New to HEF but just purchased a 963B and tracks seem a little loose. When backing up And turning it seems to be jumping/ popping on sprockets. Under carriage is CAT and it hasn’t been adjusted since installing I believe. Any suggestions or instructions will be greatly appreciated!
I would use 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inch slack between idler and top roller
Ok where’s idler, this is my first track machine.
See if the attached is any help. If this is your first track loader an Operation & Maintenance Manual would be invaluable to you. The attachment on track adjustment is taken from it. You can get a genuine Cat manual on CD for $43 + S&H - https://www.ebay.com/itm/304789367618?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28
Appreciate the info sorry man I had a brain fart trying to do 10 different things at the same time
I will get one on order, I have them for my tractors and 446 extendahoe
Adjuster is a Grease fitting under a cover on top of Rail Frame. Pressures the Cannon out of its bore.
Please pay particular attention to Step 8 of the track adjustment procedure where it mentions checking measurement X, where X must be less than 5.4".
Well gents I adjusted my tracks and they just went back to original position after driving for 30 minutes. I couldn’t see a relief valve so I just loosened grease fitting to let track rod go back the 10mm. Ended up having 1”3/4 checking with the string. The undercarriage has less than 400 hrs on it but I think the seals must be blown because rod was only out an inch after adjusting and is back in now. Any instructions on how to replace seals? Or what the relief valve looks like!
On your machine the functions adding grease to extend the adjuster and the relief valve are all acomplished by one common valve. You add grease via the zerk on the top and crack the complete valve loose with a wrench to back off the adjuster. If the seals in the adjuster are leaking there ought to be signs of fresh grease in the area indicated by the arrow in the illustration below.
Your awesome Nige, there is fresh grease there, so my assumption of seal replacement is correct but doesn’t look to complicated. I ca use my 446 extendahoe to do the lifting.
The attached might help. Step 2 of the procedure to remove the track adjusters is likely to be nowhere near as easy as it sounds in the procedure. First I would suggest that you run a thread tap (plug tap for preference) into the forcing bolt holes to clean out the dirt and corrosion. Put plenty of anti-seize on the forcing bolts beforehand. Getting the adjuster to come out of the bore in the frame is likely to involve much cursing, maybe some heat, and big hammers. It will probably be corroded in there.
Ok I’ll take your word for it and thanks again!
Just take care when you are working around that area. There is a f'kin great big spring right behind that tensioner assembly.
Yea I see that, but I’m hoping since there’s no tension being applied that they won’t be compressed much!
I have one more question for you. Is there a master link in the track chain
If it has Cat undercarriage there should be a crocodile-style split master link. If it has aftermarket undercarriage, who knows.? it should be easy enough to find a split master link if it has one, just look at the track from the side. The master link will be "solid", the rest of the links you can see through them.
Yea it’s got a cat undercarriage with less than 400 hrs on it
Can you post a photo of the track links. I just want to confirm that the machine has conventional track links fitted to it and not Cat's fancy ©SystemOne links.
It’s got an original set of tracks nothing fancy. I told the guy I bought from and he acted like he couldn’t believe it. But he had this under carriage in his shop for several years before installing,and he had John Deer shop install full undercarriage.
I told him seals might have dry rotted?
And I bet they never removed and resealed the track tensioners while they were doing it......
They said they did, he gave me receipts!
If that was the case then the adjuster should literally fall out when you put the forcing bolts on it. Let us know how it comes out. I see two possibilities, one that the piston seal was cut during reassembly of the tensioner, two that they billed for the work and didn't do it. Look at Post #14 on Page 1 again. How difficult it is to extract the tensioner from the track frame will tell the story.
I see you found the master link.
Well I finally got time to do the tear down it wasn’t terrible just greasy and heavy. On the front left if sitting on machine the first roller behind idler is shot just flopping. Adjuster cylinders are pitted and wide rusted spots. The good thing is there a company near by that repairs and rechromes them.
Strange one that….. Looks indeed like a Young Undercarriage and they’ve even taken the trouble to fit new bottom roller bolts. I wonder if they’ve been stored correctly or if that roller that’s collapsed has been dropped on its edge.
I don’t know but all the rollers are trek, and only that one is bad
It looks as though the track rollers have screwed plugs at the end for oil filling. Were they checked for correct oil level before installation.? If not now might be a good time to check all the others.
Thanks Nige I was wondering about those plugs, I don’t know if the guy that owned it didn’t want to put more money or just the JD place didn’t want to tell him about adjusters as
Both are in bad shape
With reference to Nige’s comment on checking the oil in the rollers. I learned many years ago that rollers needed to be handled more carefully until they are fitted onto the trackframe than you might think. In my teenage days,I recall pulling up to my first D8 to do the bottom rollers one Saturday afternoon with a trailer with pallets of new Berco bottom D8 rollers.I dropped the side of the trailer down and proceeded the push them off the pallet and straight on to the haul road.It seems obvious now,but wasn’t to me then as a newbie.I soon got my ears clipped by the fitter that was helping me.I was told to unload them gently down,then check every plug to see if they’d been filled from the factory as this small detail was often overlooked. Since then,I’ve allways checked rollers and idlers before fitting and only found a handful of empty ones. You say the rollers are Trek and not Cat like your track groups.This is no big problem,but I’d certainly do as Nige says and check them all along with idlers. If oil runs out,it’s ok.If it doesn’t you’ll want an old volume bucket.If you don’t have one,fill your oil can up and squirt it in the old fashioned way. Be aware that on hot days,they may vacuumed and give a misleading level
Ok, now I have another question about the idlers. I know there’s oil in the seals but what about the idler itself. They look good except a small hole in center of one where the track pins ride. I thought about just welding it up with bronze rod. Does oil go inside the idler itself?
Oil fills a cavity inside the idler & shaft and is kept in there by the two Duo-Cone seals and the plug in the end of the idler shaft.
so if the hole is in the center of idler where track roller rides/ the tallest part between where tracks ride is it bad?
Can you post a photo showing the location of the hole.? I get the impression you’re saying it’s on what I would call the “tread” but I would like to confirm that.
All rollers are full of oil!
Sorry to have to tell you but that idler is farked…… The reason the hole is there is that the outer shell has worn thin and become so weak the tracks have combined with a rock or other hard debris to punch a hole in the steel. That hole will not cause it to lose oil though. The oil compartment is nearer to the centre of the idler.
That’s one bit of good news. I bet the one that failed wasn’t though.
No it was farmed up
I hope I haven’t been screwed but with all repairs I’ll be around 57,500 into this machine.It does run excellent though.
Was the idler in that state when it was removed to re-seal the tensioner cylinder I wonder.?