Deere 544A Center Pins

[tbone1471]

I recently picked up a Deere 544a for a pretty reasonable price. It knew it needed a few pins and bushings when I bought it which I took into consideration when I made my offer. However, stopped by the dealer yesterday to get a price. 500 per pin and 250 per bushing. There is no way I am spending 1500 on parts. I figured a few hundred not thousand. For that price I will run it into the ground and scrap it. Does anyone have a better source for pins and bushings?

 

[dannyboy950]

Sorry I can't help I cheat. I own a lathe and a mill. I cut my own pins and bushings.

 

[tbone1471]

I was thinking about doing that. But, I think the top one is considered a bolt. I guess it wouldn't be that much more machining. I am a little worried about strength. It isn't like if a bucket pin were to break this would snap the tractor in two... What metal do you make your pins and bushings out of? I assume you cut a grease grove into the bushing or do you just drill a hole? Also what type of tolerance?

 

[dannyboy950]

What material to use depends on the application. Most pins are only mild steel or case hardened. Bushings I save old brass and copper and smelt it together and pour blanks and cut to size. Clearance .006 to .008 is useually good enough, try to match what was origionaly there when ya can. I am kinda an old fart, origionaly trained as a blacksmith so I been known to use cold roll and temper to suite the job. Altho old axels and shafts work pretty good for hard pins. Just remember the harder the temper the more brittle it is.

 

[cutting edge]

I figured a few hundred, not thousand.

Looks like you figured wrong...I dont have another source for pins and bushings,but I'll bet that having a set made will probably cost you more than the OEM ones.

 

[Nige]

Looks like you figured wrong...I dont have another source for pins and bushings,but I'll bet that having a set made will probably cost you more than the OEM ones.

I'll second that, and at least if you buy OEM ones you know what you're getting - unless of course you're a metallurgist by profession and can figure out what your existing pins are in order to have a machine shop knock up replacements.

 

[tbone1471]

Nige, I don't think finding out how hard the pins are would be an issue for me. I have a good buddy that is a quality engineer for a large oem supplier. He has access to a full machine shop with a rockwell hardness tester, and small induction hardener. Buying the material would be the issue. I don't know if mcmaster carr would have what I need for a reasonable price and he can't buy it through his company.

I went through this before with the squirrel cage on my 267b. He found the hardness and I purchased a suitable material for the tube which saved a substantial amount of money.

 

[Nige]

I'm certainly not saying it can't be done for someone with access to resources, neither am I saying it can't be done for a reasonable price. I would be quite comfortable using non-OEM or fabricated pins for something like a bucket or a linkage pin, less so for a centre pin. It's all tied up with what I like to refer to as "Disaster Potential" in other words "what happens if it all goes pear-shaped somewhere further down the road..?"

 

[tbone1471]

I completely agree with you Nige. I don't know how comfortable I feel using a pin that was not oem for a center pin. Most other pins I wouldn't think twice about it, but if this breaks I am screwed. I am sure I can fabricate it with very few issues but I just don't understand why these pins would cost 500ea? I have purchased several pins for other machines and I have never spent more than 200 for a pin and bushing set. I really feel that there has to be an aftermarket supplier that could set me up for much less than oem. And, I would be able to have it done in short order without asking my buddy for a favor.

I am not that busy now and am just using the machine for snow this winter. I know as soon as I take it apart and give the old pin to my buddy to be assessed there will be 2 feet of snow and I won't have the loader. I am sure it would last until spring but without wearing through the bushing.... not so sure.

 

[Nige]

Actually a thought just came to me .......... a loader centre pin that doesn't run on taper roller bearings. How very 19th Century....

 

[RayF]

Bearing sleeves are generally carburised mild steel. (EN14A hollow bar) You can make a pin as good as a Cat pin using 4140 and induction hardening it 2 - 3 mm deep.If its a decent induction hardener you won't have any trouble achieving 58 - 60 Rockwell. If you want to do bushes on the cheap I have often machined them out of 4140 hollow bar and heated them red and oil quenched. Leave them oversize and final machine after hardening. I've had them do 8000 hours in small loaders

 

[John C.]

The expense of wheel loader center pins is not necessarily just in the pins and bushings. There can be plenty of machine work that has to be done to the frame bores. I've only seen a couple of machines having the center hitch repaired that hadn't eaten out the both the upper and lower bores. That takes welding and boring to go back to stock. A thousand bucks a hole isn't bad for a jobber around here.

A dealer doing a hitch repair on a 544 is generally going to run around $7,500 or more. You also need to remember the if the center is bad, the steering cylinder bosses are not going to be pristine either.

I totally agree with the disaster factor used by Nige. Bust one of these machines in half and the operator may have a wild ride.

Good Luck!

 

[tbone1471]

John, literally the parts alone are over $1500 from Deere. I would understand if they needed to be welded and line bored the cost being much higher. A six inch piece of steel selling for 500 is outrageous.

I see the fabrication of these pins in my future as there doesn't seem anyone selling them for a reasonable price. Unless I sell it it looks like in the spring I will have some pictures and an update.

 

[tctractors]

tbone, we dont have any John Deere kit in the U.K. its not sold on our rock so I dont know anything about JD, I can understand your fear of poking a load of coins into just a few simple parts, I always get things to bits first, then see just what is needed, sometimes its less than you thought plus some bits can possibly be reclamed with just basic engineering, a new bush/bearing with a repaired pin might just put the job handy, with plenty of greasing it might work out well for you, the centre joint repair is a common thing for me on CAT Volvo etc the area I find gets a good hiding when the joint fails is the prop-shaft to the front axle plus any mid-ship bearings.

 

[nlcsoss]

try jordan equipment 603-228-3377, I buy a lot of misc parts from them, might have to do a little home work but the $ saved is worth it.

 

[DGMM]

test

 

[coorecat]

Check out www.ceparts.com they are about 10 miles from my house and salvage machine parts.