A year and change ago I bought my first dozer. Spent the winter going through it. It had rubbed the tracks on both hydraulic cylinders for blade angle. The pivot points beneath the tractor were allowing a bit of motion. Some research revealed that the tractor was built with 15" wide shoes. Mine has 16". There isn't much clearance anyway, the 1/2" eaten up by the wide track it seemed too much. Reggie, worlds most experienced crawler mechanic said give in, cut the shoes inside. I looked into "The Expander" a pin system that tightens up worn bores. Cost was substantial. I ultimately discovered my recent undercarriage had been installed without refurbishing the guides that center the front idler. I reworked these, and had at least 1" clearance. We have had a couple days of bitter cold weather here. I figured it might be last chance to skid some trees before everything went permanently soft. Here and there I was knocking the tops off ruts formed in the warm weather. I thought a couple times I was noticing sideways motion in the blade. I gauge this by looking at the cylinders from the seat. If the gaps are even, all is well. They seemed even. Minutes later the blade moved sideways. It was obvious something was wrong! Sure enough, one of the pivot pins is missing. They are held in place by a bolt. In this case the bolt had a lock nut, one of those crowned compressed two wrenches to tighten it nuts. I have no explanation, nut, bolt, and 1.75" diameter pin are gone. The right track has damaged the hydraulic cylinder. Oh well! Willie
I think your tittle is backwards.. It should read" some days the bear eats you"... yeah its a b-tch when your trying to get work done and the equipment has other things in mind..
Today I did not eat the bear. Willie
Been there done that save the cylinder part. Have had master pin roll out of rail, had bucket cylinder pin back the retainer bolts out and fall out with a load going up, lost a hitched drag rig behind a 951 as the pin retainer cotter pin got dragged until the bent half broke away then it fell out. Not a pretty sight anytime!!
A few years back the farmer that hays my fields was on a steep hill and the pin that holds the chopper on the back of the tractor popped out( I think he didnt put the saftey pin in the keep the pin in place) well down the hill through the hedge row and many rolls down the road..complete loss of that chopper and wagon...luckily noone got hurt by the run away wagon...
I've had a terrible time over the years with lynch pins on three point hitch. They tend to get broken, bent, and pull out. I believe my constant need to get farther into brush is at the cause. This crawler pin I haven't figured out. The bolt that locks the pin in place is 1/2" grade 8, with a locking nut. The other side, done at the same time is tight. I haven't been under the tractor since the pins were replaced last April. I've put on a lot of hours since. Willie
The blade angle cylinder is damaged. New is $2000, Used is $1000 so far. Rebuild is estimated at $1000. If anybody knows of a used cylinder for Dresser TD7G at a favorable price, I'd be interested. Willie
You may save some money if you talk to montreal tractor north of the border. They are a large dealer of used parts in eastern Canada, and well, the dollar exchange is very favorable to you as well. just a thought! I don't think it would be a very long drive for you either.
Thank you. It isn't far. I'll look into it. The Trump travel ban to terrorist countries? Is Canada included?
I went to their web site. No Dresser. No matches. Damn! I was up for a road trip! To Hell with Donald! Willie
Some days youre riding your mountain bike in Montana and you come around a corner and hit a grizzly and then youre all done.
I presume that hasn't happened to you yet. Willie
here is the article on that..some have worse days than others... http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LE...8828300//RK=0/RS=6kDBECCbM6_5Fn2vSdW7KtR7pec-
There are quite a few independent hydraulic machine shops around that can fabricate and replace the barrel on your cylinder. Cylinder Services in Rochester, NY comes to mind.
A local young man has become disenchanted with working for the monopoly trash hauler in their subsidiary hydraulic shop. He went on his own. Good for him, bad for me, most of their customers were also disenchanted with the shop. He has one big calcium carbonate processor using up much of his time. I've waited all week for him to find time to look at it and order materials. I once did business with New Hampshire Hydraulics. They took months to order a valve from a manufacturer. I gave up on them. Reed's Hydraulics in Gansvoort NY I was very pleased with. They did several cylinders for me. I was doing a simple repack on a cylinder. We couldn't get the piston nut off. I called them. "Bring it down!" he said. I made the point it was a long drive, I needed a nut removed. Would I have to leave it, or could they do it, so I could take it home? "Sure!" he said. I got there, he wanted me to drop it off. I reminded him of the phone conversation. He reluctantly tried to remove the nut. After breaking three sockets, he admitted the former owner was his boss. He had bought him out. The former owner took with him all the SAE tools, leaving only Chinese junk. Leave it till later, he'd order a good socket. I could pick it up another day. I came home with my cylinder. Calling from the road, I talked to Town Line Equipment in NH. It was afternoon, but they agreed if I could get it to them by 4:00, they would do it while I waited. Driving across VT from NY, I got there at 4:10. By 5:30 I was on my way home with a functional cylinder. I'm at the mercy of big customers. The shops can't refuse them. Little people get service when big customers run out of things to do. Before he can decide what to order, he has to run out of other work. After he orders raw material for my cylinder, I then have to wait until he runs out of work again. It is spring, every earthmover in the northeast is preparing for the construction season. Willie
Somewhat discouraged. The hydraulic rebuilder is young, my son's age. He seems to find plenty of time to text. none to evaluate what my cylinder needs, and order materials. Completion date out there somewhere. Willie
Update: A good friend 40 miles away called me to say he found a "retired" gentleman with big machine shop able, and willing to rebuild my cylinder. Picking up my friend, I went to this fellow. He had several farm tractors waiting for his attention, he took one look at my cylinder, and said I thought it was leaking. I can't fix that. Willie
What is damaged on the cylinder? Is the rod ruined or need rechromed or what?
The blade angle cylinder Right side was damaged by the track. 1 of two pins attaching the C arm under the belly of the crawler fell out, allowing the C arm to move sideways. The track dented the tube. The hydraulic rebuilder dismantled it, but has such a backlog of regular customer's work he admits he doesn't know when he'll be able to get to it. He tells me its got some damage to the piston, but that is repairable. For reasons I can't explain, he reassembled it before I picked it up. He's a one man operation, and there must have been 20 cylinders on pallets outside his door. How many might have been inside, I don't know. He devotes three days a week to a huge quarry. Things don't look hopeful. Honed, Drawn Over Mandrel tube is readily available. U tube videos show precision machinists adding ports each end, honing the inside to true it up after welding them in, and shaping to match the old on the gland nut end. The base from the old cylinder is welded in. Distortion is less a concern there because the piston stops a couple inches from the weld. I believe the skill I don't have covered is machining. Willie
Is better to keep work assembled even if just loosely as is too easy to set aside and lose the small parts. I was a mechanic many moons ago following the same thought line.
Hi Willie. Theres hydraulic rebuild shops in Conn. I have used them for hoses but not for cylinders but so can't tell you what it would cost or how long it would take. Let me know if you want contact info. Jim
A heavy equipment dealer I do business with frequently believes they can get priority scheduling from New Hampshire Hydraulics. They are a BIG outfit. I presume not big enough, as they always have a huge backlog of work waiting. As of noon, it is in their hands. They guess two weeks, I'll give them a month, then start to remind them frequently. Willie
At last I have found a NOS barrel for it in PA. I assembled it last night. I'll put it on the crawler today. Willie
Great to hear, so many of our older machines are now getting to that stage of unavailability where many times parts have to be custom made.
Update: It is reassembled, functional, and not leaking. I put new bushings and seals in the blade assembly, some new pins. The tilt mechanism uses flat surfaces dry steel on dry steel. A surprising amount of wear. I built up with MIG, and ground back flat Willie
As for the original title, it may prove to be prophetic. I've had a bear twice this week a dozen feet from my home door. He is not afraid of me, I couldn't chase it away a few nights ago. If you don't ever hear from me again, ask the bear. Willie
If we don't ever hear from the bear again, we will ask you
So far, so good. Neither of us has been eaten. Mrs. B chased it with her camera after calling the dog off it. About 5:am
MMMMMMMMMMMM..stew meat................I got a good recipe...LOL
Remove the crimp end of a shot shell, dump the shot but leave the wad and fire in the air, usually abrupt loud noise as gunfire will make them leave an area.
Thursday evening he was on the deck feet from the door. Convinced he would run, I opened the door and shouted at him. He wasn't ready to leave, reminded me of my son's dog at the dishwasher. I think I could have kicked him. He moved away from the deck, but was in no hurry to be anywhere else, so I ran for a 9 Millimeter with laser. By this time he was out of sight, I fired a few rounds. It doesn't seem to have discouraged him.
Sounds like time to invest in a paintball gun and sting the critter some. Will be marked so Wildlife people can ID for removal as well, you may want to check with the Wildlife administration in VT to see if they do perform removals/moves.
LOL..a paintball gun?? really..that aint gona sting a bear..you may make a nice rainbow on his fur, but thats about all..he can buy a DEC approved pepper spray and use that ,and that works very well as a non lethal deterrent , but make sure its DEC certified and not some cheap junk that wont work and you become a snack for mr bear..
Time to stop shooting into the air. Aim a little lower.
If he is close and you upset him he will be IN the house. Will not be a friendly visit. Call the wildlife folks, they should set a trap.
9mm probably just **** him off.... YMMV
We have lots of bears in the area where I'm living on my quarter section, probably more bears then people! They haven't bothered us yet, I see a perimeter of tracks but we have a Great Pyrenees (Stella) and her side kick (Clyde) the European Dobe to keep them distant, so far so good. The other night around 12:30, Stella was telling something off, I figured it was just a bear and didn't really wake up, then she let out a high pitched yelp/bark/cough and silence. I jumped outta bed and grabbed the 12ga and a couple slugs.... Headed out the door, then I started to smell it.... Damn little skunk strutting around looking at me like "you want some of this too!" I felt like turning it into paste but decided we have enough stench to deal with! Sprayed the side of my trailer (living in it until the house is built) and both dogs... I felt like sleeping in the truck, ohh what a stink, I can still taste it! I wish it was just a bear. Haha!
Been there. Once inherited a Jack Russell Terrier. The breed is horrible! their whole reason for existence is to kill. Skunks are not exempted. He had one by the back, shaking the Hell out of it. I was stupid enough to intervene. The skunk was fatally injured, but had enough left in it to spray the dog. Willie I've got a soft spot for skunks. I once had a pet skunk. I asked a few vets to descent him. they all refused. He was the cleanest, nicest pet I've ever had. Only a couple minor mishaps. They are odor free until forced to defend themselves. This they do only as a last resort. Very playful animal!
Bears don't like loud things, I used a 12 GA 'shellcracker' once and didn't see the bear again, still have the remainder of the box to test out sometime, maybe for the fourth. I'd imagine some firecrackers could have the desired effect.
I used a 9 millimeter with NATO ammunition. The next sighting was a few days later. The Game Warden suggested rubber bullets. He's convinced somebody is feeding him.
https://www.amazon.com/Frontiersman...=1497958410&sr=8-2&keywords=bear+pepper+spray this is what you should be carrying at your side just in case...
Thanks! I favor either a 9 or .45. For the Mrs. I'll get some. Willie
the problem with a side arm is its only 1 small bullet that needs to hit home, with the bear spray you can run and just spray behind you and it will fog the whole area to get the bear..I would also carry a side arm..either .357 mag or .44mag for bear...45 acp doesnt have enough to push through all the muscle on a bear.....I dont know if I would buy into..something is better than nothing..if someone slapped you and pissed you off you would slap back..if you got clobbered with a baseball bat your down for the count..same with bear..rubber bullets or small caliber might just tick him off enough to make him go after you..
heres a little reality check.. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/06/2...in-alaska-including-teen-in-extreme-race.html