One of the tracks on my Takeuchi TB135 came off today. With the track raised we loosened the grease nut, but no grease came out! We ended up removing the nut which you are not suppose to. Still, no grease came out, and the track did not move. We tried to compress the track in, but no luck. We moved the machine on the track a bit and there was a loud popping noise and some grease shot out, and the track was loose. With the track back on, and with grease tension we moved the machine. But the track loosened way up again. With more grease the track remained at the right tension, and we were able to get the machine back up a long hill and loaded on the trailer and seems to be fine. What happen, and should I remove the track and see if the front wheel will slide out and in or did it get stuck? I own a TB016, and a TL130 skidsteer, so I know the Takeuchi's pretty well.
Welcome to HEF PeterG. :drinkup I can't say for certain this is the case with your machine, but I've seen a number of times on a track adjuster that's been in service for a long time, wet dirt packed around the adjuster rod causes the rod to deteriorate the chrome on the rod and cause it to rust, effectively making the rod stick. Much effort is required to push that rod back in the adjuster to get slack for the track. In these cases, the rusty rod destroys the seal when you finally get the rod to go in the cylinder, then when you try to pump up the track the grease escapes around the damaged seal. Not sure on the TB135, but see if you can feel up under the track frame and find the adjuster rod where it goes into the adjuster cylinder. On some machines the track frame is an enclosed box, but on others they're open to feel the adjuster rod. If you can feel the rod, see if you feel a handful of grease where the rod goes in the cylinder indicating a failed seal.
Thanks for the reply. We operated the machine today for about 7 hours, and the track stayed on fine, so hopefully it is ok. Do you think it would be wise though to remove the track and pull out the track adjuster fully out and clean everything and inspect it? The seal is likely ok though.
As long as the track keeps its tension, don't worry about it. At some point in time a track adjuster on any machine will need an overhaul, but there's no set time/date for that to happen. Ya never know, by the time your machine gets there you will have sold it off and got an upgrade. As long as its good...carry on. On the other hand, if you plan on keeping the machine for its lifetime, and you are the sort that things should be in proper order, it sure isn't a big task to flip the track off of that machine, pull the idler and track adjusters, inspect them, and freshen them up as needed. It's really your choice.
We just changed the tracks and sprockets on my Takeuchi TL130 skidsteer, and I helped a friend put his track back on his Kabota the other day, so I'm a bit "tracked out".
Sloppy bucket and loose stick As I'm breaking thumb pins, it looks like it's time to address the super sloppy bucket thing. I notice if I push on the stick sideways I can feel a bit of play. Should I be doing all the pins/bushings, or just work on the thumb pin area. Would be nice to have a plan before I take it up to the machine shop equipment shop. They do Line boring, and weld boring too.