pin and bushing press

yes, i have made a press and was able to replace my pins and bushings. i made a plate with the bolt pattern and arbers to get the correct spacing . i used a 35ton portapower ram . it was very time consuming and probably would have been cheeper to have a track shop do it , but someone told me ,i would not be able to do it.. all the more i wanted to try.. good luck..mike.

hazardous business,my friend..you'll need a good amount of tonnage to break 'em loose,and better have safety guards to stop the flying chunks when a frozen one cuts loose.Use a 4"cylinder on a lever arm to multiply force applied to the pin or bushing..Maybe you could do something with a hyd.logsplitter on a small D2 pin like you say.The larger machine pins should be left to a track press shop with the proper machine and dies to support the track links when you press them.I needed just a few bushings done,but I just welded them up with 110K rod and ground them down-worked fine for me.

I seem to recall that among Cat tools there was a hand-pump portapower setup for pushing pins and bushings, and that someone here in the valley used one to do a complete replacement on a D2 and said it was a BIG job. This was a long time ago and I just don't recall the details. Anybody else out there recall running across one of these outfits?😕

in our shop we have a retired cat mechanics old portapower pin press. it goes to about 75 ton i think. it is very handy to have around the shop.

your right there were a couple of different types of hand presses one that was all in one like a bottle jack on steroids that laid on its side that the different press tools would attach to whether for track pins, sprocket removal ect., the other type and still avalible today you could have a hand pump to run remote cylinders or the powered version to run said same cylinders one note the large track press cylinder is 110 ton and has the ability to cause great damage always use caution and a remote switch or long hoses. with that said I have used all three types over the last few years to do various size of track from thirty sized to my the track on my 18a D9 and the hand press will do it all but to do a whole set of tracks makes me tired just thinking about it lots of pumping but not impossible. I do know of a guy that built the push blockes for his engine driven wood splitter and did a whole set of twenty-two tracks and worked fine for those. every now and then you will see the press tools on e-bay even the old style comes up from time to time. as for your project best place to start if you want to do it yourself is to get a good service book that is for the tractor as they have good pictures and instructions in there on how to do it properly there pictures show a shop style press and usaly the field portable press and haw they are arranged at least you can see what it will involve to do your tracks

your right there were a couple of different types of hand presses one that was all in one like a bottle jack on steroids that laid on its side that the different press tools would attach to whether for track pins, sprocket removal ect., the other type and still avalible today you could have a hand pump to run remote cylinders or the powered version to run said same cylinders one note the large track press cylinder is 110 ton and has the ability to cause great damage always use caution and a remote switch or long hoses. with that said I have used all three types over the last few years to do various size of track from thirty sized to my the track on my 18a D9 and the hand press will do it all but to do a whole set of tracks makes me tired just thinking about it lots of pumping but not impossible. I do know of a guy that built the push blockes for his engine driven wood splitter and did a whole set of twenty-two tracks and worked fine for those. every now and then you will see the press tools on e-bay even the old style comes up from time to time. as for your project best place to start if you want to do it yourself is to get a good service book that is for the tractor as they have good pictures and instructions in there on how to do it properly there pictures show a shop style press and usaly the field portable press and haw they are arranged at least you can see what it will involve to do your tracks

Yes, you can. MB. CAT has posted on ACME BB how he did it, and showed pics of his setup. You do realise that to replace or turn P&B's is a very time-consuming job? You need to press out the pins, and the bushings, in separate operations.
MB. CAT did get crafty, and left one pin in place on one link, thus saving time and possible link damage.

Link to ACME thread .. http://www.antiquecaterpillar.net/ACF_v2/showthread.php?t=10986

(if you can't access this thread, I'll take the liberty of reposting MB. CAT's advice and pics on here .. with reference to him as the originator)

The level of press pressure required is at least 50 tons and preferably 100 tons. Unless you can buy a ready-made press setup, with the dies .. you'll need to fabricate some kind of die setup. You can make it portable, or you can set it up fixed, and install a conveyor roller table to slide the track past. This is the best arrangement.

All in all, a lot of work and effort .. and if you can find a track shop that can do them .. the few hundred dollars they charge will be truly worth it ...... unless you're one of those people who loves a challenge, has a lot of time on their hands, and doesn't mind putting in lots of time and effort .. to construct something you'll probably only use once or twice.

The last tracks I had pressed (D7 3T) went to a shop in the little town of Dayton, WA. They had the slickest setup I ever saw--whole setup workbench height. Their impact wrench hung from a track and was run b y a 5 HP electric motor belted up to the impact head, all balanced so they could operate it with one hand!

I made an appointment to have the tracks there at 8:AM. They unloaded them, pressed in new pins, reused the bushings, saved all the bolts that they could instead of just burning and replacing, loaded me up about 3😛M the same day and sent me on my way home. And the job at that time cost me about 60% of what it was quoted in Portland.

Definately shop around if you go to a track shop.