Greetings & Merry Christmas to everyone. This is my first post as a new member. I purchased a 90's models Case 455c a few weeks ago to do field push backs, some general pasture renewals and odds & ends. I purchased the case with 1900 hours from a estate auction in my area, so I didnot get a operators manual. The local Case dealer said it would take 2 weeks to have one shipped to me. My question is how often should the tracks be tightened? After a week of running the dozer they seem looser than they were.Should they be tightened every week or is their a general rule of thumb?
It all depends on what you are doing with the machine and how hard you are working it. I find that if I really load my machines down doing heavy ripping and pushing I have to adjust more often but not once a week. You can tell when they need adjusting just by looking, if they are tired and saggy looking bring em up. But do not get them too tight that is the worst thing you could do, leave a little slack.
Thanks for replying Wm. I will tighten them leaving some slack.
There is a spec for slack on most tracked machines. put a straight edge on the track across the two of the top rollers then measure down to the track half way between the rollers. You have to find out from the dealer what the measurement should be, it may be one inch to one and a half inchs.
I just lost a track from being overtightened. It's not fun If you're getting loose quickly, look for grease coming out from around the lip of the adjuster. When I bought my machine, I needed to replace the track seals. I found with bad seals in the adjuster, I could pump if full of grease and the tracks would tighten up, but after 10 minutes. they'd be slack again. I lay a prybar on top of the track from the idler to the top roller and measure the drop.
Thanks for all the info guys. I had been pushing & digging for about two weeks getting familar with the machine so I think the slack tracks were as Wm. said.... I will Quiz the case dealer for specs on track adjustment. Merry Christmas All !!!