Broken Pin - BH77

[My Hoe]

The pin is 1.172" in diameter or a little over 1 1/8"

I bought the BH77 new January of this year. I was not notified of a recall if there was one for my unit.

I believe I was very lucky that I caught it before any major damage was done. I'm not sure what caused it to break but it looked like the pin was partially broken or cracked. There was a dark area on the one side of the break about 1/8" wide, which indicated to me that it was cracked for a while before breaking.
Mac

Mac,

Glad to see that nothing else was damaged, including yourself!

Does anyone (besides me?) see the possibility of a broken pin as being a safety risk to the backhoe operator? I realize that the other ends of the cylinders remain connected, even if this pin breaks, but it's still kind of skeeves me--the possibility of flying chunks of steel, just a few feet in front of your face?

Does anyone know if the "Groundbreaker" series of Woods' backhoes also locate two cylinders on one pin?

I'm considering buying a machine from a private seller that already has the BH 77 on it. I'm not sure of the exact year of the machine, but it is older than your backhoe, Mac, so I wondered if anyone has any information on which serial numbers of the BH77's were affected?

Better yet, does anyone have a copy of the recall? Like Messick's, perhaps? And kudos to Messick's for taking care of you as well as they did.

Thanks all,

My Hoe

 

[dfkrug]

Does anyone know if the "Groundbreaker" series of Woods'
backhoes also locate two cylinders on one pin?

The current models of Woods' Groundbreaker hoes all share a pin between the boom
and dipper cylinders. Indeed you will find that curvy-boom hoes in general do this, from
most vendors. Older straight boom hoes do not.

This is an inherent limitation to this design, not just because of the greater bending
forces applied between wider-spaced supports. But also, lube is only applied
thru the zerk on the center section. The cylinder with the ears is not force-lubed.
On the hoes I have seen anyway.

IMO, to make this design work, you need 3 zerks and a pin size of at least 1.5"
diameter. And no grease groove!

 

[My Hoe]

The current models of Woods' Groundbreaker hoes all share a pin between the boom
and dipper cylinders. Indeed you will find that curvy-boom hoes in general do this, from
most vendors. Older straight boom hoes do not.

This is an inherent limitation to this design, not just because of the greater bending
forces applied between wider-spaced supports. But also, lube is only applied
thru the zerk on the center section. The cylinder with the ears is not force-lubed.
On the hoes I have seen anyway.

IMO, to make this design work, you need 3 zerks and a pin size of at least 1.5"
diameter. And no grease groove!

dfkrug,

Thank you for the info on the current Woods' designs--and for your obseravations, generally.

Definitely food for thought.

Thanks again,

My Hoe