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1968 Tucker 442 New to Me

Missing a few oem parts. This will be used for firewood, beer hauling , and cleanup for winter carnival days.

I'm sure a person or two will end up in it.

That must be your staging area to sled I to camp?
 
Yeup- end of International Paper Co. Rd. It has pretty good area for trailers & 6 miles into camp from there.
 
Here's a little slice of what Conway NH has to offer. Saco river starts little further north in Evans Notch. Flows to the ocean eventually. Consists of all run off fed from mountains .
 

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New bronze sliders fabricated and fit. Setup is much much better than it was. Will be interesting to see how long the bronze blocks hold up. Will keep well lubed.

All the slop is out. Upper table has a slight .100 forward tilt. Left to right is out .060.

Without making brand new steel channel don't know I can do much. At any rate way better then how I have used it for the past few hundred miles.

Time will tell. I'm sure in my life it will be apart again .
 

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Next time this comes apart. Will make it a summer time project.

Re bore the king pin holes and turn a new pin. Will weld and re deck the king pin pivot surfaces.

New steel channel true and square. Sealed heavy duty cam follower yokes and will turn down some grade 8 bolts for them to ride on. Till the this is what we have.
 

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Light went off today when I remembered about a year ago a metal fab shop up the road had a tucker at their shop apart. Friend was there on a sales call and sent me a picture of it. I thought it was a customers. After speaking with the owner of the shop today turns out it is his. 69 442 with a rubber track conversion. Has a small block chevy in it as well. Whole rig was cut in half and widened, lenghtened, and regeared for speed. Runs up on Lake Winnipesaukee New Hampshire.

Off to his shop in the am with the tables! Great to meet another local Tucker guy. Will try and get some pics. Working on getting him on the group also. Hopefully this leads to good things for my 442. This table project needs more tools than I have in my shop.

Going to try and make the setup use these RBC yoke rollers. Page 10 on the attached PDF. Replaceable. Heavy Duty. Sealed. 3000 lb loading each. 25$ each from a friend.
 

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That's a pretty funny coincidence. I was trying to backtrack info on another Tucker and came across it Friday. Nice looking machine.
 

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That's the rig. Small Tucker world. Looks much better than last pic I saw if it. Might have been purple. Was bow nh club groomer prior.

Looks sweet now.
 
Dug into the parts stash. Found some nice channels but they are shorter compared to mine.

Looking for input.
 

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My .02 - My guess is the longer channel was used later in production to solve a possible issue with the rollers coming out of the channel an max turn, max deflection situation and then taking a whack on a pontoon (hitting stump, etc.) that caused the frame to flex enough for it to jump off the end of the channel. Pure speculation on my part, but they were extended for a reason.

I am betting that when you take the tables up to Metal Works, they will have a press that can recreate that bend with fresh square stock. Then a plasma cutter & grinder would get you set for replacements.

You pressed yours back into shape. Are you worried the metal is fatigued and will just flex back out when you start using it again, or is it binding as it sits now?
 
I pressed them back to some shape but not happy with the consistency. None are on same plane. Needs a pro or hopefully new. Dropped off today waiting to hear back. He was very very helpful. Think we're back to bronze either way.
 
Did you pull the channels off of the table to see if the holes are hogged out allowing them to move to different planes? Then again, it is quite likely they were squared up (by eye??), clamped into place (did it move?) and then hand drilled at the factory. And as long as it was close, it was fine. Heck, it lasted xx years w/ no problems.

But with the welds on that plate, it certainly could have put some warp in there that would be showing at the outermost edges.
 
The holes in the channel are counter sink with Allen head matching bolts. The table is 9/16 fine threaded with locknuts on back as well that attach it.

Table and center is good. Channel is wavy gravy. Rear channel was loose in life which didn't help. Uneven all over.

Guy who made t he new front tins can bend me new 1/4 stainless c channel then curve it to match with holes. Will prob make a few extra sets for future.

That just leaves turning a new king pin, new lower table bushing, and new larger set of bronze sliders, stainless shims for over kingpin between tables .

Got excited to push project forward but correct repair is needed. Sometimes you need to step back to go forward.
 
So after seeking the wisdom of many I started over and took s fresh look. Went into the parts pile found these nice channels. Problem is they are a few inches shorter.

I leveled the upper table against the bottom table using shims to all allow clearance for future wear. ID if the channel is 1.5". Drilled the holes in the plastic blocks 7/8 down from top so just below center.

Side blocks are 5" rear currently is 3. Issue with rear block is the table mounting tabs are lower than the channel so you cant use a block longer than 3".

For the finished bronze product I will make it 5". Only catch with the install is you will need to slide it in the channel rotate in place then add the pin.

Thread is actually 5/8-18 and Tucker turned down the threads on the end for the orig roller to ride on. Planning to use a 5/8-18 grade 5 tap bolt and do the same thing.

I want to believe that the channels that were on it were made because the leg is longer and wore into the roller bolt flanges. The channels put on off another Tucker are shorter and have plenty of clearance.

I like the current setup but am worried about the channel being too short and coming out in full turn. Looking at the parts manual the bolt holes are farther away from the edge than the donor Tucker channel.

Thinking maybe later in life the tuckers got different steering piston with a tighter turning radius. The front steel plate in the front table is the longer length and has full wear across it. That radius matches the longer channels.

So unless I'm missing something I think new channels same length is the plan. 1/4 stainless is what I have access to so that is the plan.
 

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Just remembered I have 69 442 down back. 53 cat wasn't much help. steel tables and appears table on table for that design.

Walked down back in hurricane rain remnants. Just so happens 442 is parked in full turn long channels. measured and in same turn with short channels we pop out.

long channel required.
 
Got the axles out of the housing. Nothing surprising here other than axles a few generations apart! Going to pop out differential for a look. New bearings gaskets seals and assembly.
 

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Got the diff out and bearing pressed off the Tucker long axle. Got a spare axle out of the parts stash so we have four maching now. Everything looks good.

Little cleaning, new key ways, bearings seals and assembly this week .
 

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How about some new 316 stainless turntable channels? Calling in somemore favors in the name of Tucker.

Should last my lifetime!
 

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Little Tucker forward motion on the field.

New bushings for springs and shackles
Differential in
New inner axle seals
Turned new grade 8 roller /bronze slider bolts
Rear frame welding

Lended out bearing packer not returned rear end assembly stopped.
 

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Not lots of Tucker progress this weekend. Made new keyway for axles. Painted sprockets. Waiting for some parts. Hoping to have the new channels tomorrow all cut and bent .

Picked up a nice used milling machine for the shop.

Little bri got a new cat today. Not a Tucker but we will take it!
 

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Got a few minutes in during lunch break today to mock up first channel. In the pick you see the new one on the bottom. The worn one that was on the table and a good used one on top.

I think the channels that were on the tucker were made by someone and although close the dimensions were a little off. I copied the top shorter dimensions which fit better and had better clearances.

Also from what I gather the early Tuckers or some model did not turn as sharp as the later tuckers. The 4 68-69 Tuckers I looked at all had a longer channel and the front table roller matched. Thinking at some point they increased the turning radius by lengthening the piston throw and longer channel.

Back on track. Little more cut, mill, drill. Tuckering along.
 

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Tucker turning radius is not very tight..

I have to wonder if it has something to do with the front pontoons or track assemblies will "rock" forward and down, when crossing a snow plow made berm along side of a road. I saw one last winter with the front tracks tilted down so hard the tracks were eating into the bottom of the cab. Not a good situation if you own one. The tighter they turn, the more exposed to this situation you become, as the rear of the inside track frame is under the machine.

Tuckers are unique, and have some distinct advantages in certain situations. This how ever doesn't appear to be one of them...

Nice work. I have to ask if your going to go with a slider in the front position, or a roller, as I think is original?

Keep on Tuckering,

Kirk
 
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