Re: (ET) My 'new' E12S

[Dave Pristash <djpristash att net>]

Hi everyone,

I was hired by GE in the summer of '69 when the project was given the go ahead by the GE board. I started in September '69 after completing my military duties and when I started we had 7/8 months to take the demo units into production to make the back half of the spring '70 market.  In September there was no factory only a tool room and a couple of tool and die makers so we had a crash program on our hands to finish the tractor design and put in a factory which we did.  There were a lot of compromises made to get the first E-15's out and I guess we didn't do all that bad if their still some out there running. 

The rivet holes were slotted to make it easier to align in assembly and the steering was what it was, which was a compromise to get the unit in production.  there was a about a good 20% cost premium for the ElecTrak over ICE Tractors back then and so working the material and labor cost out was critical to getting sales up to where GE wanted them.  If we had had more time there were a number of things that were talked about doing that just didn't happen for lack of time and money ....

Dave



RJ Kanary wrote:

Once again I will take the time to point out that I am NOT and Engineer, nor do I portray one on Television.........................

...................But has anyone else noticed that the holes on the battery compartment side panels where the rivets attach the panels to the front and rear castings are not round? Sort of oval shaped ? I see two plausible reasons for this.

1.) Ease of alignment during assembly.

2.) Allowing the front of the tractor to flex without bending the sheet metal.

           Under the correct uneven terrain situations, the front of the frame will bend and twist. A whole bunch. You can feel this twisting in your feet as the control cabinet moves relative to the foot plates.You can also observe relative movement between the rear edge of the hood and the control cabinet. The rear of the frame is not afforded this flexibility since the iron housing of the trans axle would take a dim view of this.

           GE may have had this in mind when they chose NOT to secure the front end of the sector shaft in it's support bushing with a collar and set screw.Let things twist and bend without breaking.




Konstanty, Walter (GE Indust, ConsInd) wrote:

  On the website are some instructions to tighten the steering system up....here's another old post.

.....Walt

Kleinbrahm, Bob wrote:

> I stumbled upon something that I haven't heard mentioned on the list

> before. I had been trying to tighten up my sloppy steering gear

> meshing on my stripped down E-20 tractor. Followed all the

> recomedations on the list, including grinding down the base of

> steering shaft pinion gear holder. Placing extra shims on fan gear

> shaft, etc. Non of these were giving me much satisfaction when

> turning the wheel with the potential for slop still being there. I

> was doing all this with the front side covers off of the tractor as I

> am in the process of rebuilding it after a frame weld job. I took

> this opportunity to replace the rivets that hold the side panels on

> with rivet/nuts. Rivet/nuts are very interesting in that they require

> you to drill out the original rivets from the tractor and then replace

> them with the 2 piece rivet/nut assembly. Basically you use a special

> tool which compresses the rivot/nut assembly in the new drilled out

> hole. This allows you to use regular screw type bolts to attach

> panels to the tractor. It makes it easy to remove components like the

> side panels and fenders, etc and then simply screw them back on.

> Anyway, in the process of putting the panels back on I noticed that

> you really had to pull the front of the tractor into the main upright

> housing of tractor to get the rivet/nut holes to align properly. This

> pulling together of the steering housing and the front of the tractor

> has tightened up the gears so much that I ended up removing the shim from the fan gear assembly.

>

> I would guess that some of you have front panels that the rivets have

> deteriorated to the point that they are no longer pulling the front and

> middle of tractor tightly together. I obtained my rivet/nut kit from

> J.C. Whitney catalog and it has been a great tool for working on these

> great tractors.

>

> Bob Kleinbrahm

>

---

From: elec-trak-bounces cosmos phy tufts edu [mailto:elec-trak-bounces cosmos phy tufts edu] On Behalf Of RJ Kanary
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 4:34 PM
To: e s
Cc: Elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
Subject: Re: (ET) My 'new' E12S

       The most difficult part will be the disassembly to inspect the parts at issue.To draw the sector gear closer to the pinion, shims between the sector gear itself and the support must be removed.What usually happens is the shims on the opposite side of the support rot away, allowing the sector gear to migrate away from the pinion. If this has been allowed to go on long enough, both gears get ruined.

       Let me know what your ambition level is and I'll coach you through the remedies for Large Frame Tractor Steering Woes.

RJ


e s wrote:

Well, finally got an Elec-trak after some months of looking. Got it home  over the weekend and promptly fried the fwd/rev relay.  Ahh well, Harold is sending a new one. 

The steering has enough play between the pinion and sector gear that it can skip if you try to turn it while not rolling. I think I can adjust the column a little to tighten it up, and perhaps ad a washer behind the sector gear, but are  there any other tricks? i think there must be wear in the casting at the base of the steering column that allows this. 


Otherwise, once it gets brakes[also on the way] it should be fine. 

Keith



  

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--

David J. Pristash, Consultant

Instant Digital Innovations

PO Box 41298

Brecksville, Ohio 44141-0298

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