Well I'm moving along at a snail's pace given the time and money factors, but I finally have my TJ cradle almost done. What a job. The old one was destroyed to say the least. The new one has T-1 ears...super tough steel. New bosses welded in all the way around. I'm not happy with the inside braces. They wound up crowding the bolt holes which will make it tough for the washers to fit flush.
I may try to redo them. I may have screwed that up. the old cradles had a top plate across and over the bolt holes...maybe should have done that, but I was trying to keep the bolts accessible.
I slipped in an old photo of the one of the ears to show how beat up it was. We used heavy wire (1/16th) and filled in with about 22 pounds of dual shield! We also welded in bottom plates that will sit on the axle housing for extra strength. I still have to weld in bosses on the TJ frame closest to the cab...they were egged out bad.
And I have to weld in a new rear tab...one of two that hang down on the TJ's to sandwich the cradle. But I'm glad we rebuilt it rather than order a used one and have it shipped. The TJ cradles can vary in size depending on year, and it was hard to find one in great shape.
Lots of neat-o with the riggin, but hopefully all will go into place just as planned. I need to tack in the bosses on the skidder frame, raise the cradle into place, make sure it all lines up, lower the cradle, and then weld in everything permanently. Then raise the cradle again, and pin it and shim it in place. Yikes.
Keeping fingers crossed on all that.
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Oh my that looks like a really good repair there! Sandersen you project is coming along a lot faster than mine lol. Looking good can't wait to see it all together.
Fine work sir.
I sure do hope you take a picture of that in place.Than I will know where it goes. :) That looks like some very fine work was done.
Thanks guys...progress always seems like two steps ahead and one step back. THECFARM: The cradle bolts to the top of the front axle housing. The whole unit is then raised into place under the skidder frame...then it's pinned and shimmed in place by two big pins. This arrangement allows the front wheels and axle to rock back and forth over rough terrain and keeps the skidder way more stable than it would be if the front end was fixed in place...like a pickup for example. Most of the skidders I've ever seen have a similar set up. Once the shims get worn, a smart operator will replace them and keep everything tight. But many just keep runnin her and then the slop gets bad, the cradle slams to and fro in the wrong direction, then all the holes get egged, and even in my case, the diff housing gets bashed in. Then a fool like me buys it and tries to fix it!!
Nice work!!
My truck's name is Fool's Errand. So youll have to come up with something else for the skidder
;D
My wife has a few choice names for it!
They always do.
Her: "i just dont understand why you had to go blow all that money on some stupid bulldozer. What did that do for us?"
Me: "if you look out the window someday you may notice that your car is parked on a nice flat road that was made by some stupid bulldozer where a muddy field used to be. What have all your hair and nail jobs done for us?"
Her: [angry glare]
you're brave mike! don't go there, not into hair and nail comments. it could bite you in the ....(https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/default/cheesy.gif)
A quick question for my learned colleagues: the 8 bolt holes in my cradle are 3/4 inch. The 8 bolt holes in the axle housing are 15/16ths.
When I separated the cradle from the housing I noticed that some of holes were egged out a bit. At the time, it struck me that the holes should match up to avoid the potential for slop. It would be easy to drill out the holes in the a-frame to match, but then I thought that maybe that was intentional for just that reason...to allow some movement to reduce
stress on the steel plating. My gut instinct is to want the holes to match so there is no play. Whaddyou guys think? I actually have a bit in the drill ready to go, but I decided to ask first just to be sure. Thanks!
Are the bolt holes you're talking about the ones for the bolts that hold the cradle to the axle? Sounds like they would have an awful lot of play there and you could never keep them tight.
Were there 3/4" bolts there when you took it apart?
But I've never seen a 15/16" bolt either. If you do anything, I'd hog the holes out to take 7/8" bolts-just be sure the holes will line up when you're done. You might want a bridge reamer to open those holes up.
Nice work, Love the fabrication work !!!!
Oliver, yes the holes in the cradle that attach to the axle are 3/4. But the holes in the axle are 15/16ths as far as I can tell. The bolts I removed were 3/4 inch and boy were they sloppy in the axle holes. It just didn't seem right. If all 8 holes are the same though it might be hard to line it all the bolt holes up. So it sounds like I don't need slop for any reason at all and it should be tight on bot pieces.
And thanks tantoy!