Cat track loader purchase

[DMiller]

Finally getting the moneys worth!

 

[ippielb]

I have a carrier roller that has started to squeak. Curious if it’s worth it to replace the bearing, or just replace the whole roller. The whole assembly is $315+tax.

Only squeaks when I go backwards, forwards it’s quiet, had someone look for me and they say it wobbles a bit in reverse.

 

[Cmark]

I have a carrier roller that has started to squeak. Curious if it’s worth it to replace the bearing, or just replace the whole roller. The whole assembly is $315+tax.

Only squeaks when I go backwards, forwards it’s quiet, had someone look for me and they say it wobbles a bit in reverse.

Are you sure it's the carrier roller? Quiet FWD/Noisy REV can be an indication of idler problems.

 

[DMiller]

Put a jack between track frame and rail, lift the rail from the roller and see if binding or excess play, look for oil or grease around the seal region as they will leak away the lube.

 

[ippielb]

Put a jack between track frame and rail, lift the rail from the roller and see if binding or excess play, look for oil or grease around the seal region as they will leak away the lube.

I’ll try that.

Are you sure it's the carrier roller? Quiet FWD/Noisy REV can be an indication of idler problems.

Had someone stand outside machine and check for me.

 

[ippielb]

Yeah I double checked by jacking up the track and spinning the idler, there’s nothing there that would even resemble a bearing. I’m guessing the shaft is probably worn, and the face where the race is sitting is damaged. Guessing it’s going to be just replace it. Maybe cat has a used one.

 

[DMiller]

Much of the time replacement is easiest and not any more expensive.

 

[ippielb]

So there’s two part numbers, and the cat parts guy said the $445 one is a genuine cat product, and the $315 is a jobber. They never had the cheaper jobber, so I ordered it. With the other rollers being around 40% I didn’t see a point in spending an extra hundred bucks. They never had a used one I’m afraid.

 

[ippielb]

Finally got around to replacing it, was worse then I expected lol. When I took it off. It was a two part removal, I’m glad it didn’t come apart while on my last job. It started to squeak after I was done walking it over a mile to another Bush on a different section of land, probably a mile. Thought it was a rock caught between the front idler and support. Got out checked couldn’t see anything. So I carried on. I could still catching the squeak if I paid attention. Worked for a couple hours, then walked it back, scared I was going to run out of fuel lol.

I was also having problems with a pin wanting to come out of a tooth. And I would have to stop every fifteen minutes or so and knock it back into place. So I took the time to take the teeth off, clean everything up. And found the pins are very pitted and are loose, the retainers barely hold onto them, and they’re the old style retainer. The teeth have a lot of life left in them, so I couldn’t justify buying new teeth, I’m going to build up the shanks a bit to make them tighter, and the one tooth on the bottom I’m going to add a couple passes to bring it up to the others level.

The side adapters for the outside corners of the bucket wobble and move quite a lot. So I bought new $20 bolts, and $15 nuts for them. And I’m going to build it up to make them tight again. Might be easier to just add a piece of 1/8 steel to the bottom of the adapter itself and weld it in place. But I’m going to see after I put the new bolt it, weld up the bolt hole and drill it out again to see how much play I will actually have.

 

[ippielb]

One handed, but gives an idea.

 

[Mother Deuce]

listen to farmerlund. with this many hours you can expect very burdensome repair bills. check out the 955L just a couple of threads below. if I wanted a loader that one would do it for me. no hydro trans, cab, even a winch on the back, which might get you out of a hole that a 973 would be out of sight in.

the PS trans is for sure a little slower than a hydro but it will hang in there way cheaper in the long run.

The 955L's were quick and nimble... makes me smile just thinking about it.

 

[DMiller]

Yes they were, earlier ones were pretty well bulletproof. Had a customer years gone by would not decel to shift F-R would hand stand it on idlers or sprockets, that machine outlasted him. Believe it was a K though.

 

[Mother Deuce]

Yes they were, earlier ones were pretty well bulletproof. Had a customer years gone by would not decel to shift F-R would hand stand it on idlers or sprockets, that machine outlasted him. Believe it was a K though.

There seemed to be a whole cadre of hands who did that... it was faster I reckon, if you were loaded up with trucks. It always seemed a little on the abusive side to me particularly with the 77's. After you got the hang of it it wasn't too bad , slacking the throttle before the shift probably lost a second or so. Although I did have a little envy for the International hands and their decelerators

 

[DMiller]

Allis did as well, even my old 70's HD7G has a decelerator.

 

[bam1968]

In my neck of the woods there have been many miles of terraces built with 977's equipped with dozer blades. Terrace building is mostly done in short pushes (20-40ft). I'm sure there were some that idled them back to shift F-R but all the operators that I know of shifted F-R at full throttle, including myself. I tried to do most of my shifting while turning. To me it seemed like by applying one brake put a bit of a load on the machine which seemed to result in a smoother F-R shift. Just my $.02

 

[Nige]

Looking at post #309 it appears as though the centre tooth adapters are so worn I'm amazed the teeth stay on them. There is an obvious wear lip at the back end of each adapter where the teeth have been rubbing against it. It would appear that the adapters need some building up while you're at it with the welding machine on the bucket.

 

[ippielb]

Looking at post #309 it appears as though the centre tooth adapters are so worn I'm amazed the teeth stay on them. There is an obvious wear lip at the back end of each adapter where the teeth have been rubbing against it. It would appear that the adapters need some building up while you're at it with the welding machine on the bucket.

I actually just did this today, took me a 10lb box of rods. And about 8 hours. The shanks for the teeth have been built up before I can see. And the teeth themselves are worn open I can tell. I got them snug, but still a little bit of up play in each direction. 1/8” of play probably. Over time they’ll pound out the high spots and probably turn into 1/2” play I’m guessing. New pins and retainers are nice, I won’t be scared of losing teeth anymore. I was having serious problems with one pin wanting to come out, every time I’d push, roots would get between the blade segment and the tooth and push it out.

Now all I have to do is take the side corner adapters off, replace the bolt, build up the hole in the sidewall of the bucket and see how much play. Then build up the adapter to make it snug.

I’m debating on welding the adapter to the bucket in a few places. To keep it in place. Not permanently weld it to the bucket but more so like a spot weld, 2” beads in a few places, so if I have to I could still cut the welds to remove the adapter.

 

[ippielb]

And by no means am I a professional welder, just learning as I go on the farm lol

I used 7014 rods, and found that the slag came off super clean. Usually just hit the adapter with a hammer and most would fall off in big clumps. 145 amp and it would burn into the adapter nice but wouldn’t pool and dribble.

I had two angle grinders, one with a wire brush, the other with a thinner grinding wheel. I’d hit the adapter with the wire wheel, then weld the adapter up. And then knock off the slag with an air hammer with a needle scaler on it. Didn’t know where my slag pick was, and it got into the little crevasses fast I will add lol. I’d take the tooth and slam it on the adapter trying to skuff up where it would be hitting the adapter, then I’d grind off the high points and test fit it a few times and do touch ups.

On the sides, and underneath, I found I couldn’t go uphill at all for the life of me. Not a chance. It kept running and dribbling, took some work with the grinder I’m telling ya. Not to mention the craters I’d leave that i would have to fill

Then after the first tooth adapter, the second one I got a little better, and by the third one I figured out that going downhill, and making a wider bead, it would be WAY more controllable. The 4th tooth was straight forward I had my method down, and from then on it was technique.

First couple teeth took me an hour each. By the last two teeth I did them in what felt like minutes in comparison.

 

[DMiller]

Are you using an old AC welder? 6014 works better on straight polarity and pushing into the puddle working them basically in fairly rapid circles helps the puddle to freeze before it falls away. I prefer 7018 as to ductile strength and better erosion resistance, for that matter hard facing may work as well for build up on those tooth supports.

 

[ippielb]

Are you using an old AC welder? 6014 works better on straight polarity and pushing into the puddle working them basically in fairly rapid circles helps the puddle to freeze before it falls away. I prefer 7018 as to ductile strength and better erosion resistance, for that matter hard facing may work as well for build up on those tooth supports.

Ah well, the jobs done with 7014 now. I’m sure it will last as long as the teeth do. And then when I get new teeth i’ll Do 7018 or look into the hard facing. A guy at my work told me about hard facing and that it makes a ugly mess into blobs when it burns off the rod. I can’t say I’ve ever seen or used it.