The grousers on my 941 are badly worn, but I am not about to replace them for the amount I use the machine. The chains are pretty good, but someone had put old pads on the good chains somewhere along the line. Tonight I set up the .045 flux core & laid three beads on the center grouser bar of each pad only & managed to get one side of the machine completed. I jacked the machine up a bit so I could just spin the tracks without moving the machine around. That little bit of buildup will help preserve what pad I have left & the little nubbies will help the machine from sliding around when the ground is frozen in the winter. It took me just over 2 hrs to weld the one side of the machine, once I had it jacked up.
Just a small tip... Keep moving the ground clamp to each pad before welding. Don't let the ground current pass through a pin bushing. A poor fit will cause an arc pit, that will start wear in the chain.
looks like he is you can see the burn mark on each pad where the ground clamped burned the rust
They make bars to weld on for that purpose. Even weldable rebar would get you more metal added for your time. Now that would be some sweet looking tracks until it wore smooth at least.
Good point ..
As you are in the construction business, you may wish to try what a number of us old Allis clowns do, weld 3/4 rerod pieces for two bar shoes, yours are probably either 14 or 15"
Actually, I did get the grouser bar mat'l for doing one of the dozers, but have not got around to doing them yet. For the loader, I really prefer the grousers to be lower as it does not tear things up so badly. All of my work will be on my private property here at my place, so keeping yard damage to a minimum is a consideration. The machine has no ROPS so I am limited to private use only. I had thought of using 1/2" rebar as an option, but I think the weld buildup will be suffice for now. Hope to do the other track today if the conditions permit (.045 flux core with shielding gas).
My pads are 14" wide on the 941. Managed to get the RH side of the machine welded up this afternoon. Soon after I got the machine I did the same build up work with 7018 stick, when I had a bit of time here & there. This time around I went on top of the old stick welds. The flux core is so much faster & the deposit is much greater. In most places I have increased the height by about 3/8" now. It will take me quite a while to wear that off again........ If I do, maybe use the rebar option the next time.