Lavoy, quick question on track rail removal...

[lastchancegarage]

Lavoy,
I read what you've said about cleaning out the area behind the spring with a power washer before trying to remove the track rail assy. My question is, with the front crossbar bolts removed, can the rail be rotated up at all to loosen things before sliding the assy off? Have you ever tried rotating the rail before removal? As far as being rusted in, I read somewhere that vinegar will dissolve rust pretty quick also. I might try that in the area behind the spring. I was able to feel inside the holes of the missing bolts on the forward right crossbar but unfortunately they snapped instead of spun out. Looks like I might get a chance to try that missile rod you spoke of in an earlier post. Thanks.

Scott

[Lavoy]

Scott,
If the pocket the front crossbar sits in has some wear, you might be able to wiggle and rotate some. One thing I have contemplated but never done is drilling a hole down to the cavity that should be at the end of the front crossbar. Then tap it for a grease zerk, and pump grease into the cavity in the hopes it will act like a hyd cylinder and push the crossbar out. It would not be the worst thing to do this, but shoot water down in there with a power washer too.
If you can get even one side of the front bar out, then you can rotate all you want if it will go.
One other thing I have heard that works on rust is Muriatic acid, but don't know how true that is.
Lavoy

[wwattson]

Well wait no longer. I had the same thought as Lavoy and yesterday I drilled an 11/32" hole through into the cavity on the end of the front cross bar and tapped it 1/8" NPT. I pumped it full of grease and tried working on it for a while with no real luck. Let it sit overnight under tension from a Port-A-Power and went out tonight and it had moved enough to get the spacers out. Drove some chisels between the flange and track frame and kept tension on it with the Port-A-Power and it finally came apart.

The problem is that it's not a perfect cylinder and piston so the grease finds a path around the material binding the cross bar. On the other hand, I did get it apart in the end and I don't think I would have if I didn't use the grease.

[lastchancegarage]

Thanks guys,
Hopefully this weekend I'll get to see how badly encrusted the rear crossbar is. Then I can go to work on the front. On the issue of tracks, Lavoy, do still have any stock left in pins and bushings for the 440's? I measured across five pins and got 23 1/2". That equates to 50%, right? I might need to fix that before final assy. Let me know what you have. Thanks.

Scott

[Lavoy]

23 1/4" is 100%, so I guess you are at 200%. I have one set on hand currently that is not spoken for. It appears though that I can get more, may or may not be a slight delay.
Lavoy

[lastchancegarage]

Lavoy,
I don't know if it's THAT bad, but it'll definitely have to be addressed. Here's a chart I found somewhere on the net. Maybe the chart is off.
Machine Model New Percent Warn Chart
25% 50% 75% 100%
mm in mm in mm in mm in mm in
John Deere

420, 430, 440, 1010 584 23 586.5 23.09 589.5 23.2 593 23.34 597 23.5
2010, JD350 584 23 587 23.1 590.5 23.25 594 23.38 599 23.57
JD450, JD550, JD555 639 25.15 642.5 25.29 646.5 25.45 651 25.62 656 25.82
JD655. JD750, JD755 702 27.64 706 27.79 710.5 27.96 716 28.18 722 28.42
JD755A, JD850 813 32 817.5 32.18 822.5 32.37 828 32.59 835 32.87
855 864 34.01 868.5 34.18 874 34.4 880 34.64 887 34.92

The chart doesn't transfer to the message board very well but if you look at the 100% worn, that correlates to the 23.5 measurement on the chart. New is 23 even. That's depressing. So how often do you take your track press out of the shop? After wrestling with the tracks for the first time, I think I'll scratch the idea of transporting them in the Jetta. Another question is: are the chains themselves shot? I guess I need to find a shop that works tracks around here. Is this more or less a dealer type operation or do certain machine shops work tracks? Thanks for any info.

Scott