Well I am now having more problems with the bobcat 442, It took me 3 months to get a manual and a few other things out of the dealer i bought it from so i am not too interested in dealing with them. The problem i am having right now is the right side track is slower and has less power. It moves over about a foot that direction in 50 feet of flat road. The machine in in decent overall shape and has 3380hr on it, i have checked the control travel and it is the same from side to side. I do have the shop manual for the machine but it seems to be incompeat..... any ideas were the best place to start would be?
well nothing in your guys posts are helping with adjusting my 442 track tension, can anyone help me out with the procedure an how to do it right?
sledcrazzy mine is similar I find if I don't run the steering pedals full travel it runs pretty strait ,. all torq my manual say's 3/4 inch slack measured between the middle idler and the drive sprocket, hope this helps.
Get a manual from tradebits or WHY (what have you). Assuming 442 tracks are similar to 331 track setup, you have two cover plates (two bolts holding each plate) on side of undercarriage. One of them, has two grease zerks behind the plate. The smaller zerk is for putting grease in (increase tension - with grease gun), and the larger one is for taking grease out (decrease tension - unscrew slowly). Raise one side (use jack stands), and measure from rubber track that is hanging to metal frame. My manual says just over 2" is perfect tension, but I am ok with 3"+. Metal track slack is supposed to be 4.25" to 4.75". Easy operation, just a bit messy if your removing grease though.
442's have a single, large button head grease fitting per track tensioner. They require the purchase of a special adapter to go from a regular zerk fitting to the flat button style. There were two sizes when I had to order ours, its the larger of the two. As for the tracking issue, you could have a motor that's weaker on one side because of wear or seal leakage, or maybe your spool for that motor isn't opening up quite as far. Cut open a case drain filter if you can and check for flakes or cuttings.