[Road of SKYSQUARE-021-] A tough battle!! It took 4 days to change the bucket of a heavy machine?

Hello

I’m izuma from AZSTOKE Co., Ltd.

This is the purpose of this project.

Change the bucket (head part) of the heavy machinery from a fork type to a slope type.

The 8-ton heavy machinery owned by AZSTOKE currently has a fork-type (scissor-type) bucket, but in order to level the soil, we would like to replace it with a type of bucket called a slope-type bucket that can apply pressure to the ground to level it.

We introduced the purchase of slope buckets in our previous blog .

This is the current state of the equipment.

The head of this scissor type is replaced with the slope type placed on the ground.

Currently, the soil at SKYSQUARE is quite clayey, and there are some areas where drainage is poor.

Due to the snowfall in March, moisture remained on the ground, causing cars and trucks to get stuck, so it is necessary to solidify the ground.

The idea is to use a slope-type bucket to apply pressure to the ground where crushed stone has been spread, leveling it out.

So, in order to replace the bucket, I immediately tried to remove the bucket pin, which holds the bucket in place, but for some reason the pin was too stiff and would not move at all.

I struggled with the stuck pin for four days...

Click here for a list of past SKYSQUARE Road articles

■ Table of Contents

1. Replace the connecting parts from the normal bucket to the slope bucket

2. Structure of the pin that holds the bucket

3. Driving the bucket pin

4. Entering the 3rd days

5. The driven single pipe is damaged

6. Ended without success even on the 3rd day

7. Day 4, Full Power

8. Replace the bucket

1. Replace the connecting parts from the normal bucket to the slope bucket

First, as a preparation step, we will move the connection part that is currently attached to the normal bucket to the slope bucket.

These yellow and red metal fittings are the connection points to the main body.

Remove this by undoing the fasteners in various places.

We successfully replaced the removed connection part with a slope bucket.

It is very heavy so care must be taken when handling it.

2. Structure of the pin that holds the bucket

The removed connection part has a mechanism that secures it to the main body of the heavy equipment.

Heavy machinery is secured in place by two pins called bucket pins.

The image is from the following site:

https://www.yanmar.com/jp/construction/tips/column/basis_03.html (YANMER Construction Machinery Official Website)

Pins A and B above are pushed out from the side using a thin tube or metal rod, and then removed from the other side.

First, remove the screw that holds the pin in place.

Remove the nut that secures it and remove the screw.

3. Driving the bucket pin

After removing the screw, the next step is to pull out the main pin A.

The excess erector pipe used in constructing the portable toilet is secured with vinyl rope, and we are trying to indirectly drive out pin A with a hammer.

However, the force of the hammer only scrapes away the erector pipe, and the pin itself remains motionless.

The pin seems to move to a certain extent, but at this stage it stops moving.

To make work more efficient, we created a supporting pillar using a microphone stand.

However, the bucket pin showed no signs of moving.

It was getting dark and the work was stopped.

In fact, it took two days (although it wasn't a full day) to replace the connection and remove the pins.

The initial assumption was that the bucket itself would be replaced by the second day.

It's taking longer than expected.

But from here on out the work got much more difficult.

4. Entering the 3rd days

This is the second day of work removing the bucket pins, and already the third day if counting from the first step.

Insert a newly purchased metal pipe from a hardware store into the hole with pin A in it, and hammer the end of the pipe into place.

The single pipe enters from the front and is about to drive the pin out to the back.

However, once the pin had moved to a certain point, no matter how much force I applied, it would not move any further.

We tried various things, such as moving the heavy machinery and changing its position, but the pin would not budge.

Several people took turns hammering the pin repeatedly, but even though it took a toll on their physical strength, the pin did not move even a millimeter.

5. The driven single pipe is damaged

After a while, it appeared that the tip of the single pipe had been crushed inside the bucket as a result of continuing to hit it with great force, and it became stuck in the small groove between the bucket and the heavy equipment, making it impossible to remove.

The end of the bent single pipe is stuck in the small space between the yellow body of the heavy equipment and the blue bucket, and cannot be removed.

I was in a situation where I could neither push nor pull.

Once this happens, there's nothing we can do, so the first thing we do is remove the single pipe.

After considering many ideas, and although it is not shown in the photos, we attached a clamp to the stuck single pipe, tied a rope used to tow a car to it, tied the other end to a tree, and used the power of the heavy machinery to pull out the single pipe!

This task also took a considerable amount of time to conceive and execute.

Removing parts from heavy machinery while it is moving is extremely dangerous, so this is the last resort.

Please do not imitate this.

6. Ended without success even on the 3rd day

Meanwhile, the sun was setting again, and the third day ended without us being able to remove the pin.

It took a whole day on the third day, and not even half of the pins have been removed yet.

Unless we change the bucket, we won't be able to compact the soil and we won't be able to proceed.

Whatever it is, I have to pull the pin and replace the bucket tomorrow.

After sunset, I headed to a large hardware store a short distance away to look for new tools to help me resolve this situation.

What I purchased was

Hammer (large)

Jack Base

There are two points:

It's a simple, brute force technique that involves inserting the jack base into the pin hole and hitting it with an oversized hammer.

The hammer I had used until now was small enough to be swung with one hand, so I'm looking forward to the power of this nearly 1 meter hammer.

Also, if the handle is made of wood, it can break when it hits a single pipe or something similar while driving it in (I actually broke one on the third day of work), so I chose this hammer with a fiber handle because I thought it would be durable.

The jack base also has a larger striking area and higher density than a single pipe, so it should be able to transmit power.

My hands are no longer strong enough that I'm not sure if I'll be able to hit with full power again tomorrow, but I've decided to get plenty of rest and prepare for the next day.

7. Day 4, Full Power

It's finally the fourth day.

First, think about the most efficient way to use the new tools you purchased at the home improvement store.

Since we will be hitting it with a long-handled hammer, we will start by hitting it at a low position, using the hammer like a pendulum.

The strategy is to hold the hammer low to maximize the transfer of force.

We fixed the bucket pin at a low position and also created a platform out of pallets for the person hitting the bucket to stand on.

In addition, we use single pipes and clamps to create columns to secure the jack base.

The diameter of the clamp through which the jack base passes is slightly larger than the jack base, allowing the jack base to slide back and forth through it and be hammered onto the pin.

Now, I'm going to keep hitting it!!

After taking turns hitting the ball for a while, the pin finally came out!

The pin, which hadn't even come out 5cm yesterday, has finally come out about 10cm.

Apparently what was needed was power.

You can see that the pin extends beyond the edge of the bucket.

If you look closely, you'll see that the pin is pretty dirty.

It seems that the grease and debris made it difficult to slide and difficult to remove.

I continued hammering, and after working since 9am, it was just after noon when the pin finally started to move significantly.

You can see it sticking out to the bottom left of the photo.

I think it got past the stuck part and started moving all at once.

After a while, I finally succeeded in removing the pin!!!

A moment of joy!

The pins are quite dirty, and the grease, which was originally nearly colorless, has turned black.

This is probably caused by metal wear powder and dirt buildup, and will need to be repainted.

There is also another pin holding the bucket in place, so we will remove that as well.

This part has little contact with the main body and therefore little friction, so it came off easily with just a few hammer strikes.

In this way, we were able to completely remove the bucket and the main body.

The red part in the photo is pin A , which was difficult to remove, and the green part is pin B , which came out easily.

I learned that when using bucket pins, it is important to be careful of grease deterioration and dirt adhesion.

In particular, pin A has a large surface area that comes into contact with the yellow main body of the heavy equipment, so it seems that more care is required as the possibility of it becoming stuck is increased.

8. Replace the bucket

Then, the bucket is replaced with a type of bucket called a slope type, which can apply pressure to the ground for compaction.

It's been a long process, but we can finally move on to the main part of the process.

Secure the newly installed blue bucket by inserting pins at two points again.

This too was easily replaced.

There was also grease stains on the holes on the main body of the heavy equipment, so I cleaned them and then applied new grease and reinstalled them.

This finally made it possible to use heavy machinery for compaction.

It was a long job, and most of the time that should have been spent leveling the ground was spent removing the bucket pins.

However, I think I have learned some good know-how and would like to try to avoid getting a pin stuck again.

We will use the replaced bucket to level the soil so that it drains well, and move forward with the goal of making SKYSQUARE even more comfortable to use.

Thank you for your continued support.