25# Little Giant trip hammer

[Authentic Iron Works]

I am considering buying a 25# little giant that I believe is to be of the "new style" construction. The asking price is $2000.00 and I was wondering if anyone has any advice before I empty my bank account. I have not seen it run just yet but have made arrangements this week. What kind of shape should this machine be in for this type of money and what should I be looking for to determine if this machine is properly adjusted? My fear is that I will spend too much money on a machine that is worn out or will need a ton of money to restore. Also, what size stock would be to big to forge in this size hammer?All comments welcome!

[frogvalley]

As to properly adjusted, well they are notoriously tricky/twitchy to keep adjusted and 2 out of 3 who say they have it adjusted ain't really got it. So properly working and well maintained is what you are looking for.

Take your time with this, go over EVERYTHING. If you ain't spent an hour looking at it , your rushing it. Look at it from all angles, climb behind it, around it from all side.

Look and shake and jiggle everything. Inspect alll shafts, all bearings and all ways (guides). The ram should be tight or not too loose, the main shaft and all its pulleys should be tight and have little or no play. Bearings are replaceable, but pouring babbit is a pain, but can be done.

Look for cracks in any and all part of the castings, the main body is very important and must be crack free. The anvil and anvil cap should mate well and not be crushed or worn or cracked, the anvil being the most important part. New styles have a replaceable anvil cap so if the cap is bad but the anvil is good its might be ok to buy. Look at all the ways, the guides that the ram slides up and down in, shake the ram back and forth in this guide looking for play. It shouldn't have more than about a 1/32 back and forth.

This hammer will work maybe 1 inch stock, I own a Fairbanks 25# and it is rated for 1 inch.

Try to talk him down, if it ain't mint, I wouldn't pay $2000. I don't know who has this one, but if its one of Sids or a recent one from him, his are usually Ok and have already had all the work done to them. He has great reputation, although these machines have a reputation that far exceeds there real value and hence the price is often higher than they should be.

If I can think of anything else I'll post here again.

[HWooldridge]

Frogvalley has good points - for that amount of money, it better be in pristine condition. There are too many choices on the market today to pay that for anything requiring work - it should be plug and go. If you want a price barometer, I paid $150 several years ago for one that was in pieces and requiring a complete rebuild. I sold it later for $2000 in complete running shape, the new owner had it working about two hours after unloading.

If it's under power, stick a length of 2x4 between the dies and step on the treadle. This hammer will work 2" stock - it's just slower than a larger hammer. A 2x4 is a good approximation of max load. To cycle properly, the dies should be no closer than 1" apart at the lowest idle position (not running). Also take note whether you can very lightly step on the treadle and start the hammer. It's sort of like a car - you don't use it at full throttle very often.

[sandpile]

They have pretty well covered everything except the ram/toggle slots.

Where the toggle bolts are pushed in and twisted to pull up into the ram. There are oil holes for the dripped oil to get to the T part of the toggles. On a lot of these old hammers, these slots where the toggle bolts ride in the ram wear up into the ram. Every older unrenovated hammer I have seen has too much wear in these ram/toggle slots, to tune them right.

I have an older 50 with the same problem.

Chuck

[Leah]

Thanks for this thread guys. I just called about a 25lb. Little Giant a couple of hours from here. I may ride up and look at it this weekend. The guy "says" it is in mint condition but it has been stored in a shed since 1995. He said it was running well when he quit using it to sharpen plow shares. He told me he had put a couple of boards somewhere on it to keep it from hitting so hard. This tells me he did not know how or could not get it to adjust. I have asked him to call me with the serial number this weekend. Is there somewhere on the internet that I can use this information to see how old and what model this hammer is? This is the only hammer I have ever found for sale in my part of the world but I don't know anything about power hammers and I don't want to buy a dud.

[sandpile]

LEAH--Call Sid's daughter. She is one of the nicest folks you will get to visit with on a business phone. She has a list right in front of her. You can get the number over on JOCKS PLACE.

Chuck

[Leah]

Thanks Chuck

[Authentic Iron Works]

I want to thank frogvalley, HWooldridge and sandpile for the feedback. I went and tried out that hammer today and all I can say is that something aint right. This machine had one speed and it was B%^^s to the wall. I tried my darndest to feather the foot tread and the best I could do was ingage this thing at hyper speed. I think I remember the owner saying he used brake pads for part of the clutch assembly, when I looked at the little giant parts sheet I noticed that these parts were called wooden clutch blocks, could this be the problem? Maybe the motor speed is two fast? I think I am going to call the company and try to figure out whats going on. If this is normal for this type of machine I think I will spend my money on some other design, like an air hammer. Anyone try a striker air hammer?

[HWooldridge]

Properly fitted wood clutch blocks work great, which is what LG used. I have seen brake shoe linings were used on center clutch models and they are usually OK if properly adjusted.

One thing that makes them stick is no oil on the clutch. There should be a liberal coating of oil on clutch surfaces. That's counter-intuitive but a dry clutch sticks while a wet one engages and disengages.

My old 25 had completely worn out blocks. I had to step so far down on the treadle, the thing would jam and run full speed. I made new blocks from maple on a band saw and fitted them large so the treadle barely had to move to engage the hammer.

Don't write off this hammer but go into the deal with your eyes open and some bargaining power. They are pretty easy to fix if you have a little mechanical common sense (and most blacksmiths are gifted in that area... :lol: )

[Cory]

Leah, If you or anyone else would like to know the manufacture date of Little Giant Power Hammer, I have the Little Giant Power Hammer book by Richard R. Kern and would be glad to look it up for you, just need the serial #.

CAUTION: Unplug the hammer before doing a hands-on inspection!!

A few things I can think to look for: look to see if there is shim stock where the crank caps meet the main frame. This shim stock is removed for adjustment of the crank in the babbit bearing. Any excess slop in this area will lead to other problems. The 50# hammer I have had a rebuild shortly before I got it. It has varying thicknesses of shim stock to be removed as needed for adjustment. An easy way to check for this is to stand in front of the hammer, with the crankpin up ( Ram up) push up on the crank pin with the palm of your hand as if you were trying to tip the hammer over backwards. If the crank has slop here and has shim stock, there needs to be enough shim stock to adjust for that slop. Otherwise the hammer may need to have babbit redone. Sid at Little Giant has everything to do this. Something to think about when it comes down to value. I would also look at the crankpin where it passes through the flywheel making sure it's not loose there. The hammer I have has a real nice brake and a removeable spring guard that slips over the wrap around guide. This is a safety feature to keep the spring and any other parts that may come loose or brake from making bodily contact. There may be a BP here if there is any interest.