Thread: Dismantling Horwood Bagshaw Super Spreader

I found out that the spreader unit is a Vicon, the hopper trailer section was made by Horwood Bagshaw. I've put this up here, in case anyone comes across one to repair.
Managed to get it apart, under the nylon cover (which had to be broken) was a rusted circlip, followed by rusted bearings. Once the circlip was removed, the shaft took some getting out, due to the rust, the area in between the bearings is about 2 mm diameter less, so the bearing will fall here. Will put up some repair pics, if the customer can't get another/better part.
The main culprit was due to the bearings in the yoke seizing, there are 2 bearings on each side 4 in total, they got that hot, it blistered the seals. The bearings are sealed on both sides, which make them impossible to grease. If the seals weren't there the end caps could then have grease nipples fitted. The shafts that go into the bearings are a hollow tube, held in place with a 10mm socket head bolt (one was sheared in 2 places) on each side. The only parts that I could find, were for the outlet tube, the clamp that holds it on, and the 2 plates that set the flow rate, the first 2 were available from Bare-Co and the plates from the UK. So that means I'll have to make the Nylon dust covers. For the bearing on the flywheel, it doesn't show a replacement part, so I don't know what I'll do there yet.
Kryn

I can't offer much, no make that any help here Kryn, but I do remember a rubber fitter at a mine I once worked at saying that he had lined the steel drop tubes of a sod seeder/super spreader with Lina-Tex rubber, and the job had been very successful. The super is the problem, being very acidic in nature, it causes massive corrosion in any steel parts, and in the case of the drop tubes, the rust caused the super to stick and the tube to block. The thin sheet of Lina-Tex rubber protected the steel from contact with super and was low in friction so the super never built up to cause blockages, so it was a win on both counts. Even 316 stainless might struggle to resist corroding in the presence of super I imagine, so any mechanism in that environment will be up against the rust fairy its fair to say. I am not familiar with the metering mechanisms of super spreaders, so I look forward to some photos with explanitory notes in due course. Good luck,
Rob

Hi Kryn,

In a previous life I used to manufacture super spreader controllers, when you get to that stage maybe I can offer some assistance. There are three main inputs, ground speed, the belt speed and the spinner speed, The spinner speed determines the spread width, and the ratio of belt speed to ground speed determines the kg per hectare. Some of the newer systems have gps maps of the farm and vary the application rate depending on where you are on the farm, but we never got that sophisticated with our stuff.

We used inductive proximity sensors on spinner speed, shaft encoder on the belt speed and controlled the hydraulics to vary the speed. I can vouch for how corrosive the stuff is.

All the trucks had load cells weighing systems built in to record the weight of material actually delivered.

Thanks for the replies Gents. This particular unit was made around 1970 by all accounts. In the UK the spreading system is called a wagtail type as the nylon tube that delivers the super/seed goes back and forth covering approx 90 degrees, and is powered by the PTO.
Kryn

Do you have a series number? There's some manuals here -

http://www.triplehequipment.com/viconmanuals.htm

Originally Posted by SurfinNev

Do you have a series number? There's some manuals here -

http://www.triplehequipment.com/viconmanuals.htm

Thanks for that Nev, but I think the unit pre-dates what is there as the part number on the frame of the spreader it is, 22001 03299,.I've put the part number here in case some has a parts book hidden for it.

We had one of those a few spreaders ago. They were popular around here. Ours would hold about 1/2 tonne of super and they also claimed that you could spread lime with them. We smashed a few of the "tails" so we traded it on a belt spreader. I had a look but we do not have any Vicon books, they must have gone with the spreader.

RayG, these spreaders do not have a belt drive to meter the amount, it relies on the flow rate falling through the metering plates and ground speed. To increase the application rate you open the plates wider or drive slower. If you stop moving forward or start loading without closing off the flow you tend to apply a very large amount in a small area! I remember shoveling it up off of the ground.

Super would be alkaline not acidic. I would think they should be washed out after use, but I know very little about them. I have one that I was given for nothing. It has issues with corrosion. A cone shaped steel hopper that needs to be partly replaced. One day.

Dean

The owner is going to try Wrights Tractors at McLaren Vale who think they might have one there. So we'll see what happens.
Kryn

No luck with the tractor place, so repair it we will. Looking for a rubber seal, in the shape of a hat, that is OK with grease, fit onto a 20 mm shaft, 27 mm OD, base is 38 mm OD, thickness of the base is 2.5 mm and about 14 mm high. Has to be rubber as it has to flex slightly. Been to the 2 bearing supply places here and nothing, with out a part number, wouldn't know where to start looking, was the reply. Even tried a motorbike shop. Ebay nothing, so nothing to loose, but ask here. Will put some photo's on here tomorrow of the damage.
Below are 2 photo's of the seal that I'm looking for.
Thanks
Kryn

Lucked out on the seal, without a part number can't help you is all I got from 3 places. Solved the problem by using a CV boot off a Ford Laser, trimmed the area where the clamps use to go, and trimmed the bearing housing a bit and alls good.
DSCF0114.jpgDSCF0115.jpg

The main part of the machine, that copped the most damage, had 2 sheared off bolts, eventually got them out using a sharpened masonry bit,
fortunately the Drill Doctor came in handy to sharpen the bits. I started of with a 10mm as that is the size of the bolt that went through the remaining bush, once this was centre drilled I went through with an 8mm to take out the majority of the bolt. Then used a long series 6mm to drill through to the other side, of the bolt that was damaged and burred that much the centre couldn't be seen. That's why I had to drill from the other side, the only problem was that I must have put a bit too much pressure on the bit as it must have bent a bit causing the hole to be off centre enough to take out about a millimetre of thread on one side with the 8mm bit. Hopefully a recoil will fix it.
DSCF0116.jpgDSCF0117.jpg
Now to wait for my new boring head so that I can tidy up the damaged end and bore the other to size, did that one with a 3/4 drill bit.
Next job, once they are bored out, to make new bushes to replace the damaged ones, fortunately 1 was not to bad, so will use that as a sample. The remainder was in one of the bearings and the others in the paddock some where.

DSCF0118.jpgDSCF0120.jpg

Kryn

Some nice work and improvisation there Kryn. The CV joint boot should be good as the rubber is formulated to handle grease, - not all rubbers can, so that was an inspired choice, it even looks like it fits too, which is always a bonus
Keep up the good work,
Rob.

Good job getting that thing apart and repaired.

An employee once asked me how I always seemed to know how to fix things. I told her it was because I am so good at breaking stuff I had to learn.
Really though when I thought about it I grew up on the farm and Dad and Grandpa always had a go at fixing stuff, even though a lot of the time it wasn't text book it "got her going". I was so interested in this "fixing stuff" I did my apprenticeship and set up my own workshop on the farm because we never made enough money to just buy new gear or even parts sometimes to keep things going so we rebuilt things as we went and also built our own stuff. Without the farm connection I would probably not had that exposure to broken stuff I guess.
Sorry, that was a bit off topic!!

Originally Posted by Burner

Good job getting that thing apart and repaired.

An employee once asked me how I always seemed to know how to fix things. I told her it was because I am so good at breaking stuff I had to learn.
Really though when I thought about it I grew up on the farm and Dad and Grandpa always had a go at fixing stuff, even though a lot of the time it wasn't text book it "got her going". I was so interested in this "fixing stuff" I did my apprenticeship and set up my own workshop on the farm because we never made enough money to just buy new gear or even parts sometimes to keep things going so we rebuilt things as we went and also built our own stuff. Without the farm connection I would probably not had that exposure to broken stuff I guess.
Sorry, that was a bit off topic!!

Hi Burner, and Rob, it's amazing, but I hadn't thought of using the CV boot, it was the bloke mowing the grass next door!!!!! I don't find it "off topic" as you get to learn a bit, about some of the other members on here and their background. So you have an idea of what they're talking about or out of their a??e!
I've been fixing stuff since I was about 14, my father was a painter over on the bottom of Yorke Peninsula, and was always repairing houses and stuff but when it came to mechanical or metal he was in trouble, I used to fix the Combi Van when it wouldn't start. Where was your farm?
Kryn