On the Road Again

[hosspuller]

I'm not fond of modes of travel where the failure mode of the machine means death of the crew and passengers. I can pull my car or motor cycle to the side of the road if the engine quits running. Doesn't work that way for a plane in the air or a ship on the ocean.

Nor a space craft. A piece of machinery with millions of critical parts built by the lowest bidder *. Even "pulling over" ie. stopping propulsion is death, Celestial mechanics are precise and unforgiving.

* May not be true of private space companies

• SpaceX.
• Blue Origin.
• Virgin Galactic.

 

[Truck Shop]

I'm not fond of modes of travel where the failure mode of the machine means death of the crew and passengers. I can pull my car or motor cycle to the side of the road if the engine quits running. Doesn't work that way for a plane in the air or a ship on the ocean.

My idea of a ship is the bow could be in the middle of the Pacific and the stern at the shore line. A crop duster pilot that I knew here in town would say {altitude is a pilots best friend}.

 

[John C.]

Nothing like the lonely feeling you get the first time on the ocean and all you see is water and sky. I thought the ship I was on was pretty big when it was next to the pier when I reported to it. First time at sea for me on that hole in the water was off Cape Hatteras doing sea trials in a storm. At that point I wasn't sure that floating pus pocket was big enough.

 

[Slidey]

Hey Nige. Cheeky question..

after the 994 had its tune up done and left the pad, how many hours to the first breakdown and what was it?

Work on 996 diggers at the mo, they are going through their midlife rebuilds and one had quite a few o rings let go in the first week

 

[Nige]

I my a leaking joystick control so far. Replaced the complete assembly, it was quicker than trying to pull it apart to find which seal was leaking. Last thing I wanted was having to clean a hydraulic oil spill inside the cab, the operators would never quit whinging about the smell. I put that one down to “infant mortality”. Nothing major hydraulic has let go so far.

 

[Nige]

Work on 996 diggers at the mo, they are going through their midlife rebuilds and one had quite a few o rings let go in the first week.

No offence but I’d be looking at the installation & tightening process if that happened to me. First thing I’d be checking is how the flanges were tightened and do the gutters have a custom of paint-marking hardware as it is tightened.

 

[hosspuller]

No offence but I’d be looking at the installation & tightening process if that happened to me. First thing I’d be checking is how the flanges were tightened and do the gutters have a custom of paint-marking hardware as it is tightened.

Nige... I noticed different colors of marks on the fasteners. Assigned colors to each fitter for accountability ? ?

 

[Nige]

Correct

 

[Nige]

No offence but I’d be looking at the installation & tightening process if that happened to me. First thing I’d be checking is how the flanges were tightened and do the gutters have a custom of paint-marking hardware as it is tightened.

That should be “fitters”..... blasted autocorrect

 

[Slidey]

No offence but I’d be looking at the installation & tightening process if that happened to me. First thing I’d be checking is how the flanges were tightened and do the gutters have a custom of paint-marking hardware as it is tightened.

Oh no offence taken. I’m not on the rebuild crew and I agree. One was def left loose, pilot hose on the bottom of the valve bank. The other that I saw was a D ring that must have gotten pinched as the hose was gotten into location. -32 6 wire hose that have the flanges mounted on the hose are quite difficult to get into place unfortunately

 

[mitch504]

Yeah, I thought you called them "gutters" because they gutted that machine...

 

[Truck Shop]

No offence but I’d be looking at the installation & tightening process if that happened to me. First thing I’d be checking is how the flanges were tightened and do the gutters have a custom of paint-marking hardware as it is tightened.

Cummins and Detroit finally started that program a few years back, and same on some parts of cab/ chassis assembly. One batch of tractors we got the bell cranks on the wiper assemblies
were never tightened. Well first it was the factory never installed the fuse, great pre-delivery inspections.

 

[4x4ford]

We had one show up without the fuse for the engine fan no one could figure out why the fan ran all the time

 

[John C.]

We were marking torqued bolts in 78 when I worked for the IH dealer. I don't know how many times I had to tell wrenches from other dealers to do it over the years. Even the guys from the Cat dealer back in those days never carried a paint pencil.

 

[old-iron-habit]

On the last Cat plant tour I was on a couple years ago, even the assembly line robotic torque wrenches marked each bolt they tightened to spec, with the correct amount of turns also counted, with a red paint dot.

 

[Truck Shop]

I always used a marker when torquing rods, mains and cylinder head bolts plus mark the overheads as those are adjusted.

 

[Nige]

It’s nothing more than simply a good practice & certainly not rocket science..

 

[JPV]

Speaking of paint pens, does anyone have a recommendation for one that works without having to fiddle with it for 2 minutes everytime I use it after it has sat for a week or two to get it to work right? I buy the ones our welding supply here has and it seems like they are a pain.

 

[DB2]

I find the key is to store them upright. Still have to fiddle but not as long.

 

[Truck Shop]

I find the key is to store them upright. Still have to fiddle but not as long.

For fiddling you need to go to Weiser, Id. for the old time fiddlers contest.