Someone, decades ago, left two excavator tracks on my property. They're at the bottom of a small hill, and I've been promising for years to get them up and out. Problem is how to do it. They're too heavy and unwieldy to winch out, tow out, or even lift out (at least with the equipment I have access to.) I've found "Berco IN 1444" on the side of some of them, but I can't find any documentation on them. I'm trying to figure out if I should take a sledgehammer and try to knock some of the pins out using a drift pin, whether I should try to Sawzall the links apart, get a blowtorch, an angle grinder. . . I'm at a loss. Any ideas at all are welcome, no matter how crazy my wife might find them. Pictures included to give a sense of what I'm dealing with. Thanks in advance for any advice.
portable torches
A winch from a convenient tree to pull them up the hill to a place where you can get at them better.? TBH they don’t look that heavy.
Dang, so that's where I left them!
Did you try winching to roll them up on top much like installing them on a dozer ? Go to the last link (farthest away) pry bar it up and over the remaining links, hook winch to that, roll it up & over.
If you have a way to get power to them, a cut off wheel in an angle grinder would be your best bet and cheapest option. If you had a cutting torch with larger cylinders would work too. A portable torch would need several cylinders and be cost prohibitive. You could drag them with a vehicle too to where you can reach them with an extension cord. Before you cut them, you could try to sell them as a drag too. People have used old track chains as leveling drags for driveways and larger area's.
Save your back, DONT try sledging out the master pin if there’s no cotter pin In the end. Torch it
That sounds like the voice of experience. Thank you for the tip--I was considering it, but I'll stay away from trying to sledge it.
Interesting that the portable torch would be cost prohibitive. I'll skip that. It looks like I'll try the cut off wheel in the angle grinder. I can get electrical run out to where they are. I'll try a Diablo wheel and see if I can cut through. Really smart idea about selling them as drag--I'll post something and see if anyone's interested.
This helped a *lot*. Smart. Thank you. I winched *around* a tree after I'd gotten the last link up and it straightened out the tracks and let me haul them somewhere I can work on them more easily. Now just to figure out the best way to cut them up (or sell them).
A concrete cut off saw with diamond blade will slice threw them. You can rent one at home depot
This. Fastest + cheapest way to cut them into hand carrying pieces.
An abrasive blade is a lot cheaper than a diamond blade for the demo saw. Get two or three.
I'd like to have them, honestly. I scrapped the excavator tracks and wish I still had one for making art. There is enough rail to make an arch there. lay it out in a shape and then weld the links.
I'd advertise them for sale as is. Could be used as drags or for artists. Portable cutting torches don't last long at all. If no takers and you have to cut them, cut half way through the bolt holes. Wear a faceshield. A good brand of cut off disc's like Walter 3M, Norton, Tyrolet will cut better and last longer than the cheap brands. A 7" grinder with a guard would be pretty quick. A gas powered saw would work but a little more awkward. Have a pail of water and/or a fire extinguisher on hand so you don't start a fire you can't control.