1966 230c update

[sandersen]

 After mulling this over for a few days, I decided to put the question to you guys.  It may be unnecessary and I almost just wrote it off, but any opinions from the forum are always welcome, and usually very helpful.  So here we go! 

br>

After pinning up the cradle with the new style pins, there was very little space between the head of the pin and the diff housing.  As the cradle rocked over rough terrain, I was sure it would wear and rub on the housing.    



 


So I decided to shim up the cradle with half inch plates welded to the flats on the axle housing.  I used new longer bolts and actually redrilled the holes.  Believe it or not, the holes in the axle are 15/16ths, and the original holes in the cradle were 3/4 of an inch.  Francis Brown told me that all the old TJ's came through with 3/4 inch bolts that dropped into the axle holes that were 15/16ths.  Crazy really when you think about it...quite a sloppy set up.  At any rate, I opened up the holes in the cradle a bit, and then used 7/8ths bolts which took out the potential for slop. 



 


But after that was all done, I realized I need to shim up the rear end as well, if for no other reason than to make it balance out from front to back.  So I slid half inch plates between the axle housing and the rear end, redrilled the holes to allow for larger bolts (7/8ths) along the same idea as the cradle.  Once I did that however, I realized that I lifted the frame up under the drive shaft just enough to interfere with the rear yoke and the cross member that's designed to protect the belly from denting upwards into the rear drive shaft.  There was not much clearance there to begin with.




So I had to cut out a chunk of the cross member and then weld in a support to allow the yoke to spin freely.  Fix one thing and create another problem somewhere else!  


 


So here's the skidder as is stands on the shims on level ground.  And here's my question: (Thanks for bearing with me!). 

I noticed the skidder now sits a bit lower in the rear.  It's probably no more than half an inch lower but it is lower and I'm not sure if that's the way it should be or not.  Should it be level as it sits on flat ground?  To raise it any more in the rear, I'd be pushing the belly closer to the rear drive shaft and I'd have to cut down the cross member even more.  I shoved 3/4 inch shims under the rear end just to see where it sat and it did bring it to near level.  I also wonder when I drop that 353 in there at 1000 lbs. if the skidder will squat a bit in the front and level it all out.  There's also tire tread that may come into play...new tread on the rear will raise it up a bit too.

My gut tells me to leave it alone and let it sit a bit lower in the rear on the 1/2 inch shims.  In the end I often overthink things...my brain working against me.  In my defense it's all in the pursuit of doing a good job.  My wife thinks I'm losing my mind...maybe she's right.  And if nobody weighs in on this topic, I'll assume your guys think that too.  Hopefully I won't be banned from the site.  Thanks a ton.

 
 

 

[tacks Y]

Nice work. I would not have bothered raising the rear. I can see no reason to worry about it being level. I run chains on the front so my Deere for sure is not level. My ground is not that flat either.

[82230E]

I am a long time lurker and relatively new member. I admire your attention to detail. The Timberjack 200 series do sit low in the back and not necessarily level. Like you said, tires and tire wear will effect this.

[62oliver]

Ya, nice work, but I think you are probably over-thinking it too. But don't tell your wife that, hahaha.

[barbender]

I'm with your wife! You're putting way more thought into this than anyone at TJ ever did😁 

[ohiowoodchuck]

I leave it lower in the back. I think once the motor is in you wont notice and if it still is a smidge lower in the back it will just give it a little better traction when you hook to a drag  

[GRANITEstateMP]

Your wife's right, your crazy.  Welcome to the club!  My names Matt and I'm a founding member!

I think you'll find it sits just right as is.  You've done some great work to that old girl ;D

[sandersen]

Okay, thanks guys! I'm gonna call it good enough as is.  It's been a long slow process for me on weekends only, but I'm finally getting all the main connections in the frame all done.  Rebuilt cradle, new pins and bushings there, new grade 8 bolts to the "jacked up" rear end, and I just split it for new pins and bushings at the center pivot point.  Luckily the holes weren't egged out so I caught a break there (finally).  Should have that done in a week or so.  Then I can pull it  out and sandblast, prime and paint.  Then I can actually start to put it all back together.  But it helps to bounce zany stuff off everybody on the site, especially since I'm running solo with no old skidder folks to consult.  Besides, you guys are cheaper than a psychiatrist!  Thanks again.