Caterpillar Sproket Removal (also Komatsu)

[tctractors]

R.C. I am 66 now so thinking of cutting back on the work to 6 days a week and just a few hours on Sundays, my Wife takes good care of the house and garden so things are steady on. tctractors

 

[1466IH]

Tc do you or your pal have any youngsters coming up behind you? I know you have passed a lot of knowledge through this site but I am sure you have a lot more.

 

[tctractors]

Sad to say no takers on anyone showing interest in doing this type of work, I have tried to find a handy Lad to invest time and effort into with the thought of giving all my tooling and books etc to when the Knacker Man turns up for me, but hard to find someone that likes a bit of Work as the ££££ side of things would be handy enough, Track pin pressing, Nitrogen charging, Sprocket pressing and all the other side events are easy enough to undertake if you know what you are doing, I go all over the U.K. so it's not a boring day. tctractors p.s. I always work by myself as it would seem I am Billy No Mates.

 

[nicky 68a]

TC,your son seems to be pretty slick at the business he’s in,and it’s hard to blame him for not picking up his dads spanners I suppose.
My eldest is not keen at all,but young Tommy still shows unwavering enthusiasm!

 

[Old Doug]

When you realy need to be training a replacement is not at the end of your work its at the middle of it but your in your prime and its hard to see the future.There is a younger guy that is a good machinist he was ask about hiring a guy to train he said no i bet he regrets it some day.

 

[tctractors]

TC,your son seems to be pretty slick at the business he’s in,and it’s hard to blame him for not picking up his dads spanners I suppose.
My eldest is not keen at all,but young Tommy still shows unwavering enthusiasm!

Teddy has all the Brains and Good Looks, Tommy is still a Handsome Lad but just loves messing about with Diesel and Dirt, they will both do well in life due to the effort they both put in to living their life, if Tommy sticks that School thing I will be shocked, as he considers it time wasted when he could be out making a few ££££, Teddy will make headway and earn coins without a struggle as he has the Sparkle between his ears. tctractors

 

[tctractors]

When you realy need to be training a replacement is not at the end of your work its at the middle of it but your in your prime and its hard to see the future.There is a younger guy that is a good machinist he was ask about hiring a guy to train he said no i bet he regrets it some day.

A lot of my life was wasted working silly hours just to get to the next job that was pushed my way, I have loved every moment to be honest and feel happy with the time I have had on this Earth, the chance to help young mechanic's along and get them involved in a job that I might be doing for their employer was something I always loved to do, there is plenty of nasty blunt and moaning old beggars to be found in workshops and job sites, I always try to make the day run sweet and thank anyone that has helped me even in a slight way, but as you pointed out the time to really make a mark for the future is in the middle bit not the end, so I have to bow my head in shame for not doing more when I possibly could of helped younger people. tctractors

 

[1466IH]

Tc if only you were a wee bit closer haha. If you ever feel like relocating to the states let me know. I would be very interested in some tooling if and when you ever decide to hang it up. A lot of those sprocket/hub pullers are no longer available and finding used tooling is next to impossible. Glad to see you posting here again. Looking forward to seeing more of your endeavors.

 

[.RC.]

Have a question. Is the pulling ram being used in this photo on the first page to pop the outer support off the dead axle taper?

 

[tctractors]

Yep that is how you do it if you know your game, this looks to be a D6C or D, the outer hub has lugs on to fit a 2 section pull ring to it but it's a load of faffing about, I just pop them off like this as it's fast and safer, note the adapters in the sprocket are not tight to the hole you only do the nuts on them flush with the thread end, the adapter will damage if you do the nuts up tight, also always remove the lock tab from behind the big hub nut then re-fit the hub nut leaving a small gap 1/8 - 3/16" from the sprocket, the ram in the picture I bought new from Big Nozzi in Italy some years ago its a 105 ton cylinder, D6 and D7 tractors are as tough to pull the rim as a D8 often, a 74 ton cylinder will often be at it's limit and still need the Big Hammer to get a result. tctractors

 

[nicky 68a]

 

[nicky 68a]

For those of you that ask me about TC,he’s at his usual game and is fit and well.
Although I don’t see much of him,he did swing by in September to open his flask and consume some fruit cake.
Although he’s not in the picture,he was close enough to this D9R final drive seal as he wanted to be.

 

[tctractors]

For those of you that ask me about TC,he’s at his usual game and is fit and well.
Although I don’t see much of him,he did swing by in September to open his flask and consume some fruit cake.
Although he’s not in the picture,he was close enough to this D9R final drive seal as he wanted to be.

Tuesday I am stripping out a final drive on a D8H in the Big Workshop, I do hope this rain clears off, as I am by myself and it's going to be a tough task in this weather.

 

[nicky 68a]

Yes,it’s been rough this last few weeks TC,but you seem to like it.
I’ve been enjoying myself doing abit with an old 980H helping the fitters.Was missing a few bits like an engine etc.
Had some drop box leaks on it,but it’s coming together now.
Servicing D8 on Monday

 

[tctractors]

Everything that you do takes on a new complexion and is fodder for all us gear heads Tony,I still don't know how you get so much done and talk about it too!!Keep us chomping,we always look forward the post from tctractors.Ron G

I do Miss you Ron.

 

[.RC.]

Well all the tricks of the final drive repair trade are coming out now. However I feel tctractors livelihood might be safe for the time being.

After watching this video I learned a lot, I will give timestamps to save people the torture of watching the whole thing.

Like at 31 min 30 sec in deliberately putting dirt on duo cone seals prior to installation, which I guess is fine when at 29 minutes in you do not use any gasket sealant between the final drive case and frame so you were not expecting to put any oil in it anyway.

Also the sprocket pulling at 9min 23 sec in did not look that safe.

What the hell was the point of those people doing repairs, just hopeless and useless.

 

[terex herder]

Yea, stuff flying when the sprocket breaks loose. The lifting sling made with a worn out fan belt knotted together really showed me how much I've wasted on rigging.

 

[Zewnten]

Think of all the money we’ve been wasting on safety glasses.

 

[tctractors]

The chap working the Lathe was a dab hand but the rest was a total bit of comedy, I don't think they pulled the sprocket off on the Tractor it was just bits of junk flying past there ears, no detail of how they pressed the sprocket back on or pressed home the hub bearings? I am currently doing a Final Drive on a D8 by myself without all that tapping and banging and bits of bent bars, here I am 68 and would have had it stripped and back together while they are still scratching their backsides, the dirt on the duo-cone seals I found very odd indeed, I would give that little dust rubbing chimp a clip on the ear, 1 of us is doing it wrong and it's not me, they have good Engineering skills so should be able to make some better tooling to tackle this type of repair, those tapped home bearings will soon show up as mashed gears as the D8K can soon find a weak spot.

 

[charles walton]

Did they reuse that reduction gear?