willie59
Administrator
Hey Darin, got a few tips for you wrestling with those Morooka tracks.
First of all, raise the dump bed and secure bed with locking device. Remove your grease adjuster. Use fork lift or crane to lift rubber track about half way between rear of cab (or hyd tank for opposite side) and rear idler. Lift track to retract track adjuster/idler. Make sure it goes all the way in. At this point, remove the upper roller (or rollers if 2). You'll find it easier to work with track with these rollers removed.
Second, I find it easier just to get the whole machine off the ground as opposed to just one side. Just lift the front of the machine, place cribbing or sturdy stands, then rear of machine. Everything is now nice and level. Raise the machine just enough for the mid track bottom rollers to be just above the spike bars sticking up from the track, more than that works against you.
Now, find you some steel pipe or round bar stock pieces cut about a foot long. You'll have to determine the proper OD size of pipe or round bar for the type/size track your working on. On MST-600 and 800 size tracks, I think a 1 1/4" steel schedule 40 steel pipe is about the right OD size. You want to place one of the pipes in between two of the track spike bars of the top track, perpendicular to track, just in front of idler and hold it there. Have your helper start machine and slowly rotate track in reverse, causing the pipe to ride up on idler which will lift those two spike bars off idler. Skip one spike bar space. Insert another pipe between the next two spike bars, rotate in reverse again. Skip another space, insert one more pipe between the next two spike bars, rotate reverse. Now, you will have 3 pipes sitting on idler which lift the bars away from and clearing idler. Now you can observe if you have the right size pipe. Too small OD pipe, bars don't clear idler. Too large, tensions loose track excessively impeding track removal. Bars should be just clearing idler. Now you can simply put a belt strap around track back to forklift and pull track off idler. You may have to jockey track at rear bottom roller. Spike bars may not be clearing that roller. I have taken my forklift fork and dropped it on bottom track pushing the track down away from rear bottom roller, then use a comealong to tension the strap I have at idler. That way, as I'm pulling the strap to pull track off idler, the fork is holding track clear of bottom roller.
All you have left to do now is pluck the track off of sprocket, which is not such a chore now that you have the track removed from idler giving you plenty of slack to work with.
Re-install track in reverse order as removed.
First of all, raise the dump bed and secure bed with locking device. Remove your grease adjuster. Use fork lift or crane to lift rubber track about half way between rear of cab (or hyd tank for opposite side) and rear idler. Lift track to retract track adjuster/idler. Make sure it goes all the way in. At this point, remove the upper roller (or rollers if 2). You'll find it easier to work with track with these rollers removed.
Second, I find it easier just to get the whole machine off the ground as opposed to just one side. Just lift the front of the machine, place cribbing or sturdy stands, then rear of machine. Everything is now nice and level. Raise the machine just enough for the mid track bottom rollers to be just above the spike bars sticking up from the track, more than that works against you.
Now, find you some steel pipe or round bar stock pieces cut about a foot long. You'll have to determine the proper OD size of pipe or round bar for the type/size track your working on. On MST-600 and 800 size tracks, I think a 1 1/4" steel schedule 40 steel pipe is about the right OD size. You want to place one of the pipes in between two of the track spike bars of the top track, perpendicular to track, just in front of idler and hold it there. Have your helper start machine and slowly rotate track in reverse, causing the pipe to ride up on idler which will lift those two spike bars off idler. Skip one spike bar space. Insert another pipe between the next two spike bars, rotate in reverse again. Skip another space, insert one more pipe between the next two spike bars, rotate reverse. Now, you will have 3 pipes sitting on idler which lift the bars away from and clearing idler. Now you can observe if you have the right size pipe. Too small OD pipe, bars don't clear idler. Too large, tensions loose track excessively impeding track removal. Bars should be just clearing idler. Now you can simply put a belt strap around track back to forklift and pull track off idler. You may have to jockey track at rear bottom roller. Spike bars may not be clearing that roller. I have taken my forklift fork and dropped it on bottom track pushing the track down away from rear bottom roller, then use a comealong to tension the strap I have at idler. That way, as I'm pulling the strap to pull track off idler, the fork is holding track clear of bottom roller.
All you have left to do now is pluck the track off of sprocket, which is not such a chore now that you have the track removed from idler giving you plenty of slack to work with.
Re-install track in reverse order as removed.