Small job from this morning.

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I had a local farmer who had broken a hinge pin in one of the booms on his sprayer and needed some new bushings made and, have it put back together, I have been playing with this new camera so thought I would take some pics...  Here is what we are dealing with.... Attached ImagesI'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:back to the shop, and set up some 2.25" bronze in the lathe, and trued the sawed end, then turned the diameter to size. Attached ImagesI'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:Then drilled out the center before boring the I.D. to size, and then cut to length. Attached ImagesI'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:Drive them into the housings, and bolt it all back together and he is ready for a few more thousand acres. Attached ImagesI'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:Very nice, and I bet he appreciated it.You must of been bushed after that job.
Reply:Nice repair.. Myself..I'd have used Ampco 18 for the bushings..But nice work!...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Zap, I have heard of that material but never used it myself.  How does it machine, and hold up.  I understand it's tougher than standard bearing grade bronze.  A friend who was in the tool and die business gave me his drop bins when he retired a few years ago, and they were loaded with all diameters of solid bronze and other material So I don;t really buy a lot of material unless the job really calls for it.  ~JacksonI'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:The stuff holds up very well..The only "problem" with it is that as it gets hot the oil comes out of it..Its oil impregnated bronze actually..Its used alot in washer and dryer bushings for the drum that spin and it keeps the shafts lubricated..And they take some abuse.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:NIce job... always nice to take it from start to finish._________________Chris
Reply:Nice work! I like the Craftsman lathe.Lincoln AC/DC 225/125 Stick Linde HDA-300 MillerMatic DVI MIG Miller Dynasty 200DX Hypertherm Powermax 1000
Reply:Awesome work. I do have a question, and i hope it isnt too personal, what do you charge for a small job like that? Seems like a lot of work.Miller Syncrowave 200Hobart Handler 140Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster 38E-Z Tube BenderPlasma Cam DHC2
Reply:Well, a small job does not always mean a small price...This machine belongs to one of my best friends and we trade out alot.  I'll help him out then if I need an extra helper for the day he sends me a man or a loader or back hoe, etc... .   BUT  if it was anyone else. The machine was about 30 minutes from the shop.  I had to go out and measure the housings then drive back to the shop and turn them and then drive back out to put them in.  From start to finish I had about four hours labor in it.  My shop rate is $40/hr and field work is $45/hr plus a dollar a mile.  His total on this would have been around $300.00 Total.  People fuss about the price of machine work but anyone that does it knows to do it right takes time.  Those bushings had about $15 worth of bronze in them, and $60-$80 labor.  That seems mighty high for two little bushings, but I can get ALOT of welding done in the same time it takes to make those bushings.  The main thing is ALWAYS make a profit....  Regardless if you think it is too much, chances are if you sit down and add it all up it's probably not.   Thanks on the lathe,   Dad bought it in the early 60's, and its what I learned to machine on.  I have all the attachments for it, as well as a craftsman bandsaw, and drill press he bought at the same time.  I can say this, those 3 tools are FAR BETTER IN QUALITY than anything sears has made in the past 20 years in my opinion.  I have two larger lathes and always seem to gravitate towards that one if it can chuck the piece.  Infact I build custom hunting rifles in my free time and do all my barrel work on this lathe.  ~JacksonI'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:Why not just make the bushings out of cold rolled steel and put grease zerks in?  I'm not doubting your work, it looks good to me, just asking a question.When I was a mechanic, I worked for a guy that was a custom applicator injecting hog manure.  We had 6 Ag-Chem Terragators that ALWAYS needed something machined or welded back together.The toolbar was the most abused piece on the entire machine - I had to re-bush them about every year. Here's a pic. of the front 1/2 of a 'Gator.  I'll have to do some research to find the business end of one.Here's a link to an action picture of a 2505 - just something I found on the 'net to give everyone an idea of what I'm talking about.  Make sure you scroll down to get the back side of this machine.  Trust me - you don't want to be on the receiving end of these hoses!!!http://www.farmphoto.com/fpv2/message.aspx?mid=401251The tanks on these machines are 4000 gallons, 1/4" steel when new.  Manure is loaded by pulling a vaccuum on the tank with a hydraulic driven vane pump.  To unload, the airflow from the pump is reversed to pressurize the tank.  Pressure usually runs around 10-18 PSI, vaccuum about 12-20".  Manure is very corrosive, so without proper maintenance, the tanks will corrode very fast and either collapse under vaccuum or split under pressure.  The tanks are equipped with 2 baffles to prevent sloshing of the liquid manure.  Over time, these baffles will rust away and break.  The only good way to fix them is to pressure wash the inside of the tank, sandblast it, and weld in new baffles.  Sounds easy don't it??  Not so fast!!!!  The only access hole is through the top of the tank - 20" wide.   The tank itself is 96" wide I.D. It takes multiple trips in and out of that hole to cut the old baffles out, grind the surface smooth,(WHAT DID YOU SAY????), cut new strips 21.5" wide to piece together once inside the tank, sandblast again, and paint with a special epoxy coating.  I did 2 of these tanks one winter, about 7 - 9 hour days each.  Each one took 2 - 30 lb. spools of .035 wire by the time I got finished with all of the piecing and reinforcing.  Even after power washing and sandblasting, the welding arc would bring out the manure smell so I went home every night smelling like hog $hit.  I had an old furnace blower stuck in the outlet pipe blowing in fresh air and purging the smoke/fumes from welding, but I still had breathing problems/black mucus stuff for weeks after this job.Last edited by Road Warrior; 05-03-2007 at 12:12 AM.
Reply:Yea, I have spent my fair share of time working on terra-gators also.  Well these hinges have grease fittings on them now.  These are not the original booms and another local shop here fabricated this entire boom and made a mess out of it before my friend purchased it.  They basically over complicated them.   The boom is way heavier than it needs to be, and the hinges are poorly designed. The heads of these pins recess so one of the folding arms don;t hit it.  They have to be turned out of hex stock and threaded on one end.   I don't use steel on this because I save the pins by using the bronze.  The bushings are easy to replace.  It's making the pins every time that runs the price up.  it's just been cheaper on this machine to go with bronze in the long run.I'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:Originally Posted by Hammack_WeldingYea, I have spent my fair share of time working on terra-gators also.  Well these hinges have grease fittings on them now.  These are not the original booms and another local shop here fabricated this entire boom and made a mess out of it before my friend purchased it.  They basically over complicated them.   The boom is way heavier than it needs to be, and the hinges are poorly designed. The heads of these pins recess so one of the folding arms don;t hit it.  They have to be turned out of hex stock and threaded on one end.   I don't use steel on this because I save the pins by using the bronze.  The bushings are easy to replace.  It's making the pins every time that runs the price up.  it's just been cheaper on this machine to go with bronze in the long run.
Reply:I am actually about 3hrs or so south of Talledega,but I do a good bit of work up there.  One of my main clients is an irrigation dealer and we have alot of irrigations up that way.  Matter of fact put one in a couple weeks ago up there. ~JacksonI'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......