Charles Machine Works M4 Trencher

[Mace Canute]

Zombie thread!

 

[hizoot]

I dont get it.....The OP (original poster) stated he had use of this trencher for two weeks and asked questions about it. Then someone, 6 years later ,brings the thread back to the top to answer the guy!!!! Why????

 

[mowmow]

Guys,

I realized the date of the original posting, but was not a member of this site back then so I didn't see it at the time. My experience with forums like this is that you don't always get what you need, when you'd like it. And with equipment like the M4, there are not a lot of people out there that still operate them - mine was made in 1966. So when I was recently looking for some info on mine, I came across this thread which had a question and no answer. This indicated to me that likely nobody was familiar with this unit - at least back then. I would think that the network would appreciate the sharing of ideas and help on all equipment, whether common or not. So I registered and made a fairly generic reply as an offer to ANY M4 owner that may have been looking for help - even those who may end up here via Google, as I did. I don't think there is any harm in making it known that there is a member that has some knowledge on this piece of equipment. Generally, if I am not interested in a thread, I ignore it and it eventually goes away. One of the few things in life that actually does that.

Sorry if I used bad judgment.

Regards,
mowmow

 

[Mace Canute]

Naw...not bad judgment! Your motives were altruistic and you are right in your reasoning for posting.
BTW, welcome to TBN. :welcome:

 

[plipplop]

not bad judgment! Your motives were altruistic and you are right in your reasoning for posting.

And it was very helpfull for me


I bought a m4 ditch witch , seazed wisconsin aen motor, full of water , stuck clutch in gearbox , broken belts ..
i final got it striped and working , would dig fine but was not working in mobile position ..
so now i know where the latest problem is .. so i can strip that part and hopefully i will have a working 1960`s era digger ..


And it was very helpfull for me

 

[mowmow]

That's great to hear. Hopefully, you just need to get the goo out of that planetary gear assembly and you'll be good to go.

Another piece of advice: Get some grease into that digging depth adjustment as soon as possible. Zerk location varies by model year, but they all use a very unique recycling ball-bearing (maybe QTY 50 of ~1/8" balls in a 2" x 2" x 2" block) arrangement that rides around the screw.

I'm still here and just ran 1100 feet of 40" deep trench with my M4 last fall, so ask away if you have further questions.

 

[fluttersmith]

Re: Charles Machine Works M4 Trencherr - Need a new 2x2x2 block

That's great to hear. Hopefully, you just need to get the goo out of that planetary gear assembly and you'll be good to go.

Another piece of advice: Get some grease into that digging depth adjustment as soon as possible. Zerk location varies by model year, but they all use a very unique recycling ball-bearing (maybe QTY 50 of ~1/8" balls in a 2" x 2" x 2" block) arrangement that rides around the screw.

I'm still here and just ran 1100 feet of 40" deep trench with my M4 last fall, so ask away if you have further questions.

So, here am I, years later, asking about a part for my old M4 Ditch Witch Trencher. The recirculating balls (5/32 ") have escaped before and in the process have damaged the grooves in the soft steel 2x2x2 block so that the batch of new steel balls no longer circulate freely in the block. Any ideas anyone?

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Re: Charles Machine Works M4 Trencherr - Need a new 2x2x2 block

So, here am I, years later, asking about a part for my old M4 Ditch Witch Trencher. The recirculating balls (5/32 ") have escaped before and in the process have damaged the grooves in the soft steel 2x2x2 block so that the batch of new steel balls no longer circulate freely in the block. Any ideas anyone?

Does this help?

Every Part. Every Machine. Ever.

 

[mowmow]

Re: Charles Machine Works M4 Trencherr - Need a new 2x2x2 block

So, here am I, years later, asking about a part for my old M4 Ditch Witch Trencher. The recirculating balls (5/32 ") have escaped before and in the process have damaged the grooves in the soft steel 2x2x2 block so that the batch of new steel balls no longer circulate freely in the block. Any ideas anyone?

Thought 1: I assume that you have the screw well-greased after re-assembly, as the arrangement can bind when dry - even if things are otherwise ok.

Thought 2: Maybe you can find a slightly oversized (metric?) ball to make up for the wear, yet still fit through the passages.

Thought 3: I was amazed at the parts that Ditch Witch was still able to sell me for my unit as well as their reasonable price for items the clearly were only used on my model. You should at least check with them.

Thought 4: Have a block custom-made.