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Why drop belly guards.?

Nige

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
28,978
Location
G..G..G..Granville.........!! Fetch your cloth.
We try to do them every big PM.
This D6 was obviously more than ready, the material that was in it was something akin to concrete. It's only damp because the tractor was pressure-washed before it was brought into the shop. All the sections of the guard were exactly the same - full to the top. I shudder to think what would've happened if the belly guard had hit a decent-sized rock - that would surely have been the oil pan cracked.

This is also the reason to be really careful when lowering guards that haven't been down in a while because you have no idea how heavy they're gonna be...........

upload_2019-10-5_15-30-1.png
 

thepumpguysc

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2010
Messages
7,445
Location
Sunny South Carolina
Occupation
Master Inj.Pump rebuilder
lol.. been there done that.. on a steel wheeled Bomag at the county landfill, BY MYSELF..
I laid under it to "lower it down".. BIG MISTAKE.!!
That sucker hit me so hard, it drove me into all that garbage.. I was trapped for about what seemed like an hour.. Lol
I finally dug myself out & found the problem.. Dirty Racor up in the belly of the beast..{check that while its down,Lol.}
I brought back help, w/ a jack, when she went back together..{fixed the problem}
 

Mother Deuce

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2016
Messages
1,603
Location
New England
I am sorry to report that I have never done that on my own iron. It seems like something to add to the PM program. I have dropped a belly pan on a Mountain Logger ML200 skidder by myself on myself. My experience was exactly the same the pump guy's... I had no clue at the time. I am sure that it was found to be hysterical by the crew. It is a little amusing now to me... 40 years later! It was a good learning experience. Don't screw with chit that might kill you, if you don't know what your doing.
 

kshansen

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
11,129
Location
Central New York, USA
Occupation
Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
Sometimes you can wrap a come-a-long around the belly pan and hood, then ratchet it down after you get the bolts out. Not much room under some dozers with a floor jack and fatbelly mechanic under there.
That's the way I always did it if not able to get a fork truck to reach it and even then always made sure to be well out of the way when taking every bolt off! And don't assume the one bolt left is actually going to be holding the weight.

Another thing out to get you are the couter weights on some machines! Bolts can be rusted solid and snap off before turning. At least most of them are close eough to the rear to get a fork truck under them. But then you have to hope the fork truck hoist cylinder don't fail at the worng time!
 

CM1995

Administrator
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
13,248
Location
Alabama
Occupation
Running what I brung and taking what I win
Looks like the belly pan on my 953 when we have to drop it..:rolleyes:

A forklift with fork extensions works really well in letting the pans down and re-installing them.

Nige what's the story with the missing track pad on that D6?
 

Junkyard

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2016
Messages
3,621
Location
Claremore, OK
Occupation
Field Mechanic
Looks like the belly pan on my 953 when we have to drop it..:rolleyes:

A forklift with fork extensions works really well in letting the pans down and re-installing them.

Nige what's the story with the missing track pad on that D6?


Good eye!!
 

epirbalex

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2017
Messages
548
Location
Akitio
Occupation
peasant
Komatsu kindly put a trapdoor in my 155 crankcase guard . Must have led to the guard being looted , there was not one tool in there , only thing of any use was the motor serial number plate . Worst one I have done was a driveshaft / gearbox guard on a TD5 inter . Left it off once along with the crankcase guard , paid a price for that with a cracked oil pump shaft housing .
 

nicky 68a

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
1,159
Location
england
The rear belly plates on conventional style tractors were a real pain with the wishbone getting in the way
 

Old Doug

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2013
Messages
4,485
Location
Mo
We bought a 955 to resale and sold it without doing any thing to it. It ran and worked ok but the place that bought it pulled the pan and it had a hole rubbed throught the oil pan from stuff in the belly pan. The dirt had sealed the hole up agin because it didnt leak to bad.
 

JD955SC

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2011
Messages
1,349
Location
The South
We bought a 955 to resale and sold it without doing any thing to it. It ran and worked ok but the place that bought it pulled the pan and it had a hole rubbed throught the oil pan from stuff in the belly pan. The dirt had sealed the hole up agin because it didnt leak to bad.

I have replaced engine oil pans on three machines due to dirt buildup in the belly pans rubbing through

And of course it’s a great chance to inspect and maybe catch issues

I only wish the manufacturers would stop trying to be helpful with hooks and hinges on the things.
 

still learn'n

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2012
Messages
455
Location
Kansas
I do kinda like queenslander said. I have a cable made up that I run under the machine and hook onto something on the other side and then it helps to put a block between cable and pan and then hook to crane winch off of service truck.
 

D6c10K

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2008
Messages
681
Location
Iowa, USA
I get some dirt in my belly pans, but get a lot more twigs and leaves since I've been doing mostly tree clearing. I worry about fires, and carry water and fire extinguisher. Cedar needles are the worst....land on manifold and get smoldering. Not unusual to have to put it out a couple of times a day. Sometimes I hose down the belly pans before starting work.
 

russ61

Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2010
Messages
22
Location
SE Indiana
Occupation
screw machine shop supervisor
We try to do them every big PM.
This D6 was obviously more than ready, the material that was in it was something akin to concrete. It's only damp because the tractor was pressure-washed before it was brought into the shop. All the sections of the guard were exactly the same - full to the top. I shudder to think what would've happened if the belly guard had hit a decent-sized rock - that would surely have been the oil pan cracked.

This is also the reason to be really careful when lowering guards that haven't been down in a while because you have no idea how heavy they're gonna be...........

View attachment 202811
That explains why the trans case had been cracked and welded on my 955H. Never thought about that happening. Thought they had ran it with no pans. I drop it and clean it as needed.
 
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