Update on Large Marge

I wanted to give you guys an update on what's been going on at the farm, and more specifically with Large Marge! She likes to keep me on my toes, that's for sure!

So the holiday and the weather aren't cooperating unfortunately. I haven't been able to make much progress because I'm waiting for deliveries, but I figured I could at least give you guys an update. My plan is to compress the spring, taking the pressure off of the bolt and threads, and then tighten the bolt. I will do this in small increments so the bolt is always there to "catch" it if the spring tries to launch... Don't worry, the bolt is plenty strong to keep this safe, and I will cover how I know that in the upcoming video. So what's the plan on compressing this spring?

There's lots of ways I could do it. Try to use the excavator itself, either between the bucket and thumb, or between the ground and the bucket, or even between a bulldozer and Marge. But I worry about the ability to maintain safety in those scenarios. Just compressing this spring a couple inches and having something slip could be catastrophic. I would have to fabricate some kind of cage, something to trap the ends of the spring so it couldn't slip, and also still have access to turn the bolt. Sounds challenging...and sketchy.

I can't use my 20 ton shop press. It's probably not strong enough anyway, but it's physically not big enough. The spring won't fit in it.

So my plan is pretty simple actually. I just fabricated a pin press with a 50 ton jack, which is almost the perfect tool for the job. The problem is, it's not long enough. But that's easily fixed getting some longer B7 alloy threaded rods. I ordered 3 of them, 6' long on Dec 30th from Zoro, who is usually pretty fast on shipping. I still haven't received them...🤷‍♂️ But I like this setup for several reasons. I can very precisely control the amount of compression since I am hand pumping the jack. I like that I get some feedback on how hard it is to pump, so I can "feel" how much force I am applying. I think this will allow me to compress a small amount and then tighten the bolt in small increments making this perfectly safe. I hope. We will see. If I ever get these darn threaded rods.

So I don't have a video for you guys this week. Sorry about that. Snow on the ground and cold weather also makes for a lot of farm chores that has been keeping me busy. We are feeding hay, keeping the boiler loaded, and dealing with the other problems that ice and snow create. Happy New Year everybody. Stay warm!