Dipper Stick snapped in half

[tungularafishcamp]

You might wanna put what I call sisters or gussets on your main boom after you weld it up Eddie or I think I saw some on here calling them fish plates. Sometimes more is better!!

 

[Coyote machine]

Eddie,
This thread has been interesting to follow. Take it easy on yourself and your dad; stuff happens and things break. People are what is most important in life and we have to deal with the different way we do stuff. I know my dad and I did things vastly different and often did not communicate well, but again that's part of why life is a LONG process. Same now with my own son; he thinks he knows everything at age 20 and I know he's basically clueless but I have to accept that he's a young man now and the next gen coming into his own.

I think you made the best decision knowing your own particular situation. Now the shop can take the time to do it right and the repair will be as good as it's going to be and last as long as it can. Can one magnaflux a big piece of machinery like the boom for hidden fatigue or stress cracks? I seem to think there is some process that allows for that type of inspection so preemptive repairs can be done?

Maybe dad could be hired out to be an equipment crash tester to determine weaknesses prior to final production?!:thumbsup:

 

[Short Game]

Should the newly discovered cracks be stopped by drilling the ends and welding before new plate goes over them?

 

[Ford tractor]

I have been looking over the boom, and found two small, hairline cracks. I need to really clean it up and look closer. I'm debating wether to weld them up myself or call in a portable welder to do it up. Both cracks are less then three inches long, tight, and on opossite sides of the boom. Both welds will have to be on the side of the boom, so either straight up, or if I lower the boom, sideways.

I'll post pictures of the cracks in a little while.

Thank you,
Eddie

The whole machine should be inspected closely for cracks every 500 hours. Stick, boom, pivot, frame, etc. Every square inch of it. Doesn't take but 30-60 minutes. I do it the morning after giving a through pressure washing the prior evening to get down to paint or metal. That would have caught the growing cracks in the stick before it broke.

Adding internal and external plate to the stick will make the repair last a good long time. Just chalk it up and move along.

 

[tmajor]

Eddie, Might your father have been trying this? :laughing:

 

[JB4310]

I don't think you'd ever snap that boom in half, even with a gorilla operating it, cracks or not.

TV commercial film for American Tourister Luggage 1970 - YouTube

JB

 

[EddieWalker]

Thank you everyone for your comments. I'm not upset with my Dad. He works very hard is is extremly productive. Whatever the damage is over this, it's nothing compared to what he's accomplished in clearing the land and moving dirt. I could through the backhoe away and be money ahead when comparing it to what it would have cost to hire it out. And it's just another repair that will get done.

The reason it broke isn't from banging the bucket like a hammer, though that happens to a small degree. What he does is when digging, he extends the dipper and boom out as far as it will go. He has the bucket out as far as it will go and then he lowers it to the ground. Then he curls the bucket to dig and with everything extended, the downward pressure of the bucket lifts the back end of the backhow up off of the ground. It only goes up a few inches or so, but he does this almost every time. There are over 6,500 hours on it now, and half of those are from him doing just this every time he digs. He has taken out thousands of trees. Some are massive, others are just a foot to two thick. He has it on idle, or just above idle, so nothing is going very quickly. It's just that digging technique that he has and how he lifts the weight of the backhoe every time he digs.

What kills me is that every time he does it, he is surprised that it happened. I've told him about it, and explained that he needs to dig with the boom lifting upwards, not curling the bucket or pullling the dipper. When Im right there next to him and showing him how, he gets a full bucket every time and the outriggers stay in place and on the ground. He seems to get it, then when I come back, he's back to doing it his way.

Besides all the strain of lifting the backhoe off of the ground, he rarely gets a full bucket of dirt. In my mind, he's working twice as hard, taking twice as much time and putting ten times the wear on the machine then he has to. We are not in any rush, and he sticks with what he starts, which is why he gets so much done, but the damage is there and it really doesn't have to happen.

Knowing all this, I'm sure he will go right back to digging like he always has, and I'm going to just keep on trying to get him to try to do it my way, but realize it's probaby not going to happen. It will break again, but next time, it will be something else. It's just the way it is.

Eddie

 

[Danno1]

Should the newly discovered cracks be stopped by drilling the ends and welding before new plate goes over them?

Yes.


.

 

[Ford tractor]

What kills me is that every time he does it, he is surprised that it happened.

Knowing all this, I'm sure he will go right back to digging like he always has, and I'm going to just keep on trying to get him to try to do it my way, but realize it's probaby not going to happen. It will break again, but next time, it will be something else. It's just the way it is.

Eddie

Old dogs and new tricks, never the twain shall meet...

 

[jimmysisson]

Eddie I like that you are seeing the big picture here. Dad might find it hard to coordinate the lever motions to raise the boom and crowd the dipper at the same time, so he's done it his way. It's just steel, at the end of the day, and your attitude will keep getting the work done. He probably enjoys being productive and doing it his way.
Jim