my 450

[rudyman]

My wife bought me a dozer for my birthday last October. I then tore a tendon in my left arm and couldn't touch it until this week. It is a 450 diesel 6 way blade. My question is ,the idler on the left side ( as you set on it) has an issue.shaft is worn out or the idler center is worn. I have located the " master link " I indexed the track to between the upper roller and the idler ,removed the track plates and am ready to press out the pin other than releasing pressure from track adjusters is there anything I should do to make this easier?

[jtrichard]

I all ways put the master at about 3 o'clock on the sprocket it makes it easier to get it back together .....mid air makes it a bitch IMHO.. since you are working the front idler you can put the pin at 9 o'clock on the idler also

[JWB Contracting]

We used to do 3 o'clock on the sprocket and used a piece of pipe between the track link and final drive case to hammer out the master pins.

Much easier now that we built a track press, usually over the top roller.

Don't remove the grease nipple to remove track tension. Unscrew the bolt and jam nut beside it until the track begins to relax but do not remove it.

[pondhogvt]

Rudy, It was most interesting talking to you last night about finding the right steel for my portable track press,, thank you, you are very knowledgeable.. anyway,, back to your idler problem.. I also put the master-pin about three o'clock on sprocket to remove when I am taking off the track but in your case it depends on how much support equipment you have available to you.. if you split the track like that the track half that rolls forward to the blade will not clear the blade enough for you to get the idler off,,, so you have a couple options..

1. split the track by the front idler ,, raise the blade all the way up and let the split front have fall to the ground under the blade,,then start dozer and backup real slow and that will pull the back halve of track off the idler just enough for you to get the idler out. then put blade down with pressure and that will raise the track frame off the ground so you can slide it out..

2. split the track at the back sprocket.. then raise the blade all the way up, back up alittle to get the back half to drop, then go forward real slow to get the front half to drop ,, be careful because it will sometimes just take off with the weight and roll forward fast as it is no longer hooked together.then you can lower the blade to raise the track frame.. this way is harder to reconnect..

call me if you need to as I can talk better then I can type.. goodluck Mark from Vermont