D65P-8 Komatsu final drive repair

[tctractors]

Twisted, I have adaptors that bolt on to the end of the hub using the 8 holes, this location is usualy used just to pull off the sprocket, the adaptor that screws onto the big C spanner style nut that made you "bark" some is the location that I use to press things back together, its all to do with the cylinder stroke of the 100 ton ram that you have, the standard travel is usualy around 6" of the rod, I would think 8 bolts ( use capscrews as they are good spec) should take the loading then you need the ram rod to be pinned to the end of this bolted on adaptor, the pin needs to be the correct item or something well-hard, anyhow this has to match up to the outer pushing sleave so as to give you the ability to pin the ram through the outer press sleeve into the inner bolted on bit with enough ram travel (Rod in) to press up the components, there is a fitting that goes against the cylinder press area that also locates into the press outer sleeve, if you can understand that you might be from Mars? years ago Komatsu used keys in the hubs not splines they called them Feathers and I never had the correct adaptor to press things back together, so I welded the big C spanner nut to a made up press adapter and used that, I told the owner the nut was worn out so he bought a new 1 without any qualm, anyhow I used this welded up gizmo on loads of shovels etc untill I bought a ruck of Komatsu tooling, I then painted up the welded up thing and sold it to a Polish truck driver.
tctractors

 

[Twisted]

That makes perfect sense to me! Thanks. I would have ordered another nut to build the tool if I would have known how all of this was going to unfold. Now to dig through my piles of goodies to see what I can come up with.
I haven't had much time to do any metalwork projects in the shop lately so this will be a nice break.

 

[Randy88]

I too would chat with the salesperson, tell them you can stand the one way trip charge, but the trip home was on their dime if they ever expect to come back again, its what's done around here a lot in order to compete with the independents if they want to do the work. Not to make it feel better, case, cat and deere have done the same thing to me over the years as well, but for me, it was 120 mile drive one way, one of them wanted me to pay for bringing the tooling from another store, adding another 200 miles one way on top the already outrageous mileage and hourly rate, a reason why I have most of the tooling myself and make many mistakes fixing my own stuff.

I also didn't mean to buy a half million dollars worth of equipment, but buy another slightly newer than what you have to go along with what you've got now, use the machine you have now for a spare.

 

[Twisted]

^^^^^ Good advice and the direction I am headed.^^^^^

 

[tctractors]

Twisted, I know the U.K. is some distance from MN? (I dont know what M.N. means) but things are often done the same world-wide, that is before things happen you ask the price cost of the task in hand, the 2 skins that turned up only had to realy pull a rim and undo a few nuts and bolts so it should have been easy to price up the job within $100 and you to agree on the costing, the fact that they were learners at the job and faffed about for a time looking at the book but they did manage to do the job asked, the only issue you have is the fact they must have a private Jet to do their travel in by the look of the Bill, I always sort the Coins out first before doing a job so the arguement is nailed square with the customer happy and myself being the same, it would seem that you should have just kept on fettling the tractor yourself and saved a load of trouble, perhapse you might get a few Coins chipped off the bill but its not worth getting bitter about, its just another lesson you have had to learn and keep in you pocket for another time, so if you are unhappy (I would be) with the charge get it sorted and pay up putting an end to things.

tctractors

 

[mitch504]

MN means Minnesota, a US state; up where it's too dang cold for sane people to live.

 

[Twisted]

Only one skin showed with the truck but I'm an honest man & paying my bills is a top priority whether I agree with them or not. I was told a price per hour but was surprised by the travel expense. Lesson learned I guess.
I got the adaptor built & am awaiting parts to use it on. Unfortunately the supplier called me this morning & said the shipping company didn't pick them up yesterday as promised so it will be Monday for parts now. I wear a lot of hats so finding work isn't a problem but scheduling them is.
I'll try to post some pics of the tooling I whipped up after a bit.
On a good note, it looks like I lined up a good bit of work in my shop this fall/winter. It involves building welding jigs & misc. lifting and handling fixtures. That will really help considering how my digging gear has been treating me lately.

MN (Minnesota) is the furthest north state except Alaska in the USofA. I live in the northern most part of it. It does get cold here & most people that weren't raised here don't last more than one winter season. Mitch504, we take pride in that comment. We think nothing of carrying on our duties in -20*F and it usually gets down to -40*F on occasion. Yes there's a negative with that number. Equipment, gear & clothing are prepared and ready for the conditions. I will say that after -20*F metal breaks more readily so I keep the heavy work to a minimum in temps colder than that.

Winter gives us a reason to shut down the equipment and relax (it only lasts 5 or so months). By relax I mean drag a portable house out on a frozen lake & drill a hole through 3'-5' of frozen water so we can catch fish. The rigs earlier in this thread are used for that very reason.

Anyhow I digress. I'll try to get more pics up this evening when I settle for the day.

Thanks again for taking a peek.
Twisted.

 

[Twisted]

Waiting for a customer so I'll try to post quick.
New tool. This will bolt to the hub & hook to the rod on the pump. The top tube with the pin hole is a little thinner than I wanted but it was all I could find. It is 1/4" wall CroMo DOM so I hope it holds. The pressing cone will go around this contraption. It took a little figuring to get all of the lengths right so the pins in the new tool and the pressing cone line up during the whole process. I think I got them right.



Little guy helping rework the lowboy a few weeks ago. What a little timesaver. hahaha. You fellows with kids know how they can bring a project to a complete halt with a simple "Daddy, will you please play with me?"



The service truck of gold. I guess they have to pay for them somehow.

 

[mitch504]

Yeah we usually quit work when the temp gets below 20* here too. (note: no minus sign)

Seriously, we probably only get down that low 4 or 5 nights a year, and usually have 2 or 3 days a year when it doesn't get above freezing, so it's not worth being prepared for it.

It is aggravating to go to work at 27*, it's 55* in the afternoon, and 38* when I go home, seems like I change clothes all day

 

[Twisted]

I actually like the cold and the attitude that comes with it. It's a good separator for the good workers vs. the flunkies.
I'd be glad to take any of you guys that have posted on a 5-star fishing expedition on my bill if you would make the trip here on yours. I'm sure you Walleye fishermen have heard of Lake of the Woods. I might have to post some fun pics somewhere. Where would the proper place be for fun stuff so I don't hijack my own thread?

 

[overworked]

Twisted, I like your work ethics, and attitude to get it done and doing lots of things, you should try to find a older service truck with a crane to add to your fleet, nothing fancy, don't think you would regret it one minute. Throw fuel tank and transit and all in it, even the car seat,

 

[Twisted]

I actually just picked up an old service truck. I was destroying my 2011 F-350 with dirt & grease. I picked up a 1980 Chevy C30 dually with a handmade service body, 225 gallon tank, 20 GPM pump, and a gin pole set-up on it. Not pretty but I only paid $600 for it plus another $100 for some well needed parts. I tossed my Lincoln welder, an air compressor and a handful of tools on the rig. I've been on a couple of service calls with it already but I apparently didn't charge enough. I still need to add tools and a torch as money allows so I'll just have to transfer in and out of the shop for now. It will be handy as heck to chase my equipment with plus a good money maker doing service calls.

 

[overworked]

Just watch with that big of a tank, your drivers license might need an endorsement.

 

[Randy88]

Twisted, nice looking fabrication job there.

 

[Twisted]

Thanks Randy. Metal fab has been my passion since I first started hardfacing equipment at about 10 years of age on my Dad's farm. I'm sure he wrinkled his nose at my work a few times. It's a skill that will always be needed and has been a good knowledge base for all of my different careers over the years. I've done everything from repairing farm & construction equipment to welding aluminum cooling extrusions to high pressure pipe welding for some area factories to welding boilers.
I wish more kids now days were interested in learning a trade that involves physical labor rather than watching video games. I'll do my best to teach my little guy everything I have learned over the years & it will hopefully give him a fighting chance of never standing in the unemployment line. It's hard to keep him out of the shop at 3yo already. I think skilled labor will be very valuable in another 20 years. Possibly more than doctors and IT gurus even though we all need them as well. He will go the direction he wants and I will support him as best as I can.
I haven't been on this site much in the past few years but I'm amazed and humbled by a lot of you guys and your skills. Kudos to you all.

 

[D6 Merv]

very very true words there twisted.
we have got a future generation of kids coming that do not want to work or get dirty at any cost. Especially in the metal/steelwork trades. But this sort of work is always going to be there; computers are never going to do any of the fabricating and repair work that is always around stationary and mobile plant.
Workwise today people need to be multi talented in my opinion; it just makes you that much more valuable. And if you want to go working for yourself at the end of the day it just makes life so much easier for yourself too.
And those young fellas that come to work with there dads; that's how we all learned a lot of things when we were young; and developed some common sense. We did something wrong we got yelled at or got our rse kicked But we learned to think. And the older we got the more useful we became.
Have got all the final drives and track frames apart on my D6; and have got my 17 year old son; who is an apprentice welder engineer with another engineering firm; for 2 weeks to come and help me. And I would be stuffed without him too.
We certainly come to appreciate young help, the older we get !

 

[lantraxco]

About three years ago I moved back to the town I grew up in , back in the seventies the local community college had a whiz bang machine shop program and in those days the crown jewel in their shop was an actual by gawd CNC milling machine, which you programmed with a paper tape with lots of little round holes in it! Had a great welding program as well. I always wanted to take some machining classes and some further education in welding, so I looked them up online now that I'm close by and have a little free time. No machine shop at all, limited welding program. If you want to become a nurse or a massage therapist, they can fix you up, but there's a waiting list. And this town wonders why they can't get businesses to come here? No trained work force, and I would bet more than two thirds of the unemployed roundabouts couldn't pass a drug test without a month's warning. I have younger friends who are talking now about how they drank the koolaid and took out huge student loans so they could get a high paying clean indoor job when they graduated. There aren't any jobs out there, if you're not already working they won't hire you, and if you've been out of school more than a year without an outstanding job to put on your resume, you're doomed to flip burgers, drive a taxi, or work a cubicle in a call center. As a society we've created this situation, but it can be fixed if we have the common sense and willpower.

Sorry for the hijack, soapbox mode off now. :soapbox

 

[tctractors]

Just the other day I had a young "Blade" come to work for me with the agreement that if he likes the work and I can stick him after a month? the job is permenant, the young chap was made of the right tough stuff I thought with his family known to my Bride plus he was Keen, anyhow the first job of the week was on an Extec Crusher involving stripping out the jaws and wear plates and a thousand other things that are usualy knackered on them, I do this stuff by myself near always so it was nice to have someone making headway with me I thought, the 5pm spot I noticed the new Blade seemed to want to pack up for home? but I like to keep at it some untill I can see a few bits stripped out, anyhow Wednesday morning his Father rang me telling me the work is to dirty and full of danger and thats the end of it?? this follows up with a fair bollicking off my bride with the words that she will have to go around and see them and "fall on the sword" to smooth things with the 22yr old lads family??? the odd thing was he was doing the excavator driving as I unbolted and hooked up all the chunks of iron, the most risky thing he did was climb a ladder? it seems that I am now banned by the Bride of seeking anyone willing to give it a pop.

tctractors

 

[nicky 68a]

Twisted,That's a really nice,sturdy looking job you have done on that tool.
TC,I'm not going to comment on your little helper.Perhaps I should dispatch Tommy Violence down to you.He would love it.They were both with me until dark last night moving wood logs with me and the wheelbarrow.Both received minor injuries and neither wanted to go in for their tea.They would have worked all night.
By the way,Porridge left the fire on in her office.I have singed hair and a bollocking from the Chief Fire Officer.She's currently in Marbella drinking cocktails.

 

[Twisted]

Lantraxco, I don't think there is any "fixing" of this situation. I believe that a time will come where those with the physical ability and mechanical smarts to tackles these big jobs will become very valuable. As you said the tech schools don't even teach these skills anymore. It will take the experience of some good hands like all of you and the odd kid with some desire to learn and achieve.
Lever pullers will always be available. There are lasers, GPS, touch screens and just buttons to push in today's machines. Welding a broken blade frame in 24" of mud isn't really something that can be taught.
TC, sorry to hear about your new hand. Back when I was 22 I would have put in 12 hr days for you plus worked my regular job just to be around heavy equipment.
Thanks for the compliment nicky.