Repairing The Cracked Spokes On The Crawler Crane Track System - Irreplaceable Parts Repaired
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- Опубликовано: 27 сен 2024
- My Bantam Dragline Crane rebuild is moving along again, but this one track component is damaged to the point I don't want to not fix it. Being irreplaceable, the only option is to repair it.
Can I fix it?????
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In BERMUDA, Bos'n for Bermuda Pilot Gig Club, 32 ft, 6 oar rowing boats. Salt water rendered trailer wheel bearings a short life. Knock all the bearings out, replace with 2" Delrin with 1" axle bore. Some into their 9th year of use. No greasing other other maintainance other than garden hose.
Plastics are awesome.
Morning Josh,
I work with Nylatron, Nylon 66, and Delrin, every day. My best friend is a shop vac. I use a magnet glued to the hose to position the nozzle close to the tool. It will suck that string in almost every time.
That stuff is amazing. A little hard on shafts if they don't keep them lubed, but it beats bronze and even Oilite all to heck.
Perfect for prop shaft bushings or any underwater application too.
I usually use the air gun when boring and blow the string through the spindle. I have seen many cool applications for nylarron. I know a guy who makes gears out of it.
I have found it can be brittle and can chip. It is a joy to machine. I assume you are using Nylatron -GS? There are many grades to choose from.
Certainly the MIG is way Way faster than silicon bronze (torch) brazing with a lot less prep and heat. As you said you've been doing this type of repair for years, you don't see these cracking again? Seems like a pretty high stress part. Or were you MIG brazing?
Thanks for the great video!
MHS, from the spark test he did it looks like cast low carbon steel so standard 7018 wire ought to do fine, let's assume that wire was in his MIG welder and again an assumption on my part he uses Ar/CO2 as his shield gases and he used low amps to continue his low distortion low hydrogen process.
All temps used are °F of course since he did not state C or K.
If it was cast iron, of one of the three types that can be hot worked he might have used torch brazing with sil-bronze and flux, but again with the pre and post heating and temp management throughout as was shown.
The high stresses laterally seem to be the reason for the cracks, hard to add strength since this is cast steel sections near to the hub and without checking for wobble in the system supporting the hub/wheel who knows if this repair will last for the next hundred years.
Poor maintenance and bad work habits (moving and turning with high side stress) seem to have been the reason for the failure stresses to begin with. Lots of crane operators are not the owners and do not care about doing it right to begin with.
While brazing would have worked, it was cast steel and completely weldable. Having done several repairs like this, with zero failures, I am confident it will work for my needs.
Great video! Thanks Josh.
Yo maign...yo needz to git sum gold rimz on dat ride and a boom boom bass thump all up in dare. Pimp'n...
Lol.
I guess you didn't want to send me your wrecked microphone since you didn't respond back to that comment?
I did respond. Send me an email.
@@TopperMachineLLC Sorry...must have missed it.
Another great repair Josh!
Good taking time to try to best case for good repair.
Not positive, but I thought I heard something crack at 17:04 when you were peening. Could a new crack have happened then, that you rewelded?
I did a second die penetrant test after the video was done. All good.
Looks like there's a lot of different Nylatron products... which one are you using here?
I'd have to go look, but it is the onevthat was recommended to replace bronze bearings.
Another excellent video
Help me learn a little more, how can the nyltron have similar wear resistantance to brass when it machines so easily ?
I don't know, but it does. Plastics have been replacing metal bearings for a lot of things, and lasting way longer.
Is plastic better than bronze in a dirt contaminated with the grease situation? Plastics are amazing though in many applications. Must be some really good stuff. I remember welding cast iron spokes on farm machinery packer wheels decades ago and chasing the recracking one after the next (no preheat) it was a struggle.
The plastics are direct bronze replacements. Whilevindontbknow about dirt contamination, it's wear characteristics is similar or better than bronze.
Another awesome video Josh. I enjoy all that you video and put out. Keep up the great job.
From kiwi land
Thanks a lot! I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Your experience and knowledge saved this part, going at it without those attributes would have ended in a botched job! Well executed!
I've seen so many things fixed incorrectly, and then be absolutely unrepairable. With irreplaceable parts, I don't have that luxury
I wonder if that nylarton would preform better in a suspension component as compared to the red poly bushing material?
Call a plastics supplier and they should be able to help you out.
Your pre heat temperature, was that Celsius or Fahrenheit
I doubt Josh is a celcius guy
99% of Americans use Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit
Undoubtedly, but, definitely, knowledge, experience, understanding , and , professionalism, that is really what matters.
Enjoyed, interesting, never heard of nylatron. Sounds like amazing material. Thanks for the welding procedures tips.
45 years ago, I used the same powder and spray to detect cracks in “ CATERPILLAR “ engines, specifically, cylinder heads.
Are you going to clean off all the rust on the wheels before reinstalling them?
And, if so, what method would you use? And are you going to paint them and the drag line itself.
Just curious on what level of restoration you are aiming for . . . . . . .
Remember my father replacing kingpin bushing on 37 Ford with plastic ones, no reaming required.
Bake at 300 for 5 hours till golden-brown...yummy!
If it doesn’t hold, cut V shape plates to fit between the spokes. Cut the equilateral triangular plates just tall enough to get past the cracks an inch or so. Grind the existing welds to fit the plates in nicely and in contact with the hub. Weld them in. Plates on the inside only might be sufficient.
Likely to crack again, welding causes too much hardening, in low carbon and cast iron mixing zone.
Brass/silicone bronze brazing would have been much better there.
@hinz1 with the process used, it is unlikely to Crack again. You stated it is cast iron, that is incorrect. It is a steel casting, and the process used is an approved weld process. The heating and cooling processes remove the hardening as you called it. It is a stress relieving technique to start hot and cool slow. Had it been cast iron, the process would he much different.
@@TopperMachineLLC If it's real steel casting and not some meehanite type ductile iron stuff, welding should be fine.
Front wheel fork on my abused pallet jack cracked as well and I was in the assumption, they only could use cast steel there, welded it, cracked soon again ;-)
Likely was some kind of ductile iron stuff.
This is definitely a steel casting. I knew before I hit it with the grinder. Any cast iron or ductile would never hold up to the rolling forces.
889 Certanium welding rod. Preheat and post heat.
New quality zerks not from harbor freight
That's a very cool old machine. Nice repair.
Perfectly positive comment
Sometimes I am wrong.
thanks
Does the nylatron flow under long term static loads like most plastic?
Good question. Not that I have seen. This will be the true test. At the cost of bronze, I wanted to try this out. I can always make new ones in bronze if they don't hold up.
Good morning Josh,
Great repair video. Nice work on the wheel repair. The little heating table you made obviously works really well.
Thanks for sharing.
That little table has been a lifesaver, and it's been really useful for all kinds of things.
Excellent welding technique, Just one suggestion, Why didn’t you have both wheels sandblasted first. From having clean material to work with, easier to identify cracks and a more uniform thermal transfer of heating ?
Cost and time. The closest sandblasting place is an hour away. Remember, I am in an extremely economically depressed region. There isn't much left here, and more leaving.
Fascinating!
good repair
I noticed you didn't stop drill the cracks. Do you find that stop drilling isn't necessary when MIG welding up cast steel?
I gouged deep enough and welded past the Crack end. Most of the cracks were fully through, so it wouldn't matter if drilled. The ones that weren't were gouged extra deep at the ends.
Thanks ever so much for the video. I am glad that you were able to find the cracks before the spokes had total failure. I am not a welder but what a interesting process. I was a painter in the Air Force and industrial painter; I sort of wish that you would have cleaned and painted it but that is just me. I had no idea that you could replace the bushing with plastic. Great job on the video and on the job. I hope that you meet your goal and have the crane rolling soon.
I'm almost always against paint. Paint doesn't make it work better. In most cases makes it last shorter due to trapping water. Paint doesn't pay the bills.
Dye Penetrant doesn't find subsurface cracks. Do you have a magnetic particle test kit?
Not yet. Been looking at them. Not enough work in this region to justify the expense.
I think it's perfect. Testing it will prove it, and I always want to prove my work.
I will be proving it next summer. Got big plans for this thing. Deep holes.
Iv'e watched almost all of your vids and I'm either blind or just inatentive but I just noticed you have an iron worker in the weld shop, when did you get that?
Several years now. Use it often.
Thank you for the explanation of the heating and cooling regime. The table with the blanket seemed to be the key to get an even temp. Given also that it wasn’t a huge component, the length of time for the cooling cycle was not something I expected. No doubt to give plenty of temp to allow the stresses to relieve. Wouldn’t it be great if your temperature gun had a magic x-ray setting that showed the stresses like you see in a finite element analysis picture.
That would be awesomevb
Thanks for sharing some may call it a farmer repair but it doesn’t need to look pretty to be effective 😊
Exactly. As a working restoration, I want it to look like a field fix.
I'm curious: would it help if you spray penetration oil on bushings to press them out easier or just heat them a little?
They come out real easy with hydraulics. As it was, it only took about 3-4 tons.
Wow, that was cracked real good. Could the part have been saved if it had been cast iron, too?
Absolutely, just a different filler metal and weld process.
Nice work ! make up a "whip" hose for your scaler, makes all air tools easier to use.
I'm planning on doing that. Hydraulic hose is expensive. I no longer use air hose in the shop. It's all Hydraulic hose.
Thanks for a wonderful video on this repair
Thanks for watching!
Good morning sir question is wheel cast iron or mild steel?
Covered in the video.
What's the state of the other tension wheel? Seems strange that one is cracked with worn out bushings and the other would be perfect?
The other one is fine. I'm guessing someone turned hard into something. Or hit it with another machine.
@@TopperMachineLLC Hmm...maybe the other bushing stayed well lubed and this one didn't. My experience with bushings is they are good until they aren't and then they just get much worse after that. The broken spokes theory makes sense. Too much side loading would have cracked them. How did a quicky grind on the metal tell you it was cast steel instead of cast iron?
@@de-bodgery spark test. Steel sparks, cast iron makes dust
Do you determine the type of material the wheel is made of by the color of the sparks?
Steel sparks, cast iron makes more dust than sparks.
@@TopperMachineLLC Thanks.
would sandblasting the part before working on it make it easier to see the cracks?
While sandblasting would help the closest sandblasting place is an hour away. Remember, I am in an extremely economically depressed region. There isn't much left here, and more leaving.
@@TopperMachineLLC I see a blast cabinet in the background. Too small to fit the wheel into?
Nailed it! Nice repair
Thanks!
I've heard and seen that it is a good idea to have a short hose whip screwed directly into air hammers as it isolates the QD fittings from the tool vibration. I sort of suspect the same might be true for needle scalers.
Yes, and it is something I plan to do. Problem is that I use hydraulic hose for air hose, so cost is a huge factor. Regular air hose just doesn't hold up to the abuse in a shop setting.
@@TopperMachineLLC hydraulic hose definitely would be more robust and last longer. I wonder if it would be beneficial for short whips from regular air hose that would be considered “consumable “ items. Might need to replace couple times a year depending on abuse that it sees.
I’ve taken to using old school wire tie to repair hoses. Much better than hose clamps, and cheaper than ferrules, if you can find the right ones to replace OEM.
I tend to repair stuff, but if you’re in a workplace and time=$ and you are always busy billing high hourly rate then it probably just pays to buy new and save time.
But I like to save where I can in my hobby shop.
@@TopperMachineLLC Interesting. On my air hammer I have a ... goodyear?... rubber hose whip which seems to be high quality but I honestly don't use the air hammer all that often. Before I put the whip on, it absolutely beat the fittings to death with just an hour or so of use.
Thanks!
Thank you.
Thx for teaching me how to repair things on a budget. Farming has been difficult the last few years too.
Wheel - Idler...Durabar Manganese Bronze for bushings. Cracked spokes gouge them out with a Arc-Air and weld up with 7018....or that's how we've been doing that sort of stuff for the last 50 years.
Dont take this as criticism but where is your hearing protection? The noise from those grinders will damage your hearing with long term use. If you get a ringing in your ears after exposure that the first sign of minor damage, it will repair itself but everytime the damaged parts get stiffer until they dont work anymore. Or so i was told when i was an audiology technician way back in my youth. It may not be cool to wear ear defenders but it really isnt worth the risk, especially with the cost of hearing aids these days.
the noise over the computer hurt my ears...at 74 I have a bundle of harbor freight red ear cuffs at 4$ or so all over my shop and hanging on every tractor and mower at the ranch...makes every job pleasurable...my hearing doctor said...cuffs only...those little cigarette filters in your ear are better than nothing..but cuffs are way better..
In my ears, you can't see the ear plugs unless at the right angle.
@@TopperMachineLLC good to hear it, no pun intended, there are many old timers who wish they had used something, ear plugs are better than nothing but the big clumsy ones are better.
this is by far the most interesting video you have done since the last one on this machine. more please.
I appreciate paying jobs come first but these are more interesting and attention holding, and I suspect I'm not the only one who thinks so
Unfortunately these projects have to be pushed back. As much as I would love to just get it done, I still have bills to pay.
@@TopperMachineLLC yes I understand your position, just thought I'd comment