Tell us your best engineering bodges

[treequip]

a piece of elder beats any shop bought file handle

 

Only if you take the pith

[skyhuck]

This was one of mine that worked better than I could have hoped.

 

My Schiesling chipper has a nylon ring between the each feed roller and the hydraulic motors, there is a gear on both the motor and roller, this nylon ring has teeth on he inside that fit onto the two gears making a flexible link.

 

A couple of years ago one of the nylon rings broke in half, I rang my dealer and they said it would be a while before they could get me one, so I ordered two and then thought I had better try and bodge a temporary repair to keep me going until he new part arrived.

 

So I went to an engineering firm and got a piece of steel rolled to near the same diameter as he ring, I the took this home and squeezed it until it was a nice fit over the ring, I the cut off the overlap and wielded the ends together.

 

I then put the two hales of the ring together and put the ring inside the steel band I had made, I then got some old cheep alan keys that come with kids bikes and the like. I wielded the alan keys on the band hooked over the edge so that the nylon ring was held in place.

 

This repair lasted more than 18 months and was still working perfectly when I removed it and fitted the new part, I only did this as I was carrying out some other maintenance work on the chipper.

 

The first pic is a new ring and the other two are the bodge

[gensetsteve]

great tips so far. I have a suspicion that some genuine manufacturers parts are being made with less quality than they should in china. As the economy struggles manufacturers will be under pressure to dump stock for machines out of manufacture 7 years ago. Modifying bodging and improving will be more usefull than ever.

[Pat Ferrett]

My old man got a tractor stuck in the woods! with no other vehicle to pull it out, He tied one end of a lenght of rope to a tree and rapped the other end around a drive shaft or hub "I cant remember which" and then engaged a gear and pulled himself out

 

I love a good bodge any mug can ring the AA or get on the phone and order a part but I get a warm feeling when I manage to make do and mend.

 

Good thread by the way

[Daniël Bos]

I had a coolant hose busrt on me whilst going down the A1 to do some fancy woven fencing. Cut a but of hazel tat I was carrying on the roof, whittled it to size and fitted it in the hose. Then refilled the system with what bottles of elderflower squash my kids had left in the back of the car. It got me to the next services where I topped up with water, the wooden plug lasted about 6 months with very ocasional topping up.

[oldwoodcutter]

Our youngest was born just as disposable nappies first came out in the 70s.I was left on my own 1 evening and had to change a smelly one with only 1 fresh 1 remaining in the bag.Got in a right old muddle with those sticky tab things and ended up going down to my workshop and fetching some insulation tape to fasten it all together.Mrs oldwoodcutter still brings it up in mixed company when feeling particularly beligerant.

[tommer9]

WOW huck thats seriously impressive!!!

 

BTW i THINK that you are referring to cush drives, although there may be too many teeth on yours to qualify as one.

[robbo 110]

loads & loads over the years but the best on site bodge was 20 tonne 360 with knackered alternator, all electronic contol, we strapped a battery charger & a petrol generator to the machine to keep it working!!!!!!!!

 

oh an if any dads out there are struggling doing your daughters hair...... small cable ties work wonders!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Breezeblock]

i always carry big cable ties and 2 inch silver tape and some jubilee clips in the van its amazing what you can lash together with a bit of ingenuity

[bob]

tony asked me for my old tights last year - i thought is he being cheeky - but no - puts them over the tractor air intake as an additional dust filter for the sawdust in the air

 

joy

 

can not believe no one else has asked for a pair of your tights yet:blushing:

or a pic:thumbup:

sorry:confused1: