Pins and Bushings for Henry Backhoe

[Roger440IC]

Hi, my old Henry backhoe is in need of new pins and bushings, especially the main boom and the bucket. I've been able to locate 660 bushings for most of the points and I was thinking of using 954 aluminum bronze bushings for the boom since the Henry manual calls out for steel bushings on the boom. Since I've never been down this road before I was wondering if someone could give me some guidance. I also want to replace the 1-1/2" pins, since thery're pretty worn as well. Rather than just use mild steel stock for the pins I was thinking of using 1045 or 1144 turned ground and polished rod. Again any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks, Roger

[jdemaris]

Hi, my old Henry backhoe is in need of new pins and bushings, especially the main boom and the bucket. I've been able to locate 660 bushings for most of the points and I was thinking of using 954 aluminum bronze bushings for the boom since the Henry manual calls out for steel bushings on the boom.

Aluminum bronze would not take the beating and impact loads. You can either buy premade bushings for other machines and cut them down, or buy bushing stock and make your own. A Henry is pretty easy since all the pins and bushings are conventional - i.e. no tapered bushings like Deere often uses. I did my Henry on my Allis Charmers crawler a few years ago and had no problems matching up busings. All the pins can either be made from 1045 round stock (that's what Deere uses OEM), or from water-hardening or oil-hardening rod stock.

[Roger440IC]

What material would you recommend for the bushings? The Henry parts/manual calls out for "bronze bushings" most places except for a couple of places like the lower boom bushing where it calls out "steel bushings". What type of steel bushing should I look for? All of the old bushings, including the boom, are some sort of bronze. I found a place that has the regular 660 bushings but they don't carry steel. They do have 954 Al-bronze which has a tensil strength of 85k and a yield strength of 35k as well as another AL-bronze, 863, which has a t/s of 110k and y/s of 60k which is in the same ballpark as the 1045. I thought that the bushing was supposed to be the weaker/softer of the two but am not sure. Also, do you recommend putting in double figure 8 grease groves? Thanks again for your thoughts on this. Roger

[jdemaris]

I thought that the bushing was supposed to be the weaker/softer of the two but am not sure. Also, do you recommend putting in double figure 8 grease groves? Thanks again for your thoughts on this. Roger

I've never heard of the mind-set of having the bushings softer than the pins - but maybe some companies tried that strategy. That used to be the idea with old slow runnning engines with very soft piston rings and very hard cylinder walls including Deere two cylinder engines. Rings would wear much faster than the cylinders, and you could gain a lot just by a re-ring job. Nobody with modern equipment does that anymore. With backhoes - I cannot imagine a good reason. All I've ever worked on, the pins and bushings wear equally. Then there's the additional problem of bushings that do not retain their press fit and get loose - thus ruining the mounting holes. That is one reason why a strong, steel, thickwall bushing is needed, usually low carbon and surface hardened. Many of the hoes and loaders I fix, have loose bushings that are more of a problem then worn bushings.
I'm assuming you've got a small hoe. My Henry is a Mark IV and is not very large. Bushings ought to be easy to match up. I've been using a lot of aftermarket Case bushings since they are cheap and many are made with the 1.5" ID and several different ODs. Factory made backhoe steel bushings tend to have a Rockwell hardness in the C40 to C55 range. Various alloys can be hardened to attain that, or something close. I've even made my own track bushings in the past, but had to send them out to get hardened. Usually not worth the bother when you cannot buy your own OEM bushings.
You can also buy lengths of raw bushing stock from many places. I use it often. Usually it's 1020 steel and will harden with water quenching to around a C50 Rockwell. It's low carbon and less likely to break under impact like med-carbon steels like 1040.

[Pistonman]

I see you are in Washington, We have pins and bushings made through Pape Equipment in Tacoma (the pin and bushing shop is in Montesano) or Hydraulic repair and design (HRD). I have them matched up for oddball applications often.

[Roger440IC]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge on this. One last question: Do you recommend grease groves, like the double figure 8? Roger