Hello, I recently purchased a Dresser TD8E...Ser # 4420016U083035. It is purported to be a 1981. That was the year they started a new transmission, and altered the ser # series in the middle of the year. The machine has the "old" style long transmission, and the DT 239 International engine. Not a bad little machine for maintenance of our 160 acre "Tree Farm" here in NW Arkansas. The oil analysis was real good on both the engine and trans, and it starts up with a tap, set on the "start" notch on the throttle. No smoke or blowby, and the trans is tight in all 3 gears, forward and reverse. Attached are pictures of the undercarriage and a description of the defects and wear. I have educated myself on wear patterns and measurements from the site http://www.tractorparts.com/PDFs/undrcarguide.pdf I am looking for comments and suggestions on how to proceed on the maintenance and repair of the undercarriage. First, a look. I hope that got them attached. The internal pin/bushing wear measures 50% remaining.......the bushings show surprisingly little external wear. They have not been turned. AS IS OBVIOUS in the pictures, I have moderate to severe pin boss wear/damage. The rollers are not readily visible due to the rock guards. I ASSUME that the wear pattern on the pin boss is from roller wear. Both of the top idlers have flat spots, but turn freely now. The sprockets are surprisingly good. I don't know how to evaluate the idlers yet. The pads and grousers are good. The chain is a Berco. Link # is IN2596. I have a tentative phone quote of $1400. per new chain.......$125 for new rollers. I can get the existing pins/bushings turned locally for $700. ARE THE CHAIN LINKS DAMAGED ENOUGH, that turning the pins and bushings is not economical or possible. Is turning a good choice at this stage of their wear. IS THE EXISTING CHAIN worth putting NEW ROLLERS on the machine to stop the pin boss damage where it is. Would the new rollers be compromised too much by the old components, when it came time to replace the chain. I can't imagine refacing the rollers could compete economically with $125. each for new ones....but ??? ARE THE IDLERS in need of replacing or rebuilding.....In today's economic climate is refacing even an option, or are new the most cost effective. ARE THE SPROCKETS in good enough shape to run a new chain on them. Would they benefit from turning the pins/bushings. Would they be worn out also when the turned components finally wore out. I really am asking one question.... What is the most cost effective path to getting the most use out of the existing components, and facilitating a good rebuild/replacement when the lifespan is exhausted. I want to use all the metal possible. I was told to run what is there into the ground, and replace it all when a major problem developed. Moderate farm use...road building, pond building, brush clearing, timber is dug and pushed, pads for homes and shop. ANYONE venture a ballpark time frame for what I have left on the undercarriage now, before severe problems. I HAVE SEEN COMMENTS TO REMOVE THE ROCK GUARDS. It was said that if they are not absolutely necessary, they cause more roller wear than they prevent other problems. I would appreciate observations from those that deal with this all the time. Your time and comments are appreciated
Additional information Apparently. it would only let me upload 5 pictures. I have two more....one of the idlers and one of the upper roller. The idlers are dished out on each wear face a bit. If necessary, I can post those two pictures, and measure the thickness left and rail height to help evaluate.
Can you post measurements on the rollers and the rail height. I can email wear specs if you need them. Your prices sound reasonable. Good luck, Quick Trax
Is this a wear hole in a track link? If it is, that don't look good.
looking at the 3rd pic, i would say the rails are very worn. look at where the bushings have worn and taken some of the wear so the rail didnt wear as much. I bet the rollers are really badly worn.
looks to me you need a a couple of rollers and it will be fine. the rail is getting pretty bad, but if it rolls use it. when you replace the rails get sprockets. they would have lasted a lot longer if the roller had been caught in time. i am guessing you can't see the bad roller with the rock guards in the way.
Those wear marks on the pin bosses are from the roller flanges hitting them. It looks like the bottoms of the rock guards are almost rubbing the backs of the track pads. The pin bosses are worn into far too much to ever get away with turning the pins and bushings. It would be my guess that the prior owner of the machine put new sprocket segments on to sell the machine. Many people see the new teeth and assume the chains are good. Unfortunately that's not the case here. I would recommend removing the rock guards and then getting a full measurement of all the components. Then you can then make an informed decision on where your money can be spent the most efficiently. Good Luck!
What John C. said. There's no way those are the sprockets that started life with the rails. The only reason the pin bosses are worn is because the rails are gone. Roller wear really has nothing to do with it. Just to edit a bit. A roller could be worn enough to allow the flange to contact the pin boss. I just have never seen it happen where the rail wasn't also worn out unless somebody put on new track and left the old rollers and even then I wonder.
Without specs, I would have to say this undercarriage is on a run-out. It looks like the link height is heavily worn and the rollers probably have a lot of wear also. According to your link #IN2596, this is a half inch bolt hole chain that was ONLY made with dry pins and bushings. Since it has new sprockets and your link height looks heavily worn, I would run it as long as you could. At that point you will probably need new chains, sprockets, top rollers, and possibly bottom rollers. Wear specs would give everyone a better informed diagnosis.
I am trying to learn "by the book". I looked at some dozers that were purported to be 80%....the sprockets looked like shark teeth. It is a TD8E.....1981....... The pin to pin pitch is .....5 pins = 26 3/16" / 4 = 6 17/32" I will get the measurements for the rail height....idler.....and try to get a measurement on the two visible rollers. This should help you all. I have come to the conclusion, aided by the one "expert" in the area......that the undercarriage shows an "unusual" wear pattern, probably had parts added without regard to replacing others. I am trying to figure out the value of a "run out" as is. Or a replacement of enough to get additional use out of the chain. I appreciate all the comments and help.....I will be back promptly with the wear measurements.
Able to go outside today, without risk of spontaneous combustion, only 90 degrees....115 degrees has been just too much for me. It has been a rough summer all around here.16" of rain in 24 hours in April, then not a drop in May, June, and July. Joplin got 1/3 erased off the map..... Poor guys in Texas and Okla. Nightmare dry. My rail height is 3 3/16" ......this seems to be "almost" gone according to the TD9 specs, which are the same. My front Idler is at 31/32 in the center of tread area. It is slightly dished. I will have to tackle the rock guards to get an accurate reading on the rollers. I emailed pictures of this to a shop that turns pins/bushings in the area (close ??.....75 miles). He JUST CALLED ME, AND may have the best take so far on the "fix" that was done. Sometime in the recent past.....several years, not several weeks, someone had a shop like his REPLACE the pins and bushings in an old chain. The sprockets were replaced also. The machine was then sold as a 100% undercarriage machine. The non-replaced parts quickly overtook the newer components. He said that he does this a lot for contractors who want to sell machines without putting the full$$$fix into them. Farmers look at the sprocket and bushings....the pin boss is still good.....and they don't measure the rail height, and can't get to the rollers. He said that rock guards help out the masquerade a lot. That makes me the second idiot in line....I generally knew what I was getting. And, I knew that this was not a 75% machine. I will admit that now, by measuring the rail height....it is 25% less than I thought I had.... THIS theory works......we have 25% rails on 66% pins and bushings that have not been turned. I am suspecting that the idler will spec out a a very low % of wear left. Let me know if you have the specs for it. What will finally bite me in the butt will be the worn rails.....I agree that the rollers are probably very worn. HERE IS HIS FIX ...... Leave what I have in place. DROP THE ROCK GUARDS AND CAREFULLY CUT 1/4" OFF, AROUND THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF EACH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE FLANGE ON THE ROLLERS. Do the cutting 2" at a time, and go to the next roller....LET THEM COOL.... This will stop the pin boss wear.....and allow the rest of the components to wear to the end of their useful life.....THEN REPLACE ALL OF IT. I am not in a love-fest with this idea.....but it is an alternative, and I wanted to see how hard that yanked you all's chain..... Thanks guys.....helps a lot, and I will be able to pass it along.
I would not cut the rollers at this point you are better off just running everything untill it breaks those small tracks we do not repin & bush much the labor is to high for what you can but a new rail for.
I agree with this approach, have done this many times. Depending on how much you use it could give you 2 or 3 yrs. service. jr
Remember that the roller flanges also help to stop the dozer "walking out" of it's chains. I suspect you'll find stuffed rollers ,& that you''ll end up spending more time than it's worth,re-fitting the undercarriage as you work ....usually in the boggiest,steepest (worst) places you can imagine. I recently removed some guards from a Mitsubishi Crawler Loader,& found the remains of the rollers up in the track frame,having done some damage on the way to total destruction. Track guards promote laziness &,conveniently, hide the evidence.... Those quotes you got seem OK,if they are good quality replacements.