Something just clicked…..

[RustnGrease]

Best of luck on the ram strouty! I've been involved with doing a few over the years. The nut on the back of the ram was always a trouble point for us, but the machines we work on are alot bigger than your excavator. Sometimes it took a pipewrench with a length of pipe and a comealong to break the nuts loose.

You may need to park or manuever something onto the pin end of the ram to keep it from turning while you try and loosen the nut. Some of the local shops have i bean benches that the rod lays in that a hydraulic ram is mounted on, similar to a shop press to hold it from turning.

Before you try turning that nut make sure there's not a set screw to keep it from loosening, it's usually in the middle of the nut.

 

[Strouty]

I will look for the set screw for sure. To keep it from turning, I am going to install it into the ears on the machine, I hope I won't be able to flip the excavator over. Another buddy said to use heat on the nut, I think I am going to try it without heat first and if I fail, then I will go to heat.

 

[nine4gmc]

You're selling all those tools with the two knack boxes?


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[Thumper68]

Wow you are getting **** done!

I saw on the morning weather that you have some rain coming stay dry and keep up the great work.

I'm having a case of Lista envy and you don't even have them yet.

 

[Strouty]

Nines, those were the pictures before I moved the tools to the new boxes. I am just going to put some miscellaneous stuff in them, but the auctioneer will sell the tools separately anyways.

Thumper, it looks like a couple inches in the next 24 hours. Luckily it is holding off so I can get a bit more done outside. Sorry about the Lista envy.

I have been working at the ram for a while, just stopped in for a quick break. I will post a full update after I get some lunch.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I keep checking back to see if the lista's are set up yet.

 

[drivesitfar]

Strouty: that's the biggest service panel i've ever seen in a residential property and i've seen some damn expensive homes. nice job getting that buttoned up with your little brother.

looks like you are in full gear now and best of luck with the ram on your excavator today. i was thinking i should loan you a big socket and it looks like you have them coming out of everywhere so hopefully you have on big enough.

cheers and best of luck

 

[Strouty]

Sorry Richard, I still have to pick them up.

Drives, it ended up being a 2 9/16" socket, I have up to 3 ½". I agree that was a monster panel for a residential service, I would love to have it in my shop.

I still need to get the boat over to the auction, but the ram is done and it doesn't even leak!

If I did this all the time I probably would not use the pipe wrench again, it didn't totally mess up the nut, but it did damage one edge. I was a little bit concerned that the ten foot pipe would bend my 1" breaker bar, but now I think it would have been fine. I tried the swench, but the ear had enough play that the impact force was just not there.




I had to use my step to get the pipe on and then get things started. I did get it loose with no heat, that made me feel a bit better.



There was no set screw, just a nylon nut, a big one!



This part was a tapered fit, it kind of threw me for a loop for a minute.



Making a mess, but all the parts were fairly easy to remove and install. I purchased a full rebuild kit from CAT (they bought out Mitsubishi at some point), it was expensive, but top quality.



Some of the old parts looked like new, but I was in there and not about to try and save a few dollars. The seals were definitely flattened and there were a few o-rings that were fairly messed up too.







Time to put things back together, had to use the lower ears again so I can tighten the nut.



I used the breaker bar with the ten foot pipe to torque the nut to some crazy torque that I had to guess at.





Then I had to remove the ram from the lower ears so I could put the tube back in place, then insert the ram back into the tube.





Ram inserted, used a bit of oil to get things lubed. The dust seal was probably the hardest part to start. I then tightened the gland nut and inserted the locking spring, forgot to take pictures, but you get the idea.



I then had to pick the ram up and get it on the upper pin, then install the bottom one, there was not enough wiggle room with the bottom eye in place. The ram is heavy.



Installed the lines and tested things out. I will need to add fluid, but I think I am going to do a hydraulic service anyways.

 

[bczygan]

Crazy!

You must like to work on big stuff.

And where did you get that giant supply of Knaack boxes?

Bill

 

[drivesitfar]

Strouty: nice job. now that you got your exercise for the day eat something healthy and get on with the next thing on your list. awesome job especially since it didn't sound like you've done that before.

now i know why i have a Proto torque wrench that goes up to something like 3000 pounds.

BTW unless you need the money i wouldn't be in a hurry to sell those Knack boxes unless you are getting a great price. they are great for storage to keep new finds out of the shop until you have time to repair or restore them. i like Greenlee brand better, but those look like they are in great shape that you own.

cheers

 

[Strouty]

Bill, I only have five, two of them are going to the auction.

Drives, that torque wrench sounds awesome, could have used it today. As for the Knaack boxes, the two that I am selling are a bit older and I absolutely hate the locking mechanisms on them. Two are brand new from Zoro a few months ago and the other one is essentially the same as the new ones, so I figured I would keep that one. I plan on buying more at some point, but I want to get through this winter first.

I dropped off the boat, but I found a truck I want. I can't win, but I would much rather have the truck than the boat and the truck would allow me to sell one of my other trucks. I guess it will all depend on how much it goes for at the auction next week.

 

[Strouty]

I am going to clean up the mess I made over the last two days then call it a day. I am about worn out, I did manage to load the truck with more stuff to go to the auction and I made a list of other things that need to go. My Dad asked me to take a trailer to the auction, he said he didn't care if it would do $500, then I realized it was my old trailer and I think I may just buy it back instead of sending it to the auction. It needs brake work, but it is pretty solid and has four new tires. I figure if I fix it and use it for a while, I can sell it for a profit later. Now I have to figure out when I am going to pick up the Lista stuff, I may leave really early Thursday morning, they can load at 7:30 AM, so even with picking up the tube, I can probably be home a bit after lunch. That would let me get another trip or two over to the auction.




I have to load up these things at some point. Depends on how much rain we get.

 

[nine4gmc]

Good stuff Strouty, love that GMC, I'd probably want to bid on that myself!


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[Thumper68]

Nice truck what engine does it have, K3500 I assume?

Does the auction have online bidding?

 

[Strouty]

Thumper, it is a 3500 HD series with a 6.5 diesel. These were never factory 4x4 so this is a conversion done by one of the big companies like quigley. The truck has 15k GVW and I have owned many of them (well none 4x4) and love them.

 

[Thumper68]

Thumper, it is a 3500 HD series with a 6.5 diesel. These were never factory 4x4 so this is a conversion done by one of the big companies like quigley. The truck has 15k GVW and I have owned many of them (well none 4x4) and love them.

I noticed that you didn't say if they have online bidding.

 

[Strouty]

I noticed that you didn't say if they have online bidding.

Sorry, I am not sure if they do at this auction or not. If they do, I am not saying.

Looks like there is no online auction for this one. They do have online for certain ones.

 

[Thumper68]

Don't worry you are safe, I can't see how I would justify flying to ME to pick up a pickup now matter how good a deal it was.


Then again I do have all those frequent flyer miles.....

Hey Strouty can you pick me up at the air port?

 

[RustnGrease]

Nice job on the ram strouty. Looks exactly the same as when we do them, BFW and a length of pipe makes it happen. Rip, **** or bust lol! When we do them in the field on our machines they dont have a collar nut, just a series of bolts that hold the head on. Great idea to pull the housing and use the machine to hold the ram to loosen the bolt. If we do one in field we usually just use the outrigger on a service truck to hold them. If that doesn't hold, it's off to the bench with the ram and probably a knocker/hammer wrench.

Many moons ago cat sold a smaller line of excavators. The E series that i believe was made by Mitsubishi for CAT, perhaps your machine is a mitsubishi branded version of a similar machine.

 

[Strouty]

I think it is a true mitsubishi, model is a MS 090-8, it appears to be a 1980s version (I don't remember what year), but it has low hours and my Dad bought it new, so I know the history.

 

[drivesitfar]

Strouty: there was a time where i would have driven across town to buy that organizer in the back of your truck. i know you have a wall of Listas coming and plenty of organizers, but if you are not going to get much money for it would it work in your garage at home?

not trying to get you to keep all your stuff, but thought i'd let you know it's cool.

wishing you luck with the excavator. does it work ok or did it start raining so you didn't get a chance to test it yet?

cheers

 

[dlcwent]

Glad you got the ram behind you. Nice 3500 your looking at. That would be a nice addition. Good luck.

 

[Strouty]

Drives, I don't have a garage at home. It is a neat piece and I have never used it to its potential. Time to let it go. The excavator works great with no leaks, I am going to do the other ram at some point.

Thanks DLC now all I have to do is aquire it.

 

[nine4gmc]

Hope you get it cheap!! My old neighbor had a gmc kodiac I used to drool over. It was a wrecker in a prior life but had the drop bed removed, I wanted to buy it and cut the frame down, then put a standard dually bed on it but never hit the lottery.


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[Strouty]

Today is a very anti motivational day, hopefully the rain lets up this afternoon so I can get a load over to the auction. I am headed out to get a trailer for tomorrow's trip to pick up the Lista storage wall and the heavy wall tube.

 

[RustnGrease]

Strouty: Allow me to clear that up a bit. Back in the '80's Mitsubishi made smaller excavators for CAT. They were Mitsubishi through and through with Cat branding as far as i know. With yours being a Mitsubishi of the same era, there's probably a twin to yours that has CAT badges. This machine actually looks pretty close to yours.

 

[bczygan]

There's an 2000 3500 HD Stakebed on Detroit Craigslist for $1500........needs an engine though.


EDIT: 2 month old CL ad . Was sold long ago.

 

[Strouty]

Rust, now I get it. That does look the same as mine.

Bill, I bet it is not a 4x4.

 

[Strouty]

Today is the day that reminds me I need to figure out the roof situation, we have had inches of rain in the last 12 hours and it looks like inches more in the next 12 hours. My two leaks are now ten or more. At least I know not to keep anything of value in that general area, but when I showed up today it was about ten times worse than normal.

So here I am trying to figure out how I can buy another truck when my roof still leaks, how is that for getting my priorities straight?

Once I get some dry weather, I will be taking measurements and getting prices for the metal roofing. At least if I do this, it can be removed and reused for the siding. I was going to do two pieces and overlap it, but I may just do one long piece. It seems like it would just make things easier and the overlap will wear the paint off anyways, then the sides will look like ***. So now I have to figure out dimensions and color, then order it. So much for the truck.

 

[Strouty]

Considering all the rain, today has been fairly productive. We are getting a bit of a break right now and I got a load to the auction as well as picked up some supplies that are needed for a job. Now I have to figure out why the lights are not working on the trailer I borrowed, hopefully I don't have to rewire my truck. I guess I could make an adapter if needed.

 

[bczygan]

Strouty,
I keep getting inspired by your work ethic.

Our rain was yesterday. A flood that showed me all that leaked here.

I had everything in the yard covered.

Great sunny but cool weather with a nice breeze today.

Today I attacked a pile that has been under a tarp for a year or two. Some stuff got wet and was ruined. The rest got sorted and a 96 gallon curbside trashcan filled. The remainder was put in the long shed for further sorting. Most of the pile gone.

Last night at 2:30 in the morning, the neighbors dogs were barking for a while. I had fallen asleep early, so got up and went down to the garage and started sorting and organizing things for an hour, until I could get back to sleep.

Winter is coming.....

Bill

 

[nine4gmc]

I had two small leaks in my shop for the past year, I got up there last week and fixed them but apparently when I was checking out the vent thing, I caused a really large new leak. Two steps forward, one step back... I got back up there a few days later and fixed the new leak, hope it's done now...

Good luck with your roof!

 

[Richard Cranium]

Well I had a yard sale and got rid of some of my extra's. Yard sales are strange, the stuff that you think that will sell don't but the stuff you really don't think will sell is what every one wants. I got 60.00 out of my organizer on the last day. I kept dropping the price. I started at 100.00 and had went down to 75.00 then got an offer of 60.00. Didn't want to haul it back home with me.

 

[Strouty]

Thanks Bill, sounds like you had a productive time as well.

Nines, the roof is going to be fun, no matter what I do.

After my last post, I got a call from one of my subcontractors and had to load materials on the trailer so I could have them at the tower site first thing in the morning. I had borrowed my Dad's brand new trailer and the brake lights and blinkers were not working. I spent about two hours trying to figure out what was going on, at first I thought it was the suburban, then I found that it was me not knowing how to use my new meter. After I found that the suburban was fully functioning then I thought it was the bulbs. I swapped bulbs and it did not help, then I started trying to get voltage readings, so I find that the wires are not even hooked up for the blinker. The idiots that wired it up, cut the wires short and they had pulled out of the "socket", the cheap lights just have a hole you push the wire through and it is supposed to snag on the tab that pushes against the bulb end. At this point I have the driver's side done and working, then the passenger's side was not disconnected, so I still am confused. In the end it was the bulb on the passenger's side and the wires on the driver's side. All of this was done in a dark drizzle, I finally got the trailer lights all working and everything is loaded so I can head out in the morning.

Tomorrow will be the day of Lista! I am super excited to pick up the storage wall. It will be a bit of a relief and should be somewhat relaxing compared to what I have been doing.

 

[drivesitfar]

Strouty: success is a good thing and what a pain especially for a new trailer. good luck with the job stuff and hope you have fun and smile all the way home with those lista cabs in the back on the trailer.

cheers

 

[dlcwent]

Well Strouty, Portland looked mighty wet. How was your area? We got over 7" here. It wasn't pretty. But the cars weren't under water like the news was showing in your area.
I also found a leak. Well I didn't find it yesterday, it was leaking there before. But only when it is raining sideways from the south. Maybe I should yet some roof sealant.

 

[Strouty]

Thanks Drives, it should be fun just the fact that I know what I am picking up will make it much better.

DLC, not sure what are totals were, but it was up there. I always have issues when the rain comes in sideways, I even have some weird leaks between the wall and the slab. I hope to address all my leaks in the next few months. At least when winter hits it doesn't leak, not even in the spring.

Hope everyone has a good day, I will get some pictures of the journey and post them later.

 

[nine4gmc]

Can't wait for the pics, I'm excited for you!!

My old shop had leaks at the slab, the new shop has a piece of metal flashing that turns up a few inches on the inside of the wall and is flat outside the wall. The new shop never leaks at the floor, I'm sure it's the flashing thingy preventing it. I can get a pic if needed.


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[nine4gmc]

Btw, I didn't know you guys were getting hit with weather until a few hours ago, now I see the hurricane may be headed your way... Stay dry, hope it turns back out to sea!!


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[drivesitfar]

Strouty: are you planning on missing the storm for your pickup of the Listas? i'm guessing their packing is probably pretty good, but don't forget to bring the tarps in case you hit the weather.

good luck on the trip and fixing the roof.

cheers and keep up the positive thinking about your weight loss plan.