22 rails, off the tractor, kinda stiff

The good news is the pins and bushings are likely in good shape, the bad news is you have some work to do, In the past I have used my skid loader with the forks atached to lift and even drop from 2 or so feet. usually most of the track will loosen up, soaking with water might help. There will likely be a few links that will need heat on the bushing to loosen up.

Good Luck and dont pinch a finger

[quote="nw4evr"]I recently obtained a set of pads and rails (thanks Jeff!) and they are rusted into a stiff oval and stayed this way after I removed them from the idler and sprocket... one big stiff oval track pattern, Kinda neat looking actually, like a piece of folk art!

The question that comes to mind is how much trouble will i have getting this to free up if i were to install it back on the tractor as it is? My plan was to install it, (i know how to get it on like it is), and then tow tractor back and forth till it frees up a bit, and then go forward and reverse using tractor power.

I Talked to Razz in iowa and he says first immerse track in water for a couple weeks , then install it and it will free right up.. I never heard of that one before, that sounds easy enough, and probably less of a shock to the tractor drivelines than my method.

I suppose PB blaster and a sledge hammer,which sound like a lot of work for my son!!! or maybe immerse tracks in a 300 gallon tank full of diesel fuel ( hmmm... $4.00 per gal times 300....) maybe not.

I am looking for easy and inexpensive as always.

Thought I would let you guys give me ideas and see where that goes.

Dave[/quote]

i am gonna pay close attention to this thread......... i have same problem. only thing is mine may be more than just stiff. it maybe to late for me.
i have a near perfect set of tracks on a junk 22 that are unfortunatley froze up. hopfully, dave, one of these ideas will work for you. and then i will give the winning solution a try. good luck. i have your trans cover off and other items boxed up. i just havent made it into town to the ups store. happy easter! eric

I just went through this with a 22 that had frozen tracks, they look like brand new D2 chains someone fitted back in 1960 before parking the tractor on a sandhill next to the sea, and after throwing old sump oil over them for a year while they were sitting on the tractor I figured I'd drag the 22 with my 2 Ton for a hour to free up the tracks, errrrr wrong thought process's there, quickly discovered a 2 Ton was no match for a seized up 22, so I went and got the RD4 and we finally had some form of forward motion using a steel drawbar I had made for the job, in 1st gear, however those tracks refused to spin, even by going in reverse and forward 1,000 times, and then beating on the track with a sledge hammer, and then using my front end loader tractor to lift the track in the middle.

I reckon I dragged that 22 about 20 miles around my farm over 2 days, I still have the drag marks to prove it, like General Paton's tanks made in the desert practicing during WW2, and after 2 days I did get them to spin, but only just, and they are still really tight, so my advice is sit them in water for 2-3 months, and go fishing while they soak, it will be cheaper and far more relaxing.😆
regards
Mike

There was a guy out in NY working on a Cletract with ol diesel fuel and a sledge hammer for over a year.
I told some guys build a fire to heat them and hammer on them.
But a couple of guys said to soak them in water and they would free up.
He starting soaking them and told me evey time it rained he would go out and beat on them,
They freed right up in a couple of months.
I used the bobcat and a tree on the ones I did and wished I had known about the water trick as I would have dropped them in the pond for 6 months.

Water it shall be , as soon as ice is out , they will go into dads pond... Shoulda had them in there since i got them from jeff.... I was looking for easy and cheap and this should be both.... Bet it raises dads eyebrows when i drop them in his pond though! Might even tell him whats up first, naahh.

It was good talking to you today Dave. Let me know how the soaking in water trick works, seems cheap and easy.
Robert.