We have a D6k with the system one and we are looking to convert it to a HD or a conventional. Has anyone done this before and if so do you know what was used to covert the dozer.
First thing that's needed to answer your question is the tractor Serial Number. Some machines originally built with SystemOne can be converted to HD, others can't, at least officially. It all depends on Serial Number.
SERIAL # CAT00D6KAFBH01238 Any help would be awesome
OK, so it appears as though you are out of luck. The conversion is only applicable to later tractors (from S/N approximately FBH02350-Up) that came with 8-roller track frames ex-factory. Earlier tractors with 7-roller track frames cannot, officially at least, be converted from S1 to HD undercarriage. There have been a number of comments here on the forum of owners who have allegedly successfully converted a D6K with 7-roller track frames from S1 to HD undercarraige but when you ask for details or photos the answers is crickets......
hehe anything can be done, as long as ingenuity is there... just some cutting and welding can make that happen. of course i´m no expert, but i´ve seen this questions before and in other forums too, and i can understand what dificulty lays behind changing a chain, basically thats whats needed... or is something relating to gauges and pitches are all diff? did they really changed all that? one can´t find rolers and idlers , sprockets etc in the market?
i understand. that what i keep seeing.
well the rails are shot. i have measured everything out and the links seem to be different in length. i have taken rails and pads for 1 of our JD 200 excavators that burnt and the rails and pads was less than 6 months old put on a cat 320 it all measured out just had to take one box out and it works great. Guess i will go measure everything i can find and see what i can figure out...
Effectively for an early Serial Number of machine there isn’t a “Parts Bin Solution” where you can simply buy a list of HD undercarriage parts, fit them, and you’re good to go. To fit HD parts to your machine is going to require some fabrication skills and ingenuity, and you unfortunately no-one who has allegedly carried out this transformation already is prepared to share the details of how it was done. Either that, or they are BS-ing.
Well, i do work a lot with welding and cutting, a job like that would not scare me, unless some parts are really out of nowhere... D6K´s at some point were the size and tonage of a D5´s (those LGP machines) So to start with find out wich SALT chain matches the pitch and gauge of your sprocket segments, cause the sprocket segments are the thing that will get u headhaches. (its hard to accept this CAT fellas changed the Finals bolt gauge and patern, but they might ... if they did then it becomes time consuming to change the Final´s fastner ring, as one would have to dissasebly the final hub to do a decent job. The rest is piece of cake even if one has to redrill / rebuild the idlers and rollers ... But make sure to use dozer components, as the china crap peope use in excavators are not same grade. Other thing to consider is if that D6K worth the assle of retrofitting... to me they they do not seem to worth much, but i like old style steel crap.
After some further reasearch I came up with the following information. Make of it what you will. D6K XL & LGP machines from first built up to Serial Numbers DHA02032 and FBH02348 were never designed to run on anything other than SystemOne undercarriage. These tractors were built with track frames having seven track rollers and one carrier roller. Neither the final drive assemblies nor the track frames were designed for the fitment of Heavy Duty undercarriage. The D6K was considered as a "light duty finishing machine" at that point. As a result of many customers using D6K tractors on jobs much heavier than Cat had originally envisaged, a re-design was carried out and put into production. Machines starting from Serial Numbers DHA2033-Up and FBH02349-Up were built as standard with a stronger track frame structure equipped with eight track rollers and two carrier rollers. Additionally the final drives were upsized in regard to their torque transmission capability. These machines, along with newer D6K models with Serial Numbers RST1-Up and WMR1-Up were all offered to dealers/customers ex-factory with a choice of either SystemOne or Heavy Duty undercarriage. As a result of the "significant changes made to the track frames and final drives", installing 8+2 track frames onto an earlier serial number machine orignally built with 7+1 track frames is not possible. "Not possible" in this case means that it is not a simple bolt-on swap.
Anyone solve this problem or does early D6K go extinct ? One guy said UK people solved ths ! Are commenters with the solution censored ?We face the same problem. ---- Converting to HD tracks. Been researching a way to avoid the $40k cost of system one replacement. No solid answers yet. Looking at Komatsu D51 dozer tracks, 7.5 pitch , kind of a copy cat system one bike chain style but with a much better masterlink. .
Where.? I've heard nothing and that's where I live....... As mentioned a number of times earlier reports come in of "people" who say they've done it, or have seen it done, or know of someone who has done it. The answer is always the same when pushed to provide further information - crickets........... which is what leads me to believe that they are BS-ing. Just because the message isn't what you want to hear don't shoot the messenger. Believe me if there was a solution that was out there for early model tractors nobody on this forum would be backward at publicizing it.