Shovelhands in the workshop, I did it my way........

[REStracTORATION]

Best thing to do with a DB! I still have nightmares about the time I wasted a good flask of tea to stop a 1694 going up in flames!

Should of let it burn then cooked your dinner on it
Or made it a social event within the local community

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

View attachment 540052
I will post this down mate
You have a leotard you said didnt you

Are you offering the wand or the dismayland?

 

[Ray996]

Its ok ive got @Thick Farmer on the payroll for david browns he has a saying....

Old browns never die,they just fade away!

 

[REStracTORATION]

Old browns never die,they just fade away!

This one died

 

[Shovelhands]

Is that what you've got that magic wand for

 

[REStracTORATION]

Is that what you've got that magic wand for

Yes this the next one!!!

 

[Ray996]

Yes this the next one!!!

Beyond salvaging that one

 

[REStracTORATION]

Beyond salvaging that one

Yes its one we robbed the back end off and panel work for another as the others we have are to good to brake

 

[Mursal]

Good set of injectors in it?
Dont throw them away ................

 

[mogman]

Hi James your project is coming along nicely lovely fabrication work but that's what I would expect
Anyway had a thought about the trailing air suspension how about a normal air regulator set to say 30 psi now bear with me if you have an air bag 10" diameter so 78 square inches X2 air bags=156 square inches X 30 psi = 4680 pounds or 2.34 tons
So the trailing axle is carrying 2.34tons but if you go over a bump with the trailing axle the pressure will increase and the regulator will dump the air but if the axle goes in a dip the pressure will drop so regulator will let more air in till you have 30 psi in the bags just need to alter the pressure regulator to the weight you want the axle to carry

 

[Shovelhands]

Hi James your project is coming along nicely lovely fabrication work but that's what I would expect
Anyway had a thought about the trailing air suspension how about a normal air regulator set to say 30 psi now bear with me if you have an air bag 10" diameter so 78 square inches X2 air bags=156 square inches X 30 psi = 4680 pounds or 2.34 tons
So the trailing axle is carrying 2.34tons but if you go over a bump with the trailing axle the pressure will increase and the regulator will dump the air but if the axle goes in a dip the pressure will drop so regulator will let more air in till you have 30 psi in the bags just need to alter the pressure regulator to the weight you want the axle to carry

Thanks Paul
Might have known you'd have your thinking cap on mate

Yes, that's the sort of thing I've been thinking of, a set pressure on a regulator, to achieve a certain weight on that axle, but there's a possibility that I will need a bank of several regulators, set at different pressures, for different loading/circumstances, selected but electro magnetic valves, but that would all be a trail and error process to get right, but it's all basic stuff

But.....as I've said recently, I'm pondering adding suspension to the drive axle ....so, possibly opening up the ability to use a levelling valve?
Sounds good in theory, but different suspension types, different tyres sizes...could be awkward if I want to achieve a 60/40 weight split, favouring the drive?....we will see

As I've said though, it's just pondering at the mo, I may not alter the drive axle, but leaning towards it if I'm honest, looking at a way of doing it that would enable it to be bolted back how it is now, without anything more than a few bolts and a bit of time, so it can be an experiment if need be

Thanks for your thoughts though, appreciate it

 

[joe soapy]

Speed of responce to changes to height is going to be key, think large bore air pipes open circuit to an air tank that is fitted with a remote variable pressure valve
such as the one on the erentek site

 

[Alistair Nelson]

Any further progress?

 

[Jon Feetham]

Been thinking the same!

I have resorted to watching project binky for the 4th time while waiting for @Shovelhands next instalment

 

[Shovelhands]

Any further progress?

Been thinking the same!

I have resorted to watching project binky for the 4th time while waiting for @Shovelhands next instalment

Sorry to dissapoint you guys, no progress these last few weeks, other things have just taken over......

Once things settle down I will get back to it

 

[Shovelhands]

I am sorry to say, that there has been no progress made on Project A recently.....
This time of year is spent driving them, and not working on them........hopefully

So it sits there waiting for my attentions, and will wait a good while longer unfortunately.
Which means, sadly, there's nothing much to show on the workshop front.

The last thing I made was a new set of spinning discs for the lime spreader...

little mod to the new vanes, I've been doing on the last few sets, and it definitely prolongs the life of them, so well worth doing

and they've been doing a grand job these last few weeks

I've dragged out some photos of a project from a couple of years ago, a modification to the tailgate on our dumptruck, I thought it might be interesting to show it
This is the original (not original, as I fitted it, but you get my drift), cantilever tailgate, dead simple design, bulletproof, and idiotproof

but...the job it gets used for most, can sometimes be very wet, sludge, even slurry sometimes, which has a habit of lifting the tailgate, despite its weight, and then running out of the back!..not ideal, so a solution was required...

 

[Shovelhands]

I'd toyed with ideas of locks, latches and catches to keep the tailgate shut tight, but decide that there was too much danger of things failing to release and things getting broken, or failing to catch!
So I decided to convert the tailgate to hydraulic opening.

After some careful measuring and head scratching, some brackets and mountings were made up

while the machine was in the yard, there were a number of maintenance jobs on it, one of which was a full brake refurb on the two rear axles, requiring 12 of the 16 brake caliper pistons needing to be replaced, this yealded some lovely lumps of metal that I recycled into bushes and collars for the tailgate ram mounts

the solid rod eyes got changed for spherical bush rod ends

and it all got offered up for a trail fit....

 

[Shovelhands]

All worked well, and as hoped, there would be a much higher lift using the cylinders rather than the chains

once everything was lined up, I chopped the unwanted sections off and fully welded the brackets, don't seem to have a pic of that process
And then a dash of paint was applied....

you can see here, why I fitted the spherical rod ends

 

[Pond digger]

Most impressive, I'm quite envious of your talent.

 

[Shovelhands]

All fitted and plumbed, ready for action!

unfortunatly it wasn't all plain sailing.....
I plumbed into the lift cylinder circuit, with the theory that, once loaded, it would be easier to lift the tailgate, rather than the body.
But, I'd fitted some pilot operated check valves, that came with the cylinders, as I wanted to make sure it stayed shut, and the body lift circuit has a float mode, so they were essential.
I'd also had a bit of a guess on the size of the hoses, reducing them greatly for the supply to the tailgate , hoping for some degree of simultaneous movement....
It was a flop, long story short, the valves weren't suitable, a quick call to @Mr Happy , and he soon came up with a solution, two new valves were then fitted and it worked like a dream
And the simultaneous operation I'd hoped for was also a reality!
This is several shots of a tip

tailgate is well on its way before the body is barely off the chassis

Tailgate fully open at this point

hey presto

another job done