Does anyone out there have experience changing roller shells? Is it very difficult to do? New rollers are around 275-300 each and shells are about 50. None of my rollers are leaking or flat spotted just worn down and for 50 for a shell a guy can't hardly weld them up i wouldn't think? Or maybe I'm wrong.. Just looking for advice! I've got a 14C and service manual that somewhat shows details of rebuilding the rollers. Never seen a d6 roller in detail but they appear to be similar..
It's not that hard to install the roller shell itself.I dont know if its cost effective if you figure in labor , ducone seals, new bearings or bushings.At 275 to 300$ a piece I would be tempted to replace them all if you are planning on keeping the dozer for some time. I went through a similar deal with my 16-B dozer couple years ago.Had several rollers worn pretty bad and some were leaking abit.Ended up converting the track frames for Cat d7g rollers because the Fiat rollers are expensive when you could find them.Paid 205$ for the Cat d7 roller assembly,spent some time in the machine shop & re-drilled the track frames for the cat rollers .It was allot of fun
Yair . . . Iowan If you dismantle them the only reuseable parts of the existing rollers are the shafts. Yeah, I know duocones can be used again but why bother when there is a good chance they're going to fail? Unlikely much chance of recovering bushings undamaged unless you have a proper mandrel and a press. I have extended the life of rollers like yours by half submerging them in a cut down oildrum and rebuilding with iron powder rods . . . rat throught the shed and use up all the scraps of any thing at all. A hose running and overflowing to waste will carry off the heat and of course its better for heat control if you have three or four set up to work on at once. Last set I did was on a Komatsu 65 and they are still going 3000 hours later. Depends on how much you value your time. Cheers
As above. Shells might well be $50 a pop (do they come with bushes already installed?) but what about the cost of the duo-cones..? It's not a hard job to re-shell but I think your calculations are a bit off.
Ok thats what I needed to know looks like I'll just fire up the welder. If I understand correctly you need to build them up with mild rod/wire then put a 2 or 3 pass cap of hardened rod/wire is that how you suggest? Thanks all
Idler's I'd build up.... roller's..... good luck with that.
I don't think I would try to rebuild rollers either, it's just that the OP's initial numbers had some "gaps" in them - Duo-Cones for example. It needs the numbers crunched again IMHO.
Yair . . . grandpa What's the issue with building up rollers? Some folks have told me it won't work because the heat will cook the rubbers in the seals. They obviously havn't been with me for a day stoking fires . . . spit any where on the trackframe and it sizzles . . . and definately no barefeet on the track. LOL. Its quite easy to control the heat if you work on several rollers at a time. Its all a matter of circumstance, where you are, and what your times worth. Actualy if you can burn four mil. iron powders it doesn't take that long either . . . and it's easier to fly in a fifty kilo's of rods than some new rollers. As with all things it's horses for courses, we all work under different conditions. Cheers
A buddy of mine welded his up without putting them in a tank just a few inches on each one at a time but ive got a pile of 7/32nds 7024 rod and a tank i found i believe i can make work to set them in. (If 7024 will work?) Td25c your post didn't show up earlier? But the machine isn't going to see alot of work mainly a backup is why i don't want to drop so much coin on new ones and it really bugs me to spend that much on rollers when these dont have so much as a drop of oil on them just as i said earlier worn down...
OK, being the 14C is a backup machine I understand now Iowan. The way I look at it is it's pretty much a "toss up" either way on rebuilding the old rollers with the new shell at 50$ a piece or spending the time welding them up.You might check cost on new du-cone seals and see if the new shells come with bearings/bushings in them.Good luck whith it either way ya go. In my situation on the 16-B dozer the new fiat rollers were going to cost 650$ a piece ..............I Said Hell no! and converted the track frames for the Cat rollers.
Wow thats a no brainer td25c! Hard to believe there can be that much cost difference in rollers! I know when i priced rails cat were like 800 a side cheaper and the adapter for sprockets wasn't to high if I remember right... so if a guy knew he was going to put more than 1 set on cat woulda been the way to go for sure.
td25c,please give me a call at 252 916 2927.I would like to talk about how you converted the 16b to cat d7
No problem hd16b It wasent to big of a deal ,I'l post a few pictures & details on the project if that will help.
We welded Deere rollers on our allis, dont know bout conversion but you can find some the same size weld them on, works good
Were do you live in southern iowa Iowan? Were did you price the rollers for your machine? I have a suplier I deal with that has most aftermarket uc parts shoot me a PM if you want a quote.
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