BobTach removal from Bobcat 843 – pins stuck in lift arms

[BobCav]

I'm from Denmark, so I hope you can understand my English. But here goes:
I'm in the beginning of restoring my latest project, an old bobcat 843. I picked it up for a very low price. It runs good, but it needs a little work here and there.
Right now I'm having problems with removing the BobTach frame from the lift arms. I have used the search function and read this thread among others:
http://www.skidsteerforum.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=54&frmView=ShowPost&PostID=3196
I have removed the grease nipples inside the BobTach frame. Then I have loosened the big bolts on the outside of the lift arms and turned them back until I had a clearance of about 10 mm between the head of the bolt and the lift arm. The service manual then instructs you to hit the bolt with a hammer until the pin breaks loose and can be pushed back into the BobTach frame.
I tried hitting the bolts pretty good, but absolutely nothing happens! If I hit it much harder, I fear that I might be damaging more than fixing.
So is it normal that the pins are so difficult to get out of the lift arms? Or am I doing something wrong?
As I can understand, the holes in the lift arm and the pins is tapered, which would indicate why they would stick so good together.
Does anybody have a good trick on how to get the pins out of the lift arms?
Casper

 

[OldMachinist]

Everything you're doing is correct but you may need to apply some heat and penetrating oil to the lift arm bore area. Heat the area and apply the oil and rap around on the arm with your hammer, let it soak overnight and heat it up again, more oil and then hit the bolt heads. you may have to repeat this several times before you get results. You may also have to get it pretty hot if the tapered pins have been in there a long time. Good luck.

 

[jmatt20]

Everything you're doing is correct but you may need to apply some heat and penetrating oil to the lift arm bore area. Heat the area and apply the oil and rap around on the arm with your hammer, let it soak overnight and heat it up again, more oil and then hit the bolt heads. you may have to repeat this several times before you get results. You may also have to get it pretty hot if the tapered pins have been in there a long time. Good luck.

i had an 843 for the better part of 25 years and i have taken out the pins quite a few times . i always use a 14 lb sledge hammer 1 or 2 full swing hits and they pop free. if they are stuck that bad you can't hurt anything the pins are most likely worn out and need replacing anyway and the bolts are cheep enough ...pins about 25 dll. ea and bolts 3 dlls. ea

 

[Skiddy]

i had an 843 for the better part of 25 years and i have taken out the pins quite a few times . i always use a 14 lb sledge hammer 1 or 2 full swing hits and they pop free. if they are stuck that bad you can't hurt anything the pins are most likely worn out and need replacing anyway and the bolts are cheep enough ...pins about 25 dll. ea and bolts 3 dlls. ea

My 642b was the same way the grease had set up pretty bad in the bob tach. my buddy a service manager at our local bobcat dealership tols me to go buy 2 longer grade 8 bolts, heat it up good and get a big sledge. It worked but man it was a chore.

 

[azlan58]

Casper, I have recently replaced/ pins and bushings on my 843, I think one of the most important tips is " watch your feet" that bobtach is heavy when it has to travel 3 feet or so to the floor.. we pounded mine out with 10 lb sledge and then made a tool on a tee handle to snake the new ones back in, i will try to find a picture, if you are going to put new pins in you might want to add any shims/washers while you are in there.

 

[BobCav]

Casper, I have recently replaced/ pins and bushings on my 843, I think one of the most important tips is " watch your feet" that bobtach is heavy when it has to travel 3 feet or so to the floor.. we pounded mine out with 10 lb sledge and then made a tool on a tee handle to snake the new ones back in, i will try to find a picture, if you are going to put new pins in you might want to add any shims/washers while you are in there.

Thanks for all the replies! Your help is really appreciated!
I wasn't sure, if I did the procedure correctly. But judging from your replies seemed like I did. So I decided to try one more time with the sledge hammer. I gave it all I had – and the left side actually came loose!
Right side was still stuck. Then my dad came by with a very big puller he had been using for pulling propellers of propeller-shafts on larger boats. We managed to hook it up, and it did the job. So now the BobTach is finally off! )
The pins were worn as expected, so they will need replacement. The pin holes in the BobTach frame are also worn. But when I looked into the pins holes in the BobTach frame, it seems like there is a 2 inch wide bushing inside each hole. Is that normal? And if so, is that bushing replaceable? I thought I read somewhere, that there were no replaceable bushings in the BobTach frame?

 

[BobCav]

Thanks for all the replies! Your help is really appreciated!
I wasn't sure, if I did the procedure correctly. But judging from your replies seemed like I did. So I decided to try one more time with the sledge hammer. I gave it all I had – and the left side actually came loose!
Right side was still stuck. Then my dad came by with a very big puller he had been using for pulling propellers of propeller-shafts on larger boats. We managed to hook it up, and it did the job. So now the BobTach is finally off! )
The pins were worn as expected, so they will need replacement. The pin holes in the BobTach frame are also worn. But when I looked into the pins holes in the BobTach frame, it seems like there is a 2 inch wide bushing inside each hole. Is that normal? And if so, is that bushing replaceable? I thought I read somewhere, that there were no replaceable bushings in the BobTach frame?

Oops, sorry about the small font!..

 

[BobCav]

Oops, sorry about the small font!..

Corrected:
Thanks for everybody's replies! Your help is really appreciated!
I wasn't sure, if I did procedure correctly. But judging from your replies seemed like I did. So I decided to try one more time with the sledge hammer. I gave it all I had – and the left side actually came loose!
Right side was still stuck. Then my dad came by with a very big puller that he had been using for pulling propellers of propeller-shafts on larger boats. We managed to hook it up, and it did the job. So now the BobTach is finally off! )
The pins were worn as expected, so they will need replacement. The pin holes in the BobTach frame are also worn. But when I looked into the pins holes in the BobTach frame, it seems like there is a 2 inch wide bushing inside each hole. Is that normal? And if so, is that bushing replaceable? I thought I read somewhere, that there were no replaceable bushings in the frame?

 

[Skiddy]

Corrected:
Thanks for everybody's replies! Your help is really appreciated!
I wasn't sure, if I did procedure correctly. But judging from your replies seemed like I did. So I decided to try one more time with the sledge hammer. I gave it all I had – and the left side actually came loose!
Right side was still stuck. Then my dad came by with a very big puller that he had been using for pulling propellers of propeller-shafts on larger boats. We managed to hook it up, and it did the job. So now the BobTach is finally off! )
The pins were worn as expected, so they will need replacement. The pin holes in the BobTach frame are also worn. But when I looked into the pins holes in the BobTach frame, it seems like there is a 2 inch wide bushing inside each hole. Is that normal? And if so, is that bushing replaceable? I thought I read somewhere, that there were no replaceable bushings in the frame?

Yes the bushings are replacable I just did mine 2 weeks ago. If you don't have access to a bushing splitter you can do as I did. Just take a die grinder with a small round carbide burr on it and score through the old bushing length wise and the bushing will fall out. when you get the bore all cleaned up please notice that there is a counter bore in the bobtach that the bushing is pressed into. measure the length of the new bushing and the length of the counterbore. The new bushings that I got were a little longer than the counterbore but worked just fine. I replaced the pins also. Oh I would make sure you clean the old grease out of the bobtach. PS my parts manual even shows a grease seal between the arms and the bobtach. PS-2 I think it would be a good idea to coat the tapered portion of the new pins with anti seize.