I have a complete Fairmont W 84 Serties J walk behind Spike Puller EXCEPT that the shaft between the hydralic pump and the gerabox sheared off (or was hit). I only have the short piece of the shaft from inside the Vickers Pump.

Fairmont no longer has the pimp. Brown, who bought the surplus Fairmont inventory doesn't have the shaft and Vickers still, supplies the pump but with a much shorter shaft that just will not do.

While i do not hold out much hope for finding the part, can anyone recommend a shop where I might take this to be repaired?

I'm not familiar with this spike puller but is the shaft removable, separate from the gearbox and pump? If you are able to get the dimensions of the shaft a machine shop should be able to make one for you.


Another option might be buying a section of drill rod or shaft of the correct outside diameter (OD) from an industrial supplier like MSC, McMaster-Carr or Grainger and cutting it to length. Not sure if you need a keyway in it but they do sell shafts with a keyway the whole length or the section you're going to use could be broached for a keyway by a machine shop, they could even do splines if they are used instead.

Just throwing some ideas out there for you.

Try North American Equipment in Kentucky or RELAM in Ohio. They might be able to steer you in the right direction. If you call enough shortlines/regionals in your area, or contractors, you may find one with a bum motor or hydraulic pump that may be a good parts source for your missing shaft.

You might try RailSwap.Org. as there are companies there which may have an answer.

Contact Dudley Newman out in Arizona. (See link)
http://www.newmanmachinery.com/inventor ... ke-pullers
According to his site he is parting out a W84 and may have a good used part for you.

If that does not work, I second the suggestion on going to a machine shop to have one made.
Good luck,
Bruce

How about a description of what it looks like. Maybe someone here could come up with another suggestion if we knew what it looked like.

Later!
Mr. Ed

This may be useful for others out there who find themselves in a similar predicament.

It turns out that the Vickers pump is still serviced by the manufacturer. And it appears that my original assumption about the length of the shaft was incorrect. The shaft that comes out of the pump is short and connects to a spline inside the clutch housing. When I removed the housing, I discovered what looked like a smaller version od an automobile transmission. According to a hydralic supply house in Mt. Vernon ny, its unlikely to be one long shaft but rather two seperate pieces. My mechanical dvisor has determined that we need to measure the clutch mechanism and the spline diameter. this way we may be able to find the missing piece off the shelf.

Note to anyone with a future mechanical situation. Figure out who manufactured the components. The parts are likely still out there. The trick is knowing what to ask for and where to ask for it.

Last week I was in a typical, ordinary auto parts store--not one that services obscure stuff, just one of those chains. Someone walked in looking for--of all bizarre things--the heater core for a 1973 Ford Ranchero. After bringing the clerks up to speed on what the heck a Ford Ranchero WAS (Ford's "answer" to the Chevy El Camino--or was it the other way around?), the manager did the rest.

It was sitting in a radiator warehouse across town, available for same-day delivery. The entry/box said "1971-1974 Ford Ranchero" so it's not like the thing fit hundreds of Ford models.....

ADM4 and all:

If anyone cares, Ford's Ranchero was first (1957), Chevy followed with the El Camino (1959). The Ranchero was produced continually until '79 using a variey of platforms.

The El Camino took '61 - '63 off and returned in 1964 on a Chevelle/Malibu platform. It lasted until 1987.

A little auto trivia for your morning.

Scott

Including the Falcon from 1961 to 1965 then the Fairlane/Torino chassis for a few more years. Trying to follow the sizes of the Ranchero is llike trying to follow the Cougar through it's life. It started as a Mustang size vehicle then morphed into a Fairmont sized sedan, then a Thunderbird sized personal sports sedan then into it's own body before dying a fitful death.

Later
Mr. Ed

The big name in shaft couplings is Lovejoy. either cast iron or sintered metal hubs with the "jaws", with a rubber "spider" interposed.



All my molding presses have these between the motor and pumps; those that weren't Lovejoy brand got replaced when they died. Hubs are made with different standard bore sizes, different sizes can be used together so long as they are the same series, which ensures the jaw dimensions are the same. If the existing coupling isn't Lovejoy, it will likly be easier to replace the whole show than to find the matching parts.

Mc Master Carr carries common sizes, including some with oversize bores that Lovejoy doesn't stock, or go to:

http://www.lovejoy-inc.com/products/jaw ... lings.aspx

to see the whole line.

Lovejoy isn't the only shaft coupling out there, merely the most common. Their shortcoming is the necessity of disassembly to replace an insert. There's a ton of different designs out there, each with strengths and weaknesses. I sold a bunch of couplings during my time in industrial sales. A good industrial supplier, like Motion Industries or a local equivalent, should be able to help come up with something that would work. Here's a link to another popular (but more expensive) coupling.

http://www.atra-flex.com/index.html

A properly designed and sized coupling should fail before the equipment attached to it is damaged.

I use alot of Lovejoys too, as I work in the plastic injection molding field too for a major robot and automation supplier (starts with a "W"). You can get different hardness 'spiders' for them also. Jacobs springs are used on other stuff.

With all of the 'off the shelf' catalog parts available and even possibly some machining I don't see where fixing this would be impossible.