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Removing large bushings

mudober · 2024-04-11 18:46

So I am quite happy that I have been able to get these two out. After some research I done I have found a way that works for me and I am going to share it with you. I used stainless steel rods to weld around the inside of the bushings twice then welded the angle iron to the bushing. Let it cool for about five minutes and then used a squirt bottle with water to cool down the just the bushings and angle iron. Then using the broken disc axle and hammer I was able to drive it out. I’m so happy that I didn’t have to bother anyone else and was able to do it on my own. Putting this boom back on I will need help with tho but that’s ok.

Replies21
  1. #1Vetech632024-04-11 19:31

    Nice job! I've never needed the angle iron.

  2. #2heymccall2024-04-11 19:31

    We always just weld a few rings around the inner bore, eat a sandwich, then tap them out.

  3. #3materthegreater2024-04-11 21:06

    Nice boom prop. Why stainless rod?

  4. #4Welder Dave2024-04-11 21:40

    That's typically how you remove bushings and bearing races. The bigger they are the more weld they might need. Let them cool off and they often fall right out. No need to use stainless rods, just use the cheapest rods you have. Mig works really good too.

  5. #5skyking12024-04-11 22:12

    I torched a couple of grooves in them and they shrank back and tapped out. It seems the out is easier than the in. Nice machine there and good of you to restore on it yourself.

  6. #6Tugger22024-04-11 22:44

    Im in the process of scrapping some of my crane fleet .Lots of nice brass bushings in the old Americans.I used to run a few passes around the inside of them with what ever wet old junk rod i had around the shop and out they come,some even fall out when they cool. Ive been using my plasma cutter now ,does the same thing in half the time and half the smoke,leaving clean brass for the scrap.It hardly touches the bores and im not being carefull. I guess an old dog can learn a new trick once in a while.

  7. #7Welder Dave2024-04-11 22:47

    On small bushings in a tight area, I cut a notch almost all the way through. Then I pounded a chisel to turn the bushings and they split and came out.

  8. #8willie592024-04-11 23:12

    Removing them, whatever it takes. But installing? Big bushings like that, even frozen in dry ice they don't just drop in. Liquid nitrogen is better, but still better be prepared for not dropping in fully. I used to use a hollow ram cylinder to press install bushings like that. Even after freezing in dry ice it still took a good bit of pressure from that ram to press them in.

  9. #9skyking12024-04-11 23:53

    The mobile mechanic pulled mine in with a press, no chilling or heating the end of the boom. It was a hollow porta power cylinder and rod and adapters.

  10. #10Delmer2024-04-12 08:48

    You have two things going on with the angle iron. Heating the bushing in one spot to get it above the plastic limit makes it deform as the rest of the bushing is heated a little and expanded also, then it shrinks and comes loose easier when cool. No need to weld in a circle to do that, welding two parallel beads is enough in most cases, more effective, and that's what the angle iron has. If somebody told you to use SS rod, it's for the strength of the weld to brittle bushing steel, normal rods would make a weld too brittle to hold, so there is some logic in using SS rod between difficult steels.

  11. #11Acoals2024-04-12 09:12

    Getting the bushings out isn't too bad, getting them in without a hollow ram setup is what is a pain . . .

  12. #12raypan2024-12-15 14:53

    Hi Guys,is cutting a notch in the bushing the only way to get them out if I do not have a welder or torch? Never took one out before that was intact so I am looking for the best way. I have access to a press for cylinder bushings, but the ones one the backhoe I have not attempted yet. Thanks ahead for any advice. Case 580C

  13. #13Georgia Iron2024-12-17 20:00

    A simple metal Sawzall blade if it will fit in the hole will do the job. You may need to cut both sides

  14. #1492U 34062024-12-17 20:27

    I've always just cut them out with a torch. Back when I was using a torch regularly I could torch every bushing out of an excavator pretty quick. Pre-heat the width of the bushing, aim the torch in-line with the bushing, perpendicular with the boom and feed it the oxygen. Cut a nice slit straight across the bushing and all the way through. You wouldn't even knick the bore because it wouldn't get the bore hot enough.

  15. #15Welder Dave2024-12-17 20:41

    Just need to make sure you have a really clean tip with a long straight cutting jet. I've seen so many people try to make decent cuts with a dirty tip I just shake my head. It takes 5 seconds to run a tip cleaner in the cutting jet and about 30 to clean the preheat holes. If someone complained because you took less than a minute to clean a tip would be asinine.

  16. #16SLK0012024-12-17 21:52

    What I want to know, is how did you get the boom on the log?

  17. #17RayF2024-12-18 00:15

    To get bushes out I get a torch and starting at the end heat until the metal starts to puddle on the surface then travel through slow enough to get the surface melt to the other end. They will tap or fall out as they cool or you can wet them a bit if you don't have the time. This way also is very effective on bronze

  18. #18Welder Dave2024-12-18 02:28

    The bushings for the steering clutch arms in my 931B were very hard to remove. They aren't very big but they're inside the steering compartments. Initially I tried to heat and shrink them but that was a waste of time and just melted some plastic plugs Cat put in unused holes. I cut them 98% of the way through 180 deg's apart and they were still a beaatch to remove. I had to look down into the compartments holding the torch vertically down. Not a lot of room. I took a big chisel and after several good blows they finally split. In hindsight I probably didn't need to replace them. Getting the new ones in without freezing them took a lot of hits with a 4lb. brass hammer a friend brought.

  19. #19raypan2024-12-19 12:55

    Thanks Georgia Iron Looks like that's how i will do it

  20. #20Volvomad2025-01-06 16:44

    I would normally use the mig but some of the Ex and Zx 200 bushes are horrible to weld with anything I have tried. 7018 seem to work slightly better but they are made of strange stuff

  21. #21Welder Dave2025-01-06 18:00

    It doesn't matter what it looks like as long as you can hold an arc or arcs for several seconds. The bushing acts like a heat sink for the intense heat of the arc and shrinks significantly on cooling. It's why thick steel sections are preheated before welding.