Power Leaf Brake

admin

We just got a Dreis & Krump power leaf brake at work.  It has a 8ft bed and I believe it was made in 1952.  The power is from a very large rack and pinion that sticks out of the back a few feet.  It is a little jumpy and not very smooth.  We would like to change it over to run off of a hyd ram.  I was just checking to see if anyone here has done it and get some tips on what size ram and so on.  Thanks for any help! Matt
Reply:We were told that it will do 8foot of 3/16 mild steel.  That may help a little.
Reply:got any pictures? the more the better. also, dimensions of the existing guide system, etc. i think that may be your biggest problem with rigging something like this. remember, the machines are built to run as a system. when one thing changes, usually other things must also change in order to continue to operate in the intended manner. i;m not saying that it can't be done... you'd be surprised what a bit of duct tape will do (hehehehehe)... i'm jsut thinking that it may be more intensive than you may think... like i said, get the pics and rough dimensions, and we can probably help.later,Andy
Reply:The newer models of your brake are hydraulic-about halfway down on this page-http://www.americanmachinetools.com/press_brake.htmwhy dont you just email or call up D&K, and get drawings or parts breakdowns of the current model, and see what they did to hook up the hydraulics?After all, they are still using all the basic parts of your machine, and they are the factory, so they probably did it right?Who knows, they may even have a retrofit kit?