Bobcatter1
Member
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2015
- Messages
- 10
Hello everyone, I have just joined this forum, and this is my first posting. I just recently purchased a 1999 863 Bobcat, G-series, with only 1200 hours. Overall the machine is in nice shape, but I went to grease all of the pins the other day, and everyone except the bottom right bucket pivot pin took grease. I tired everything, heat, oils, lots of grease gun pressure, but no luck. Anyway, the bushing twisted out of position and was sticking out of the arm at least 1/8", so the channel wasn't lining up with the pin's grease hole. The bushing actually wore a nice groove into the bobtach. It was annoying to drop down the bobtach because of this. Today, I removed both bushings (I decided to replace both while I had the attachment plate down). The removal went smoothly. I MIG welded here and there in the bushing and both hammered out easily. The bore, whose bushing wasn't getting grease, is a bit rusty, though. I lightly wire brushed it, and also lightly sanded it with a little old 100 and 220 grit paper. I still have a decent amount of pitting, as I'm afraid of removing too much material. I ordered two new bushings, pins, and seals from Bobcat, and they'll be arriving on Monday. I did this before I got to see some of the pitting in the bore. So, my question is, short of having the arm re-bored and an oversized bushing installed, do I have any other options? I tested the bores with the better of the two old bushings (which I shrunk by welding inside). The bushing will start to go into the side that was working fine, but to go further I'd have to hammer it in. But, the side that was the problem, when I take the same bushing I can push it in by hand with just a little force. Maybe I'm worrying too much and the new bushing will be tight enough, despite the pitting and wear. I'm just wondering if there is anything else I can do, maybe Loctite at the ends of the bushing, I don't know. Anyway, I'm sorry for the long message, but I'm new to bobcats/skid steers, and any advice is appreciated. Thanks. Joe