A couple months ago I put new undercarriage on my Hitachi EX120 and this was my idler track frame fix. Not including the welding it took about 8hrs to hand grind both sides. Couldn’t talk myself in to putting a new idler in it when the upper frame was worn 5/16” and 3/8” at its worst spot. The lower was worn 1/8” both sides.
A few more pictures. Weld and grinding is a lot easier that rip and replace.
Nice job! That should help your tracks run true. Did you have issues with the tracks jumping off the idlers previously?
Thanks guys. The PO had issues with throwing the tracks but I fixed it before it happened to me. I bought everything through the dealer and was surprised how reasonable it was. I was expecting 2x more than what it was.
Some machines have replaceable wear strips that can be welded on. I'd think it would depend if they were replaced before they were totally worn out. I wonder if it would help to use build up rod or hardfacing so it doesn't wear or fast or if it's better for the frames to wear than the idler blocks?? Great job on the repair.
Thanks. The old idlers were cast iron and worn about 1/2” from flopping around in there. The new idlers are steel and the next guy can fix the damage they cause. My welder buddy wanted to hard face it but it was the weekend and I didn’t have the right wire. He offered to tig it but I wouldn’t let him lay on his back for hours when it was 90* out.