ZX 350 Ram

[Hammer man]

Did`nt know where best to post this
Just started in Somerset this morning,luckly only 12 miles from our base .Only worked for an hour or 2 then the lift ram started leaking from the seals where piston slides in & out .Managed to keep going till 4pm when one of or fitters came in.By 5.30pm,ram disconnected,piston pulled out,loaded onto lorry,off to yard.I`m off to HM Plant in the morning to pick up a seal kit as they are 10 mins away from home.Then hopefully all re-sealed & back up & running Weds afternoon.

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[Martyn Henley]

Not having much luck with that machine of yours Neil

Martyn

[Hammer man]

Old age starting to get the better of it i thinks .But in the current economical situation,there are no plans to upgrade or renew machines,so will have to keep it.Not that it bothers me,as i`m happy with it

[Martyn Henley]

Well yes at least you are in employment .. do you jump onto other machines or other tasks when your machine is down Neil ?

Martyn

[Hammer man]

If my digger had to go back to the yard for repairs,they would source a replacement.If like yesterday when they picked it up from Hereford,i go to the yard,collecting parts yesterday morning,then helping around the workshops.Working on a 1970`s Southart(?)& Pitt towed roller!!Steam cleaning & anything else they need doing.I used to spend the odd day on ADT`s,but that was before i got the 350 a few years ago now.I`ve only had 2 days out of work in the 2 or so yrs i`ve had the 350 & on breaking work.
Got a lay in in the morning till they ring me to tell me that HM Plant has the seal kit,then i`ll collect it & go to the yard.Other wise i`d go to the yard for 8am,or have a day off if i have loads of holiday left.

[Martyn Henley]

Did you manage to get your machine done today Neil ?

Martyn

[Hammer man]

Yep all fixed.I went in for 2pm & the fitters turned up at 4pm(weds),all back together by 5.30pm.Top oil up & cable tied a few pipes up this morning & back to work.
Now heres as thing.Before,that ram would rattle around when hammering,which i can stop by tweaking the boom/stick rams etc.The lower boom ram pivot housings are worn with a bit of play in them.Since re-fitting,theres been no rattling all day from the ram .Theres still movement in the lower pin joint.I wonder if they did anything to the fish eye on the end of the piston?Or if the internal ram seals were so worn that the piston was moving around in the tube?I meant to ask tonight when i called in to pick up my new dipstick(snapped off last fri )

[Martyn Henley]

I was a 35 ton Case that used to clonk when you suddenly stopped raising the boom or dropping it, it was worse when trying to level with the machine, pins and bushes were tight, it was a powerful clonk ..then one day, went to raise the boom and not a lot happened .. you could hear the piston end seal traveling the lengh of the cylinder .. new seals and no more clonking, not a bad machine after that

Martyn