Measuring rail stretch....

Dealing with S & L chains....
Pins & Bushings, S & L Track
1. You have two options for turning pins and bushings in salt (sealed and lubricated) chains. A grease turn or a true lubricated turn. The grease turn is pressing the chains apart and greasing the pins and bushings then pressing the chain back together reusing the old seals. The true lubricated turn is pressing the chains apart and replacing all of the seals then turning the pins and bushings and pressing the chains back together. A true lubricated turn requires a vacuum ran on each pin and bushing and checking for leaks. If no leaks, install oil back into each joint then equalize the pressure back off then insert a new plastic plug back into the pin. Some chains don't have a plastic plugs. Some just have a rubber stopper that we stick a needle through to run a vacuum and oil. A good rule of thumb is when you perform a pin and bushing turn, replacement, or new chains, always install new sprockets. The reason for this is the old sprockets wear with the pins and bushings. For example, installing new chains with old sprockets throws the pitch off. The pitch is the center of one pin to the center of the next.
Alot of the time if the tracks are (s+l) you can have dry pins from seal letting oil leak undetected.So when you go to turn the pins and bushing it can get expensive too do if you want to go back too (s+l) turn because you have too replace the bad pins and bushing.So the bennfit of the turn is lost.

1. I also had an undercarriage guy tell me that turning pins and bushings on small machines is not worth the expense. That the rail will not last as long as the turned pins and bushings. I get about 3,700 to 4,000 hours on D3 rail and have not turned pins and bushings up to this point.

Learned some things there. Thanks, Dave

And I have ordered a parts manual and the big service manual -genuine used Cat off e bay.

Thanks to all for the compliments on my Cat, basically my 50th birthday present to myself Its what I wanted, I considered some other lesser brands and sizes but then this one came up so close to home so I got it.

I will be buying or building some kind of hitch for that back end.

"Garlic wrote:

I don't think I've EVER seen a machine completely bare back, no drawbar or anything. That is an interesting thing to see. Nothing wrong with it, I just am not used to seeing some provision to tow.

By the way, that is a very sweet D6C, which is one of the sweetest tractors made by Caterpillar. Garlic Mom likes hers so much that she had to appropriate it from Gary

Very nice acquisition.

Pete.

I just turned 48 and bought myself a Little Twenty that needs some TLC, also found a little Metropolitan that looked like it needed a change of scenery.
Here's # 7 Autopatrol and some more rocks for the non-believers.
Not sure a scarifier would help too much here.
Careful with the Yellow Fever, it's really addictive...
Roby Whitehead

Very good, those will keep you busy for a while.

There is no point in measuring track stretch on SALT tracks because they don't stretch, unless you are looking for joint which has gone dry, you also need to compare link height with bush diameter or height of the bush from the face of the track pad to see if it is worth turning bushes. Doing a 'dry turn' is usually a waste of money as wear is accelerated by track stretch.

"davo727" wrote:

........and rollers look good except for the 3 right lower ones that are welded on- they look ok except for the fact that their welded. ...
.

If they're welded on then the bolt holes it the track frame must be stripped out or bolts broken off. Are the bottom roller bolts 5/8"?....If so then drill them out and tap for 3/4" bolts. Mine have all been done that way, and if I remember right the D6d rollers are made for 3/4 bolts.

Definitely use some type of anti-seize or Stockholm tar on the bolts. Don't use bolts that are any longer than necessary....any extra bolt sticking out inside the track frame will just rust and make it much harder to remove the bolt next time.

If you have the track frames upside down to fix the welded ones I'd pull all the rest while you're at it. That way if a roller fails later you won't have problems getting the bolts out to change it.

Yes this will be the job to finally buy a hougen magnetic drill for.

Yes these are 5/8, I had one missing and the one Cat sold me is actually too short. I ran a tap through the hole and tried it and I guess the bottom few threads werent the best so with the thick washer on the bolt it wasnt going to tighten. Removed the washer and it tightens but there are a lot of good threads above the bolt that are not being engaged so Im getting a longer bolt instead of this one thats only grabbing about 1.5 threads.