Machine is at the Cat house getting some repairs and they sent me some pics of the roller frames while they were off the machine showing how badly misaligned the carrier rollers are to the front and rear idlers. Check out the pics. It’s like they’re both bent upwards or toward the dozer somehow. I’m just curious if anyone has ever seen that happen before and how, also how Cat house might be able to repair it. Thanks
Photos can be confusing. I would suggest putting a level on each idler and then on the flat edges of the carrier roller to be sure. You could also string line the cent of the idlers to see if it hits the center of the carrier.
I think they are out line . Check the wear on roller.
Repair it? Clearly, that mild steel can be cut and rewelded squarely, or, since it's a bolt on part, they can simply be replaced. As for how, well, I know my coworkers can destroy a steel ball bearing with a rubber mallet, so...rocks in the undercarriage, improper tiedown for transport, bent from towing another machine? Some secrets are never shared by operators.
At $683 apiece, I'd certainly wanna find a less expensive alternative. Item #4
Maybe something was on the arm when it was raised? Oh, and it's a casting, I think.
Are we all sure that the roller support bracket (#4) is what’s actually bent, or could it be the mounting on the track frame that’s distorted. Difficult to tell from the photos.
This one definitely has the casting bent
I think you're right. I was looking at the photos on a phone which isn't the best way. To get them beack where the y should be. Loads of heat and something heavy to pull with..?
Not sure how that could happen but my first thought is somebody had the tracks off and lifted the machine by the carrier rollers to put it on stands, would take a hell of a hoist, only way I can think of.
High drive tractors didn't alway have top rollers. I have seen tractors where top rollers were installed at the dealership after they showed up from the manufacturer without them. My guess would be that it was not properly aligned when the brackets were welded onto the machine. The middle flanges on the top roller appear to be about even. Before considering spending a lot of money trying to straighten a minor component, one might think about what it actually does and if it is even necessary to be perfectly straight. The manufacturer didn't seem to think they were necessary in the first place.
Looks to me like there is a crack opening up at the bottom where the support attached to the track frame- rounded part???
Well, it is bolted down, so, why not a tapered shim?
That carrier bracket wasn't ever straight--probably not installed straight to begin with. Take a look at the wear on the outside and inside of the roller and compare it to the idler behind. The idler's worn equally inside and outside, but the roller doesn't look like it's ever been worn on the inside. It's not bent, just wrong to begin with!
take it off and put it on the other way and see if that works, maybe on backwards.
Thanks y’all, lots of good information here. Cat house said they managed to straighten one of them out, but they are still working on the other. They said they have never seen anything like that, but figured it may have been caused by rocks on top of the outside dozer arms. They were replacing all of the undercarriage when they found that and sent me the pics. They’re supposed to have both of the roller frames ready to go back on the machine on Wednesday. I will get pictures of the repair and find out how they managed to do it.
I bought this dang dozer around the end of April, it hadn’t been run in a couple years. I ran it for a while before I bought it, ran great but I didn’t notice the bent carrier roller brackets. Knew it needed an undercarriage and some cosmetic stuff like the hydraulic filter cover, headliner, work light guards. I had them do the PM 5000 on it, some other minor stuff. I told them I want everything fixed before it comes out to my farm and they say they’ve about it got it all. Do y’all have suggestions for other repairs and preventative type stuff while it’s at the cat dealer? Sure hope it’s not a lemon. It’s a 2012 with 5,076 hours.
That's a nice machine! and will be even nicer when done.