More poor Engineering from Neuson Wacker

[Muz]

Well .. I have two Neuson high tip dumpers like these 440.jpg but the rams that lift the skip up have been cracking at their bases.

The problem is that the rams have been binding on the pin on which they are mounted. Because of this, its put massive strain on the ram cases, which, whilst being extended, articulate on the pin about 5 degrees each way, so a total sweep of about 10 degrees every time they are used.

Additionally, the grease nipple does not allow grease to circulate all the way round the pin when its applied, so as a result, the ram has bound on the pin. Given that the case length is about 18 inches, its put a massive load on the bottom of the cylinder when it tries to rotate, and as a result the case has been cracking from the cylinder base allowing oil to piss out.

So last night .. I tried to remove the ram so I could modify it to allow grease to circulate properly ..........oh boy ...... what a job, for such a small ram , It took all my 22 years of engineering experiance to stay calm

Heres a pic of the ram on the good side IMG_0685.jpg this one is binding too and will need to come off at some point as its already been welded at its base ... BRB cup of tea required

[Muz]

Basically .. if the ram was sleeved or bushed, the likeliehood of binding would also have been a whole lot less .. but .. that would have been too expensive wouldnt it ?

So I stripped the top boss off top boss.jpg it was no problem as the grease had been effective here. That allowed me to remove the rod and seal pack so I could now put a fierce amout of heat into the ram base ram base.jpg Well I had the whole thing cherry red, but articulation was still very poor. It was really tight .. unbelievably so .....and thats where I got to last night .. with 2 eight ton diggers .. one securing the dumper chassis, and the other pulling the ram base off the pinion.. with full power on the digger, the cylinder was not coming off the shaft .. unbelievable ... Ive never seen such a small cylinder siezed so solidly,.. the pinion is only 35mm OD


So I went at it at 10 oclock this morning .. more heat, driving wedges between the caseing and dumper chassis .. eventually it moved............ an eigth of an inch up the shaft and got even more solid .... so only me working at it, and I couldnt hit it for fear of damaging the cylinder. Using the diggers had resulted in a small bend on the pin so I had given up on that idea.

I had left it overnight with some juice on it and hoped more heat today would have got it to yield .. well red hot again today and no chance was this thing coming off, so in the end I had to burn off the bottom boss and this what I was left withIMG_0684.jpg Never have I had to be so brutal with a ram, but I knew if I kept heating and levering, I was gonna destroy the ram, so the burner was the only option. Then I had to dress up and clean the base of the ram, and re weld it to seal the cracks on the base IMG_0686.jpg

Next I cleaned up the stub pin, and strightened it, then I had to find a new boss for the base of the ram and weld it to the base of the ram IMG_0688.jpg In the end I found two bosses that were the right size and welded them together, buffed a flat face on them and offered them up to the machine and ligned everything up. It took several goes to get evrything right, I had it tacked, and discovered some misalignment in something about 10 times , which meant removing, cracking the tacks and rebuffing everything until finally I got it right, then it was good to go, and the welding was finished on it, and was refitted IMG_0691.jpg better than the original eh ?

[Muz]

Ok so now I knew the fit was good .. I took it off then drilled the hole for a new grease nipple IMG_0690.jpg tapped & threaded it to size and fitted the nipple .. jobs a good un .. so then it was a matter of adjusting the ram length on the top boss, as the new bottom one was thicker than the one I burnt off adjust.jpg

Checked all was well and rams were stroking together ok and topped up hydraulic oil

Total job time 3 Hrs .. finished by 1pm today .. now the moral of the story is .. dont fook about with presses, wedges heat or 8 tonne diggers .. save yourself a shed load of work, and get the cutting gear out

So between both these dumpers, all 4 rams have gone the same way, and before I started this job, I phoned the dealer to see if Neuson would come good for it? ... as if .. they said theyed 'never heard' of the problem , how many times have I heard that ??

Idiots

[Garry]

Wow thats lot of work looking forward to the other three then are we ?

[ianoz]

So Muz , How is your engineering solution ,holding up?

[Muz]

So Muz , How is your engineering solution ,holding up?

Good mate havent done any of the others though , as I cant be arsed until they fail .. and I know thats false economy as they will fail at just the wrong moment

[245dlc]

Hey Muz I've noticed that Wacker/Neuson has been trying pretty hard to get into the Canadian and American market especially with they're little wheel loaders, and mini excavators some of the mini's are badged under the Gehl name, but are they junk too? Or are they pretty decent kit?

[Muz]

I must confess I dont rate their diggers much .. resale value was always their biggest problem, the dumpers are ok and the little high tip ones are actually quite good, having been developed from a 'Lifton' type a few years back, which was a Welsh company that Neuson bought over

[245dlc]

Good to know, but what weaknesses do they have versus some of the other manufacturers?

[Dan]

Good to know, but what weaknesses do they have versus some of the other manufacturers?

I always found them to be about 10 years behind the competition, in terms of design, but then I havent used one for ages, so dont quote me on that. Possibly thats why the resale value is an issue, but you know how some manufacturers can pull their socks up, and just cos its true here doesnt mean its the same over your way fella ?

[Kimberly Access]

Ive heard the same issue with these diggers, I heard from a mate in JCB it was because the manufacturer outsourced the components to a firm in romania and the quality hasnt been there.....never know though

[Stock]

How has the repair held up Muz? must be two years now is it??

[Muz]

Still going .. no more breaks so far .. although I put so much trash weld on one of the bosses .. I cant use the nipple I noticed the other day for grease so its only a matter of time .......










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before it gets traded in

[roger8085]

common problem i think .

Ok so now I knew the fit was good .. I took it off then drilled the hole for a new grease nipple [ATTACH=CONFIG]312[/ATTACH] tapped & threaded it to size and fitted the nipple .. jobs a good un .. so then it was a matter of adjusting the ram length on the top boss, as the new bottom one was thicker than the one I burnt off [ATTACH=CONFIG]313[/ATTACH]

Checked all was well and rams were stroking together ok and topped up hydraulic oil

Total job time 3 Hrs .. finished by 1pm today .. now the moral of the story is .. dont fook about with presses, wedges heat or 8 tonne diggers .. save yourself a shed load of work, and get the cutting gear out

So between both these dumpers, all 4 rams have gone the same way, and before I started this job, I phoned the dealer to see if Neuson would come good for it? ... as if .. they said theyed 'never heard' of the problem , how many times have I heard that ??

Idiots

what i do is cut under the boss sleve with a thin cutting disc on a angle grinder to release the ram and reweld after refitting .