Welding Track Pins

[crancreature]

My newly owned 440 has at least one pin which is too loose in the links to stay in, I've just replaced it with new pin which is still too loose --- I can easily tap it in with a framing hammer and it began to come out twice during a 500 yard drive from where I was working on it. I searched the archives and it doesn't sound too common, my plan was just to weld the pin to the link. Problem solved?

It started off with a broken link due to this pin I think, it perhaps wiggled out unbeknowst and must have caught something on the way around. I welded the link with multiple deep passes of 7018 rod, also the bushing came loose from this particular link set during handling and had to weld it in place as well. Apparently I have the opposite trouble of everyone who has so much trouble splitting their tracks, the darn thing just won't hold itself together. Just wondering if all this welding will work. The chains are otherwise in pretty nice shape except for loose pads.

I'm a new crawler owner, how much do should I worry about damaging track components from rocks, lots of loose basalt chips and traveling over rock where I'm at. I'm even wondering if I caused my problem somehow, I have found a second cracked link. I had an "episode" involving a very stuck fully loaded 1.5 ton truck, jd 440 to the rescue, the mud contained lots of burrito sized chips of rock which I'm sure were getting circulated thru there.

Greg

[Lavoy]

You can tack weld the ends of the pin, but if it is very loose in the link, it may loosen up again. If all else fails, you can weld it all the way around.
If you pads are loose, that can contribute to loose pins and broken links. The pads also hold the links in position, if they are loose, you lose some of this support, and it is more likely to get loose pins and bushings.
Lavoy

[Ray III]

Weld a small bar of metal across one end of the pin, put it in from behind, and weld another small bar on so it can't come out.

Small rocks in soft ground are fine to drive over, but I avoid driving on large rocks like the plague. You don't want the machine going over a hard protrusion that concentrates its full weight on the links between rollers, which will eventually break them.