Welder Dave
Senior Member
It's not that big of a machine. I didn't think the price would take that big of jump but maybe. D3B size rollers were under $200 and that's only about a size bigger for about double the price for rollers???
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Whats wrong with my top roller?
- Thread starter Voodooburner
- Start date
Welder Dave
Senior Member
A D6T is a fair bit bigger. Was it a Cat roller?
Yes.
1693TA
Senior Member
Hoping not but I get the feeling this thread is going to be joined at the hip of Acoal's thread, "Good Healthy Carngage" sometime in the near future. Think of it: an inexperienced operator, in an unfamiliar machine that has a beyond shot undercarriage. What could go wrong? You guys familiar with running a trackloader know the twisting and turning these endure along with weight shift under power with a fully loaded bucket to get into position. I'll bet running that tractor with shot chains it begins walking track off with eventual binding of a track rolling on itself, or wedging between the machine and roller frame stripping a final in a short period of time. Seen it more than once myself on worn machines being stretched out in use. Usually a machine let go that far is a parts donor afterward. A dozer only knows to push and in the case of a bound track, find the weakest link.
This tractor has had a lot of "Band-Aid" repairs and is getting more with partial repairs to the undercarriage which is way beyond it's designed service life. It very well may be best to repair it correctly before it's placed back into service rather than scrap out your partial repairs and loose the $$$ spent to make them.
Of course all this is FWIW as I'm not funding anything here.
This tractor has had a lot of "Band-Aid" repairs and is getting more with partial repairs to the undercarriage which is way beyond it's designed service life. It very well may be best to repair it correctly before it's placed back into service rather than scrap out your partial repairs and loose the $$$ spent to make them.
Of course all this is FWIW as I'm not funding anything here.
Voodooburner
Well-Known Member
A ray of sunshine
Welder Dave
Senior Member
I don't think you have to go the extreme doom and gloom quite yet. Fix the top rollers and maybe trim the roller flanges and see share you're at. If the tracks are reasonably tight 50 hours a year could last several years.
1693TA
Senior Member
Not really but having sunshine blown up your backside will get you burned also. Not suggesting you but I know how a lot of farmers think as see them, and this type equipment in this condition near daily. Haul a lot of it in that doesn't get repaired and is scrapped or sent to sale citing cost to repair and become someone else's problem. Not doom and gloom at all; just a bit of experience seen and typed out being worth what you paid.
Agriculture is a tough business for sure and I wish you the best of luck, (really) but from what I see, you're going to have problems.
Welder Dave
Senior Member
He might be happy if he gets 150 hours out of it. In the mean time he could look for used in better condition than his.
1693TA
Senior Member
Very true and hope the machine renders expected, or desired service. Hopefully not a lot of $$$ expended and catastrophic failure occur. Tracked loaders endure a lot of stresses that dozers do not, and some of the scenarios I've presented have been seen first hand.
Best to have the both the pros, and cons to ensure a correct path to proceed upon with equipment. Without experience one must solicit input from those that hopefully do for guidance. I don't gather anyone wants to see this party hurt in any way, just want to see and help him make the correct and prudent decisions they will be comfortable with.
Again, FWIW.
Best to have the both the pros, and cons to ensure a correct path to proceed upon with equipment. Without experience one must solicit input from those that hopefully do for guidance. I don't gather anyone wants to see this party hurt in any way, just want to see and help him make the correct and prudent decisions they will be comfortable with.
Again, FWIW.
Welder Dave
Senior Member
Hopefully he can find some cheaper top carrier rollers and go from there. It's not a huge expense as far as crawlers go.
1693TA
Senior Member
With a tractor in this type undercarriage condition needing so much work due to wear, coupled with the projected working hours being so low, I certainly would be looking for another donor to use for parts. From the photos posted I'm assuming this is a recent farm purchase under much the same ideology I've typed earlier; no harm nor foul there as the gent did not know what he was getting into at that point; only the selling price was "right".
Education can be expensive, but it can be lessened quite easily by listening and digesting input from several sources, (being both positive, and negative) for the best fit in the application. Open eyes, ears, and research are paramount here.
This may not be the right thing to say but I fed my family during the dark economic days of 1981, and 1982 doing repairs on undercarriage of all types I would not do today. However, I learned much besides how to change parts. Welding and buildup of rollers, sprockets, idlers, shoes, grousers, chain, etc. is just a small part of that "education". Like our friends on youtube over in Pakistan, I've welded up and ground teeth in finals to keep a tractor operational, or make it a saleable unit. In those days I needed money which translated into food and subsistence and wasn't near as particular what was done to generate that money as today.
Education can be expensive, but it can be lessened quite easily by listening and digesting input from several sources, (being both positive, and negative) for the best fit in the application. Open eyes, ears, and research are paramount here.
This may not be the right thing to say but I fed my family during the dark economic days of 1981, and 1982 doing repairs on undercarriage of all types I would not do today. However, I learned much besides how to change parts. Welding and buildup of rollers, sprockets, idlers, shoes, grousers, chain, etc. is just a small part of that "education". Like our friends on youtube over in Pakistan, I've welded up and ground teeth in finals to keep a tractor operational, or make it a saleable unit. In those days I needed money which translated into food and subsistence and wasn't near as particular what was done to generate that money as today.
Voodooburner
Well-Known Member
Welder Dave
Senior Member
A little hard to tell from the pic. Sprocket teeth are getting pointed but it doesn't look like the roller flanges are hitting the pin bosses yet.
1693TA
Senior Member
A lot could be learned from a manual such as this:
***************************/komatsu/komatsu-d41s-3-and-d41q-3-dozer-service-manual/
1693TA
Senior Member
Hope that manual link can answer some questions.
Last edited:
Nige
Senior Member
Potential donor machine.?
Why do people not clean their undercarriage daily after operating and before taking pictures? Its basic crawler operating and maintenance but, hey, its not my money. I can’t tolerate a plugged-up undercarriage. You do it as the engine is cooling down at the end of the day. It is, however, ok to die of a heart attack with a track spade in your hands
Voodooburner
Well-Known Member
Just trying to learn, it is a $50k CAT machine that to my untrained eyes looks like the rollers are almost on the pins.
Voodooburner
Well-Known Member
After use do you clean it like with a hose or just knock the big chunks off?