Misc Blown Seal on Track Tension Cylinder. 1980s D3-C LGP

[Millwright]

Finally found time to start working fence lines.

Was watching the portside track, it got so sloppy that I wasn't sure if I could get it out of the woods.

Pumped up the cylinder, it lasted about a minute with grease oozing into the dirt around the piston seal.

I think this machine spent part of its life on the coast, all the running gear is heavily rusted.

There is a bunch of drilling and tapping in my future.

 

[Millwright]

Doing the starboard clutch pack.

 

[Kathy in FL]

We just had to fix the seal on the kabota tractor’s bucket loader.

 

[ReneeT]

"Why I married a mechanic, Part 1..."

 

[Gitche Gumee Kid]

My hydraulic pump on my 1980 International 284 diesel is in the shop as of 9/1/ 22 .Needs new o rings.

 

[cowboy]

Are you saying that that nothing moves when you pump the cylinder up, that caused the seal to give out. Now you are going to have a lot of twisted off bolts getting things apart.

 

[Millwright]

Are you saying that that nothing moves when you pump the cylinder up, that caused the seal to give out. Now you are going to have a lot of twisted off bolts getting things apart.

It will tighten the track, then puke the grease as soon as I move around.

Disassembly will be a lot of grinder and gas-axe, I'm sure.

 

[skwentnaflyer]

Husband extends his condolences

 

[Millwright]

I really, really hate having to dig out the 3/4" and 1" drive tools.

Really, really.


Probably have to break the track too.

 

[cowboy]

I never used one, but assembly had some sort of a power head multiplier. It was not, an impact but worked with a porta power.

I don't know if such a tool would help but I do know the long way is the short way.

 

[Millwright]

I never used one, but assembly had some sort of a power head multiplier. It was not, an impact but worked with a porta power.

I don't know if such a tool would help but I do know the long way is the short way.

Not much room to access many of the bolts.

Some of the heads are barely recognizable as hex.

It's gonna be ugly.


Sure as hell, the other one will crap shortly after I do this one.

 

[cowboy]

Sounds like you need the Horizontal stick mill I ran for a while. 6"spindle with 4' of reach. We could just set the machine on the table and mill the heads off then drill the bolts out before you get back with the cylinder.

 

[Millwright]

Sounds like you need the Horizontal stick mill I ran for a while. 6"spindle with 4' of reach. We could just set the machine on the table and mill the heads off then drill the bolts out before you get back with the cylinder.

I have a lathe and Bridgeport.

Broken bolts will be in inaccessible areas on the chassis castings.

 

[Millwright]

Got out 3 of the 4 bolts holding the seal plate.

It started life as a 1" bolt...now rusted to something slightly larger than 5/8".

I got the other bad one by driving the closest metric socket on the head and some judicious application of a torque enhancer. (5' cheater pipe)

This one is too degraded for that tactic.

May have to weld a nut on it. That presents its own set of problems...or pain in the ass of building a long 240v cord for the welder, putting it on a trailer and dragging it out there.

 

[Samuel Adams]

It will tighten the track, then puke the grease as soon as I move around.

Disassembly will be a lot of grinder and gas-axe, I'm sure.

My Case has a basic “throwaway” tensioner.
Good for five years, maybe ?

I have been known to split a piece of heavy wall pipe, center diameter to near perfectly accommodate the ram diameter on the tensioner, then weld heavy angle to top and bottom halves and cut holes to create a heavy, four bolt spacer to hold tension kinda permanent.

 

[Millwright]

My Case has a basic “throwaway” tensioner.
Good for five years, maybe ?

I have been known to split a piece of heavy wall pipe, center diameter to near perfectly accommodate the ram diameter on the tensioner, then weld heavy angle to top and bottom halves and cut holes to create a heavy, four bolt spacer to hold tension kinda permanent.

Lotsa ways to afro-engineer a get-by fix.

Won't go there 'til I've dead ended on a proper fix.

 

[Samuel Adams]

Lotsa ways to afro-engineer a get-by fix.

Won't go there 'til I've dead ended on a proper fix.

Yeah…..when parts started going obsolete for my 170B excavator 77,000# machine) I started to develop some bad habits.

 

[Millwright]

170B...

Came over on the Mayflower...like this little dozer.

Quite a few parts out there actually. Lotsa commonality through the years.

 

[Samuel Adams]

Mine was actually a 1987 model.

Can’t get hydraulic hoses for them now…..and I have a good friend whose 5 sons have devoted their lives (quite profitably, I must say) to procuring somewhat bust up Case equipment for parts or refurbishment.

He has almost as many contacts as God.



Sorry for bringing religion into the thread.

 

[Millwright]

Down to the last bolt on the seal plate.

Had to grind the head off to get the plate free.

Then ran a nut down on the stub, welded the nut on...took it out with a wrench.

Ordering seal tomorrow.

Will get two, the starboard side will probably fail soon enough.

 

[Walrus]

I really, really hate having to dig out the 3/4" and 1" drive tools.

Really, really.


Probably have to break the track too.

Cheater bars are your friend.

 

[Walrus]

Down to the last bolt on the seal plate.

Had to grind the head off to get the plate free.

Then ran a nut down on the stub, welded the nut on...took it out with a wrench.

Ordering seal tomorrow.

Will get two, the starboard side will probably fail soon enough.

It's always that last **%%$$!! bolt! Same thing happened to me when pulling the bed off a Silverado to replace the fuel pump. Had to get a nut splitter to get to it - was a bit too close to the fuel system to use a gas axe, at least for me it was.

 

[Millwright]

Cheater bars are your friend.

Oh

A Torque Enhancer.

 

[Walrus]

Oh

A Torque Enhancer.

Yes. That's it. The price on chunks of 2" Sch. 80 pipe probably just doubled at Home Depot.

 

[Millwright]

The seal plate is in the narrow gap, forward of the tension spring.

The bastard bolt had rusted away to about 5/8" from an original size of 7/8'.
You can sorta see it behind the good bolt.

 

[Walrus]

The seal plate is in the narrow gap, forward of the tension spring.

The bastard bolt had rusted away to about 5/8" from an original size of 7/8'.
You can sorta see it behind the good bolt.

Ouch.

 

[Millwright]

Ouch.

Yeah, the whole undercarriage is ate-up from iron worms.

 

[Kathy in FL]

Not much room to access many of the bolts.

Some of the heads are barely recognizable as hex.

It's gonna be ugly.


Sure as hell, the other one will crap shortly after I do this one.

It's like a law of nature or something.

 

[Publius]

All of them can be a pain in the butt and this is a small one, when you start working on a D-7 or D-8 you learn to hate these machines. I'm no expert on them but I have lent a hand on a few of them.

 

[Crusty Echo 7]

Cheater bars are your friend.

Lead laden friends help with those; hopefully it’s a bottom bolt so they don’t have to step too high.

 

[Millwright]

I noticed the starboard track was getting sloppy too.

Went ahead and grabbed seals for it while I was at Cat.

 

[West]

Nothing a Millright can't fix with some steel plate, files, chisels, mill and a hammer.

Get her done!

 

[9idrr]

I think the right size wrench for this is C4, right? Metric would be ANFO?

 

[Millwright]

I think the right size wrench for this is C4, right? Metric would be ANFO?

Nah, going back together at this time. Installed the seal plate, taking a break.

That was the easy part tho.

Now to stab the Idler wheel yoke and make the track back up....by myself.

May put mom on the tractor to drag the track back into position.

 

[9idrr]

Better to do it right than do it over.
I've worked places that never wanted to spend the money to do things right so they had to find the money to do it over the right way.
Unless, of course, the first attempt screwed things up so badly they had to call in the pros. Or buy new.

 

[Millwright]

Yoke shaft wouldn't go in tensioner cylinder, alignment issues.

Had to take the yoke off of front idler wheel carriage to get enough play for it to go in.

1 bolt loose with a wrench...three with a grinder.

More welding nuts onto cut bolts.

 

[Walrus]

You're doing great!

I don't want to distract you but when you have your head cleared from this operation, I need to talk to you about DEF.

 

[Millwright]

Uncle Sam said that I was born to repair heavy equipment.

I didn't agree.


Still doing that crap.

 

[Millwright]

Back together, up and running....only 1 good blood blister.

Cleared a 100 yds. of fenceline for a test drive.

Did OK, starboard track is starting to sag a little. Will keep it pumped up...until I can't.

Not in a hurry to repeat that process until necessary.

 

[Millwright]

Went back into the woods...starboard side blew out.

Already have the track separated and tensioner yoke pulled out.