I'm thinking of putting new pads or a full track assembly on my Cat 953 (early 77y serial). The standard width listed seems to be 15 or 20". I measured my pads and they are roughly 17.5" wide. Am I measuring the wrong dimension or is it an oddball track? Thanks
Options I see are 19.5" triple grouser on early machines and 15" double grouser from 77Y1395-Up. Post a photo maybe.? Could the shoes on your machine be 19.5" that someone has cut down.? Are they symmetrical each side of the bolt holes.?
Not a great pic, my serial is below 77Y1395. Re-reading your post, I'm wondering if someone cut down the inner part of a 20" track.
From the photo they are not symmetrical. They appear to have been cut down on the inside. Try measuring from the inside of the shoe to the centre of the bolt closest, then the same from the outside again to the centre of the closest bolt. A difference of 2" between the two measurements by any chance.? But the shoes are also double grouser where the Parts Manual indication is that they should be 19.5" triple. IMO there is a good chance that not only have they been cut down but also that they are aftermarket.
So, I assume the original pad width was 15" and someone took 20" pads and cut them down to fit. That would be a lot of cutting.
I don’t see why they would want to cut 19.5” shoes down when that’s the size that the machine was originally equipped with. And that’s where I think the 1/2” could be important. The OEM triple grouser shoes are 19.5”, not 20”. Actually they are metric 500mm wide. So if someone bought some 20” shoes from somewhere there is every possibility that the slight increase in width above standard might just have fouled the machine frame towards the rear. I know there isn’t a lot of clearance back there. That could explain why they were cut on the inside. If you go looking for shoes similar in width to the original ones you need to be looking for 19.5”/500mm-wide triple grouser shoes. The OEM Part Number for the shoes is 8E4722 for the regular shoes (qty 38) and 8E4723 for the master shoe. That is of course provided that the link groups have a crocodile-style master link.
I wonder if they could be aftermarket pads with offset holes for more clearance? Can't see much but if they were cut down someone did a really good job of it.
Yeah, I'm thinking that is the most likely scenario. I looked again this weekend and just couldn't imagine someone cutting down a full 20" track. Meanwhile, my front idler bearing went out, so it looks like a track split is in order.