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Cat 314 track adjuster out of alignment-- what is likely the cause/

rvander2

Active Member
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
43
Location
Pittsford, NY
Hi,
I have a CAT 314 LCR that I bought used last August. I bought it to clear farmland.
I am not a professional excavator-- I have about 3-400 hours excavating on my farm during the past 5 years on 3 different machines. Mainly land clearing and tiling.

Anyways, I was digging a wide (five feet) long (2400ftJ) utility ditch for a neighbor about 3 weeks ago, and it was a bit of a rush to avoid cave-ins, so I didn't keep the tracks clean. When I did clean the tracks one time-- I noticed the rear carrier roller on the left side had a bent shaft, and I also noticed that I couldn't adjust the track tension on the left. When I got the machine back to my shop I cleaned the machine and then replaced the bad carrier roller-- the shaft was bent down maybe twenty degrees. As I kept inspecting the left track (the adjuster), I discovered that the adjuster cylinder piston was not sitting on the head of the bolt that goes down the center of the adjuster spring--- it was sitting on the ring/washer that covers the back end of the spring. The cylinder does not appear to be bent-- it looks like maybe the spring was pushed sideways (maybe by a rock or just too much heavy clay). Anyways, unscrewing the grease release bolt on the cylinder does not release any grease-- I can't see that anything else is bent or broken.
Can someone tell me what has happened? --Just guessing, but at some point during my recent project the track must have been subjected to extreme tension to bend the carrier idler down-- did this also cause the problem I still have with the tension adjuster?
Please let me know if I am not being clear about the problem--
I have the parts manuel and the shop manuel--
Thanks in advance for the help-- I'm anxious to get back at clearing some land!
Bob
 

ddigger

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Jan 19, 2009
Messages
567
Location
Northern California
Occupation
contractor,owner operater
There is a big nut that is broke off the end of shaft so nothing is depressing the spring. Look at the other side and you should see the difference.
 

rvander2

Active Member
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
43
Location
Pittsford, NY
There is a big nut that is broke off the end of shaft so nothing is depressing the spring. Look at the other side and you should see the difference.
Ddigger, thanks for the quick reply!
I will look at the other side today-- so I understand the problem.
-- now I need advise on how to fix it! The track is under tension because the hydraulic piston (even though not centered on the bolt down the middle of the spring) is still compressing the spring and the track is fairly tight-- not "bowstring" tight but very little sag; --so can I safely remove the master link with the track under this kind of tension? -- Should I first try to push on the idler - maybe with the bucket and a board to try to push in the cylinder to relieve the track tension before removing the master link? --The repair manuel says to first relieve the adjuster tension before removing the track-- but that isn't happening-
Bob
 

rvander2

Active Member
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
43
Location
Pittsford, NY
CAT 314 adjuster problem- here's a pic from parts book--

Ddigger-- and anyone else familiar with the CAT 314 excavator:
--After the post above, I looked at the diagram in the parts catalog, and on this model there is no "big nut" between the business end of the hydraulic cylinder shaft and the bolt down--
I'm trying to attach a pic I took of the page in the parts book that shows the adjuster in my machine-- hope this works!
File Nov 30, 6 48 43 AM.jpg
 

ddigger

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Jan 19, 2009
Messages
567
Location
Northern California
Occupation
contractor,owner operater
That is different than my 330 was, but I still say something on the end of the shaft is broken. When that happened to mine I released the tension once with the bucket and once by crowding against a stump. Where caution is really necessary is on reassembly. Good luck.
 

Hanco

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2016
Messages
57
Location
southern ontario
That tensioner looks the same as the one on my 312, if you loosen the relief valve and drive it around a bit it should work it ways back . You said you've been doing a lot of land clearing is there a chance you have picked up some wood that has it jammed? That tensioner should come out of there without removing the track it will come out the bottom between the rollers if you need to remove it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Tones

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2009
Messages
3,062
Location
Ubique
Occupation
Ex land clearing contractor, part-time retired
ddigger is spot on, a stripped thread of broken threw bolt. The machine can be operated the way it is but care should be taken when turning or reversing cause it's easy to chuck a track off and a bigger bugger to get it back on. BTDT.
 

rvander2

Active Member
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
43
Location
Pittsford, NY
162045[/ATTACH]I talked to a mechanic at our nearest CAT dealer-- he was very helpful.
He said to remove two of the shoes and the master chain link pin with the link pin over the center of the top of the idler.
I burned off the heads of the bolts holding the shoes on and they came off without too much trouble.
The real problem for me was getting out the master link pin-- that took a LOT of pounding, grinding off mushrooming, heat and quench etc. but it finally came out. It probably took me 3 hours to get that pin out.:Banghead
I stlll can't see in there to really find out the problem, but I think ddigger is most likely right--
Anyways, hopefully I'll be taking out the idler/spring assembly and taking it to CAT today-- they have a special press to compress the spring and replace the bolt if that is broken-- and I think it is.
The CAT mechanic I talked to also said to weld some plate steel, maybe 1/4" think inside the channels where the idler supports ride to take up slack--there is a lot of slop in this area and he said this can work well for a long time-- to prevent off axis torquing of the idler as it goes in and out against the spring.
--I sure wish I had had the 100 ton or whatever master pin removal tool! Would be great if we could rent this-- does anybody know where to rent this tool? The other track could use some steel in the idler wheel channels too.
Thanks for all the help.
--I put the pic in in case my setup might help somebody else-
Bob
 

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  • File Nov 30, 6 48 43 AM.jpg
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rvander2

Active Member
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
43
Location
Pittsford, NY
It may just be your picture but the end of your track frame appears to be bent out
Hi Pacattech,
I don't think the frame is bent-- I think it's just the pic--
There is some slop in the channels that the front main idler ride in when going back and forth due to the spring adjuster. The slop is side-to-side and vertical in the channel. I talked to a cat mechanic about this and he thinks this is mainly just steel wearing from the constant motion in this channel and no lube.
He said his guys frequently weld steel strips to the frame to cut down on this slop and prevent binding-- and I think I'm going to do this tomorrow.
 

rvander2

Active Member
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
43
Location
Pittsford, NY
There is a big nut that is broke off the end of shaft so nothing is depressing the spring. Look at the other side and you should see the difference.

ddigger- you were absolutely right-- the large bolt/shaft that runs through the spring had broken off on the threaded front end-- taking the castle nut with it. This allowed the spring to slide sideways off the head of the hydraulic cylinder and bind up the adjuster. -- I'm taking the front spring assempbly pieces to the CAT dealer tomorrow so they can compress this huge spring and put in a new bolt and nut.
--Thanks to everyone on this forum--
 

ddigger

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567
Location
Northern California
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contractor,owner operater
Thank you! Glad I could help. You should be happy with the end result. For me that was always a much scarier issue, than it turned out to be.
 

Master Link

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Jan 27, 2010
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69
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Dallas
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Heavy Equipment repair
Looks like you have the T headed master pin. You should purchase a new one along with all the piece that go with it. These don't press in you just drive them in without an pressure. The master pins and bushing always were at a faster rate then the standard ones.

James
 

rvander2

Active Member
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
43
Location
Pittsford, NY
Looks like you have the T headed master pin. You should purchase a new one along with all the piece that go with it. These don't press in you just drive them in without an pressure. The master pins and bushing always were at a faster rate then the standard ones.

James

Thanks James, I'm at the dealer right now--picked up a new master pin and seals.
Is it as hard to drive the new master in as it was to get the old one out?
 

rvander2

Active Member
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
43
Location
Pittsford, NY
Thank you! Glad I could help. You should be happy with the end result. For me that was always a much scarier issue, than it turned out to be.

Ddigger, you said that happened twice on your machine-- do you know what causes this rod to break? Is it just rocks/dirt-- or is there something else I should look at to prevent this from happening again as soon as I get it together?
 

ddigger

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Messages
567
Location
Northern California
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contractor,owner operater
I don't know why, I did mainly clearing and demo. But that was 2 in 25.000hrs so I was ok with it, the breaks were on opposite sides. I don't think its any thing to be worried about.
 

rvander2

Active Member
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
43
Location
Pittsford, NY
ddigger-thanks again.
Since I didn't know why it happened-- I thought it might happen again as soon as I got the machine together- very reassuring.
Maybe it won't happen for 12,000 hours!! (I'll never get there- congrats)
Bob
 
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