257B Cat, how do you remove the dust caps on bogie wheels without hurting them?

[solarguy]

Hi Guys
I have a rear "wheel" that the bearings are bad,, to remove the track, I would like to remove the front "wheel" ,,, after taking out the circlip, how do you remove the cap ?

Thanks

 

[Lee-online]

Some idlers are bolted to the hub so you can remove it that way to get the track off.
I try to wiggle the cap out, if it doesn't come out i drill a small hole in it and use a slide hammer. I would then put a new cap in but you could just install a plug or grease fitting in the drilled hole.

 

[74inchShovel]

What I found that works well is grinding the jaws of an old pair of channel locks to fit into the reccess- grab, wiggle and pull.

 

[solarguy]

dust caps

What I found that works well is grinding the jaws of an old pair of channel locks to fit into the reccess- grab, wiggle and pull.

Thanks guys for the help,
I have a friend that got most of an undercarridge from a scrape yard off a 257B that caught on fire, I would like to be able to take the dust caps off and have all these parts ready to use as I need them. my back "wheel" started to squeak and the dust cap on this one looked very different,,, well it was different because the balls were all gone and the nut wobbled around and beat the dust cap all up.... had to just rip and pry that one out,,, It appears that the axle is not hurt due to part of the bearing still on the axle and just rubbing on the cone part on the wheel. I will let you know tomorrow how it ends up. I have hopes that I can loosen the track and gently "pry" the track out far enough to be able to get the wheel off and back on without removing the entire track? Thanks again, I love this machine, it does more than expected.

 

[solarguy]

bogie wheel

Thanks guys for the help,
I have a friend that got most of an undercarridge from a scrape yard off a 257B that caught on fire, I would like to be able to take the dust caps off and have all these parts ready to use as I need them. my back "wheel" started to squeak and the dust cap on this one looked very different,,, well it was different because the balls were all gone and the nut wobbled around and beat the dust cap all up.... had to just rip and pry that one out,,, It appears that the axle is not hurt due to part of the bearing still on the axle and just rubbing on the cone part on the wheel. I will let you know tomorrow how it ends up. I have hopes that I can loosen the track and gently "pry" the track out far enough to be able to get the wheel off and back on without removing the entire track? Thanks again, I love this machine, it does more than expected.

If you are able to see these pics,, I know I cheated, every manual said you had to pull the front wheel off and take the track off,, but this seemed to work pretty good.
I plan on putting a grease zerk in the dust cap and when not being greased, I will put a recessed allen head plug so it is basically flush and won't get ripped off. When I run out of wheels from my spare undercarridge, It seems like the aluminum wheels with a grease zerk would be the way to go.
I feel SO GOOD to have this unit rolling along and not squeaking, NOW I am paranoid about all the rest of the wheels lenght of life?