I have been using my machine to clear trees off of a farm I bought and when I got done today I went around and felt up all my track comments and one of my front idlers is getting hot, not burning hot but plenty warm. Looks like I can still get the parts from John Deere to replaces bushes and seals and rebuild, but I need to know a few things. 1. I don't have time currently to break the track and pull the idler. What can I do to help minimize the damage I do running it like it is? I thought about pulling the oil plug and pumping the idler full of corn head grease, and then continuing to do that for every hour or so of run time as I use it, should only be another 10-20 hours until I can repair it over the winter. I have a good machinist that really good on a turning lathe and can "refurbish" the shaft and inner bore of the idler if it gets bad enough to need it. 2. When I do repair this, the book calls for a special tool to screw in and hook to a grease gun to pump the oil in and bleed the air out it looks like. Is there any way around this tool, or is there somewhere I can find this tool or something close that would work and do the same job? Also I know some of you were interested in some photos and a video or two of the machine, I haven't forgot about you and will get them posted in time. Thanks!
Also wanted to add, I know the track rollers are the same at a 977K cat machine, would the possibility of my 855 having the same idler be possible? I know the D7E and 977K take the same "undercarriage" but I'm not sure to how much people mean by that. The tracks and rollers? Idlers and sprockets?
JD corn head grease might not be compatible with the original grease used. You could use OO grade grease that works the same as the JD corn head grease, thick when at rest but thins out in motion, kind of an apple sauce consistency. I know the rollers get warm so it might be somewhat normal for the idlers to get a little warm too especially if traveling longer distances and/or at higher speeds. I had a guy do some brush clearing with an 850J WRT and was surprised how warm the rollers got. I put OO grease in a leaking track roller with good success. I doubt a Cat idler would fit. I think the mounting blocks would be different. The actual idler alone would maybe work with the JD blocks. Sorry, don't know the proper name for mounting blocks on the idler.
The front idlers ,top rollers and sprocket segments are unique to the 855. Track chains and track groups are also used on , Bottom rollers are also used on ,