It is the time of year I have to watch the weather. When I'm done for the day if it is going to freeze I clean the mud and woods debris out of the track chains. A real pain. I read on here about a tool made from a bent and flattened piece of pipe. It sounded good and I was going to make one. This summer I was doing some carpenter work. When I picked up my bar all I could think was this is a track cleaning tool. I used the bar a couple time so far this fall and it works good, way better than anything else I have used to clean the tracks. Both ends are useful. gg
I keep looking for something better than a "sharp shooter" shovel. Anything too wide or too long won't get in the places needed. The only problem I see with that tool is that it seems like I'd spend time on the ground and I'm opposed to that. Glad it worked for you. I'm still looking for anything better.
You might cut the bar in two in the middle and weld each half to a four foot piece of 1" pipe to get better reach. Put a coupling in the pipe about a foot from the end with the bar in case you need to shorten it temporarily. You could cap the end of the pipe for safety and to use it as a rammer.
I have a 3" trench spade. It is the best worst shovel in the world. It sucks for moving very much dirt but its great for digging in hard clay, cleaning out mini ex tracks, dozer tracks, CTLs, full size hoes.... I use it for everything! John
I like my carpenters bar because all I have to do to clean out the track chains before they freeze up is push the bar down thru the mud relief holes in the pads. I get good two handed leverage for a push and twist and it makes for fast work.
I've got a little garden spade about 2 1/2' long that lives on my D4. .works like a champ for cleaning the snow, mud etc out of the track frames and under the top rollers.
This is the best thing I've found for cleaning tracks. Google "track spade"............this one is $17, other variations may be available. http://www.shopjfi.com/premium-drain-track-spade-d-handle.html
I use basically the exact same track shovel(otherwise known as a trenching spade around here) I never clean my rails themselves out but try to do a good job on the track frame and sprockets. I've got a shorter one that sits in the compartments on my hoe and a longer one that I leave on the cat.
also heard it called a 'track spit',Donegal Lima or just plain old 'track spade'to me.
It was called a track spit when I started in the muckshifting business many moons ago.
I use a spade like nige showed, but I have broken the handle so I built one out of steel pipe and welded it onto the business end.
We use those spades for digging razor clams. I usually use a wrecking bar to clean out the track frames. I've never heard of someone cleaning out the chains but think it is a good idea when working in freezing conditions.
I can tell you this - By cleaning out the chains and keeping the pad holes open I don't get all of those nasty destructive sounding bangs coming out of the tracks the next morning when I start again.
Regarding your comment about pad holes - are you working in really muddy conditions..? If the answer is no then the holes in the shoes could be causing more problems than they solve.
I use the dozer to keep my logging trails in shape and open in the winter so soil conditions are variable. It is really snow that causes the problem when I let the pad holes freeze up with dirt or slush at night. This week, for instance, it snowed a little every night except one. The early sticky type snow. I think keeping the pad holes and rails cleaned out pays off by minimizing the track popping and banging in the snow. Once everything is froze solid and the snow is dry the tracks stay clean themselves. I park it up on some small logs to keep it from freezing to the ground.
g_man; You have new undercarriage. Might it be that there is little slop in your chain pins, and bushings? Your sprockets have gullets sized exactly to match the pins in the track chain. Any foreign matter at all in those gullets won't have room. I'll be alert to see how mine with a bit more wear behaves in snow. Mine doesn't have the holes in the track. Willie
And to us here in the states is a 'Sharpshooter. Have had one on every track tractor I have had, one on the Allis sits behind the seat.
hardware stores sometimes call them drain spades.
Willie, if you work it in the snow you need the holes in the track pads 'cause the sprocket teeth will keep packing it in the rails 'til you can play a tune on the tracks which can severely damage the front idlers. Mike
g_man has a near identical tractor with holes. My undercarriage is a mix of parts not exactly specified for my tractor. An expert mechanic/parts man says my undercarriage is from a TD8E or G. My shoes are 16" pitch 6.5". g_man's are 15" and 6". If that will factor, I don't yet know. I haven't run it much in soft wet snow. He reports lots of snapping noise in warm snow. If needed, I'll cut holes. Do they make a lot of difference? I hope to use it most when there is either no snow, or very cold snow. Mostly in winter to get out a few logs, and some wood. Willie
Interesting to hear the different names. I always called it a Newcastle Drainer
Billdookie is what I thought it was called. Whatever you call if you need to use it all fun has stopped....except for those watching.
forks on skid steer work very nice!!
In the US called Mudholes, for allowing squishy materials a way out as the sprocket rolls it in. Do not understand why as the rails are open to the sides when the sprocket rolls in. My donor tractor had them torch cut into the shoes. And we call it 'Bulldookie' as in a semen specimen!!
Look up snowpads at Caterpillar. You can buy them from Cat with snow holes in the pads. Both round and square versions over the years. Has been an option for more than 75 years. Tough to be without them in the snowy woods.
x 2 The only way to go !
I'm not sure I get the forks on a skid steer idea? I'm talking about the track frame, and idlers, all the little nooks, and crannies. Well below freezing, pushing topsoil, and sand, I get a build up of the squishy mud. It is so fine, a handful I can squeeze, it extrudes like wet Play Do. I have nothing in my hand. Under the top layer of squishy, is frozen. It takes effort with a shovel , or digging bar to break it free. Willie
Here's the only way to go. A couple of summers ago my wife wanted some big spruce trees taking out of the yard. I said OK if she cleaned the tracks when I was done. Our dog Axle Grease inspected the job and walked away in disapproval.
Least she was trying and got dirty! Most would not do that, lucky guy. Rail cleanup is not fun, takes effort and time but it need be done soon as done for a day. I let my loader go a week and had grass growing in and around the idler yoke recoil rod so back to clean up each and every time. Won't ever get it all but the majority removed saves issues later.
My wife is great. She did get a little POed when I told her that Axle Grease did not find it acceptable. You guessed right if you figured I had to finish from that point.
Well there OIH..........you could at least buy that nice lady a new track shovel for Valentine's day & make sure it has a RED handle on it!! Here is the proof that you can get them with red handles!
Her birthday is tomorrow, Valentines Day 2 days later, and our anniversary is 2 days after that. Either I remember them all or I am in deep sh*t. She is getting ruby(red as you said) necklace and ear rings for birthday and Valentines day. For our anniversary we normally get a larger joint gift. Today we picked up a new fancy Hummingbird ice fishing graph with GPS and all the other options.
If that kind of romantic don't melt her heart, nothing will! Seriously, I've told this story before, probably here, if so, I'm sorry: I was working with a group of the crustiest bastards you've ever met. I needed a gift for Mrs. B. At lunch I asked advice. The oldest, crustiest SOB in the group said: "I just go into one of those flower shops." I said I wouldn't expect him to know what to ask for. He said: "I just ask for something with blossoms". I decided to try it. They were all closed by the time I left work. I had to come up with another idea, and I'm not good at that. Days later, I was passing a roadside produce stand. They had these posies about four feet tall in five gallon buckets, Gladiolas? They were $.75 each! $20. bought a whole bucket full! There are about 6 big blossoms per stem. The lady who sold them to me wrapped them in green tissue paper. I went home, found the cleanest bucket I could, and set it up real nice, wrapping the tissue paper around the bucket. She walked through the door, froze still, and started to cry. I never have figured women out! Total mystery! Now, every year I get her another twenty dollars worth. Willie Oh, the old crusty SOB I mentioned buys his late seventies wife a new tire for her wheelbarrow to haul wood. He lives in a pine forest, cleared just enough trees to put in the house. Fifty years later these trees are over mature. One by one they die. He cuts one by climbing to the top, and tying a rope. His wife pulls the rope while he cuts the tree. He worried about her, she's not as fast as she used to be. Valentines Day he bought her a longer rope. Now she doesn't have to run as far.
That is awesome. Maybe I could get his old rope for an anchor.
Well now, all you guys shamed me into doing this! I would really much rather spend this money on food! It make somebody real happy though.
What a romantic. Is that a Duncan Fife table with the lamp on it? I got the wife one after I seen her drooling over it a few years ago. Brownie points are good once in a while. Oops, sorry for pulling this post astray.
O I H; An anchor rope? Willie
Re the table.......I don't know much about furniture, but do know that it came from my grandfathers place after they gave up housekeeping some 38 years ago. It is walnut I know that much, but don't know much more about it. I almost think it may have been made by someone in the family way back.
For the pontoon. We do not fish that deep. LOL