Wire rope wedge for P&H

[TDF]

Hi all been going meticulously through the 1971 exmilitary P&H 20 ton I bought a year ago. She hadn't been ran in many years but is super low hours. About 200 on both crane and carrier. Stripped it down got the carrier running good and drove it the 50 miles home. Spent a bunch of time going through it getting everything working and put the boom and outriggers back on and hoisted the boom up in the air under it's own power yesterday. Probably the first time that has happened this century. The rear drum had some old cable on it as did the boom winch (I replaced both) so they both had the wedges used to anchor the cable in the drum. However the front drum was empty when I bought it on the auction. I've now been everywhere through this thing been under every panel etc. And that wedge is long gone. Does anyone know a good source for those wedges? I took some measurements off the 5/8 wedge that is in the rear drum. I'd like to get a 3/4 for the front drum just because I have a considerable amount of good 3/4 wire rope on hand.

Thanks
TDF

 

[TDF]

Here's the 5/8 wedge from the rear winch. Like I said if anybody knows a place to look to come up with another of these to replace the missing one in the front winch, I'd sure appreciate it.

Thanks,
TDF

 

[crane operator]

Looks like just a crosby or mckissick wedge. Might be Gunnebo Johnson. Any 5/8 wedge should work, that is the right size, you may have to buy a whole becket to get the wedge. I would do some serious looking at your drum before going to 3/4" cable, making sure there is room in the sleeve and that the wedge will seat properly with the larger cable. Every drum I've seated a cable in has a "max" size of cable that will fit in, and you can make a 1/2" or 9/16" cable work on a 5/8" drum if you have the right wedge, but you may not fit a 3/4" in the sleeve/ or the wedge and cable may not seat.

https://www.ebay.com/i/383433797731...iQmfg2Xaaw75xa2qO89Pom4oQjb93t3hoCxrQQAvD_BwE


https://www.ebay.com/i/200764822915...17rCU7nSw5ondmVqHU1_SMjJQ4aELCFhoC9b0QAvD_BwE


Crosby catalog shows being able to just purchase a wedge. But- I think all the new wedge's are the terminator style. Those won't work, a phone call would find out for sure if they are the short wedges or the terminator style.

https://www.westechrigging.com/crosby-utility-wedge-socket-1044345.html

 

[TDF]

Thank you sir that is very helpful. The manuals I have for the old girl show going as big as 3/4 rope on her so I think it will work but I will do some checking. All that being said, now I'm thinking I'll go 1/2 inch instead. I got the original military clam with the crane off the auction and hadn't really looked at it all that close yet, concentrating on getting the crane up and running. Today I pulled it out of the weeds and greased it up and made sure everything was free and took a good look at the pulleys in it and they say 1/2 inch rope on them. Have a bunch of good 1/2 inch cable also. Had a 500' spool of it but only needed 245' for the boom. Guess I might as well use the rest of that on the front drum for the clam. But now I know where to go looking for the 1/2 inch wedge.

Thanks again
TDF

 

[BobCatBob]

When I rebuilt the Galion, Contractors Crane out of Houston had OEM wedges.....I believe the have P&H wedges as well if they’re not universal.

p.s. I originally considered a P&H 20 ton off the old Gov Liquidators auction site, would love to see your rebuild.

 

[TDF]

p.s. I originally considered a P&H 20 ton off the old Gov Liquidators auction site, would love to see your rebuild.

Thanks BobCatBob. Here's a couple pics of it. First is as bought. It weighs 60k, and I needed to drive it 50 miles to my farm, so had to strip it down to get it light enough to be legal with out permits. In the stripped pic I think it weighs about 47k. Spent half a summer on it fixing air leaks in the air brakes and greasing it up replacing oils etc. to get it ready for the 50 mile trip. Trip home was uneventful, took gravel and took it slow.
This spring summer started working on the crane engine and got it running good, then started reassembling it and recabling it. A pic of it going back together, and last pic is the first time it hoisted it's boom under it's own power for me. Been great fun so far and having a blast learning the inner workings of the old girl.

TDF

 

[BobCatBob]

Love it! Ospho will become your friend (rust converter).....these old iron beauties just need TLC, elbow grease and some new parts.

How’s the hydraulic cylinders (outriggers)....? Brakes on drums ok?

 

[davo727]

Does it have a data plate that shows where the crane was built? Escanaba Michigan ( my old summer fun area) or in Wisconsin?

 

[TDF]

How’s the hydraulic cylinders (outriggers)....? Brakes on drums ok?

Brakes on the drums are great, little to no wear on anything, and all free and working. A couple of the master cylinders on the lever's are weeping a little bit, but hopefully they will soften up and seal up with fluid in there now, but if they don't I'll rebuild them.

The hydraulics in the outriggers? Well the best thing that can be said about that is there are absolutely no leaks whatsoever on those hydraulics. The worst thing that can be said is that there are no hydraulics. They are full manual outriggers. The military had an abundance of 18 year old grunts to muscle things around so guess they didn't see the need for hydraulic outriggers.

TDF

 

[TDF]

Does it have a data plate that shows where the crane was built? Escanaba Michigan ( my old summer fun area) or in Wisconsin?

Haven't found a data plate anywhere with an origin on it. The plate on the side of the crane says Harnischfeger Corp. and has a date of 6-71. But not origin. Haven't found a data plate on the carrier.

TDF

 

[davo727]

OK , I remember the Harnischfeger plant in Escanaba when I was a kid. One of my friends dads worked there. Was one of the few good places to work up there. Was a big hit to the area when they closed it and concentrated production in wisconsin.