Getting there on this pond. Way deeper than pic looks. Dirt is like concrete so getting that super finish just ain't gunna happen. I've asked before on grease qty and frequency. I don't really like to over grease and get it all over but I realize the opposite is far worse. Even more frustrating is the book is anything from 10-100h for grease depending on "severe duty", but I have no clue what that is.... I am digging nothing but hard clay, but was pushing machine to max. I had to resort to entering the material with a little angle on the teeth to cut in but was no biggy. Also, I have noticed I have a little play in the stick/boom pin. I know plenty that would just ignore it but my concern is making things worse, beyond any simple repair. Would anyone know if the bushings are harder than the pins? My hope was to just replace the pin. Or does anyone actually sell oversized pins that I can grind to my spec? I am in engineering/manufacturing but not really looking to make pins from scratch. I would like to try to improve a few joints before they get stupid loose and cause more drama.
Nice job, looks clean and I’m guessing you’ve only used the bucket to Finnish? I’m also guessing you’re sideswiping the topsoil on the bank to trim up? IMO this action puts the most pressure on the bushings and rounds them off somewhat. Hard to avoid when youve only got the one machine, I find myself doing it often. I cant stand side to side movement in the stick, I’ve tried shimming but that’s a Band-Aid, ended up replacing pin and bushings and noticed pin was in good condition with little wear. From this observation I believe the bushings are softer. They deform easily with heat. I’ll be doing another set soon, it’s not hard. Weld inside of bushings, pour a bit of water straight after, they’ll crunch and crack and will come out with little force. I made a tool to pull them in, see pictures.
FYI, I grease every 10hrs and do similar work to you. When I was in mining in large production machines I was always surprised at the regularity of the greasing. They had powerful auto greasing systems and pumped the machine chock-full every 20-30 minutes. They were in what would be described as ‘severe duty’ conditions but still it was excessive, you’d have to be careful exiting the machine and the small journey on foot to the vehicle, you may just slip on a dinner-plate size glob of grease.
Yes, I do use some side sweeping but I seriously fight to minimize it when I can. I also do it very slow with stick either vertical or towards me a bit. When I dressed those pond edges, there was about 1ft of material and I gently pull that back. It cleans up nice. Really no way around it IMO but I know it puts more stress in swing. I don't slam and bang that machine. Probably wasted an extra day in that job by taking it easy. Curious if you just got bushings from the dealer? Are there specs I can obtain from CAT? I am a life long machinist and I want to know what the bore of the stick/boom should be, diam of bushings pins, interference spec, etc. All of it helps me figure out where the wear is and ensure I have a solid repair. As for grease, right now I have a cheap azz grease gun and I do 10-15 pumps on most joints. I greased everything for this job, and only did the bucket and stick once more, mid job. However, a lot of my work is shaping and grooming, not hogging, as well as plenty of idle time to think on my plan. Basically I used to have an old turd where they ran it until dead and they destroyed the bushings and bores entirely. I want to fix before we ever get to that.
Just another pic I have.
I operate the same in those situations, slow and steady, not worth damaging the machine. I cant recall price Volvo gave me but it was a spill your coffee amount so I went back to an aftermarket parts dealer in Korea that id used before. They only deal in Korean made machines, nothing else. They only supply parts if you supply a part number so I was confident they were the right bushings. The bushings crush a hair when pushing in so they have to be right, the tolerances are minuscule so you’d want to be sure you get it right if machining your own. I could barely push my pin in by hand freely before mating the boom boss back up it was that tight. They are a 90mm pin and with how little wear the original had v the amount of slop I had, the bushings definitely were the culprit. Agree with your preventative maintenance strategy, will serve you well in the long run.
Was going to ask on your pin/bushing replacement, how did you arrange the machine and support the stick for the repairs? It doesn't appear you disconnected the stick cylinder or hoses?
Sorry my pics are bad but this is the setup. H-brace, nut, high tensile threaded rod, backing plate with nut. Have bushing as cold as possible, dry ice is an easy option. You basically pull the bushing in by cranking the nut. The quicker the better. I needed a breaker bar on the spanner towards the back half of insertion as the bushing warmed up. I propped up the boom with a long building jack about 1m away from the pin boss’s. Get the the machine on stable ground as level as possible. I dug my bucket teeth and thumb tines into the dirt to stabilise. You don’t need to disconnect any hoses just gently push the stick out whilst lifting the boom. I rested the stick on a chunk of wood resting on a spare bucket. If you don’t support the stick it may slip forwards due to gravity. Tou want the pin boss’s above the stick bushing as vertical as possible as this makes lining the holes back up easier .
One of these long mechanical jacks. Now I think of it I placed it under the armpit of the boom. (under the curve)