Springs......

[Keith Webb]

In the 70s when most sawmills in Australia had one or more CMPs, it was quite normal to see broken front springs. The reason? A long jib on the back and a heavy load... add a few beers to the driver and see how high you can bounce it.

Sawmill trucks are generally the worst you can find when looking for a CMP to restore!

Originally posted by Bill Mulholland
Bob; I had to rebuild the front springs on my F15A for the same reason... a huge !#$$%^& plow had been fitted. I removed the springs,clamped firmly in a vise, removed the centre bolt, and proceeded to hammer and chip off the rust and crud. The left spring was in reasonably good condition due to a leaky plow control valve. The R/H was in reaonable condition also, except the eye was broken on the main leaf at the front. Long story short... I applied some learned metallurgy and welded the eye back on. The confirmation test was lifting the front end about 4ft with the Diamond T and dropping the truck to the shop floor. the repair held, and that is about the absolute worst bump it will have in it's life with me. As for re- arcing, once the springs had been apart for some time, they found their way back to almost the original arc. After replacing on the truck, and a MK1 eyeball inspection, they looked about right, so I left them alone. It has been 2 years since and there is no noticeable sag.
Cheers, Bill