Hello! I am new to the forum and liked what I saw here before joining. Seems to be some very knowledgeable members. I was raised on a farm and ranch and very familiar with most equipment. I purchased a vintage TD7E, 1974 model according to the serial number. 4,000 hours. Checked the UC and the diesel engine runs smooth with no smoke. Hydraulics are good and strong. My only concern is the tensioner system. I purchased all the manuals for the dozer and have read through the tensioner part. The previous owner "shimmed" the tensioners. I guess I need some assurance that doing so is ok and I won't have any issues. I used it in my orchard to push some trees for about an hour and it performed well. I am thinking of rebuilding the tensioners, but if the track is too long, stretched, then I would have to address that!! Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Thank you for any assistance.
I've never heard of shimming the tensioner? Perhaps he shimmed the idler side to side? Maybe he added a chunk of steel in the rod assembly to get some more life out of the chains? If the chains are really loose and idlers are at the end of the frame you could cut a link out if you wish. Rebuilding those track adjusters is very simple and straight forward.
Shimming as a temporary fix is probably okay, but have a look at where the idlers are in relation to the track frame, at some point the idler blocks will past the end of the frame and att'sa no good! If the tensioners are leaking or there's a broken spring, go ahead on, otherwise just run it. If you need to do repairs or reseals, and the idler(s) are out near or past the end of the track frame, you can always remove a link in the track chain. Removing one link will move the idler back 1/2 the length of the link.
Thank you both for the reply. I have located the prior owner and will asked exactly what he did. I bought it from a friend that bought it from said owner. I will pull the cover and look at the tensioner. I believe he shimmed the rod to keep the idler pushed out. As I plan to keep this awhile I am going to repair the tensioner assembly. The tracks are less than the 2" maximum slack per the manual, so I will run it as is until I can get to it to work on it. Appreciate the help!
So you can see what they are talking about -- this adjuster is at the end of adjustment - idler is at the end of the track frame - and the track is still to loose. If you added a shim in the adjustment arm to get the track tighter then the idler would be pushed to far forward and would not be fully supported by the track frame This one is OK - there is still plenty of room to push the idler forward to tighten the track as it wears. So I would guess that if there are shims between the ends of the adjuster forks and the idler carrier to hold the idler forward then either the tensioner spring is broken, not good, or the adjust cylinders won't hold and needs to be rebuilt, cheap and easy but you have to get the track off the idler to pull the cylinder out. Splitting the track will be a challenge. gg
Thank you all so much for the comments. This clears things up. I need to look at the position of the idler to see the main issue. I spoke to the prior owner, he had purchased in 1988 and said the track adjusters were not working back then. They shimmed the rod to push the idler forward, then shimmed again 10 years later and shimmed the last time last year. Was used on a ranch here in Texas to push Cedar, so intermittent use, not commercial use. Appreciate the pictures. I have researched splitting the track and it does look like an out-source job for me. Thanks again.
Ok, looking at this picture, it would seem I still have some room to adjust the track with the shims until I need to replace the adjuster's or take out a shoe. Does the track tension look ok in this picture?
Looks OK - I have seen them a lot looser. Find out what is broken. If the big spring is broke there will be no give if you get a rock stuck in the track chain or something. So in that case the looser the better as long as the track stays on. You don't want to do any serious damage to your rear drive as the track tightens on the stone. If it is just the adjuster then you don't have to worry and can run at normal tightness.
Appreciate the appraisal g_man! Feel more relieved to run as is for a while.
Looks like the RH track has a lot more internal wear than the LH one, or its got one extra link in it for some reason because if the tracks have done the same amount of hrs then they should be both worn about the same and the RH idler should be about the same position on the track frame as the LH one. Track adjusters on those were hydraulic I think in other words they were pumped out by grease and if the seals went on them the track usually came slack and u had to keep pumping them up until u fixed the seal. Also make sure the shaft and bushing in the RH idler is not flogged out, if they lose the oil thats in them they will eventually chew the guts out of the idler.
It also looks like the sprocket/ idler on the LH side are different to the ones on the RH side don't know if that makes them different in diameter or not.
Looks good, will get a few more hrs out of it before you will need to worry about the u/c.
I think you guy are looking at the example pics my TD7G not the OP's (genbgen) TD7E. You are right about the difference side to side with the track and idler because they are before and after new track chains and sprockets etc
Yep it makes sense now I was looking at the wrong pics. LOL
Thanks everyone! I dont know if I change the subject am I supposed to start a new thread? Previous owner told me in Texas Summer Heat, the engine will overheat after a couple hours of work and to watch it closely. He used to pour a couple buckets of water in front of the radiator grille to cool it down. He decided not to replace the radiator due to cost. He did replace the water pump a couple years ago. Is there any way to flush the radiator without removing? Or should I remove and take to radiator repair shop for cleaning? Or, just put in another radiator?
From the pictures it appears that you may have two different track groups installed. Count the number of pads to see to you have the same on each side.
There is a product called Rydlyme that has 2 versions regular and a marine version, it basically is a rust, calcium, scale removed that is biodegradable and can be dumped directly to sewer with no additional treatment. I would think the marine version would be perhaps a bit gentler on engine parts. I would check the compatibility with brass and copper before choosing. It can be mixed 50:50 with water and works better with heat. Throw Tums into solution to check when chemical action is spent, no bubbling of tablets and it's done. This would require draining your cooling system and then adding descaler then flushing and refilling after. Vinegar might do the same thing cheaper?