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On site and workshop line boring

Line boring in Wangaratta

Wangaratta is the far eastern edge of our travel at around two hours, and we still get there. Line up what needs doing and we will plan the run properly, weld and bore the worn pivots true on site, and finish it in the one trip.

Excavator pivot housing line bored back to a true, round bore at the SOS Engineering workshop near Echuca
  • Mobile set-up

    We come to the machine

  • Workshop

    Fully set up at Wharparilla

  • Breakdowns

    Callouts by arrangement

Wangaratta VIC

What we see around Wangaratta

Wangaratta sits about two hours east of the workshop, which puts it at the outer edge of the roughly 300km we cover. Distance changes how a job is organised, not whether it happens. On a run that long we want the full picture before we leave: which machine, which pivots, what bore sizes, so everything needed is on the truck the first time.

The North East has a different machinery mix again. Timber and forestry gear is the hardest on pins of anything we touch, because grapples, log grabs and mulchers take shock load from every direction rather than clean straight lift. Beef and dairy country through the King and Ovens valleys adds loaders, tractors and feed gear, and the vineyards around Milawa and Oxley bring their own row machinery.

If you are running a fleet, or there is more than one machine on the property, that is the ideal way to use a trip this length. Two or three jobs in the one visit spreads the travel and gets everything sorted at once, instead of us heading back east a fortnight later.

~185km from the workshop

Around two hours, east on the Midland Highway through Shepparton and Benalla

What we get called to

Log grabs, grapples and forestry gear, mulchers, excavators and loaders on hill country, tractors and feed out gear, vineyard machinery, plus truck and trailer hinge points.

Local industries we work with

  • Timber and forestry
  • Beef and dairy
  • Wineries and vineyards
  • Manufacturing and civil

What line boring actually does

Every pivot on a machine wears. Grease breaks down, dirt gets in, and the pin starts working the hole. What began as a round bore slowly goes oval, the pin loses its fit, and the play works its way through the whole linkage.

Line boring fixes that in place. A boring bar is set up through the worn hole and aligned to the original centreline, the bore is built back up with weld, then machined true to size so a standard bush and pin drops straight back in. The machine usually needs pulling down to get to the pivot. We can do that for you, or you can have it stripped and ready before we arrive.

Left too long, that play stops being a bore problem. It cracks weld seams, elongates the housing past repair and puts load through things that were never meant to carry it. Caught early, it is a day of work. Caught late, it is a new component.

The short version: if you can rock the attachment by hand and feel movement in the joint, the bore has worn and it is worth a look before it costs you a component.

Signs you need line boring

  • Slop or knocking through the linkage under load
  • Bucket or blade wandering off line
  • Pin holes gone oval or egg-shaped
  • Pins spinning or seizing in the bore
  • Grease weeping straight back out of the joint
  • Cracked or dished bush housings

Spotted one or more of these? Give Sean a call and describe what the machine is doing. You will get a straight answer on whether it needs boring now or can wait.

What we line bore

Twenty years across mining, agricultural, civil and factory work. If it pivots and it has worn, there is a good chance we have bored one before.

Excavators & dozers

  • Boom and stick pivots
  • Bucket ears and links
  • Blade and C-frame pins
  • Ripper and hitch bores

Loaders & trucks

  • Loader linkage and bucket pins
  • Articulation joints
  • Tipper body hinges
  • Suspension and spring eyes

Agricultural gear

  • Front end loader arms
  • Three point linkage
  • Header and harvester pivots
  • Trailer and hitch points

Fixed plant

  • Crusher and screen pivots
  • Conveyor bearing housings
  • Press and baler linkages
  • Gate and chute hinges

How a line boring job runs

No mystery and no runaround. Here is exactly what happens from the phone call to the machine going back to work.

    You call, we talk it through

    Tell us the machine and which pivots feel worn. We work out whether it is an on site job or one for the workshop, and what it will take.

    We come to you

    The mobile set-up carries the boring bar, welder and power. Farm, pit, yard or factory floor, the machine stays where it is.

    Strip and measure

    Pins and old bushes come out, the bore gets measured, and we confirm how far it has worn before anything is cut.

    Weld and bore true

    The bore is built back up with weld, then the bar is aligned to the original centreline and the hole is machined round and back to size.

    New bushes and pins

    Fresh bushes pressed in and pins fitted, so the joint sits tight the way it did when the machine was new.

    Checked before we leave

    Measured against spec, moved through its range and greased up. You see it working before we pack up.

Why owners keep calling us back

No fuss, no runaround. Just honest work that holds up and gets your machine back to earning.

Quality of workmanship

Every repair is done properly the first time. Bored true, welded clean, measured and checked before it leaves.

Care for safety and equipment

Your machine gets treated like ours. Safe practice on site and respect for the gear we work on.

Reliability

When we say we will be there, we are. Straight answers, on time, and a fix that holds up.

Sean O'Sullivan, owner of SOS Engineering Co
20years in
the trade

My promise to you

G'day, I'm Sean. After 20 years in the trade, I decided to open SOS Engineering. That is two decades across mining, agricultural, civil and factory work, so there is not much machinery I have not had my hands on.

When you call, you deal with me. Whether it is a breakdown that cannot wait or a scheduled service to catch the small stuff early, you will get a straight answer, honest work, and a fix that holds up.

That is the deal: I look after your gear like it is my own, and I keep you moving.

Great service, keeping you moving.

Sean O'Sullivan

Line boring in Wangaratta and the North East

Wangaratta is around two hours east of the Echuca base and sits at the outer edge of the roughly 300km we cover. Milawa, Oxley, Glenrowan, Everton, Springhurst, Moyhu and the properties through the King and Ovens valleys are covered on the same trip. If you have several machines needing attention, line them up and we will work through them in the one visit.

Wangaratta

Regular run

~300km

Service radius

Line boring FAQs for Wangaratta

We do, and it is around two hours east of the Wharparilla workshop. A run that length gets planned rather than done off the cuff, so when you ring, tell us the machine, the pivots and the bore sizes. That way everything needed is on the truck and the job is finished in one trip.

Line boring in other towns we cover

The mobile set-up runs right across northern Victoria and the southern New South Wales side. If your town is not listed, call anyway and we will sort it.

Got a machine down? Let's get you moving

Call Sean with a quick rundown of the job and the machine. Straight answer, no runaround, on site or in the shop.