Unit Cable Hoe

[Dreamweaver]

Scott I think it's cool how you breath new life into the beloved toys we used to play with.

Who would have ever thought when we were on are knees making motor sounds with our mouths, that years later when we are to old and cramped up to get down on our knees, that we would still play with the same old toys in a whole new way.

Great work on all your "Restorations"

-Mike

[SmallHaul]

Well, metering the current under full load dragging the crane up the hill it is drawing .85 amps (850 milliamps). I was surprised, I thought it would have been a little over an amp. I then had the crane drag itself up and down the ramp about 20 times to see if the servo would get hot and it didn't. It barely got warm to the touch. So, the servos might be fine running the tracks but, only time will tell.

[SmallHaul]

This pic shows a better size comparison to the dragline bucket.

[JAMMER]

Scott that looks real good for the first time. Ed

[SmallHaul]

Thanks Ed. Now I need to make some long nasty looking teeth for the front of it like the real ones have.

[Dreamweaver]

Well hey Scott don't keep these aluminum brazing tricks to your self now...

What sticks, any flux needed, ect, ect, ect.....

-Mike

[SmallHaul]

Originally Posted by Stuff

that turned out pretty good!

Thanks Dean

Originally Posted by Dreamweaver

Well hey Scott don't keep these aluminum brazing tricks to your self now...

What sticks, any flux needed, ect, ect, ect.....

-Mike

I bought the rods at harbor freight and they are called Alumarod. Clean the aluminum with a wire brush and heat the aluminum up to over 750 degress and touch the rod to the hot aluminum and it flows on just like solder on a brass.

There are a couple of negatives though that I experienced when soldering aluminum. The Alumarod flows almost to thin and it flows down hill easily and pools. Also if you are brazing a very small item and you need to attach multiple pieces, every single piece must be secured to the main object until the heat dissipates from the entire object or it will fall apart. If I want to solder teeth on the front of the the bucket now I have to clamp the whole assembly so it doesn't fall apart or shift while heating it up. Now that I know this I would use metal pins to assemble the entire bucket and just solder the whole thing in one shot.
It was funny...the first time I used the rod I had the bucket clamped perfectly and had all of the joints soldered very cleanly and I went to flip the whole thing over to solder the bottom and when I picked it up the whole thing fell completely apart! DOH!!!! now I have a big mess! I had to clean up all the contact areas again and start over. So, the next time I soldered everything from the top and let it cool down and then flipped it over and heated it back up again to solder the bottom.

I was impressed with how well it works though. I would like to have a rectangular stick (the long beam the bucket attaches to) on the hoe and I might use the Alumarod to solder two U channel pieces together to make it.

[Dreamweaver]

Originally Posted by SmallHaul

Thanks Dean



I bought the rods at harbor freight and they are called Alumarod. Clean the aluminum with a wire brush and heat the aluminum up to over 750 degress and touch the rod to the hot aluminum and it flows on just like solder on a brass.

There are a couple of negatives though that I experienced when soldering aluminum. The Alumarod flows almost to thin and it flows down hill easily and pools. Also if you are brazing a very small item and you need to attach multiple pieces, every single piece must be secured to the main object until the heat dissipates from the entire object or it will fall apart. If I want to solder teeth on the front of the the bucket now I have to clamp the whole assembly so it doesn't fall apart or shift while heating it up. Now that I know this I would use metal pins to assemble the entire bucket and just solder the whole thing in one shot.
It was funny...the first time I used the rod I had the bucket clamped perfectly and had all of the joints soldered very cleanly and I went to flip the whole thing over to solder the bottom and when I picked it up the whole thing fell completely apart! DOH!!!! now I have a big mess! I had to clean up all the contact areas again and start over. So, the next time I soldered everything from the top and let it cool down and then flipped it over and heated it back up again to solder the bottom.

I was impressed with how well it works though. I would like to have a rectangular stick (the long beam the bucket attaches to) on the hoe and I might use the Alumarod to solder two U channel pieces together to make it.

Cool thanks Scott.

[SmallHaul]

The pulleys are now added and they made a big difference in how the boom rises while digging. Now I need to figure out the second tower by the cab and how that is setup because I think that will help a lot when you reach the bucket all the way out and down.