Need advice on pivot shaft rework

You have some good wear there, so my advice is

(A) Find a good used shaft is your easiest option, or
(😎 Weld the worn sections up and have it turned in a lathe, I did that recently with my D2 4U, just remember to weld on the opposite side each pass to minimize the shaft twisting, or else
(C) Have a whole new cross shaft made, from what I recall my buddy "Farmer3" up in New Yoik State paid around $300 to have one made for his D2.

There will be plenty of folks all schmarter than me who will chime in soon, some might suggest turning that shaft down in a lathe and fitting a sleeve over it too? The bronze bearings are not hard to make, but the bronze pipe is reasonably expensive, I think I paid about $130 a foot here in Oz for mine, to get the old bushes out run a couple beads of arc weld inside them onto the bronze, it shrinks them sufficiently so you can belt them out. On the new bearings allow 1 thou per inch of diameter of your shaft, for the interference fit, I think that was the right ratio. Put the new bushes in the freezer overnight to shrink them slightly, and you can heat your track frame a bit, "Farmer3" got his Fitter and Turner to cut a slight taper at the start of his new bearings I think, to help get them started easier, my D2 had them pushed in with a press but I had to hone them afterwards to get them onto the shaft, because they "crush" when fitted into the frames, but you know that already.

Good luck, take your time, ask around for a good older Machinist and you will save more money, those folks understand old bronze bushes and a quality job, if you rush you will pay mucho dinero on these sorts of jobs, and often be wondering what the young kid at the big Engineering Shop was thinking when he did it the first time for you and screwed it up!😆 I been there, and done that!😆
Mike

[quote="Mike Meyer"]You have some good wear there, so my advice is

(A) Find a good used shaft is your easiest option, or
(😎 Weld the worn sections up and have it turned in a lathe, I did that recently with my D2 4U, just remember to weld on the opposite side each pass to minimize the shaft twisting, or else
(C) Have a whole new cross shaft made, from what I recall my buddy "Farmer3" up in New Yoik State paid around $300 to have one made for his D2.

There will be plenty of folks all schmarter than me who will chime in soon, some might suggest turning that shaft down in a lathe and fitting a sleeve over it too? The bronze bearings are not hard to make, but the bronze pipe is reasonably expensive, I think I paid about $130 a foot here in Oz for mine, to get the old bushes out run a couple beads of arc weld inside them onto the bronze, it shrinks them sufficiently so you can belt them out. On the new bearings allow 1 thou per inch of diameter of your shaft, for the interference fit, I think that was the right ratio. Put the new bushes in the freezer overnight to shrink them slightly, and you can heat your track frame a bit, "Farmer3" got his Fitter and Turner to cut a slight taper at the start of his new bearings I think, to help get them started easier, my D2 had them pushed in with a press but I had to hone them afterwards to get them onto the shaft, because they "crush" when fitted into the frames, but you know that already.

Good luck, take your time, ask around for a good older Machinist and you will save more money, those folks understand old bronze bushes and a quality job, if you rush you will pay mucho dinero on these sorts of jobs, and often be wondering what the young kid at the big Engineering Shop was thinking when he did it the first time for you and screwed it up!😆 I been there, and done that!😆
Mike[/quote] Thanks very much for the advice, Mike. I'll take a look at all the options you suggest, and wait for others to also chime in. Does anyone know of where I might find a good used shaft? Ray

I am in the process myself on a Wide 30, Getting those brackets of that shaft was tough, I made a frame of heavy 2 1/2 inch angle iron and pulled them off with a porta power and a lot of Heat. My shaft measuers 2 5/8 in the unworn spots, a little under 2 3/8 in the worn spots where the angle braces ride, and the angle brackets were near 2 3/4 making for a sloppy mess, I took my shaft that was suprisingly stright to a local machine repair company that has a lathe with a 18 foot bed and a spray ark welding set up. They will be building up the center section to 3.75 and I will boar the center and 2 angle brackets to match, they are also turning the end 3 inches true so I can rebush the end bearings, if it all works out, Dad will have a stright tracking 30 They are charging us $350

Steve, thanks for the input. My pivot shaft is probably in a little worse condition than yours. Today I took my assembly to a local machine shop a mile down the road that I know to be very good and showed it to them. They said that it will definitely be less costly to make a new shaft than to repair the one I have. By the end of the week they should have a complete estimate for me. I will have them do all of the bushings too so I know it will all fit well. They also have to make all washers new and one of the nuts. Mine is also a little more complex as my outer bearing housing has a significant weldment added to it to take part of the load of the dozer blade I have on it. Ray

Ray i bought a set of bushings and planned to cut the grease groove inside, then i found out the price.....WOW back up... Then i found another place that would sell me the bushings WITH the grease groove cut in however i wanted for about 10 dollars more...I don't have the name of the place with me,, (connecticut i think).,,, call me sometime and i can look up the name and phone # of the place,,,, I have the original set of 4 bushings that needs to be grooved inside and the OD turned down a bit if you, or anyone out there ,are interested in them. .... Dave 920 210-2875

You have some good wear there, so my advice is

(A) Find a good used shaft is your easiest option, or
(😎 Weld the worn sections up and have it turned in a lathe, I did that recently with my D2 4U, just remember to weld on the opposite side each pass to minimize the shaft twisting, or else
(C) Have a whole new cross shaft made, from what I recall my buddy "Farmer3" up in New Yoik State paid around $300 to have one made for his D2.

There will be plenty of folks all schmarter than me who will chime in soon, some might suggest turning that shaft down in a lathe and fitting a sleeve over it too? The bronze bearings are not hard to make, but the bronze pipe is reasonably expensive, I think I paid about $130 a foot here in Oz for mine, to get the old bushes out run a couple beads of arc weld inside them onto the bronze, it shrinks them sufficiently so you can belt them out. On the new bearings allow 1 thou per inch of diameter of your shaft, for the interference fit, I think that was the right ratio. Put the new bushes in the freezer overnight to shrink them slightly, and you can heat your track frame a bit, "Farmer3" got his Fitter and Turner to cut a slight taper at the start of his new bearings I think, to help get them started easier, my D2 had them pushed in with a press but I had to hone them afterwards to get them onto the shaft, because they "crush" when fitted into the frames, but you know that already.

Good luck, take your time, ask around for a good older Machinist and you will save more money, those folks understand old bronze bushes and a quality job, if you rush you will pay mucho dinero on these sorts of jobs, and often be wondering what the young kid at the big Engineering Shop was thinking when he did it the first time for you and screwed it up!😆 I been there, and done that!😆
Mike

Ray i bought a set of bushings and planned to cut the grease groove inside, then i found out the price.....WOW back up... Then i found another place that would sell me the bushings WITH the grease groove cut in however i wanted for about 10 dollars more...I don't have the name of the place with me,, (connecticut i think).,,, call me sometime and i can look up the name and phone # of the place,,,, I have the original set of 4 bushings that needs to be grooved inside and the OD turned down a bit if you, or anyone out there ,are interested in them. .... Dave 920 210-2875

[quote="Mike Meyer"]You have some good wear there, so my advice is

(A) Find a good used shaft is your easiest option, or
(😎 Weld the worn sections up and have it turned in a lathe, I did that recently with my D2 4U, just remember to weld on the opposite side each pass to minimize the shaft twisting, or else
(C) Have a whole new cross shaft made, from what I recall my buddy "Farmer3" up in New Yoik State paid around $300 to have one made for his D2.

There will be plenty of folks all schmarter than me who will chime in soon, some might suggest turning that shaft down in a lathe and fitting a sleeve over it too? The bronze bearings are not hard to make, but the bronze pipe is reasonably expensive, I think I paid about $130 a foot here in Oz for mine, to get the old bushes out run a couple beads of arc weld inside them onto the bronze, it shrinks them sufficiently so you can belt them out. On the new bearings allow 1 thou per inch of diameter of your shaft, for the interference fit, I think that was the right ratio. Put the new bushes in the freezer overnight to shrink them slightly, and you can heat your track frame a bit, "Farmer3" got his Fitter and Turner to cut a slight taper at the start of his new bearings I think, to help get them started easier, my D2 had them pushed in with a press but I had to hone them afterwards to get them onto the shaft, because they "crush" when fitted into the frames, but you know that already.

Good luck, take your time, ask around for a good older Machinist and you will save more money, those folks understand old bronze bushes and a quality job, if you rush you will pay mucho dinero on these sorts of jobs, and often be wondering what the young kid at the big Engineering Shop was thinking when he did it the first time for you and screwed it up!😆 I been there, and done that!😆
Mike[/quote]

Hello Mike,
You must be thinking of someone else who had a new pivot shaft made.
I had mine welded up and turned.

I buy all my bushings here, look up what u need or close, order through the online store and then machine to fit if needed, cheaper and faster than making them from solid brass.

http://www.asbbearings.com/index.html

Dads Cat 30 shaft is done , will post a pic this weekend