I am rebuilding a swing gear box for a small crane I own. The gear box is about 12K to replace, but I can rebuild it for about $700, which is what I have decided to do. I am a contractor, not a mechanic, although I am a jack of all trades, master of none type. While I have done a lot of shade tree mechanics, this and working on my own hydraulics are somewhat new ground for me, thus the reason for this post. With the costs of any type of heavy equipment work these days, learning to repair this on my own is worth my time and effort.
I have taken the gear box apart and cleaned it and I am now ready to put it back together. I was lucky in that the only problem with the box was the bearings were frozen up. All of the main components are fine, so it's just a matter of putting it back together with new bearings and seals. I have run into a small issue in which I need some help though. The main shaft uses an odd spanner lock nut lock in an 8 inch worm gear. The nut is 2 7/8" wide and instead of square notches, they are rounded, and you actually use a small screw that screws down and rests inside the rounded notch to lock the nut in place. I am familiar with spanner nuts, but I can't find anything online or get any help from any of the local parts places either on this nut. It has N11 stamped on the nut, so I assume it's similar to any regular N11 lock nut with the rounded notches being the difference?
I have to torque this nut when I put things back together, but I cannot figure out how or where to find a socket to fit the nut. I'm assuming I will have to use some type of socket in order to put my torque wrench on it. I am attaching pictures, but if anyone has any ideas on how to torque this nut or where I can get a socket that will work, I would greatly appreciate it.
Another thought would be to swap it out for a regular N11 locknut in which I can readily find the tools to install it with. My concern with making this small change is that any weight or thickness changes might alter the way the shaft spins causing me problems in the end? I'm not familiar enough with right turn swing gear boxes to know for certain. Anyway, this is a long first post, so thanks in advance for any help anyone might send my way to figure this out.
I have taken the gear box apart and cleaned it and I am now ready to put it back together. I was lucky in that the only problem with the box was the bearings were frozen up. All of the main components are fine, so it's just a matter of putting it back together with new bearings and seals. I have run into a small issue in which I need some help though. The main shaft uses an odd spanner lock nut lock in an 8 inch worm gear. The nut is 2 7/8" wide and instead of square notches, they are rounded, and you actually use a small screw that screws down and rests inside the rounded notch to lock the nut in place. I am familiar with spanner nuts, but I can't find anything online or get any help from any of the local parts places either on this nut. It has N11 stamped on the nut, so I assume it's similar to any regular N11 lock nut with the rounded notches being the difference?
I have to torque this nut when I put things back together, but I cannot figure out how or where to find a socket to fit the nut. I'm assuming I will have to use some type of socket in order to put my torque wrench on it. I am attaching pictures, but if anyone has any ideas on how to torque this nut or where I can get a socket that will work, I would greatly appreciate it.
Another thought would be to swap it out for a regular N11 locknut in which I can readily find the tools to install it with. My concern with making this small change is that any weight or thickness changes might alter the way the shaft spins causing me problems in the end? I'm not familiar enough with right turn swing gear boxes to know for certain. Anyway, this is a long first post, so thanks in advance for any help anyone might send my way to figure this out.
