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Cat 977L

ChrisUK

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2020
Messages
129
Location
England
Managed to get the timber fork removed, the bucket is getting closer !
 

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Cat977

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2006
Messages
503
Location
Madison WI
Occupation
Machinist/Millwright
Things are getting to the Excited side Again!!! Lots of Heavy work to tweaking the bucket in place for an Easy install of properly fitting pins. Loose fits get looser much faster than good fits. Looks like someone beat the **** out of the one pin you can see. While things are apart I suggest cleaning everything very well. Replace bushings and pins that have poor fits. Pull all the grease zerks out (esp.the lift arm) and run a tight fitting drill bit through them all starting small and work up to the fit. Rebuild the bucket clam cylinders and really clean up the lines. You don't want rust and crap in the rest of the 40 gallon system. You've been doing a really Fine Job Chris! Keep It Up!!!
Best of Luck
 

ChrisUK

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2020
Messages
129
Location
England
Things are getting to the Excited side Again!!! Lots of Heavy work to tweaking the bucket in place for an Easy install of properly fitting pins. Loose fits get looser much faster than good fits. Looks like someone beat the **** out of the one pin you can see. While things are apart I suggest cleaning everything very well. Replace bushings and pins that have poor fits. Pull all the grease zerks out (esp.the lift arm) and run a tight fitting drill bit through them all starting small and work up to the fit. Rebuild the bucket clam cylinders and really clean up the lines. You don't want rust and crap in the rest of the 40 gallon system. You've been doing a really Fine Job Chris! Keep It Up!!!
Best of Luck
Cheers, we are trying to get through the jobs as we go. The pins have seen some fair hammer rash in the past. Need to get it all mobile as we are going to get it in a better area to get the track frame assemblies off. Large chunks of timber rounded up already.
Chris
 

ChrisUK

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2020
Messages
129
Location
England
Bucket is on ! (Albeit temporarily ) Easier to move the complete lot round in one, save moving the bucket with a chain all the while. Next job is get it somewhere more suitable for track frame assemblies off so we can peak inside the final drives as there is some movement in both sprockets. 229A041D-026D-4073-8733-29F2EC32269F.jpeg165FFDD7-C34F-4D69-B07C-51999D1CEB1F.jpeg
 

Cat977

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2006
Messages
503
Location
Madison WI
Occupation
Machinist/Millwright
It should be a really nice bucket to have! You seem to be a really lucky guy! Those sprockets have a special outer bearing. You can take the outer lock washers off and tighten to get the excessive play out. I think you need a special spanner type wrench for it. Nice looking bucket Chris! Maybe you can get some of the rust conversion coating. Power wash it then buy old Cat Yellow at the Dealer. I've painted a lot with a good Brush.
Best of Luck
 

ChrisUK

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2020
Messages
129
Location
England
Not much to show for my efforts today. Levelled the hardcore that the Cat is sat on and blocked up the front under the frame. Ran the front of the tracks up onto some timbers to make it easier to remove the bolts from underneath. Out of the six there were four left, one of which had sheared off and two of the others had been welded in by someone years ago. Using some old 14” x 14” landing stage timbers and a few chunks of railway sleeper for blocks.
Next job is those large bolts under the rear that hold the track frame to the main casing, only six out of the eight remain.
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Cat977

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2006
Messages
503
Location
Madison WI
Occupation
Machinist/Millwright
Safety first! You can use blocking like you have in front, if you can push it. Better yet is a log the right dia..
Lift the front of the machine way up. Roll a log from the front to the back. Put your blocking back in front. Set it down and the whole machine will be off the tracks.
 

Welder Dave

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2014
Messages
12,260
Location
Canada
What usually works good for broken bolts is welding a nut on them or a piece of bar with hole in the middle. The heat expands and shrinks the bolt so it usually comes out. You can even get special rods to weld down in the hole that the slag protects the threads.
 

ChrisUK

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2020
Messages
129
Location
England
What usually works good for broken bolts is welding a nut on them or a piece of bar with hole in the middle. The heat expands and shrinks the bolt so it usually comes out. You can even get special rods to weld down in the hole that the slag protects the threads.
Do you have details on these rods @Welder Dave ? Have asked the local supplier but they don't have any here in the UK.
Cheers Chris.
 

Welder Dave

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2014
Messages
12,260
Location
Canada
There are different names for it depending on who makes it. Nice thing is that it is also great if you need a really strong weld on something. I used something similar to weld the cutting edge on my skid steer bucket. The edge bolts on but I got a deal on a wider edge with no holes at the end. I welded the ends on the outside and it's easy to grind out to reverse the edge.
 

Rigidarm

Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2021
Messages
18
Location
Stockton, Ca
Hi Chris and fellow HvEq members,
I have a 977K with a broken recoil spring too. Got a replacement for $250. Now for the hard part. I’ll use a cutter tip on the bad spring and remove the entire assembly. First time messing with the death spring. Any advise greatly welcome.
 

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Welder Dave

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2014
Messages
12,260
Location
Canada

ChrisUK

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2020
Messages
129
Location
England
Forget the Cat for a minute, I'm interested in the wrecker picking it up. Looks like military or railroad crane? Also the 2 Ford tractors?
@Welder Dave thanks for the interest. The wrecker is my 1958 Leyland Martian 6x6 recovery truck, ex British army. Bought it a few years ago without an engine in it and fitted a Cummins C series. Rotating crane will pick up about 15 ton with all the legs down and it also has a 20 ton recovery winch mounted in the chassis. It’s a useful piece of equipment, has a charmed life now and gets taken to a few shows.
The Ford tractors are a TW 30 and a 8830 that belong to a good friend ( whose yard I am lucky enough to keep my truck and 977 )
Cheers Chris.
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ChrisUK

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2020
Messages
129
Location
England
Hi Chris and fellow HvEq members,
I have a 977K with a broken recoil spring too. Got a replacement for $250. Now for the hard part. I’ll use a cutter tip on the bad spring and remove the entire assembly. First time messing with the death spring. Any advise greatly welcome.
Hi rigidarm, I will let the more knowledgeable people offer advice on this, I only took mine off as a unit to replace some missing recoil stops, take care
Cheers Chris
 
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