My pc200 needs pins and bushing work on the stick to bucket and h link. I pulled it apart yesterday and it’s not worn through the bushings in the stick. The stick pin which is a long one because it’s a main pin thumb set up is worn but looks like only where it passes through the bucket bosses. In the pic it’s where the paper towel is located on the pin. I haven’t measured the pin where it passes through the stick bushings to see the true dimensions but it looks like it’s good. Can this pin be welded up and turned down where it’s worn? Is that feasible ? A new pin is 1200 plus shipping. Also is it worth going aftermarket pins and bushings for the h link and dog bones. The Komatsu dealer is quoting aftermarket Thanks
Any good machine shops around? Local machine shop here makes a lot of our pins and bushings
Yes sir have a few. Gonna talk to one today. He had already told me he has the material on hand. Haven’t spoke to him since I pulled it apart. Was waiting to see what I had. Im So glad it’s not gonna require line boring !! Should be a fairly easy fix. The bucket bosses are worn not sure if they would line bore that or cut them out and weld in new ones
Southernman13, We had a local CAT shop that overhauled every aspect of CAT equipment. They would bring their worn pins to us which we would then 'spray weld' the worn pins to a diameter over tolerance and then turn them back down to spec. Any well equipped machine shop should have the ability to this. Welding up the pin is also an option but a bit more involved in time. If the pins were worn too much for the spray welding we had a journeyman welder next door that was excellent at putting a bead across the pin for us to then turn back down to spec. Something to consider.
Tenfo !!
I figured it’d be no problem to weld it up and turn it down. I just wasn’t sure cost wise. I know a new pen is out of the question but if the machine shop can make a pin, I don’t know how that would stack up to it and I wasn’t sure how good it would wear in the bucket bosses where it’s welded if it wear faster or what
Depending on the pin diameter, hydraulic cylinder rods work great. I have a friend that own a hydraulic shop and if I need a pin, he will let me go out back and pick through the pile. I just bring a cordless grinder and some cut off blades with me.
Cool idea !
I know on a normal bucket pen cutting through an 80 mm pin with a cut off blade would be no fun and things are harder than woodpecker lips and I thought most of those hydraulic cylinder rams were hollow
your machinist have a way to harden them once turned?
I don’t know. He’s gonna run by and look at everything possibly today on site. If not I’ll bring it to him tomorrow when it warms up lol. I know he has pin stock on hand and can make a pin. But yes I was wondering about the hardness once welded as well
You say it doesn't need line boring? It would pay to have the stick bores measured to see if they are within spec. No good spending an arm and a leg on bushings and have them fall out. Then more new bushes and line boring as well. Welding up a hardened pin is a no no for plenty of reasons. Get a price from a machine shop to make a pin out of 4140 and induction harden to 58 - 60 Rockwell. That will be comparable to the OEM. Cylinder rod will work but the depth of hardness is nowhere near that of a properly hardened pin. Worth mentioning that cylinder rod is finish machined to be nominal size. Komatsu pins are typically 4 thou down on size so will be tighter in the bushes. That could muck up the lubrication clearance.
I wouldn’t consider cylinder rods. More trouble that it’s worth for me. Ultimately I’ll probably order the new stick pin from the manufacturer which is cp but now owned by paladin. They’re the thumb manufacturer. The rest I’ll most likely get aftermarket from Komatsu. Freight from several places gets expensive as well as time to chase it all down. Thanks though for all the input
Also the bushings in the stick are tight in the hole. Pretty much very little clearance around the pin they’ll have to be pressed out or beat out. Either way, I’ll definitely have the holes miced before installing the new bushings don’t wanna go through all this and have an issue that’s fosho!
Some manufacturers use hardened bushes with softer pins and vice versa. I've experienced this with Hitachi diggers of the same size. One series had hard pins and soft bushes, 2 series later they were the other way around. Mismatched pins and bushes will have a very short life span. It's best you determine what you have before proceeding to much further.
If your stick tip pin is common to your grapple, I would not go with unknown quality pins. Just call the mfr and ask what material that pin is. They should tell you. ASC & Palladin/JRB are pretty good about sharing info. Good luck, hopefully your 'guy' gets you squared away quickly.
I’ll definitely ask about the hardness factor if I don’t purchase the pin from paladin. The pins and bushings are original and the machine has 7800 hrs on it. If it wasn’t for the wear on the pin in the bucket journals it would show very little wear. Pretty amazing really.
Just maybe those pins are harder than the bush More than once I've seen rubber hoses wear through steel pipe with no obvious damage to the hose, bet you have too. This is pretty much the same scenario.
Yes, my guy told me that the material cost have went up. It cost him more to build a pen and I can buy it for so I’m gonna order from the manufacturer.
early on, trying to save a few bucks, i bought some aftermarket pins....they didn't last even greasing the fvck out of them. just buy factory pins/bushings....watch them, replace them as needed. once i felt ANY slop in bucket pins and bushings....we replaced them. bushings and pins are cheaper than fill welding and line boring.
Yepper went all oem