3RRL
Administrator 
Huge Kama
Posts: 2,027 
|
Post by 3RRL on Feb 24, 2008 23:04:51 GMT -5
Being that my Nardi Backhoe is mounted kinda tall on the big Kama, the stabilizer legs could stand to go down farther. On uneven ground they don't give good enough support 'cause they're too short to really push the backhoe up in the air. So I decided to cut off the feet to make them taller. Here they are in the saw.    I'm just going to put some spacers in between the pivots and the feet and see how that works. I milled off the feet so they were flat again. Also milled the bottoms of the pivot parts so I could sandwich the spacers between them to get the added height.   Then I squared up some 3/4" thick plates to use as the spacers. They are 4" tall, but I figure I lost some from the OEM parts when I sawed and milled the feet and pivot parts. Net gain should be about 3-1/2" or so when I put the pivot parts back on top ....maybe a little more.  Rob- |
|
3RRL
Administrator
Huge Kama
Posts: 2,027
|
Post by 3RRL on Feb 25, 2008 19:48:14 GMT -5
I started to clamp up the taller feet for welding. The set up has to be super deluxe to have the pin holes still line up. Note the difference in thickness of the spacers and the stock steel... they are nearly twice as thick. After tack welding while all clamped up, I can use my hydraulic press to straighten any crookedness if the warp. I had to fixture all the pieces properly to insure a) Good line up of the existing brackets so the pivot pins go in and out. b) Good center position of both the existing and new spacers. c) Good clamping of ALL pieces forcing them together during welding.      Rob- |
|
3RRL
Administrator
Huge Kama
Posts: 2,027
|
Post by 3RRL on Feb 25, 2008 19:59:31 GMT -5
It was a good set up but difficult to tack all the welds due to all the 1-2-3 block spacers and all the clamps holding it all together. My intention was to not only tack everything first while clamped, but also run as many beads while fixtured like this. Some of the welds came out really good and some I got sloppy on. On one bead, my glasses slid off my nose so my vision was blurred but I kept welding anyway ... duh. The difference in spacer thickness made for a natural ledge to weld to. I have like 4 welders, but I don't have one of those fancy MIG welders. These welds are all from my 30 year old Forney stick welder. I used Ø1/8 6011 rod at 180 amps for super good penetration.     Now they are ready to put back on. I decided not to put gussets or a spacer bar between the spacers. They are so thick they don't need it. The skinny old 3/8" thick ones did not have any, and my spacers are 3/4" thick. Not only that, but I don't want those feet to become a small bucket full of dirt. Dirt gets lodged between the pivot pin and the top of the feet. When I raise them up and hit home, they kind of "snap" up at the end and toss dirt all over me now. Right now there is a chance for the dirt to fall off. Rob- |
|
3RRL
Administrator
Huge Kama
Posts: 2,027
|
Post by 3RRL on Feb 25, 2008 20:06:53 GMT -5
When I got up to camp, I attached them back on the hoe. The pins fit into the holes no problem. I ended up getting almost a 4" lift out of them, which should be just enough to lift the rear wheels slightly off the ground.    That's how they look now. If that's not enough lift, I will put some of those webs on the bottom like Tim did for his hoe. I have another related project to keep the stabilizers from leaking down coming up. Rob- |
|
