Help wanted with track tension spring Cat d4d

[brucew]

One of the back braces is rusted out and decided to oxy the spring out as that seemed to be the only safe way to do it problem is I have made 5 cuts right through in the springs and all have moved back but still seem to have as much tension as ever where do I go from here

 

[old-iron-habit]

Hasthe grease operated tightner been relieved.

 

[brucew]

Yes it has and everything up to the front pilot has been removed so there would not be any pressure from outside the spring

 

[brucew]

Here is a pic the cumalong is just there to hopefully keep it all safe.I think you can see how much the spring has moved.There is nothing attached to the idler end

 

[Cmark]

Keep cutting more coils. You're on the right lines.

 

[Metalman 55]

I replaced the spring on my old 941 Cat Loader last year, which will be quite similar to the D4D. I believe the hyd adjuster components may be identical on both machines. When I cut my spring, after about 5 cuts it was loose & ready to come out.

https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/threads/941-spring-track-recoil-spring-install.60148/

 

[brucew]

Yes after 5 cuts that was what I was expecting too Metalman but the picture doesn't show it to well but the spring is starting to bow upwards a bit and has me a bit worried as I don't obviously know exactly how much tension definitely the cumalong still has plenty on it.I do have plenty of 3/8 high tensile chain I could lap around the other end but no way of keeping it tight up against the spring.The other thing I would like to know is which end would be best to keep on cutting from.Many thanks in advance for any thouhts anyone has rest assured I won't rushing into anything till I have heard all your thoughts experiences etc.

 

[Tones]

It has all the signs of a broken through bolt.Before you go any further split the track and remove the complete assembly. Repair and reassemble in the reverse order. Easy as.

 

[DMiller]

Cut one more ring then rap with a BFH to knock the slag reconnects loose, it should be relaxed at that point. May just be bowed due to the back brace offline.

 

[Metalman 55]

I don't think you can go wrong by cutting a few more links & rapping it with a hammer, in case the slag is holding it some. Maybe double cut each wrap & remove the chunks. I just started at one end & worked my way back. It didn't take long to get loose. You can likely see if the long bolt is broken down inside, right?

 

[brucew]

Yes had another look at the spring this morning and I am sure a few hits with a decent hammer would be worth a try have managed to get a chain around the rear end of the spring so hopefully that will make it a bit safer.The problem is there just seems to be so much pressure on the cumalong much more then when I started.The inside bolt doesn't appear to be broken but I wouldn't trust it because it maybe badly rusted that was one of the reasons why I decided to cut the spring out instead of messing around tightening up the nut thought it should be safer this way but just at the moment not so sure

 

[Tones]

If the bolt isn't broken then the spring should be retained. By spliting the track and removing the idler everything should come with it bar the track adjuster.

 

[Hobbytime]

when I did the tension spring on my JD 355 track loader the retaining cap cracked and let the spring , unspring, I was able to collapse the grease piston and remove the spring loose even un sprung..made a new cap and rebolted in a 20 ton press and all back together..shouldnt you be able to do the same here? can you collapse back the grease piston to loosen up the spring, or different set up than a JD?

 

[brucew]

I am not familiar with the John Deere dozer you have hoobbytime but yes I most certainly could have done it differently I could have tried tightening the rod as you are supposed to do till it lifts away from the stops but as everything was so rusted including around the big nut I just wasn't prepared to go down that path in case the spring let go as I was getting the assembly particularly as second hand complete assembly all set up ready to go is only $480 plus around $50 freight just didn't make sense to go that way.Anyway it is all out now so all good now

 

[brucew]

To everyone who put there thoughts out there many thanks could not have done it without the help even if it was mainly to realize that I was definitely going about it the right way.I just got a big solid bar that I have and started thumping it I couldn't notice it let go anywhere but when I was finished I noticed the cumalong was all loose and I knew then that I was pretty much on the right track just kept cutting and giving it a solid wack to make sure it was all free.Here is some pics

 

[DMiller]

Now to the hard part rebuilding the rust that is left of the mounts.

 

[Metalman 55]

At least the spring came out safely! Well done so far.

 

[brucew]

Yes I can assure you the spring hadn't lost too much of its tension either as you can see by the pic I ended up cutting most of the coils before it became really loose.Unfortunately I won't be able to do much more to it this week however I did manage to cut what was left of old struts out and and straighten up the base where back pilot fits so at least I have made a start.I would like to think it might end up something similar to the track on the other side it was an easy fix compared to this side all be it not perfect to look at but at least I know it is all steel now.It just had a couple rust patches in it

 

[Ronsii]

^^ Nice work !!!


I can just about smell the fresh paint

 

[brucew]

Just thought I would like to show everyone what progress all be it slow with the track tensioner that I had to cut out of my d4d