The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

Well, during the disassembly and fixing up of my Super Major I noticed that the lift arm on the level box side has been deformed, one of the "forks" where the level box attaches to has been twisted downwards. Thanks to my fathers cousin I know how this has been "accomplished" by some lazy farmer that didn't care to make sure the bolt was going through both forks when he lifted up something heavy, thus bending the side that had to take all the load...

Now to the question, is it possible to straighten this up? Heating it, twisting it back and letting it cool off slooooowly? I suppose since this is cast iron that it has to be heated evenly and slowly aswell...

Any ideas?

you sure it's cast iron ? Cast iron seems a very poor choice for arms since it has poor tensile strength, and is also very brittle. I would have thought they would just be made of steel. Of course I could be wrong.

Ian wrote:you sure it's cast iron ? Cast iron seems a very poor choice for arms since it has poor tensile strength, and is also very brittle. I would have thought they would just be made of steel. Of course I could be wrong.

This sounds a little like a "besserwisser" thing from my side, but those lower arms on a 3p lift is not the lift arms, they are just drag links, the lift arms are the cast iron arms up on the hydraulics lid, connected to the drag links with the levelling box and similar linkage on the other side... so, my lift arm has been deformed

Edit:
The spare parts number for the "arm" is E1ADDN-994620-A...
If mine can't be sorted out I'll go salvage one from my fathers cousin's scrap super major, either side should do...

Foxen,

You mean the ears of this part, but then the super model.



How much is the deforming and to witch side? A bit of correction could be done, but I don't know about how it will be when you have to correct a lot.
Could you post a picture?
I'll ask my college.

I haven't got a picture of my deformed part, but it's not the ears on the levelling box itself, nor in the "shackle" between it and the lift arms, if I call it the upper lift arm? Big, heavy piece of cast iron, one on each side of the hydraulic lid, actuated by the ram piston inside the lid

The "fork" part of the right one is twisted because the pin/bolt going through it and the 90 degree "shackle" that also mounts to the levelling box has slid out from one side of the fork, which put all the lifting load on the other side of the fork and twisted it...

Nice picture though, now I know what the innards of the power major levelling box I got instead of the super major's one will look like, gonna take it apart, clean it, paint it and grease it up before reassembly

Foxen,

Take a look overhere
http://people.zeelandnet.nl/hmdetroije/
Go to repair two. You find some picture of the inner parts.
At the page technical data you find a link to lift parts.

This is the part your talking of.

Foxen,

Heat it and bend it gently back. Cool it normaly off but not in water.

I think these parts would be cast STEEL ??

sandy

It being cast steel would make sence since it has bent without shattering, cast iron usually cracks when trying to bend it so... lots of heat it is then

Hmmm... Just to make sure I haven't gotten anything wrong here, but on the super major both left and right arm is the same, there is only one model that fits both sides whereas on new major and power major there are two distinct models, left and right, yes?

Foxen,

I think the normal lift arm, you can use the arm on both sides for the new and power major. Maybe the ones for the automatic lorry hitch are not interchangeable.
You wrote cast iron, but I was thinking cast steel.

Cast iron will not bend, it will shatter. The arms are either cast or forged steel. If you heat it and cool it very slowly, you will anneal(soften) the steel and reduce its strength. Very rapid cooling will make it very hard and brittle. I 'd quench it in oil or water right after it loses its red color to preserve a little more of it's strength. I'm sure there are some forum members that can give you better specifics on quenching than I have and I hope they will. Good luck!