I need to find a track roller for my Komatsu D21P-6. Anyone got any reccomendations of a place to buy from? I do have a phone call in to North Am. Track (Berco Products), hope they call back tomorrow. Was under machine adjusting the Idler clearance and saw that one of the rollers had a flat.:beatsme Guess they ain't cheap. Thank you, Pete
Have they past there wear limit? Or are the bearing all worn out? I saw some on ebay a few weeks ago.
Thanks, MM....I'll check e bay. Yep, it's flopping around badly. Bearings are shot....wonder why they don't have grease zerks??? I will try to find one that's greasable. I got the old one off few minutes ago. I had to heat the bolts to get 'em to back out. Need new bolts too. Thanks Pete
I think the rollers are suppossed to be sealed but on the top one there's a threaded hex insert that looks lile a place you could force some grease in there. Do the bottom ones have it also? My manual says do not mess with it but maybe you could take that hex out and see if its a greasable port. If it looks doable then maybe grease the rest of them. I'm interested to see if they can be refilled with grease. A zerk in that spot would probably get broken off and thats why it has that flush hex insert.
A lot of rollers are filled with gear lube I'm not sure about the ones on your machine.
Yeah a 00 pourable grease or 220 gear oil is what we use in rollers.
All my rollers have 1/8" pipe plugs in the end of the shaft. I pulled one from a good roller and saw no lube. Could one install a grease zerk and put chassis grease in ? Can you add oil? This undercarriage has been redone. The rollers are Berco. The machine is Kom D21P-6. About half of the rollers have the plug to the inside...ha ha. Makes it interesting to service them. thanks Pete
Pete, I have a lil JD350 dozer, so I'm not sure if your rollers are similair to mine, but I put regular chassis grease in my rollers at first. They then were too stiff to turn in the cold. I've now put 0 grease in them and:thumbsup They turn nice and smooth. I got the 0 grease from a JD dealer. Comes in tubes for a grease gun just like regular grease added to zerks, but it's really thin. It might work good for yours too, if you can find zerks to fit your thread size. Good luck!
Cat rollers have a special filler tube to let the air out and lube in. We use 30wt with some STP. Don't know about other rollers though, seems like if you use a zerk it would build air pressure unless you notch the zerks threads with a hack saw that should let air out. When a bottom roller bushing is totally shot we call it Cowbell , hate those DP
Mine is a cowbell !!!! Looks like one in a way. Thanks for the info... Hey Jeff.....when you pump in that lube, is there back pressure?? Can you see the light grease coming out anywhere? That idea sounds good, and notching the zerk for air release may work, but I may just loosen up the zerk then tighten up when finished. The air should get by a few threads ok?? Thanks, Pete in MS
Pete, I can feel a slight, but not alot, increase in pressure when it's full. The manual says that's when to stop. The manual also says there's pin holes designed into the seals to allow excess pressure to be released. It says some grease may escape through those pin holes, so slight grease leakage may be present. I've never did have any grease escaping during the greasing process, like is common with a u-joint for example. Loosening up the zerk might work. It's certainly worth a try.
I'm gonna take a look at mine next time I'm at the site. Maybe pull the plug, put a zerk in there and fill with 0 grease, then put the plug back in.
Just a suggestion but what about useing a grease needle like the one below. Pull the plug snap the needle on the grease gun insert needle and fill'er up reinstall plug.
Those rollers are oil filled from the factory. If they are out of oil it is because the seals have gone bad because they are old, the seals are damaged by foreign material getting into them or the roller is just plain worn out. Grease as a temporary fix also probably will not work. The center shafts are drilled so that when the roller is filled standing up on end the oil goes into the cross drilled hole at the opposite end of the shaft and the air comes goes out the cross drilled hole at the filling end of the shaft. Good seals will not allow any air to exit so the grease just goes nowhere. If you have a part number the Komatsu dealer will be able to get parts or rollers for you. I don't remember Burco or ITrac making aftermarket parts for these machines but I could be wrong. Good Luck!
Welcome to HEF John C.! :drinkup
Good info. I pulled all the plugs on my track rollers today. They were easy to get out as they had thread sealant on them. No oil came out. Stuck in a probe and nasty oily greasy stuff on it. I am gonna get some zerks with 1/8" pipe thread and put a zerk on each roller. Hit 'em with some light weight grease. These rollers are Berco KM956. I tried to get the old worn one apart, but it is not feeling like coming apart yet..ha ha ha. I had it smoking too ! Pete
Here's a guy on eBay with some D20-21 parts: Komatsu Bottom Rollers D20-D21
Thanks, He wants $125 shipped, for one.....I got a few calls in to check around....think his is Chinese. Thanks, Pete
I'm curious about what these parts cost new. Let us know what you find out.
Track Roller for Kom D21P price update: The guy on E Bay has 'em new for $125, shipping included. Korean made, I think. Berco (North American Track) has 'em for $98....shipping not included....made in Italy... Heavy Quip has 'em for $85.12 made in Korea or Italy...Ordered one from them as they have a place about 35 miles from here...will pick up tomorrow...my freight charge will be about $5. Didn't know about the close place! My manual says to call the Komatsu man to get the oil replenished in the rollers....no Kom.man around here, just me...ha ha. I put grease zerks on all rollers, even the idlers (that was fun)...will give all few shots of grease now and then. Watch and see what happens. About half the rollers were on backwards...so the fitting went underneath the machine...that also, was fun. I only thought I used to get greasy before !!! Thanks, Pete
Generally when filling new or resealed roller you would need a special tool to create a vacuum in the roller before metering a specific volume of oil into the roller. Any good track shop would have such a tool for filling sealed and lubricated tracks. Without the tool you need lots of time and patience to fill them up!
Pete, I hope what I'm gonna say doesn't come out wrong. My JD has grease zerks on the rollers, but they were designed for that type of grease. I could understand having old worn rollers putting on zerks and putting some grease into them to try and extend some additonal life out of them. I'd probobly do the exact same thing in that instance. If it were me, and I had brand new rollers, I'd try and use the recommended lube and proceedure for filling them, although I realize it's not me. You may get good life out of them with the zerks/grease, who know's?? I'd worry they might have reduced longevity by having a different lube than recommended by Komatsu.:beatsme Good luck which ever way you go.
Hi Jeff and All Thanks for the advice. Only one roller is new, think the others all the same age as the one that went out. I am not going to try to put grease in the new one. I agree that the engineers know what's best for 'em. I can only assume tho, that the others are getting worn and that the addition of a bit of grease won't kill them off.....and might possibly prolong their life some. Also, Heavy Quip told me the roller was made in Korea or Italy.....the tag on it says China. Anyway, it's here now, and will put it on tomorrow and get back to clearing, I hope. Thanks, Pete
Ooops, I gotta grip on what you're doing now! Yup-yup, I agree too.
I bought some from Cypress Equipment in Pittsburg, TEXAS. Phone 903 856 6684, Tony Burgess. Nice folks to do business with, price seemed inline. The ones I got were made in Italy,,not China. Hope this helps, good luck.
Thanks for the roller info GDW...I will save it in the old dozer file. Pete