How do you determine if the track (chain) pins and bushings have been turned? How is it done? And what are the benefits?
I'll attempt to answer this......... here goes :dizzy The main parts of the bushes that wear are the parts that make contact with the sprocket, there is some internal wear from the pins, however, the sprocket causes the most. Only one half of the od of the bushes is worn. When bushes are turned, the tracks are removed from the machine & sent to a shop that has a track press. They undo one side of all the grouser plate bolts & basicly split the chain in two. ( not too sure as to the exact procedure here - probably done one or two at a time, but you get the general idea.....) Then each bushing is removed & rotated 180 deg & the track is pressed together & all pins are refitted. Usually new sprockets are fitted at this time. The benefits are that you are getting an almost new spec ( except for internal wear)for the drive of your machine, without the expense of new parts. The trick is to do it before the pins have too much wear at the ID of the bushes. Below are instructions for a Case 455C
Thanks. How do I determine how much internal wear there is on the pin? As you say" The trick is to do it before the pins have too much wear at the ID of the bushes."
I should have read your insert before I reponded. As I see, the amount of wear on the ID of the pin will be reflected in the measurement. Now I need to find the proper measurement for a Cat D3G.
Our Cat dealer will send a tech to measure the tracks and provide a very good printed report. They do it free in the hopes of selling a track job but no obligation. The report shows actual measurements and the percentage of wear on each component. I always thought it was kind of hilarious all the components can be run past 100% even to 160% on some things. We've gone both ways on turning pins and bushings, sometimes it's well worth it, other times we've just run it out. it all depends on the cost numbers. Every since the salt track came out we have seen very little internal wear in our type of work - as little as 3% with a track otherwise completely gone.
easiest way to tell is to look at how much adjustment you have left on the track adjuster, there will be some sort of limit you can go too if you read the manuel you can get around this by fitting spacers under roller mounts ect, if you stand ontop of the slack part of the track with one foot either side of the out most edges of the track shoe and rock side to side if you show your wear in small track gear pins & bushes i have to laugh sometimes after having a track inspection done through a dealer they measure wear but dont really look for worn out bushes in idler, carrier and lower track rollers so when you change them out due to the shaft being worn out the boss will make a remark like "hey why are you buying a new roller the track report states its only 67.5543% worn" and you show him a carrier roller in two or three pieces its always a laugh for the boys
Can anyone point me to a link that explains how the CAT system 1 track works. I have studied it on the CAT website, but can't figure out what rotates with what, and what is fixed to what...
From what I've seen , when the bushing is cupped in the sprocket , as it rolls around it turns rather than rubs. I know of 2 system one u/c that have failed around 3k hours. Actually the links are flaking. The major benefit , it seems to ride smoother than the earlier style. Komatsu offers the same system now.
I found a link on the cat website where Mike Rowe(?) is talking about how CAT blew it completely on the introduction of system 1. By the end of the video they had redesigned the whole thing, and the customer was recommending it. So i guess early System 1 units were problematic.