one track turning faster than other

[eianewb]

hey guys, i have an '81 D5B LGP. i have one track spinning faster than the other... if i have to drive a ways it curves off to the right. i is pretty annoying. i assume that running with the one clutch disengaged isn't real good to do, but it tracks a little straighter when i do. i have heard from an old-timer here that you can tighten up the one track tension and it should help, but i am either doing it wrong or it is a wives tale. any insight?

thanks!

 

[JDOFMEMI]

I would not be so sure one track is going faster. The clutches are locked together, and everything turns the same speed. The more likely cause is a bent swingframe. If the links from the center at the rear to the outside of the swingframes are bent, and especially if one side is bent more than the other, it will walk crooked. Bad bushings in the pivots will cause the same problem.

If it is bent,to fix it properly would likely cost more than the machine is worth, so you will probably have to get used to it. If it is bad bushings, it may be easier to fix.

 

[eianewb]

Jerry, where do i look or measure to see where this bend or worn bushing is? it makes sense to me that they should turn the same speed...

 

[Check Break]

Have you considered the possibility that your right steering clutch pack is slipping. If you have a ripper, bury the shanks and try ripping a straight line without touching the left steering clutch. If she pulls to the right, I would tend to believe the right steering clutches are shot.

 

[JDOFMEMI]

To check the bushings, look at the rear of the tractor. There are two arms that connect to the frame there, and they angle forward to about the middle of the track frames. look underneath the machine and see if the links look bent up. You can also look at the connection point. If they are worn really bad, you can see the caps offset from the pin in the center.

You can also measure from the dozer frame to the track frame near the front on each side and see if they are the same.

The other post came while I was typing. I don't think it is the clutches, but if it is, it would slip badly when under a load. if it was slipping enough that it would turn while walking, I think it would stall out on one side when pushing.

 

[PhilDirt]

Could be your left track is more worn than the right, that will cause the same thing. Measure how far your adjusters are extended on both sides. While you're at it, count the number of links on both sides, it's possible a link has been removed from the left but not the right. Track tension won't make a difference.

 

[eianewb]

thanks for the replies. i now have some things to check. while under load it tracks pretty straight (probably goes slightly right, i am not pushing dirt long enough to notice/care) so i do not think that the clutch is slipping. if the frame is bent how the heck would that have happened? i am hoping that it is just bushings...

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . eianewb. Bent track frames (in my experience) are not uncommon. Bends often occur upfront where the frame divides to accomidate the idler. this bend is usualy "in" towards the tractor and I guess is caused by sliding into gullys at midnight, falling of logs, and what all. The idler running crooked usualy starts to chew the rails.

I just run the tractor onto a couple of RSJ's or railway irons weld the other track down. If the bend is "in" its a jack or portapower between the trackframes. I blow a hole through the inner part of the frame and pass a piece of (say) inch and a half shaft through and straighten the outside part first. The judicious use of a bit of heat can help but when you're a couple of hundred miles from town you tend to go easy on the gas. If they are bent the other way it involves a retractable porta-ram or an oversized turn buckle arrangement. If it bent once it will bend easier next time so I reinforce with a couple of pieces of two by one welded on edge.

Bent diagonal braces are a different ball game and can be caused by bottoming out on timber and rocks . . . and sliding into gullys at midnight. They are hollow sections and if the bottom face is punched up the whole thing can be distorted usualy causing the trackframe to be canted outward at the top . . . not much but sufficient to cause problems with outboard or dead axle bearings. The judicious application of twenty or thirty pounds of electrodes with a 400 amp can warp the sucker back in place . . . and some times not. In which case the tractor will need to be set up level and cuts made in brace so the bugger can be jacked, levered, wedged straight and then rewelded and plated.

It's not rocket science but as Jerry says these days it is probably expensive and I suppose they'd do it different . . . remember I'm a rough as guts though and thats how we did it out under a tarp in the bush.

Cheers,