hoe outside, on gravel.