Hey all, My new 2 me 763 has the bobtach pins froze up on it, It looks like they had been greased a long time ago but man are they stuck. I removed handle and scraped all dirt on bottom and top i could, Ive soaked them for days and even tried to heat them with map gas to get penetrating oil to creep in and nothing. I tried a big brass punch and a 2lb hammer to drive them up and not a budge. Any good ideas? This is a 2000 model with a 1000 hours so everything is in good shape I just dont think this was used or greased. Can you heat these with a torch? I need some help. Thanks
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I had the same problem with an 02 753G. The pins would not move. I heated up with an oxy torch but still refused to move. I had to cut the bucket off and remove the bobtach, i tried heating and hitting with a sledge.... BAD IDEA. I didn't know the pins are hardened. A piece flew off and hit me in the knee, the metal lodged in there, it came out with a strong magnet thankfully.
You're not going to like it, but the way i fixed it was to cut the bosses out and make new ones. You *may* have success if you can remove the bucket and bobtach so you can strike the pins with a copper hammer. Another way i felt may work was to run a cut down the length of the boss with a thin cut off blade and see if that releases the stuck pin.
Good luck with it! i have been there and know your pain.
You're not going to like it, but the way i fixed it was to cut the bosses out and make new ones. You *may* have success if you can remove the bucket and bobtach so you can strike the pins with a copper hammer. Another way i felt may work was to run a cut down the length of the boss with a thin cut off blade and see if that releases the stuck pin.
Good luck with it! i have been there and know your pain.
I have been through a few that wouldn't come out , I tried heat , juice and pounding , the way I got them out is hard to do without messing up your torch tip but after cutting the bottom off the wedge to get the bucket off , I disconnected the linkage on the top and started cutting the pin into the bore from both sides a bit then hit it after it cools , if it don't move cut some more , I remember one pin that when it finally let loose it was about 1 inch left of it ----------Aerokroil is about the best penetrating oil to use , if you remove the grease fitting from the side of the bore , dig it out with a pick then apply 'kroil it will sometimes free up without extreme measures
Went through the same exercise. If you tilt the bobtach, forward I believe, it will make a reservoir that you can pour penetrating fluid in to a level above the the pin sleeve junction. I added fluid twice a day every day for about three days and one side finally worked it's way down. I removed the bobtach with the bucket and used a rosebud and an ox/ac torch to apply heat to the sleeve. With the assy upside down I was able to free up one pin with mild steel punch and a 2lb hammer. The other side took repeated treatments of heat and penetrating fluid before I got it loose. I tried to keep the heat on the sleeve and not the pin. The only areas you have access to the sleeve is where the grease zerk and at the upper pin junction is. I lifted and blocked the assy where the fliud would form a reservoir. I removed the zerk as well. I heated the sleeve and poured the fluid to form the reservoir and squirted into the hole for the zerk and let it sit. After a couple of treatments like that the penetrating fluid worked down and I was able to beat the pin out by heating the sleeve.
Another method that many of the machinery restorers use is Electrolysis. If you search on electrolytic rust removal you'll get the details. You can build a tank and line it with plastic or just buy a cheap kiddie pool and suspend the bucket/bobtach from some saw horses into the solution. I've read about guys freeing up old grain drills this way and there is allot of moving parts on those things.
I GOT IT!!!!!!!!!! I woke up at night with an idea, you guys will like this, after soaking them real good for days I went up there and took my big spline hammer drill and put it on hammer only with a 5/8 brass dowel pin about 8 inches long or so and that thing shook dirt out of places I didnt know dirt could get. Once they started to budge the aero kroil did its job and end result is, there good as new. Let this be a lesson to the occasional weekend warriors, grease is cheap. Thanks for the input again, you guys are a big help!!!
bobbie-g
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Wow! Good idea! And thanks very much for the feedback. Too often, that feedback goes wanting here on the forum, where several guys will take the time to offer suggestions, and the original poster is never heard from again. Tnx again! ---RC
With that said, an air chisel with a flat ended rod would do the same,and probably faster too. Hadn't thought of using one until now. When mine were stuck we beat the bottom of the pins with a 4 lb mini sledge to work them up and then on the top to work them back down. I find having some one hold pressure on the grease guns while you try to move the frozen part helps alot. i just unfroze a pillow block bearing by trying to turn the axle while keeping grease pressure on the fitting. As it started to turn the grease was slowly coming out and eventually broke the rust free.
Another safety precaution I can add to this is when ever using heat on a boss which has a grease fitting on it always remove the grease fitting from the boss before heating as when heated it can shoot the ball out the end of the grease fitting like a gun going off , and don't stand right over the hole where the grease fitting was as I have seen fire balls of grease fly out the holes some times -------------know what really helps this job is to have the right tools , a 2 lb hand mall can cause mushrooming on a really stuck pin , it is better to have a B+O hammer like the railroad uses ( very good tool to have when driving pins ) or make your own by taking a pin of slightly smaller diameter than you are trying to drive out , weld it to a rod which can be used as a handle and hit it with something big like a 12 or 16 lb mall while someone else holds the driver tool
fishfiles, your not kidding about the grease fitting blowing the ball out with heat, Ive seen that happen and that could hurt somebody quick. I always consider that when heating something up. I couldnt get over the noise that made when that blew up and a big cloud of smoke blew Thanks for the tip because im sure not everybody knew about this.
I have heard that boom and seen that stream of smoke ,and the smoke is wicked , it is a very , very thick white smoke , I see you mentioned Kroil , that is some good stuff , I used it today on a John Deere pin , it is $18 for the larger can here in New Orleans and there is only one place that sells it , Kroil has a unique smell to it , wonder what the active ingredient is , smells like ammonia ------------ the best tool in the box for stuck pins is patience , if you rush it you are going to mushroom the pin and making it harder to get out or get hurt
sledesigns
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- Jan 23, 2009
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Great ideas for freeing up stuff. I was doing the same thing about the same time, Bobcat used for mixing fertilizer, bucket hadn't been off in years. Lifted the arms and tilted bucket all the way forward and set it this way, horizontal for decent penetrant soaking from both sides. Used torch for heat, punch & good sized hammer, no movement for a few days. Didn't want to cut on the bucket but was looking viable. Ended up using a nice sized ballpeen hammer as a sort of punch with a handle. Put the hammer side on the Bobpin and hit the ball side with a shorty sledge. I could really lay into it with that combo. One medium hit to feel it out, plus two wallups and it was moving. The subsequent taps had no mushrooming effect, moved right on out. Didn't have to fix a cut bucket either. I might try honing the bore with a brake hone.
I find its best to get it moving in as few hits as possible. Too small a hammer and you can tap on it all day. Wear the saftey glasses of course, smacking one hammer with another is warned against. Ive never chipped one however, maybe its the old hammers.
