After washing the dirt off of the Adjuster Spring, I found that bolts holding the bracket to the rail are sheared off and the bracket is missing. Anyone have an exploded view of the adjuster that would show the part number for the bracket?
try this ......... Someone else will surely chime in here but those sheared bolts are going to make replacing the bracket a very dangerous process unless you are extremely careful about it. Uncontrolled decompression of track tensioner springs can kill you ......
Without those brackets installed, the machine is dangerous to operate. Correct?
Definitely.
I think the 955k is very similar to the 955L. Not only are the bolts sheared off and the bracket completly gone but there are two pins that are sheared also. you can fix all of this but what you really need to look at is how worn your front idler guides are worn. if it is way worn and your front idler is able to flop around then it will just re break all that you have fixed. Here is where I would start before you split the track. you need some way to compress the spring and engage the lock nut to capture it at a length it can be reinstalled. two ways to do this. #1 if your tension is in good shape and tracks arent to loose you can pump it up with grease till tracks over tighten and it compresses spring. #2 and is way esier is to put a 4x4 block between track and sprocket and back up squeezing block of wood between sprocket and track causing track to go way over tight and compress spring. Have someone watch and measure when you are at compressed length of spring for installation. Lock park break. remove rear guards exposing large nut on end of rod that goes through the spring assembly. At this point I would remove the lock and then remove the nut. May take the use of a torch and heat to get the nut to move. after nut is off clean all the threads via sandblasting or whatever means you have. clean nut threads. Apply grease to nut and run on all the way till tight. Spring is now captured and is now safe to remove block of wood and split track. I would go ahead and remove spring assembly and use mag base drill to remove broken bolts. if the broken pins wont drive through to the hollow of the track frame you will need to drill into them and tap them. make a puller that can go on a slide hammer and pull them out. If you pull out the spring assembly you can rebuild the guide ears on the pilot like I did on my post about tensioner spring compressing. Is that clear as mud? all in all you have a large project ahead of you.
Hey something else just looking at your picture I think your spring is broken. see how a couple of coils towards the pilot have no gap between them? indications of busted spring. If that's the case just cut the spring till its all loose. Look at your springs real good and check for breakage. If you need a spring the best price I have found by far is American Crane and Tractor
And if all else fails cut the spring with a gas axe before starting disassembly. The cost of a new spring would be the least of your worries if that lot explodes on you.
Nige I understand what your saying for safety sake. But with a little planning and a little understanding there should be no reason whatsoever to cut that spring unless its already broken. As it sets in the machine it should easily be compressed and if all the parts are connected and in good shape all the way up to the idler yoke it really cant go anywhere as it is pretty well captured. Now if you cannot get the nut up to capture it you got a whole nuther set of problems. That spring is quite expensive and once cut now you have the added expense and headache of dealing with the dealer or track shop to get it compressed and assembled. I guess that's just an area that is a personal decision as to wither a person feels capable of doing the job in a safe manner or not. In my honest opinion I would do anything I could to keep from cutting that spring if it is good and avoid the added expense and complications. If it is already broken just resign yourself to your fate and cut the thing before you go any farther.
The problem as I see it is that the front (idler) end of the spring/tensioner is not being restrained vertically because the bolts in the stop have sheared. I agree that with planning and a bit of thought it ought to be possible to disassemble without cutting the spring, the main focus being to get something round the track frame and over the top of the spring to stop the whole shooting match flying upwards if things go t*ts-up.......... An aftermarket spring can be had for between $2-300. How much do you pay for your car insurance then compare prices. Cutting the spring might (and I say that advisedly) be your best insurance policy ever. To the OP. Try working your way through this thread. We HAVE been here before .......... and this ought to answer pretty m uch every question you have. HeavyEquipmentForums
Yes I agree I would set up some sort of containment just in case it like you say goes t*ts up. Really curious if his springs are broke. I have two machines and between the two machines I didnt have one spring that was not broken. His looks just like mine did. And for some strange reason they always break on the bottom where they will look good from the top.
I looked for a break in the spring and didn't see one. I did find the spring on the other side broken. I crawled under the machine and found the the inner bracket was welded to the rail. The outer one is missing altogether. It looks like I need to call Off Road Parts and order some springs I'm sure I will be asking more questions in the near future. Thanks for the help, this forum is great! Right side Left side showing broke spring
If you don't have a Service Manual for your machine then please ask for any disassembly information you may require. Don't go into it blind, especially anything involving a recoil spring.
Nige, I do not have a service manual. Where would be the best source to purchase one? For now, can you give me some disassembly instructions?
I usually price shop from a few sources. It is amazing how they all have some things cheaper than the others and I buy from them all to get everything at a cost I like. #1 Cat dealer. gives me a baseline and honestly sometimes cat classic wins out if no shipping is added. Always ask if they can send it slow boat no shipping charge #2 E-bay is really sweet if they offer free shipping #3 USI undercarraige specialties Inc in oklahoma city. 405-232-0290 #4 vtrack 844-488-7225 #5 HE parts distribution 800-438-2699 #6 American crane and tractor 800-999-8538 #7 a web site called (find it parts) also once in a while hits a deal for me. http://www.finditparts.com/?srcid=C...cpc&utm_term=finditparts&utm_campaign=BR_|_US I have bought from every one of them.
Hey something else HE Parts list in my last post has the cat tool 5M2080 for refilling track rollers for around $12 if anyone is interested.
Tom, from looking at the picture. It looks like your front idler is adjusted all the way out against the stop. A piece of 2" galvanized water pipe about a foot long works well to stick in the sprocket to back up on and compress the spring instead of a 4x4. You can see multiple pictures of that entire procedure being preformed in my thread. Cat 951-c in my sights Work safe and don't allow that spring to get loose on the front end because of the broken bracket.
I had a chance to work on the machine today. Just as Workshop had thought, the spring was broken on the bottom. You can see where I have started to drill the sheared bolts out. The dowel pin drove out fairly easily. The bolts are a little tougher. I bored up to 27/64 and put some heat on it. It seemed like it pulled some wd40 into the threads. Hoping with a little soak, it will free up. The spring bracket on the backside is welded to the track frame . I called Off Road this past week and they will ship two springs for $648 ($282 for each spring and $84 shipping). I'll order them next week. I plan on cutting the springs with the torch and will need some advice on exactly how to split the tracks.
To be honest,I'm glad your spring is broke,because I didn't like the look of it at all and as Nige said..For a few hundred dollors...just cut the bugger up.It has made the desision for you.At least no one gets hurt
If I was you I'd hold off ordering parts and having them shipped until you get it all apart, because the chances are pretty good you will need far more than the srpings, bolts, & dowels that you've identified so far. Try heating and melting some candle wax into the threads. That might just move them.
It looks to me like the side of the pilot where the end stop was missing is pretty chewed up. you might need to address that before you put it all back together or the pilot face will not engage the stop properly. shouldnt be to hard to do by a little welding and grinding. with all the trouble it is to get this apart and back together i would replace the tabs that go on the pilot sides also. you can see where I did this on my build.
Update: i decided to check/clean the screen for the bevel gear case and found the screen dirty and containing parts of a bearing. I have pulled the bevel gear shaft and steering clutches and found the bearing that is bad. I'll take it to a local shop and have the clutch hubs pulled as I don't have the proper puller to handle the job. After removing the shaft and clutches, I found that one of the final drive pinion bearings to be bad. I plan to replace the pinion seals on both sides while the bevel gear shaft is out. Will update with more pics as work progresses.
After talking to a local shop that wanted me to leave the bevel gear shaft and clutches with them, I decided to just order the OTC push puller required to do the work myself. To get the 2-5/8 socket onto the nut, I had to remove the springs. I found the clutch spring compressor plate at steeringclutch.com for $65 That was a way better deal than the guy on eBay that wanted $339 for a NOS Caterpillar tool. This shows the bearing that was going bad. With the clutch and bevel gear shaft removed, I found vertical play in the final drive pinion shaft flange on one side. Upon removal, I found that the bearing was bad and the pinion teeth were badly chipped. I was going to pull the pinion flanges any way to replace the dual oil seals. They were extremely brittle and crumbled when I picked at them. Now I intend to go into the final drive to replace the chipped gears and while I'm in there replace bearings/races
Always pays to be safe side inspecting. Could have been leftovers from a previous exploit but not ignoring saves the chances as this.
Progress is slow. I have torn into the final drive and the intermediate gear that is driven by the pinion is chipped badly as is the pinion. The bull gear is looks good and I'll be replacing all of the bearings and races as there is visible pitting on some of them. Any opinions on the use of aftermarket parts versus genuine Cat parts? This is a farm use machine.
Cat Classic parts might be a good option if they're available.
I found one on find it parts and it was a oem cat old stock someone wanted to get rid of. Just gotta really do your homework.
Have you had any luck finding parts? It looks like that idler gear is chipped only on the outer edge. I dont know that id give up on it and consider it non serviceable as it very well may live a long time in farm use! I would clean it up and blend off the rough edges with a grinder. The key word is blend! The idea being to get rid the sharp jaged edges and make it smooth and radiused eliminating stress risers where a new crack could propigate from. If 95% of the tooth face is fine it might be worth a try. In my area the Amish would weld it up and file it down and put the machine on the lot for sale!!! Whats the small pinion gear look like?
Workshop, The intermediate gear is bad on both edges on some teeth. The pinion is really chipped and flaked on multiple teeth. The bull gear and intermediate gear were aftermarket and the pinion is Oem Caterpillar. I feel that the last person to work on it didn't want to go into the bevel gear case and left the bad pinion and bearing to screw up the new parts! The pinion had so much vertical play due to the bad bearing that I think led to the chipping of the new intermediate gear. I have ordered new CTP brand gears and NTN bearings and races. Gonna "fix it right" so I won't have that uneasy feeling when I work it hard in the future. I have also cut the broken spring and have a new pair waiting to be installed. I now need to get the sprocket pulled off the final drive at Thompson Caterpillar and get the bearings and races installed so that I can put it back together. I saw the YouTube video where you used the homemade setup to pull the sprocket and wish i had access to something like that! Cat gets $119/hr around here.
What’s the best way to disassemble and then reassemble with a new spring on a 955k track assembly? Also should I replace the adjuster cylinder it’s pretty corroded but functions
Search through the posts by @workshoprat92 . IIRC he fabbed up a home made spring compressor to install the new spring. Removing the old one is relatively easy. If I can find the thread I’ll post a link to it. The only thing to always bear in mind is that these springs are not referred to as Death Springs for nothing.
Here's the thread in question ............ HeavyEquipmentForums
If you have any questions on my home made compressor feel free to ask
you just crush that wood use a pin a old cylinder pin or or the like to fit in drive sprocket teeth and back up it pull track up tight just dont put head or body near that recoil spring
I vote the Proved method, Gas Axe rings until NO tension and remove the bad one(s). Reinstall NEW parts as set up by a Shop with the right tooling, and always rebuild tensioner while apart.
deleted Double post