I have a stuck Track adjuster on the right hand side of my '81 31P-16. I was going to just get a repair shop to fix it but it seems there is only one in my area (shop) and they are overwhelmed with business. I can get parts from http://www.brokentractor.com/kom-track-adj.html but I am not sure what the steps for taking the unit apart. Do you have to take the tracks off first and than unbolt the tension spring before getting at it? Or does the yoke just slide out forward giving access to the piston and cylinder? Any advice is much appreciated.
Not intirely sure of your model, but it should all come apart ok! most likely the piston is stuck in the cylinder, common to komatsu excavators anyway! hope this helps!
Thank you for the information! I have tried moving the yoke outwards (while the track is on) and can do so with a porta power but still could not get any grease in and after releasing the ram the yoke just returns. So I expect you are right about the piston being stuck. So I do not need to remove the spring? If not, that makes it a much simpler repair attempt.
careful on messing with that spring, they are a serious spring, I think the rule of thumb is as much spring as the dozer weights. Definatly want to follow procedures on that maneuver.
? Does the spring have to be released? Your response does not tell me anything. Sorry.
On most all track adjuster designs, the spring is caged, it doesn't get distrurbed replacing adjuster seals. Are you saying you can't get your track adjuster to go all the way in to relieve tension on your track after you've loosened or removed the grease valve?
I'm not familiar with your specific setup, I just wanted to warn you not to just loosen bolts... Atco is prolly familiar with what your up against though.
Yep, definitely don't want to remove bolt/nuts that cage the spring, bad idea. In most cases, in seal replacement, the rod simply comes out of the body and there's the seal. Don't mess with spring caging components.
Thank you Atco. Yes, removal of the grease fitting does not release the adjuster. I tried using steel bar placed in the sprocket and slowly backing until it went between the track and sprocket, with the grease unit removed entirely and all it did was compress the spring. So it definitely is stuck. I absolutely do not want to mess with the spring, I am well aware of the danger posed from things under tension. Good to know that It is not necessary for rebuild to mess with the spring. Now as to getting that stuck piston out of the cylinder body it could prove to be interesting. :Banghead I agree with your Sig. I wish there were more of you guys about. Not only is a good mechanic priceless, they are darn difficult to find.
In most cases, the adjuster won't retract because it either has a bent rod or the rod chrome is all fouled up and rusted and the rust prevents it from going back into body. Had an EX120 excavator that wouldn't go in. I figured it was fouled up anyway, so put a D-41 against sprocket end of track and took a D4H to idler end of track. Had to hit idler end pretty hard with the D4 and she finally popped in. Shot grease for 30 ft across lot. :tong If you can't get it to come in, about your only other choice is to break the track. Does your track have a master link?
I am guessing the corroded chrome from what you mention could be the trouble. The track has what I have been informed is a Alligator master link. I believe you have to unbolt it from the shoe top (4 bolts) than it simply lifts apart. Your solution of using two other machines sounds ingenious but I am lacking the two spares. I expect I will need to take the idler off forward after track is removed to get enough space to get the yoke out? I am not looking forward to having to do it. Thank you very kindly for sharing your expertise. BTW you have a very nicely done website and your business looks impressive. I wish I was close enough to have you guys work on my dozer.
If you have the alligator master link, that's a good thing. You can break the track to get the track adjuster out. Position your master link to where it's on the top of the idler and slightly forward. Remove the track pad bolts in the master link, and it will pop right off. You can take a chain or cable hoist to lift the top portion of the track out of your way. The bottom portion will fall forward on the ground. You will have to have a means of jacking the front of the machine a bit so weight of machine isn't resting on the idler. Once you get the idler so it's not supporting weight of machine, use another machine or your pickup truck with a chain and simply pull the idler out. There's nothing that locks or retains the idler in the track frame, it will simply slide out the front of the track frame. On many machine, it will bring the track adjuster with it. Once you get it apart, we'll work with putting track back together. I'll see if I can get a parts diagram tomorrow to see just how your adjuster is built. As for being close enough to work on your machine, yeah, you would be at the very least about 400 miles from me. That would be a long road trip. :tong Maybe we could get ScottAR to put the phone down at O'Rielly and come help you out. Anyway, if your willing to give a go at repairing it, we'll do all we can to help you through it.
I am copying your instructions for when I attempt the repair. I think I will order the Seal kit so that I have it on hand before starting. I may not be able to start on this for a month so I am taking it all slowly. I like to be prepare when attempting things new. I have a small tractor with a loader I can use for moving stuff about. Or my one ton 4X4 truck out to handle any dragging required. I sure do appreciate you assistance. :drinkup
It's all good bro, take your time. One thing you may find when you get it apart is the rod is trashed. And one thing I can safely say about Komatsu, they dang proud of their parts. But lets get it apart and see where the trail leads us before we gripe about that. Maybe you'll get lucky and everything is workable.
I ordered the right hand seal kit from Broken tractor. Soon as I get it, and this hot humid weather breaks, I will have at the thing. If the rod is bent I'll tackle that later after getting things apart. Judging from the wear on the idler rails I need to do some welding build back to eliminate some slop. If nothing else it should be interesting. Probably won't save any money over having someone else do it since I need to buy some tools. (air compressor, impact wrench, heavy duty jack - my shop jack is only 3-Ton) But with the only equipment repair shop in my area being 60 miles away, the hauling charges were quoted at $3.10/ loaded mile. So that gives me a little bit to play with.
Well.. Broken Tractor no longer has the seal kit available will have to try Komatsu parts.
You should be able to do most of this work with standard hand tools, save a few bucks! unless you find you ll be needing them any, sort of bulding up your stock!!
Getting those track bolts loose is my main concern. I have a compressor but it is just a pancake and my present breaker bar is only 1/2in - 16 inches long, thus I need heavier duty stuff. I may just rent a compressor but it would be handy to have a good impact wrench for later work. I expect I will also want a come along for getting the track back together though I will see what I can do without one. I have lots of automotive hand tools but not much of the heavy equipment type.
i have to say i like your style! around here alot of people will try to lend as mush as they can, then leave it back broken alot of the time! I like yourself like to have my own tools as much as i can, even if they are only used once in a while!
Hey Matt, is your machine a Power Angle Tilt blade model? And what's you machine serial number? Here's a breakdown of the track adjuster on a PAT model. The pic isn't as clean as I'd like for it to be, I'm going to try and get a better pic tomorrow. Can't say for sure by looking at this, but this looks a whole lot like the track adjuster assy on a D21 model that has removable track frame covers. Does yours have removable covers? If it does, you would get a much better view of what's going on if you remove those covers.
Yes, it is a PAT blade. serial number D31P16-29108 Your image looks like the right thing. I have taken the covers off to get at the grease fitting since there is a retainer (Part 17 in your image) at the back side of the cylinder to keep it from being removed. Rather simple looking thing with cylinder inside spring. It looks identical to the image from Broken Tractor link I posted in the OP. Thanks for the image it has more detail to look at.
Well, not clear enough for me. The item numbers get blurred via fax machine. I'm going to try and get email copies tomorrow to get a better idea on how it's assembled.
This might be a bit better. This one, I'm just not certain about. One thing I am certain, the 4 bolts (item 13) is what cages the recoil spring, you don't want to remove them. And if the head of the bolts are bad rusted, be very careful around that thing. Once you get your track out of the way, you can remove the idler out of the front of the track frame. The idler will bring yoke 8 and rod 9 out with it. Snap ring 11 and seal 10 are the key with this one. If you can remove them without disturbing plate 12, then you should have no problems replacing piston seals. If you can't remove 11 and 10 because plate 12 prevents removal, then you would most likely have to disassemble the unit by relieving recoil spring tension. If that's the case, proper equipment is required to do that.
Once again my thanks. I will have to take a careful look at it to see if I can spot the snap ring. The seal (10) is a bit bulged from what I recall. If I can not do it without releasing the spring (removing the plate 12), I will just have to get someone else to handle it.
Now you got the idea. You'll be able to tell more once you get the idler and the rod out of the adjuster. And I read in your earlier post that you don't have any big jacks to lift front of tractor. No worries. If you can get your hands on a couple of pieces of rough sawed 2" lumber (2x4, 2x6, 2x8) about the length of track pad. Position the master link to where it's on top of idler, slightly forward. Place lumber right beside first bottom roller of left and right track. Back machine up just enough so the lumber on ground will now slide in front of tracks. Drive forward until first bottom roller is sitting on top of lumber. This should just slightly lift front of tractor, and idler, off the ground. Break the track, and the idler now should be free of track rails on bottom. Also, since your track adjuster is stuck, does this mean the track still has a good bit of tension to it and very little droop?
The track has some tension. but it is loose enough that it wants to jump off when turning too abruptly. I may need to put a bind on the track before pulling the bolts to prevent snap back. I am planning on reversing the track when I do this repair since it is on backwards at the moment (Came that way when I bought the dozer). So I am planning to jack up the machine in order to slide the whole track off and turn it around. Need to do both sides. Though nothing wrong with the lefts adjuster.
You do realize you just made this a much bigger project. :Banghead On your bum track adjuster track, before your remove master link track pad bolts, place a small tack weld on each side of the alligator link where the link halves join together, just a small one. Remove your pad bolts, remove the pad. Take a grinder and grind down the tack weld. Then take a hammer and whack the link. The remaining tack weld will break and let the alligator link come free. Same thing when putting track back together. Fit alligator link together making sure it's fitted tight and proper, use clamps to draw it up if you have to. Make sure all four bolts will thread easy in holes. Place a small tack weld on the alligator joint to hold it together, remove clamps, fit track pad, and install bolts.
I also plan to remove the right hand angle hydraulic cylinder for rebuild by the shop when I have the track off so that I can get to the pin on it easier. I am a glutton for doing everything at once. :beatsme Good advice on the tack weld. I was thinking of using a threaded guide pin for mating the two halves of the Alligator link when reconnecting.
Question for anyone on removing the rear pin on the Blade angle Hydraulic cylinder. The blade side pin just pops out fairly easily. But the frame side after removing the lock plate is not coming out. I can turn it (the pin) around with channel locks but it does not seem to be able to be driven out in either direction. There are rubber bushings on this end of the hydraulic cylinder unlike the rod side blade end. Also the zerk fitting is on the inside (up against bottom dozer frame) which would make me thing it needs to be driven out towards the lock plate side. Is there something more to getting the pin out? Or is it just because I am not applying enough force? It is awkward due to where the lift arm is up against the side of the dozer to get at. Thanks for any answers.
The cylinder pin boss probably has a spherical bearing in it and the pin is stuck in the bearing. With the rubber seal on top and bottom, makes it difficult to get any help from penetrating oils. No simple remedy to get one of these loose, typically a massive smack from big sledge. Even heating with a torch doesn't work very well because you can't get heat to the bushing. Sometimes, lancing the pin is the only thing that will get them out. Once you do get it out, and are about to re-fit, Never Sieze Never Sieze Never Seize.
Thanks for the response. It sounds like it just needs more force. I was trying to remove it with the track still on. This makes for limited room to pound. Looks like I need to wait until I get the track and idler wheel off. In the meantime I will soak the seal area down with oil. *sigh* none of this stuff goes easy. I had got my impact wrench and jacks but they back ordered the impact sockets. I thought I would give it a go this weekend with starting with the track that the adjuster is working with a regular socket. Got the first three track bolts out and then spined the socket on the fourth bolt. One craftsman 7/8 socket toasted. ointhead
Got the final bolt out of the track with the working Track adjuster. Got it the track flipped and back on. That bolt was partially striped and required a 4ft long breaker bar to get out. Tomorrow I will take off the other track that has the bad track adjuster. Hopefully the bolts on that side do not fight me as much. Then I will pull the idler and see if I can fix the adjuster. Glad I had my little tractor to do the track pull out and reverse. This stuff is heavy and awkward. Would have been happy to pay some one else to do it. Thats the problem with living out in the wilds.
Sounds good mate. Did you get that stuck pin out of the tilt cylinder? What part of Arkansas are you in?
I tried pounding the heck out of it with a small sledge and it did not move this morning. Tomorrow I plan to weld a bolt and hook a chain to the pin to see if I can yank it out with my tractor when I can get at it after I pull the track idler. So will see what happens. Thanks for your advice. I am in NW AR. about 50 miles from Fayetteville.
Got it. You're in opposite north side of state from ScottAR and Roddyo, they're in NE corner of Arkansas.
Bit of a drive from over here... Hydraulic cylinders are pretty straightforward to reseal. Done a couple on my backhoe. 3/4" drive or better yet 1inch drive socket set makes a big difference. Had it to do again, I'd got 1inch drive. I broke my 3/4 drive breaker once. 6ft cheater will do that I guess.
You were right about the chrome being rusted. The thing was all rusted. it took both a chain and sledge hammer to get everything to come apart. Now all I have to do is clean and rebuild. The pin that needs to come out is on the back end of the hydraulic cylinder in the last picture. I can at least get at it now.
Looks like you have it torn apart real good. Nice.
It is almost apart. The piston in the track adjuster is stuck inside and I can not get it to move. I have sprayed the heck out of it with penetrant and hope I can get it unstuck tomorrow. I have to get it to retract to get the track back on. May try heating the cylinder it is in while pumping grease. Considering the amount of rust I found when I finally got out the yoke, I am not surprised to have the piston frozen in position. In thoughts anyone on getting the piston free?
Umm, you have to get that piston out, that's where the track adjuster U cup seal is. Now is the time to replace that U cup. Otherwise, you'll put it back together and a couple of weeks from now that U cup will fail, track will fall slack, and you'll be calling yourself everything but a child of God for not replacing it when you had it apart. :yup Getting the piston out? Well, if the U cup is somewhat intact, it should come out by pumping grease into it. If there's too much rust/scale build up inside the bore of the adjuster barrell, it might help to pressure wash the inside of the bore with a pressure washer that develops good hot water. The heat from the water will heat the body of the adjuster barrell gently causing it to expand, and it will also remove a lot of the rust and scale from inside the bore. I'd avoid heating it with a torch if I could.
Do not have a hot water pressure washer. I do have a cold water one and I may see what it does though I have swabbed out the rust with rags and penetrating oil. I figured to try with a propane torch and heat it very slowly. I tried forcing grease earlier today and I could hear the piston shift slightly. Unfortunately I bent the pump arm of the grease gun and the other one I have is not as high pressure. May end up having to buy another grease gun.
I hear ya...doing the best you can with what you have to work with.
Success! Mostly. Got the adjuster to move. Could not get the piston all the way out because of lock ring up against the spring plate. But with the neighbors help (Thank God he stopped by and helped) and sledge hammers, tractor and a come along was able to retract and get the tracks back on. The tensioner now works to tighten the tracks. If it leaks in the future at least I have it so the thing can be worked on (by paying someone else!!). Got the cylinder pin out by hooking to the tractor and pulling while pounding the other end with the sledge. As you can see in the picture it was totally rusted in. Will be taking the angle cylinder to the repair shop this week for repair. Thanks ATCOEQUIP for all your technical knowledge and assistance. :drinkup
After getting the hydraulic angle cylinder rebuilt and back installed on dozer this Wednesday, I gave the thing a work out. After three hours of pushing rocks up a steep slope both sideways dozing and up and down the tracks stayed tight. Found another problem however that I am detailing in a new topic. Fix one thing, find another.
Yup, I knew that pin would be siezed by rust. Glad to see ya got it out. You did use Never Sieze when you put it back together, no?
Yes. And it was no fun getting it in though it slid easily when not in the dozer bracket. I noted that few other hydraulic cylinder pins are probably seized up since they do not accept grease. Will have to pull and clean them at some point. Thanks again for your advice.
My pleasure bro...my pleasure.
great thread, getting ready to do some undercarriage work on my 31, not looking forward to it
Depends on what you need to get done, monkey. Happy to provide any assistance though I know next to nothing compared to the real heavy equipment mechanics. What year is your D31?
not sure, serial number is in the 2600 range it was a grey machine, had the swamp pads and all the rust and pitting that comes with them. Hated the swamp pads, made it tough to clean....everytime you rolled it forward all the junk fell out of the bottom of the pads and right back into the ones on the ground. Swapped them out for single grousers. Think it floats better with the flat shoes anyway......well I did sink it about 2 weeks ago :Banghead :cussing one of those end of the day, "just one more pass" :laugh