A quick fix for my 350b worn out track?

[Scottyb]

My neighbor walked by the other day and was excited to see my 350b in the driveway. on quick inspection he remarked that he had grown up operating these very machines and pointed out correctly that my chains were nearly worn out and the rollers were hitting on the pin shoulders. He said back then when they were worn like mine they took the cutting torch and cut off a half inch or so off of the sides of each roller and they were good to go for a very long time. Anyone ever tried this? could it be that simple? Scottyb

[JWB Contracting]

Well, my question for you is how many trouble free hours are you planning on putting on this machine? I think you have a few choices depending on how much you plan on using it.

1. Not much usage - keeping running it it the way it is. If you have rock guards you can basically keeping running it until the links break or fall off. Consider cutting a link out of the tracks if your track chains are stretched. This is a little tougher without rock guards as you will have to run your tracks extremely tight. You will pay in the end either buy having to do a complete undercarriage rebuilt at some point or sell the machine at a very discounted value. I picked up a running and working 450B loader which was run like this yesterday. Basically 0 undercarriage, price was $1,750. Both idlers were welded solid, most pads were ripped off, rails serverly stretched/worn. The base machine is nice put the previous owner did not want to spend the money for new or good set of rails, pads and track tigheners, plus the labour to install.

2. Replace the worn parts. What is the rest of your undercarriage like? If the idlers and rollers are good it would not make sense to cut them and would be better to put on a new or good used set of rails. Rollers are sometimes difficult to replace, especially if you have rock guards and twist a few bolts off. We always remove the entire track frame and flip it upside down to work on. I would go this route. Fix it up good and you will have many hours of trouble free use.

[LeonardL]

In most cases a "Quick Fix" is never really a true fix. You are only prolonging the real fix to the problem. If you cut the flanges off of your rollers, you may very well be ruining a set of good rollers. One would have to inspect them to be sure.
I would assume from your description that these rollers are probably ready to be changed along with the rest of the undercarriage. Usually the rollers will be worn as much as the track rails are. At best, you can wear out two sets of rails for one set one rollers. It depends on the conditions your running in but it sounds like these rollers have been banging the bosses for a while.
I would take Jasons advice and fix the machine right. It will most likely last you a life time of personal use if you go ahead and replace the undercarriage. This is the only real fix for your problem.
By cutting the flanges off you increase the possibility of running a track off and possibly damaging other things in the process. Cutting corners is usually a bad thing. Go for the good fix.

[Scottyb]

Thanks Jason and Leonard for your nudging me to do the right thing. I think I have a pretty decent crawler that is worth the effort to fix it right. It sure would be nice if I could get one hundred or so hours of forest work out of it before I started the undercarriage work. Cleaning up after a Tornado and I have used up most of my shop time for this winter. I did some digging this fall and worked it hard for about 6 hrs. Everything seems good to go except the rails are hitting the bosses. I read in a old forum that banging the bosses could cause other problems in the drive line. Now i'm worried about driving it for that reason.
Since I bought it this summer I have removed and tested the rad and it is good, replaced all the rad hoses and pressed seals and bearings into the water pump, fixed the seized Hydraulic pump drive shaft and disconnect, adjusted the steering clutches and brakes, replaced the main rigid hydraulic line with a hose, ( it leaked and had been welded several times from rubbing on the frame), replaced the lights and some wiring, adjusted the tracks, changed the temp. sender, all the fluids and filters, purchased the operator, parts, and tech manuals, read the tech manual at least once, have the missing parts for either starting fluid adapter to install(starts nice at -20c with a little either in the intake) and read a lot of the library of forums on this messageboard.
I just want to get out there and play!
So I guess the quick fix just sounded too good.
About my undercarriage, the sprockets are good, the pads are three grouser loader pads and not much traction in the snow, but the grousers are above the bolt heads and none are bent broken or missing. I measured the rails and they are down to 10% left or so. The rollers all turn and look fine but I have not done a measure on them. The adjusters work fine and there is room on the frame to tighten them more when needed. I found the link for charts for measuring chain stretch and wear in a forum but so far nothing for measuring the rollers. The tech manual says I should get a measuring tool from JD but there must be another way. Please if you have a link, could someone send it to me. The pins look good too. I took one side of the rock guards off because of missing, loose, and broken bolts, I bought new bolts but was not going to put them back on just because I read about cleaning out the mud, and we have few rocks. But, now i'm not sure about that. Do they help keep the tracks on when they wear down?
Thanks guys for reading my ramble...
Scottyb in toontown

[LeonardL]

If your rollers are hitting the bosses of the links then they are worn to the point of needing to be replaced. I don't think I ever measured the wear on a roller. I'm sure there is a measurement out there some where. But when you have changed as many of these as I have, you get to the point where you can look at them and just know.
However, the way you describe the rest of the system it sounds to me like you could go ahead and do the work you need to do.
If you still have adjustment room on your adjusters and if your sprockets are good and your pins and bushings are okay, then another 100 hours isn't going to make that much difference. Especially where you are running in relative soft conditions. By soft I mean not hard and rocky.
Here in the Ozarks we have rocks bound together with a little bit of red clay and chert! It's like running in abrasive conditions constantly. Even in our good ground, it's still full of rocks. My point is, your conditions are key in what you can and can't do.
Watch your track adjustment and don't run your tracks too tight. It's better a little loose than too tight. You should be okay.
As for as your rock guards? There are so many different arguments out there both pro and con. Rock guards do very little to help keep your tracks on. Your front idlers, lower rollers and track tension carry that load. I have seen where a rock guard actually caused the track to come off. However in most cases the rock guards are a good thing to have in place. They do keep a lot of rocks and debris out of your tracks and rollers.
If you can throw a couple of pictures on here of your tracks, then maybe we can judge a little better.
It sounds like you have already accomplished a lot of good things on your machine. It also sounds like you are trying to do the right thing. That's great! So keep up the good work!