I have a link belt ls58 and the forward travel clutch slips. I relined it with tan woven material. Do you think it just needs to be broken in longer? It's fine for swinging and straight travel on level ground but any slope or turning and it slips. The drum is clean and free from grease and oil. There are minor grooves but the other side is worse and it works fine. I'm only 20 so any advice from old timers is much appreciated
I would say your right just gotta wear them in, It doesn't take much friction to swing a crane but when cutting or climbing up a slope it takes a lot, used to run a 108B years ago that you had to switch over from swing to travel never been on a 58 before, anytime a clutch or brake on a friction rig is relined it takes time to wear in so be patient keep them adjusted, you be careful on that rig don't boom it up to high it doesn't have boom kickback bars on it, I see your draglining but always keep that in the back of your mind
Thanks for the advice. Boom stops are on the list of things to build for it. I mainly do clamshell and dragline work. It's all just for play though
I like your rig. I've always thought it would be neat to have an older crane to play with (just have too much old metal to maintain already!). DB
Been years ago when I was a young fellow around old crane hands, but seems I recall they would toss some pine rosin powder in a drum when it was under a hard load and slipping.
We used to use Fullers Earth on slipping frictions. Haven't seen it in years. Throw a handful into the friction, or if you have a way to blow it in. It has been too many years since I have used it but if I remember correctly, it would help out if the clutch had a bit of oil on it. The other thing the old timers used was sugar. What a mess. I guess when the friction heated up from slipping the sugar would melt and get all sticky. Gross to repair after. Still remember the time one operator didn't have anything so he threw a peanut butter and jam sandwich into the swing friction. That was interesting.
Man I'd love to see a transcript of the curse words used that provoked the PBJ sandwich being tossed at the miscreant drum. LMAO!
In my experience fuller's earth usually caused the frictions to slip. I used it to dry up oil in the dry and on the lining. Sometimes what I did was pull a dipstick from one of the gear cases and touch a few drops on the drum. It was kind of counter intuitive but the friction would start locking in right away.
That's hilarious.
I tried fullers earth and it didn't seem to make any difference. I think it's more for if you have a clutch with oil or grease on it. The new linings only have like 10 hours on them so they probably just need broken in. Since its only for play its hard building up hours because its only ran an hour or two at a time a couple times a week
You might want to check to make sure the friction shoes didnt get put on reversed some time in the past. people will sometimes run them reversed on the swing to make it smoother, but on a non ind. machine you cant since it uses that same drum for travel. toe to heel for clockwise . heel to toe for counter clockwise. except for your power down functions, as in boom or hoist then the frictions are reversed because then its the load on the friction driving the drum and not drum "or engine" driving the friction.
Can't believe nobody mentioned baby powder for a slipping clutch, just don't use to much. These new clutch linings don't seem to be as good as the old ones. When they took the asbestos out they haven't been as good in my opinion especially in the drag clutch in a 22B.
I've heard fullers earth is for slipping clutchs and baby powder for grabby clutchs. I've also heard "bar keepers friend " for squeaky clutchs
I have an LS 58 that I've owned since 1988. It has a long boom and grapple and I used it for loading logs for my skyline logging company for over 25 years. I also had an LS 78 track mount for my log yarder. Like someone suggested I'd check to make sure the friction shoes are in the correct direction first. If that's not the problem, check the hydraulic pressure. It could be that the adjustment at the control valve in the dash has backed of or you have a broken spring in the valve. To adjust the valves in the dash, the cup that the roller depresses when you toggle a lever all the way in should be flush with the casting part of the valve. I have seen the spring that pushes the spool under the cup break. If that spring is broken, the spool in the valve is not being pushed in and not supplying full pressure to the friction cylinder. To check the spring, with all pressure exhausted, back off the adjustment screw, remove the valve stop peice and remove the cup. The only time I've had luck with fullers earth is if a friction cylinder leaks and soaks the cup and lining with oil. I've found what works best for an oiled friction is break clean and a rag. I hope this helps with your problem.