some work pictures

[oldirt]

tom.. I am thinking about refacing the blade on my old D6D.. where can I get the face material, and is it already bent to fit the curve or do you press it on then weld it up? this blade is really beat up, and all the pins/ball joints need rebuilt. I don't have a good idea how I can reweld the balls/sockets and keep a circular profile.. thanks..

 

[TOM V]

hey tom where do you buy your threaded press rods? sizes ? thanks for your input your the man jp from minnesota.

You should be able to get B7 theaded rod from your fastener supplier, MSC, or Mcmaster as Mitch said, as far as size I would use 1 5/8" rod with a 50 ton ram.

 

[TOM V]

tom.. I am thinking about refacing the blade on my old D6D.. where can I get the face material, and is it already bent to fit the curve or do you press it on then weld it up? this blade is really beat up, and all the pins/ball joints need rebuilt. I don't have a good idea how I can reweld the balls/sockets and keep a circular profile.. thanks..

I would make a cardboard template of the profile of the blade and have the plate formed with HARDOX or AR400, as far as the trunions/balls I have never built them up, always cut them off and relaced them.
Good luck.

 

[oldirt]

many thanks.

 

[Coondog]

Tom, I know you said you like to have the customer source the parts most of the time, but in the event that they don't how do you or those in your line of business work that out. I was wondering if you just use a cash account at sway the cat store or jd store or if you have an actual account there like a regular customer probably would? We do all of our own mechanic work at the quarry, the only times we call someone in is if we need some specialty welding or if an ECM needs swapped on a piece, CAT won't give me that ability. And if you buy the parts, how much do you mark them up? You kind of have to have some mark up for going and picking them up and using your money and getting paid for them, to take care of expenses and the higher tax you are paying because of higher income don t you? Some of the parts get to be pretty expensive sometimes I'm just curious as to the procedure.

 

[FMD]

Tom, I know you said you like to have the customer source the parts most of the time, but in the event that they don't how do you or those in your line of business work that out. I was wondering if you just use a cash account at sway the cat store or jd store or if you have an actual account there like a regular customer probably would? We do all of our own mechanic work at the quarry, the only times we call someone in is if we need some specialty welding or if an ECM needs swapped on a piece, CAT won't give me that ability. And if you buy the parts, how much do you mark them up? You kind of have to have some mark up for going and picking them up and using your money and getting paid for them, to take care of expenses and the higher tax you are paying because of higher income don t you? Some of the parts get to be pretty expensive sometimes I'm just curious as to the procedure.

I always had the vendor supply the part. I have an agreement with my vendors that there is no more than a 10% mark up. If I were to purchase the part for the vendor and the vendor installs the part (say for instance an ECM) and the part fails in a months time, the vendor wont warranty his labor for it wasnt his part that he purchased. So I end up paying for a trip charge and the labor hours to re-install another ECM that was faulty even though the ECM part was warrantied. So because of warranty issues, I have the vendor purchase the parts to get my max warranty limits..........Just something to keep in mind.

 

[TOM V]

Tom, I know you said you like to have the customer source the parts most of the time, but in the event that they don't how do you or those in your line of business work that out. I was wondering if you just use a cash account at sway the cat store or jd store or if you have an actual account there like a regular customer probably would? We do all of our own mechanic work at the quarry, the only times we call someone in is if we need some specialty welding or if an ECM needs swapped on a piece, CAT won't give me that ability. And if you buy the parts, how much do you mark them up? You kind of have to have some mark up for going and picking them up and using your money and getting paid for them, to take care of expenses and the higher tax you are paying because of higher income don t you? Some of the parts get to be pretty expensive sometimes I'm just curious as to the procedure.

I always work with the customers to get their machinery up and running. Sometimes I'll put the parts on my account out of convience, and other times the customer will purchase them. You should make 20 percent on any parts or materials you sell but that's impossible these days. I don't sell parts like I used to, many people turn to the internet to source parts, and you can't sell oem parts for more than the dealer gets so I let the customer handle the parts most of the time. I hope this answers your question.

 

[TOM V]

A few line boring pics.

 

[oldirt]

tom, I have all the upper joints all fixed on the blade for my D6D, straight blade that is, and I am down to the ball trunnions and bearings on the front of the push arms. do you just torch these out? It looks like they have never been out, but are really loose.. I am not sure but it looks like the nuts will have to be cut off the fastener bolts holding the push arm bearings to the balls, I cannot get a gun on them and I imagine that they are stuck tougher than a box end wrench can pull.. thanks for your help.

 

[02Dmax]

oldirt, I don't mean to answer for Tom but ,yes, I use a torch to get those and so does everyone I've seen do it. I hold the replacement end up next to the existing trunnion bearing, and make reference marks on the beam to give me an idea of where to cut. I don't know if thats right but its how I've done it. Tom will chime in and have a few other pointers I'm sure. Good luck!

 

[oldirt]

ok, that is pretty much the way it looks to me too. thanks for your help. If I can figure out how to get those bolts out the rest probably will be easy.

 

[nedly05]

Tom, What brand of shanks/teeth do you use on your excavator bucket rebuilds, who do you buy them through? We are getting ready to rebuild our bucket and need to do the shanks/teeth.

Thanks!

 

[TOM V]

Tom, What brand of shanks/teeth do you use on your excavator bucket rebuilds, who do you buy them through? We are getting ready to rebuild our bucket and need to do the shanks/teeth.

Thanks!

Nedly, I have been using Metalogenia teeth and adapters unless the customer prefers something else. They have excellent wear life and good impact resistance. Check their website for dealers in your area.

 

[nedly05]

Nedly, I have been using Metalogenia teeth and adapters unless the customer prefers something else. They have excellent wear life and good impact resistance. Check their website for dealers in your area.

Thanks Tom. Our local Nortrax carries them which is awesome. I'll be ordering a set, and taking pics of your bucket rebuilds with me when I go to drop off my bucket!

 

[kiall1987]

So i was trailing through youtube and who do I spot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AgM9an4AlU mr v himself

 

[curb guy]

So i was trailing through youtube and who do I spot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AgM9an4AlU mr v himself

That's pretty cool...just the other day I was thumbing through a Construction Equipment magazine , and Tom was featured on a full page ad for Mobil Delvac oil.....I think that qualifies him officially as a "celebrity"?

 

[oldirt]

reminds me of "tv tommy ivo" back in the day.. ok I am old.

 

[nowing75]

I remember the 4 engine car he used to run

 

[oldirt]

I always wondered why he used those buick nail valve specials. maybe they fit together better than any other big block.

 

[ValleyFirewood]

Just have to be careful!

This summer I built a heavy duty workbench in my garage. Long story short I ended up with a 3.5ftx8ft bench top that's about 13/16" thick. Top weights in at around 950lbs.
Set it on top of some .gov surplus Stanley Vidmar cabinets (heavy duty!)


ANYHOW... I had the top setup on a set of sawhorses outside to cut and weld it. One of my friends came over and needed to use my Bobcat which was in the garage with the benchtop in the way.

He used an engine hoist to move it to the garage, 4 C clamps on each side and ran a chain through them.


When it came time for me to set the top on the cabinets I figured, heck that worked great, even though I thought it was a bit crazy using C clamps to lift.

Got it lifted up and I went to push the top over and a C clamp slipped. In a split second it pinned my fingers between the chain and side of the top. Luckily I had help so we were able to set the top back down and get my hand out. No injury, but I was lucky!

hey tom, is that a c-clamp you use to hold the idler wheel?