BH Joystick Issue

[Diggin It]

Pulling a few stumps this morning and one of the main joysticks started to loosen up. It still works, just wobbles. I opened the one cover and loosened the top plate and this is what I see. The red arrow points to the wobbley spot. There is a rubber boot covering whatever's under there and it's held by a tywrap.

Is there anything under there I can do anything with? A nut to be tightened? I don't want to open it and find something broken.

 

[ptsg]

Yes there are rod ends hiding under the boot. It's common for the bolts or nuts to loosen over time. Some people will actually put a dab of blue Loctite on those. You may be able to do it by just cutting that zip tie and lift the boot up, to have access to the linkage.

Here is a picture of all the parts from a joystick. Not exactly yours but will pretty similar.

 

[Diggin It]

OK, you made me look. As I feared, it won't be that simple. Water has been getting inside that boot and all of the surfaces are rusted/corroded. The center swivel points of those eyes seem to be gone. Guess I need to find a source and do whatever.

 

[Mrsig]

Is there a way to stop this from happening?

 

[ptsg]

Is there a way to stop this from happening?

If the issue is just the nuts or bolts loosen up over time, then blue Loctite fixes that. If the issue is the rust, just spray something like Fluid Film or similar and probably put a tarp over the backhoe or at least the control valve area if it sits outside.

 

[Diggin It]

Gunkiness:

Odd, because the rustier one on the left is OK (for now). The right one is where the trouble was. Got it working temporarily until I can find the rod end ball joint.

I'm not sure how water got in there since both boots were sealed at the rings marked with the arrows.

Cleaned it out with Gunk, then carb cleaner and air, then gobbed it all with marine grease. Will leave it open for a while until I get parts, maybe longer.

 

[Diggin It]

This is apparently a Walvoil 5/6 control valve, but so far I can't find the rod ends separately. What is complicating things is that the rod end is 8MM and the other end is 6MM. So far, I can't find that combination.

I thought I might be able to use one with 8MM at both ends and enlarge the hole in the top plate, but that isn't going to work. I might try one with 6MM at both ends and use a bushing over the threaded end if I can't find anything else.

Surplus Center didn't respond to my inquiry. Another place simply replied 'No'.

 

[CADplans]

Surplus Center didn't respond to my inquiry. Another place simply replied 'No'.

No one is really interested in selling you a $2.42 swivel end,,
I have a bunch of them,, but no metric ones.
You may have to "adapt" one that is close,, or buy a new joystick.

Whatever you do,, toss the cute rubber boot, so that the parts can dry out after they get wet.

 

[lman]

Park it in the barn.

 

[K5lwq]

Diggin, give John a call at Progressive Power. He is about the only person I could get to even sell me a Walvoil valve. He is a good guy and did provide parts. This was a few years ago so he may not work there anymore but someone there should help.