Logging & Construction Equipment

[Old Guy]

Lou
As always when I look at your builds I say to myself I have a ways to go to meet your projects quality. One question I think I see 2-56 hex head bolts, my Pacfic Fastner source ended only 4-40 now where do you get yours

Earl

[Espeefan]

Looking good Lou! Inspirational.

[RCP57]

Great job Lou. You are raising the bar for the rest of us Island guys for sure. I am looking forward to seeing this at the CR show!

[tracksntreadslou]

Thanks for all the great comments guys

Earl Yes lots of 2/56 on this build ..Micro fasteners and Festener express have them in stock ..a little cheaper at fastener express and I found 2/56 x 14 there as well where micro fasteners doesnt have those ..I really wish the head pattern was a little smaller and more scale on the 4/40 in stainless ..I have seen some in brass at a link for train supplies that Rob sent me ..should give them a try as well ..Rob said his prices were good too .. http://www.americanmodeleng.com/id41.html

Reg did you say Bar ....Im trying to stay away from bars ..lol..Seriously ..Im trying to keep upto you these day ..Your a building machine ..lol..Should be at least functionalby the show in CR

[modelman]

T-n-T-Lou-great work on a very complicated model. These look like the toughest to build out of all the construction models. Good job!!

[Old Guy]

Lou
Just thought I would give you this site for 2-56 Hex Head bolts looks like about a quarter of the price of American Model 2-56 SS X 3/8 is $6.10 per 100 http:www.microfastners.com/home.php?cat=576.
Thanks for pointing out sites to look for.

Earl

[ekim]

Wow....tracksandtredlou you are where I hope to be when I retire. I hope to have a small network of friends and equipment when I retire to do just what you have done. Very nice Sir and keep posting please!

Michael (ekim)

[tracksntreadslou]

Originally Posted by Old Guy

Lou
Just thought I would give you this site for 2-56 Hex Head bolts looks like about a quarter of the price of American Model 2-56 SS X 3/8 is $6.10 per 100 http:www.microfastners.com/home.php?cat=576.
Thanks for pointing out sites to look for.


Earl

I know they are not exact scale but they do add a bit more to the looks ..I dont see any philips heads on the one to one scales

Originally Posted by ekim

Wow....tracksandtredlou you are where I hope to be when I retire. I hope to have a small network of friends and equipment when I retire to do just what you have done. Very nice Sir and keep posting please!

Michael (ekim)

Thanks Michael ..really apreciate your comments

Originally Posted by modelman

T-n-T-Lou-great work on a very complicated model. These look like the toughest to build out of all the construction models. Good job!!

.

Tom at times I think I bit of way more then I can chew ..some things are working really well like the table rotation and mold table and others have been a nightmare ..the large servo for the articulation had to be replaced will hydros as the servo wasnt quite strong enough ..the steering had a few bugs in it as well and I messed with the linkage to get it working ok ..Having the front drive is creating a bit more strain but I think I will get these bugs worked out ..

The hydros now that has been a pain in the %$#...Last fall I bought a pump and 3 spool valve off a well know US ebay member ..I am not knocking him because im sure he wasnt aware of the problems with this product at the time. He bought 3 of these units and after emailing him about the problems he said they were all crap ..I thought i was getting a good deal and Paid over $400 for the pump filter and three spool valve ..A leimbach pump would cost that much ..Anyway this unit is pretty much a chinesse knock off of the leimbach ..spools are a touch larger ..The + side they used bearings on the spool cam ..4mm fittings and metal gear servos ..servos are very cheap but seem to be working well.. The pump looks very much like the leimbach as well ..Gears are a bit larger and the unit I quite a bit noisyer then the leimbach ..Buyer beware..The Valve leaked from the moment I hooked it up ..The pump was labouring and drawing way too much current and now leaking out the motor shaft ..I should of sent the whole thing back but It sat for months in the box before i set it up ..grader has been sitting on the shelf for months with a big puddle of oil under it

Well I am trying to recoupe some of this money i have spent of this so I am working out the problems one by one ..first the valve ..I tried replacing the o-rings and found the same thing happened .I made the oring grove wider and doubled up on the oring ..better now but still weeping a little on one spool ..may have damaged the o-ring when i put it back together ..I also found out the servos were bottoming out on the inward stroke..One servo broke the housing during the strain...after closer inspection the plunger was bottoming out and hitting the cap screws ..The cap screws another joke ...They were wrapped with teflon to try and seal.Idiots
Leimbach uses an o-ring on the seet ..I ended up using the valve servo ajustment caps that you remove from the valve .the same thread as the cap screws . I Cut the ends off and used 5x1 mm o-rings on the seat .Should be able to see in the pics ..seals and works way better ..Glued the servo and valves seems to be working ok now ..

Now the #$@%&* ..Pump After inspecting the pump I noticed the the is a extar line off the top of the pump to the tank for the releif valve ..Looking it over I noticed there was no way for the Oil to exit or pass the set screw when the PRV did open ..They were expecting it to bypass through the threads i guess ...NOT ..Idiots ..I just drilled a 1/16 hole through the center of the PRV set screw now the oil can bypass into the tank ..I dont have a guage but im thinking the pump may have creating too much pressure for these vavles ..Now the shaft is leaking on motor side ..Opened that up and the only thing i see is some type of neoprem bushing ..I put 3 layers of walbro carb gasket material under the shaft set screw and that seems to have worked ..time will tell..If I didnt get laid off last month I would be replacing the whole works with a leimbach set up..Live and learn

[tracksntreadslou]

[tracksntreadslou]

I did some testing in the dirt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjwX...m-upload_owner

[modelman]

T-n-T-Lou-sounds like you may have gotten burned on the pump system but seems like you solved all the problems. I never worked with hyds. but hearing about all your troubles I am glad I never got into that. Your model works great in the dirt. I especially like how you have accurate speed control. This will be handy when doing complicated tasks. It will be interesting to see what all you can do with this model, such as dig ditches, put slopes on banks, etc. Looks like a fun machine to run. nice work!!

[SmallHaul]

Lou, Your grader looks and works great. That is quite a project!

Sorry to hear about your problems with the hydraulic parts..i think i might have some of those hydraulic systems in my shop that a customer left here for a future build..i'll have to compare what i have to the pictures you posted.

[tracksntreadslou]

thank you Tom and scott..To someone without any experience what soever that could mean disaster and out of $400 bucks ..If you see any out there its best to stay clear
Im not out of the woods yet though and hope I can resolve this ..

scott the unit came without the motor ..If it is the same one i really hope you can get it woring as well ..heres a few more pics

[tracksntreadslou]

[FlyingBeagle]

That is very impressive. It can really dig in and take quite a cut. The driven front axle appeared to be working very well and was making a real difference. Is that about the top speed with the gear motors you are using, or are you just very disciplined. It looked to be just about perfect for grading, I just didnt know if you had some in reserve for a "road gear" if you know what I mean.

I understand not wanting to flame the E-Bay seller if you beleive he was not aware of the poor quality of the hydraulics, but do you mind telling the manufacturer or some other way of identifying these so that others who dont have the same experience and abilities as you dont get burned.

Again, This is an amazing model, Thanks for sharing.

[SmallHaul]

Lou, i just looked and sure enough i have that system here.. little triangle clamps on the corners to secure the tank and all.

I re-read through what you posted and i believe that the system i have came form the same source (Shipped from New Jersey).

[tracksntreadslou]

Thanks for the awsome comments ..The Company that made or supplied them is
LESU and make quite a bit of stuff for rc4wd as well

[tracksntreadslou]

Stay away from these

http://www.buychina.com/items/lesu-t...em-utooppsmlno

[SmallHaul]

Originally Posted by tracksntreadslou

Stay away from these

http://www.buychina.com/items/lesu-t...em-utooppsmlno

Yep, that is it..i am not blaming the guy that the pump was purchased from either..i just looked at his ebay listings and does not carry any Lesu hydraulic components.

[tracksntreadslou]

Sorry flyingbeagle I forgto the speed question ..I do have a bit more gas at 35 RPM..Would like a bit more but grading will be tricky at any faster speeds .Going to take some getting used to ..Now I need to build some road ..Maybe greg will come to help

Scott when you are ready to do something with it feel free to ask what i did in detail if you need ...oh yes I did trim the cover allen screw for the PRV so I could get a little more adjustment on the set screw