Ford 2000 3cyl rocker

Found another area that may need attention for round 2 of my "working restoration." Rocker looks pretty worn, has a fair amount of slop. Is this part cast iron or steel? I'm guessing cast iron so I'll probably be brazing that hole up before boring it out. Main question is how does this hollow pin come out? Does it just press out or is there something hidden holding it. Pin isn't loose in the rear end, I couldn't move it by hand anyway. Rocker has a good bit of flop though.

I think it'll handle the bush hog to cut my other little 3 acre place once it dries up but looks like it'll need attention soon. Probably just make another pin, According to Sparex it's just a 1" OD x .106 Wall pin about 3-15/16 long, no big deal to make on the lathe. May not even need to build back the bore on the rocker with a new pin, the one in there looks sort of worn on the back.

Picture of rocker: https://imgur.com/a/DDuWSmy

And the pin isn't worn through on the back side, that looks more like an intentional notch. The wear isn't as bad on the other side, and the notch is there in the same place with square sides. Part that Sparex has pictured doesn't have the notch so I don't know if this is something someone else just threw in there or OEM that's just different than Sparex.

I think the hollow pin is removable. I don't know what the original dimensions are.

I don't know what the rocker is made of or if it is surface hardened.
It looks like the rocker is not too oval. You could always make an insert to compensate for any wear to go along with a new hollow pin. That way you could replace it when worn. One may already be available the could be machined down
I have seen the rocker on a Deutz D6006 that was cracked so some may be cast iron. What kind of cast iron?

I think that pin is actually a rolled sleeve with the ends flared to keep it in place. Mine is loose, too but not that worn. I'd say the rocker is cast steel so it can be easily welded. File off a little on a corner. It it's shiny it's steel. CI and it will be gray

When I upgraded my 3000 from a plain Jane 4
sp w/trans pto to an 8 sp w/live pto I had
to switch that rocker from one rear end to
the other. I could NOT get that pin out even
with a rosebud on my torch and an 8 lb
sledge hammer.
I had the 4 sp sold but had no use for the
rear end so I cut that pin off on both sides
of the ear on the rear end with a slitting
wheel on my angle grinder which cut deeply
into the rear end - effectively ruining the
rear end but saving the rocker.
If I HAD to remove that rocker today - and
save the rear end I would torch off the
rocker then torch the ends of the pin off
flush with the ear, then torch longways
through the hollow pin and take it out in
pieces.
Mike below is correct. The rocker is a good
grade of cast steel and will weld easily
with your favorite ap rod -
6011/6013/7018/etc or wirefeed.

Shouldn't be too hard to make up a draw bolt and hollow sleeve to press the old one out and new one in if I knew for sure it was pressed in and I wasn't going to break anything trying to move it. I can get a decent enough idea of hardness from a file test, or throw it on a hardness tester at work. I imagine prehard 4140 would probably out spec the original in any case. I might be wrong but I'm thinking they made it hollow for the very reason of using a draw bolt to remove and install, or maybe to limit the pin's strength so it would shear instead of breaking the axle housing. Regular old 1018 would probably do the job just fine for a few decades. I'll know once I see how hard the original is.

For now I've got a to get my bush hog refreshed a bit. The Ford has plenty of power to beat the weeds into submission, but that cutter isn't supposed to karate chop the grass. :lol:

Somewhere in my first post I thought that the rocker might be cast steel or semisteel. When I rewrote the post I must have lost a paragraph.

What size and brand of cutter do you have?
When you say refresh the cutter did you mean you need to sharpen the blades in reference to karate chop the grass? I have thought about modifying one of my old cutters to accept smaller bolt on blades as the replacements are getting kind expensive. I have some O-1 tool steel at 5/16" and maybe some 1/4" O-1. This cutter is an old 5 ft. Lilliston with a one piece arm. No stump jumper and pretty worn swing-out blades.

Found this: http://forums.yesterdaystractors.co...&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Looks like it presses out, and looks as if the rockers are indeed cast steel if I need to weld up the bores.

My cutter is a 5' Howse, it does have bolt on blades and a stump jumper. Found blades on Ebay for $57/pair but I need to measure to make sure they're the same. My blades are worse than dull. The ends are round. Also need to fix a couple torn spots in deck and weld at least one new skid plate on. Needs a new tail wheel and a coat of paint. Probably some chain guards too. Or mudflaps for now will at least help protect my tires. Oh, and a blast and spray with some Ford blue.

Here's the blades I found: https://www.ebay.com/itm/SET-REPLAC...09&hash=item588f622ee8:g:~8kAAMXQmWdRHIex

If the center section of your blade is good I don't see why you couldn't modify it to take shorter blades. You thinking to hack off the ends and drill it out to take swing blades like what would go on a stump jumper? May have to file/burr/torch two keyways on your bolt holes, I know my Howse bolts have two ears to keep them from turning.

If you're talking about tool steel cutting edges that can be done too with maybe 4 or 5 heavy countersunk screws for attachment. I'd mill out a pocket for the cutting edge to sit in so the bolts aren't taking the cutting load in shear, but the back of the cutting edge is pressing against a ledge of some sort. Or a stepped cutting edge. Something maybe 3/8 thick that goes over the bar, then gets to 3/4 or however thick out at the edge where the bevel is. But I wouldn't use anything too hard. You don't want a rock to grenade the blade, that's why they're usually soft, or maybe like RC-30 at most. Prehard 4140 would be a great edge I'd imagine, if you could find it in the right size. Easy enough to work and still a bit of hardness for edge holding. Just don't overheat it when grinding or you'll draw the temper out. S7 would be good, but again if you get it too hard it will still shatter with a hard enough impact so most of the steel's properties will go unused. With replacable cutting edges regular old A2 would probably be fine, and easy enough to make new edges when they wear. Do you have a mill? That'd make the project much easier.

If your gearbox turns freely you can take it off and clamp it to the table sideways to act as its own balancer too, depending if you have any sort of splined center hole to deal with.

Something like this is what I mean with the stepped cutting edge. Your bar would be drilled and countersunk for 3x 1/2" Flat head cap screws, matching holes on the cutting edge, nuts on top. The forces of cutting would press the step against the bar, not try to shear the bolts. https://imgur.com/a/sOcuy2g

That's a machinist solution. A welder solution would be to build the edge up with 7018 at the end of every season, warm it up with the torch and cool it slowly to take some hardness out, then sharpen with a grinder.

Just remember it's turning at 540RPM, so the tip of that blade if it's a 5' circle is going 8,482 feet per minute. That's 96 miles per hour. So any blade is going to need to be made carefully. Not exactly firearm speed, but there's plenty of mass there, and I wouldn't want a fastball pitcher throwing sharp pieces of metal at me. :lol:

You pretty well read my mind. I might stress relieve at 500 F until it was 30-35 Rockwell C. might tap the blade part, but the rest is pretty well what I want. Might be that regular bar steel would do if the hardness is only 30 RC. I could just make up a bunch from bar.
I also have some Casenite if I could just remember where I put it. This was the old type which I think did a ferritic nitride hardening. But you are probably right. It would be overkill and a waste of time. I don't know how fast grass and weeds abrade blades. If I did this I would not use it for virgin territory. I would just rather make up cheap expendable blades.

Thanks for the response.

DL