SteelTrak & Excalibur pivot housing assembly Excalibur only - SS31-013

How to replace the pivot housing assembly on the Excalibur only

To do this you will need the SteelTrak & Excalibur pivot housing assembly >

Tools required:

Allen (hex) key 4, 5 & 6mm
Small flat screwdriver or steel rule
10mm open ended spanner/wrench

What to do

Note: To replace either/both pivot housings it is necessary to remove the main cutting heads, the cutter bar and complete disassembly of the clamp mechanism.

Remove all blades from the cutting head.
To remove the cutting heads first remove the twin wheel cutting plate from the top cutting head using a 6mm Allen (hex) key. Then tighten the white plastic screw to prevent it sliding.
Disconnect the balance weight (attached to the right-hand leg behind the backing panel) from the cable by unlooping it from the pulley.
Remove the ‘key ring’ termination to fully disconnect the cable.

Using a small screwdriver or steel rule, prise off the two black plastic cover strips that are fixed on the right-hand side of the cutter bar.

Remove the smaller of the two screws at the bottom of the cutter bar which will release the stop plate and round plastic buffer. The cutting heads and balance weight block can then be removed.

Remove the larger Allen screws (6mm key) at the top and bottom of the slideway, these are long screws and have special aluminium spaces under the heads of the screws that must be retained. It is not unusual for these screws to have to be unscrewed for their full length.

The slideway can then be removed from the main machine. There may be a thin aluminium plate between the inside of the cutter bar and its mounting bracket, these will need to be replaced when reassembled.

Lay the whole assembly on a large sturdy work surface to continue.

Remove the clamp handle housing, using a 5mm Allen (hex) key undo the two screws and pull off the assembly ensuring the inside face of the housing points upwards as you do so to prevent internal parts falling to the floor.

Remove the clamp push rod, at the top of the push rod there is an adjuster which aligns the main clamp bar, measure and note dimension X.

To remove the push rod, pull the pin out of the forked fitting at the top of the push rod and loosen the two locking nuts (the black one has a left-hand thread) using a 10mm open ended spanner/wrench.

Rotate the Adjuster to close the gap between itself and the forked fitting as much as possible, sometimes this can be done using your fingers rather than the spanner/wrench.

Remove the pin from the lower forked fitting.
Remove the push rod, on some versions the push rod may need to be flexed slightly to remove it.

Remove two of the screws and locking washers from both pivot housing as shown (it is important it is the two shown) using a 4mm Allen (hex) key.

Turn the cutter bar so the clamp bar is facing upwards. Grip the Clamp Bar in two hands and pull the top end of it away from the Slideway. Once the top end disengages from its internal roller pull the bottom end clear.

Take note of the direction the internal lever is pointing (towards the bottom end of the cutter bar). Prise the black plastic roller from the pivot housing assembly then remove the other two screws and take it out from the hole in the cutter bar.
REASSEMBLY – replace the pivot housing in the reverse order but care needs to be taken in the following areas:

- When fitting the clamp bar introduce the bottom pressure roller into its groove and push the roller down into the groove with your finger as you push the clamp bar into position. Introduce the top pressure roller into its groove and again push it down with your finger to locate it, push the clamp bar all the way into the cutter bar.
- When refitting the cutter bar to the main machine, remember to fit the thin aluminium plates back and ensure the two large Allen screws are fastened very tightly, use a tube to extend the length of the Allen key if necessary.

If necessary use the 10mm spanner/wrench to adjust the clamp bar to make it parallel to the back of the main machine.

Once fully assembled adjust the maximum clamping pressure. Using the 3mm Allen (hex) key, turn both grub screws on the face of the clamp handle housing clockwise until they stop then undo each screw by ¼ turn, further small adjustments can be made to increase or decrease the maximum clamping pressure as desired.

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