Bosch; the wheel fell off.

[Retired]

Hi,

How times have changed regarding quality. The term "We had one but the wheel fell off" usually referred to something well and truly used. I've just bought a very nice brand new Bosch AXT 25D garden shredder; no sooner than I drag it up the mountain to put it in the shed one of the wheels actually did fall off; what a disgusting bit of design when all that held the wheel in place was a plastic bung. Everything these days appears built DOWN to a price not UP to a decent quality. My toes curl when I see this kind of what is nothing more than a bodge.

I've just cleaned the shredder ready for winter storage but whilst at it sorted the wheel problems out. It took a lot of massive thought on my part to come up with a solution; why not run a tap down the axle bore adding a thread; all I need is a suitable tap; I ran a 10 mm tap down not tapping to full depth of thread but certainly with enough metal to give a very secure fixing; a washer and set screw finished the job; no way will the wheels ever fall from my Bosch shredder again; the set screws nipped up tightly so will never work loose on their own.

I love doing these simple jobs but feel in this instance I shouldn't have had to; shame on Bosch if a plastic bung is all they can come up with; even a washer and circlip would have given years trouble free service.

Kind regards, Col.

DSCN2269.JPG (225.85 KiB) Viewed 5132 times

DSCN2270.JPG (206.17 KiB) Viewed 5132 times

DSCN2271.JPG (242.32 KiB) Viewed 5132 times

DSCN2273.JPG (194.2 KiB) Viewed 5132 times

DSCN2274.JPG (207.65 KiB) Viewed 5132 times

DSCN2275.JPG (178.5 KiB) Viewed 5132 times

DSCN2276.JPG (200.75 KiB) Viewed 5132 times

[Dave54]

Good fix Col.
I hate plastic wheels with some sort of press in "fixing". Seem to be getting more and more common on all sorts of things.

[Ktuludays]

Good work. It seems more common these days that a brand-new item has to be modified to make it fit for purpose.

[camallison]

That's strange. My identical model, bought in Feb of this year, has a washer and circlip holding each wheel on. It seems that you must have an "improved" version.

Colin

[Ktuludays]

That's strange. My identical model, bought in Feb of this year, has a washer and circlip holding each wheel on. It seems that you must have an "improved" version.

Colin

He has now!

[adonis]

Of course you now realise that you have invalidated the warranty by improving, I mean modifying the product.

[Bob225]

my 2800w qualcast come with shouldered bolts on the wheels and a spanner too - not a bad bit of kit for the money

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Dave54 & Ktuludays; things aren't what they used to be and generally for the worse; in my day machines were made from solid cast iron which was not only very heavy but gave many lifetimes reliable service unlike now when aluminium/ pressed steel sheet or plastic is used for cheapness. Like you Dave54 I too dislike plastic wheels with a passion; our 30 year old petrol mower has wooden wheels which I turned and added; the plastic wheels died years ago.

Very strange indeed Colin that yours has washers and circlips securing the wheels which I suggested in my first post as an option. A washer and split pin would be another option. It is strange though mine having only plastic bungs to secure the wheels.

Thanks adonis for pointing out the warranty invalidation which of course is correct; I didn't receive a warranty with my Bosch shredder because I didn't buy it at normal price through a Bosch dealer or agent; I bought mine through Gumtree at under half price even though the shredder was brand new still in it's original carton; as advertised the carton was slightly damaged due to storage but other than this the shredder was brand new; I bought it from a private address in Poynton paying cash saving a lot of money.

I'm delighted with the Bosch shredder having used it extensively over two weeks shredding masses of laurel and conifer; due to my fault I jammed it a few times but managed to clear each jam; it has a reversing function but generally this wouldn't work in a jam because to reverse it would pick up and then jam the other way locking the drum solid; do you find this with your Bosch Colin; I found that if the shredder wasn't feeding correctly I could simply pull the bin out then put my hand under the drum and pull away a good handful of shredded material then it would reverse and clear itself; there are safety devices to this shredder so if the bin is removed it won't start but the best thing of course would be to pull the plug before playing around. The shredder suffered two really bad jams and I had to use a big plain screwdriver from beneath after tipping the shredder on its side to clear the jam; this needs doing with a great deal of care and patience because otherwise damage could be inflicted on the cutting blades or castings so I ensured the screwdriver blade didn't come into contact with the edge of the cutters. This Bosch is rated at 40mm cut but at this it does struggle so after the first bad jam I didn't use it to its maximum; however the performance is brilliant; putting long heavily leaved laurel branches into the shredder and watching the shredder chomp through them is most impressive.

Bosch have made a nice shredder in the AXT 25D but on mine it was let down by the wheel falling off which was most unexpected; not the end of the world but I thought I'd add my modification just for a bit of interest; fortunately I have plenty of kit to sort these little jobs out but many owners won't have access to such kit then it will be a bigger problem to them.

Things certainly don't go right these days; I've just tried to order two Thornton's chocolate hampers these reduced from £60 to £30 with a special "Promo Code" I copied and pasted the code but at the checkout it's demanding £120 so no thanks I'll try again later; I find this a very easy way to send Christmas prezzies at least I do when it works. Everything I do these days seems to have some degree of hassle involved; regarding the wheel falling off the shredder; this is a small price to pay considering the saving I made on buying the shredder so I'm not complaining in the least.

Thanks for adding the picture flash; so there is still some genuine British Engineering top quality around; well done Qualcast for this; pity Bosch don't adopt the idea.

Kind regards, Col.

[Bob225]

Its made in china like most stuff, the qualcast is the same as 5-6 others on the market, inc the mac Allister at nearly twice the cost

my granddad had a old Suffolk Punch mower, the tin worm got it after 30+ years, replaced it with a electric Hayter mower that lasted 3 seasons and 2 blades that's progress for you

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks for the update flash; I should have known your Qualcast wasn't made in Great Britain because Great Britain these days doesn't appear to do much at all on the engineering side apart from a handful of big companies; Are Rolls Royce still a British company or are they now German? I've lost track of where things are going because it's so depressing.

Who's making all the weapons and ammunition for IS because whomever is doing the work must be making a killing?

Kind regards, Col.

[dewaltdisney]

I think that most stuff is designed purely for speed of assembly with no thought of strength and reliability. That simple push fit fixing is cheap and must take seconds to fit as opposed to tightening a threaded bolt. This is not right as you like to think Bosch is an A line product and you want some justification for paying the premium price.

Too many products have adopted the Colin Chapman inspired 'just enough to win' mentality.

Is it best to buy Screwfix own brand stuff and pitch it in as soon as it busts???

DWD

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks DWD and it would appear these days to buy something cheap then as soon as it expires usually at the end of its warranty then dump it and buy again.

Just before retiring from Brook Motors I was subjected to an intensive Kaizen training course lasting a week. The bottom line of this was that why give a customer a Rolls Royce when a Mini will do? This training covered absolutely every aspect of the company; the tools demonstrated how to take anything back to absolute basics then only add sufficient to get the job done; this as I say applied to everything from labour to materials; the aluminium cooling fins on the motors were so reduced in thickness that they easily snapped if given the slightest bump. The end result worked but hardly a way to encourage customer loyalty.

I'm forever bemoaning the decline in the UK skill base; this I feel is mostly justified but I also acknowledge the UK in spite of all our government failings the UK still possess an exemplary skill base but it's diminishing all the time and these days quality really does cost a lot of money; is the consumer to blame for this by wanting things giving and then accepting shoddy goods without complaint?

I was appalled when I saw how the wheels were held (?) in position on my Bosch shredder; why fit wheels at all?



My chum David kindly sent me the link to the above YouTube video; it's wonderful to see a young couple working together designing and making the band-mill. This is exactly what I was apprentice trained for over 50 years ago; making from scratch although I also do the lathework and milling which were taught at the time. I take my hat off to this hard working couple and only wish their enthusiasm would rub off here in the UK. Everything in America is on a grand scale and they have plenty of space; here in the UK the council rates alone prevent anyone dreaming of owning a barn sized workshop. Just buying the steel being used would lead to instant bankruptcy; I resort to buying whenever possible from our local scrap yard; anyone wishing to improve their lot in the UK is held back and certainly not encouraged.

which-welder-t85355-45.html

I'm still using my old skills as seen at the link above and I always do my best to encourage others to have a go at making things from scratch; I saved a lot of money buying the heavy steel from the scrap yard but it did cost me a lot of hard work in cleaning the steel up before I could use it; the welding trolley cost very little indeed being made of off cuts. I like UHM because so many members can use their head and hands which is becoming rare these days when in many instances it pays a great deal more monetary wise to remain home being bone idle (disabled definitely not included).

Sorry to ramble but I do enjoy all aspects of DIY and it's up to us to keep it alive.

Kind regards, Col.