Progress on the AW supper 300

[alan627b]

Dwan, you are doing a fabulous job on that grader! You must be a glutton for punishment, or just obsessed like the rest of us...if you don't miond some crossbreeding, I am betting you can get knobs for the levers from your Cat dealer, they sell quite a selection of them. Made from phenolic resin or some other hard plastic. Quite a job you are doing and keep up the good work.
It's going to be too nice to use when it's done though....
alan627b

 

[Dwan Hall]

Alan, Thanks I can't wait for a brake in the weather so I can git back to work on it. I have been able to repair a few of the little things that do not require the grader to be in the shop. Like the heater. Had to patch a hole in the core and replace the fan motor. Hope to get the seat cover done in the next few weeks. When I get it back inside I will build the rear light fixtures and thenI can start wireing it. Looking at new gages and switches. Still have to pick the strobe light system I want to use. I also need to come up with the end bits for the blade. I also have to replace the back window which I think will be a 1 piece non opening unit. Still a lot left to do.

 

[proteksandblast]

looks like you took some pride in this project. this info may help you with future refurbs. 1/ mask all areas with cardboard and duct tape where you dont want sand to damage " reverse mask on rams will be easier to remove". sand is always the most efficiant method of cleaning and well as giving you a good anchor pattern for base coat to grip to about 1.5-2.5 mils. 2/ a good base coat is key to getting a long service life out of any coating "Endura 321 intermix epoxy" is what i recomend, fills profile in one coat and has a topcoat window of 1 hr to 2 weeks this is a non sanding primer but ultra hard so apply evenly. 2/ apply 1 medium wet coat of EX-2C aliphatic polyurethane wait 20 min and apply second coat "wet". It takes us about 18hrs to prep blast and paint a grader "24 hr cure, you simply cannot beat this sytem. Endura backs it with a 5 yr warranty. This system gives you 6-8 mils DFT, and will last longer than you need it to.


Remember after blast befor you start or move you equipment blow it down until sand is completely removed.

 

[Dwan Hall]

looks like you took some pride in this project. this info may help you with future refurbs. 1/ mask all areas with cardboard and duct tape where you dont want sand to damage " reverse mask on rams will be easier to remove". sand is always the most efficiant method of cleaning and well as giving you a good anchor pattern for base coat to grip to about 1.5-2.5 mils. 2/ a good base coat is key to getting a long service life out of any coating "Endura 321 intermix epoxy" is what i recomend, fills profile in one coat and has a topcoat window of 1 hr to 2 weeks this is a non sanding primer but ultra hard so apply evenly. 2/ apply 1 medium wet coat of EX-2C aliphatic polyurethane wait 20 min and apply second coat "wet". It takes us about 18hrs to prep blast and paint a grader "24 hr cure, you simply cannot beat this sytem. Endura backs it with a 5 yr warranty. This system gives you 6-8 mils DFT, and will last longer than you need it to.


Remember after blast befor you start or move you equipment blow it down until sand is completely removed.

I would love to have acces to some type of sand blaster but there is not 1 within 500 miles that is avalable for privet use and the 1 that is in the area only uses it to blast out a incenerator for the landfill and will not alow it to be used for anything else. I would buy 1 for myself but I do not have enough work to worent it and I also do not want to take on anymore work for other people. I have enough work for my next 2 lifetimes.
My location keeps me from trying other products as they eather have to be barged in or broght in by air. We only have 1 paint supplyer in town and he only handles Dupont at this time. NAPA here has droped ther paint line so I don't even have that.
The way I am doing this referb is not the fastest but it does alow me to inspect every part. remove them, clean them, replace what I think need replacing the reassemble it.. I am learning a lot about this grader by having to do it this way. I wish all I had to do was take a can of Krylon and be done but for what I want out of this project that would not be an option.

Again thanks for your sugestions and I will use what I can.

Dwan

 

[Ford LT-9000]

We used to sandblast at my famillies operation untill we started getting flack from the neighbours. Also the enviroment guys were getting on our back about the sandblast sand. Once its been used its classes as toxic waste so we tried recycling the sand it was allot of work. We used the lava rock sand it never did cut very good the second time around and very dusty.

The current sandblast pot we have now holds 200lbs of sand we did have a 400lb pot. The compressor we have is too big for the job she sucks back the diesel quick. Its a 600cfm compressor the 6v71 barely revs up as we are only drawing 180 psi off of it.

After seeing a company doing water jetting its the way to go it peals the rust off pretty quick. At 40,000 psi water pressure that would take anything off.

Protek I don't think the use of Endura is legal in the US it doesn't meet EPA rules or something like that. Endura is good paint but its deadly seen the affects with boat painters that work in the area.

 

[proteksandblast]

endura has a new low VOC component b that we use somewhere along the lines of 2.8 grams per litre, as well as our facility is equipt to deal with all types of high iso paints and coatings, we use all positive air respirators so im assuming these painters you speak of need to be more conscious of there health. Water jetting is definitely the way to go with outside applications but costly to purchase. We rent one when we do large outside projects i think about $6000 a month sure beats $90,000 to buy. Only problem is most of our industrial applications require inspection and we need correct anchor patterns speacialy with our internal pipe and tank linings so we pretty much have to deal with abrasive media.

 

[Ford LT-9000]

Nobody realized how bad Endura was till the later on years by then it was too late the damage was done. Actually all the new paints are not good for you they get into your blood stream through your skin. Dad used to do autobody work in the 70s and 80s when paints used to be laquer.

There is one company up the coast from me that does water jetting I actually never heard about it untill they did a job in the area. I said BS water can't beat conventional sandblasting I was proven it is just as good or better and no mess. I had a look at the pump and system they used it looked very expensive. I talked to one of the workers they said the water would cut you leg off :eek2

For us any sandblasting has to be done out side not many places around have a shop large enough to do blasting on the inside. So its wait till a nice sunny dry day to do sandblasting.

It is good to know that endura makes a safer paint to work with. Many people think endura is a junk paint, its not I had couple trucks painted with it. Many people in the area have had trucks painted with it. It looks good and its fairly cheap to give a truck a fresh look.

 

[proteksandblast]

There are so many different products out there nowadays it hard to keep up on them all, and sad to say the better the paint the worse it is on the applicator.So training and safety awareness is a very big part of our job.

Ive been an applicator for almost 18 yrs and have used appropriate protective equipment since day 1. I am healthy and have no resperatory problems, but like you say back then not many painters were educated about the products they used.

As far as sandblasting goes they are slowly outlawing the use of silica sand here. We still use it on all of our equipment cause of low cost and its cutting rate.We are, in the very near future going to set up our blast bay to handle steel grit.

I like Endura's urethane simply cause its the longest lasting finishing paint out there, we warrantee all our work so high performance is a must.

 

[Dwan Hall]

Here it is out side

Well I was forced to work on it some moor this week as the little one I had rented before was no longer avalable.
So I installed the aircleaner and inlet piping, did a little makeshift wireing, changed the oil and hydrolic fluids, tightened a few bolts, and greased over 100 greese fittings. Also installed a few grab handles, rear lights (temp), stuck in the seat I found, and fueled her up.
I had to do all this work because the RV park needed graded befor the season started. Now it is time to see if I will be able to learn how to run it with only the help all you guys can give me over the net. wish me luck.

Thinngs that still need done are
blade end bits, strobe light system. insulate cab, install the 2 heaters I have, wireing for all the lighting and accesseries, install battery mount. (battery is setting on floor now) Replace rear window with 1 piece unit and remove painted plexaglass one. paint code greese zerks. The list goes on and on.

 

[CascadeScaper]

She looks beautiful!!! You should be very proud of her, that piece has come a LONG way! Excellent work, my hat is off to you. :drinkup

 

[Grader4me]

Something to be proud of Dwan! Anything that we can help you with let us know.

 

[Ford LT-9000]

Wow the old machine looks good :salute

 

[Jeff D.]

I agree with the others Dwan, you've something there to be proud of. She really looks good.:thumbsup

Have you had a chance to try it at all yet, or has it been only moving it point to point in the process of your rebuild?

 

[Countryboy]

Excellent job Dwan. :drinkup

The paint job really makes it an eye catcher. :thumbsup

 

[LowBoy]

That's an awesome Austin, Dwan...something to be proud of. As far as auxiliary heating is concerned, you can buy fairly reasonably, one of those heaters you see in the smaller compact tractors with full cabs, and/or forklifts, that "T" into your heaterhoses and have a built-in fan already to rock & roll...Just connect the coolant lines and a power and ground wire,and you'll be all toasty and warm & fuzzy in no time.They're just a couple of hundred bucks the last time I checked, but the freight to no-man's land up where you are may be twice as much as the stinkin' assembly itself!!!

Brainstorm #2) A BIG inverter, about 5K watts, and a Home Depot space heater for home use. Guaranteed, you'll be running that grader in your B.V.D.'s with this setup, but be careful...there's a rumor going around in another thread here about grader operator's and proper conduct/attire, etc...:laugh

 

[jazak]

You did an AWESOME job on that grader!!!!! Gave it a new life!!!!!

 

[Dwan Hall]

Have you had a chance to try it at all yet, or has it been only moving it point to point in the process of your rebuild?

I did drop the blade here at the RV park but it was 9m and thaught I better not make any noise so only once around the park. Now if that was any indication of what it should do then I love it. MNow mind you I have been grading parkinglots and driveways for 25 years now with an 8' bucket on a 975 bobcat. All I can say is it is sure going to make the few grading jobs a lot easer.
I got stoped in a parkinglot yesterday when doing an estimate for a rock job and asked if I knew ware someone could find a grader for rent. (bild it they will come sendrom) They want 1 1/2 mile road graded back in the mountains that only tour busses drive on. That is 3 jobs and I havn't even turned the lights on. This keeps up it will pay for itself in less then a week.

Here is a shot showing how all out supplys arive in Juneau. My Mobil M-9 is at the top of the pile.

 

[Dwan Hall]

That's an awesome Austin, Dwan...something to be proud of. As far as auxiliary heating is concerned, you can buy fairly reasonably, one of those heaters you see in the smaller compact tractors with full cabs, and/or forklifts, that "T" into your heaterhoses and have a built-in fan already to rock & roll...Just connect the coolant lines and a power and ground wire,and you'll be all toasty and warm & fuzzy in no time.They're just a couple of hundred bucks the last time I checked, but the freight to no-man's land up where you are may be twice as much as the stinkin' assembly itself!!!

I have on of thoes heaters to install on the top so I can direct the air onto the windsheld for defrosting. There is also the stock heater which goes on the floor to warm the feet, melting the snow and foging up the windsheld.

I have a lot of work to do but thanks to all of you guys compliments it gives me an incentive to continue.

Traveling south for a week so progress will be on hold till I return.

 

[Lashlander]

Grader looks good. Nice pic too!:thumbsup

 

[bear]

Update?

How has the big red machine been doing? Looks good how does she run? Did you work the old girl hard this winter?