350 crossbar

polaris700x · Post by **polaris700x** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 4:51 am

Recently purchased a straight 350(I think), overall in pretty good shape with the exception of the crossbar, where it attatches to the track frame is pretty rough. I'm wondering what my options are for repairing it, short of replacing the crossbar itself.

What are the drawbacks of welding the tracks frames to the crossbar? Thanks in advance.

K LeClair · Post by **K LeClair** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:08 am

Don't weld the crossbar to the track frames.Instead,take the crossbar out and have it welded up.Then turned down to spec.

wwattson · Post by **wwattson** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 8:22 am

Might be easier to find a good used replacement than trying to fix the old one. I sure wouldn't weld it to the track frames.

OneWelder · Post by **OneWelder** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:40 pm

Don't bother taking crossbar out- Get a competent welder to build up in place, then grind it smooth and round- really not a bad job.
BUT You must also build up the hole in track frame, and that is A whole lot more Tedious to get done right.

K LeClair · Post by **K LeClair** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:01 am

One Welder,
I'm just currious how you can weld up the crossbar,grind it smooth and also build up the track frame hole without takeing the bar out

???

polaris700x · Post by **polaris700x** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:14 am

Thanks for the replies...I should have specified the front crossbar in my original post, my bad. There are 4 holes in the top, and two on the sides where it bolts to the track frames. Someone has attempted to repair before using washers welded to the bolt heads, I have removed that mess, and removed the broken bolts, Just need to rebuild the areas that hold the bushings/bolts. One side was welded to the track frame at some point but the weld broke, just curious if there was a way to strengthen this area up.

OneWelder · Post by **OneWelder** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:53 pm

I assumed he was talking about the rear crossbar. It is not uncommon for high mileage machines to wear the ft. and bottom of the bar, where the track frame meets the bar. The holes in the track frame get larger, the bar gets smaller, and the track frames walk around- resulting in problems with the ft. crosmember bolts staying tight or breaking- it also will cause bottom alignment problems, depending on much wear. To answer your question Study the wear on both bar and frame- to get track frame alignment correct.- the track frames get spread apart in the ft.
To build up the bar in place- drop the track frames, overbuild bar with 7018 grind smooth & check with straight edge. (after you do a few its almost by eye)
Track frame holes can be built up with MIG - they must be located and sized (a large socket the size of bar, can be used as go no go Gage)
As crude as it is, 4 & 5 inch grinders, with worn stones can bring the hole back to almost perfect- that is the tedious part

CatD8RII · Post by **CatD8RII** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:26 pm

Hi
Im pretty sure that the later 350As (i know for a fact the Bs and Cs do) started to use a "bushing" to bolt the front crossmember. The bolts hold the bushings to the track frames, the holes in the crossbar are supposed to be slightly bigger than the OD of the bushing this in turn allowed the front member to move a small ammount instead of holding it rigidly to the track frame. One welder is right that the rear bar needs to be in good shape or else youll end up breaking whatever is in the front. Whatever you do dont weld the front bar to the frame, if youre lucky the weld will break, but if its a strong weld youll break the crossbar

Dont know what shape your holes are in but the bushings are still availible from deere.

polaris700x · Post by **polaris700x** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:15 am

CatD8RII wrote:Hi
Im pretty sure that the later 350As (i know for a fact the Bs and Cs do) started to use a "bushing" to bolt the front crossmember. The bolts hold the bushings to the track frames, the holes in the crossbar are supposed to be slightly bigger than the OD of the bushing this in turn allowed the front member to move a small ammount instead of holding it rigidly to the track frame. One welder is right that the rear bar needs to be in good shape or else youll end up breaking whatever is in the front. Whatever you do dont weld the front bar to the frame, if youre lucky the weld will break, but if its a strong weld youll break the crossbar Dont know what shape your holes are in but the bushings are still availible from deere.

The rear crossbar is in real good shape. The front crossbar is currently welded to the dozer frame, the holes where the bushings go on the track frame end are questionable, some are in real good shape, some are torn up badly.
I have purchased the replacement bushings/bolts from Deere

I guess I won't be welding the crossbar to the track frames.

K LeClair · Post by **K LeClair** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 8:38 am

OneWelder,
I have taken the crossbar out without much problems.When you said weld it in place,I was thinking that you were leaving track frame and bar in???Thats what I didn't understand.

polaris700x · Post by **polaris700x** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 6:53 pm

That is what my intentions were , I hoped to be able to rebuild the bushing/bolt holes while it was still in the machine. The crossbar has been welded to the dozer frame, there are 4 beads per side(that I can see), I just didn't want to remove it if I didn't have to.
My original question of welding the crossbar to the track frames has returned a unanimous NO!.... So I guess I'll not do that.
Certainly appreciate the help.

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