Track pins

[Blademaster]

Good Day Gentlemen
Today's issue is I had a pin fall out of my tractor and can't figure out where it came from. Its 5 1/2" x 2" and has a 3/4" hole towards the and and it threaded on the end. The end that's threaded still has yellow paint on it, I've been under it but can't find a hole anywhere. Weird sidenote. I park in the exact same spot every day in winter so I'm close to the power pole to plug in. The last time I plowed, I got off the tractor and walked around it to check for new leaks or anything missing and this pin was lying just inside the right track. I checked the track bolts on both sides but can't find one missing. Aside from the yellow paint on the end the pin is shiny less a streak of rust a half in wide the length of the pin. If I were smarter I would have taken a picture and posted it on here.

[Jim B]

I doubt it is a track pin, or you would be asking how to get the track back on and connected and your description doesn't match a track pin.

I would be carefully looking at the blade system (you have a dozer, correct?) and the drawbar area for the type of pin you described.

[Blademaster]

Thanks Jim. I'm gonna dig a pit tomorrow so I can walk under it, ya know like them fancy pits rich folks have, just without the fancy lighting and rolling collection bin, or concrete walls and go over every inch of my old girl til I get this sorted out. Running it around the yard, turning left and right, I have not found any problems. I even held it up to my track pins to see if my eyes were deceiving me and they were not. I've googled about every configuration of bolted removable pins for this tractor. I spent 2 hrs on the phone with JD parts dept and it was an older guy like me who knows a little about "vintage" equip and I sent him a picture of the pin on his cell phone and he did not have a clue. I even called a couple good ole boys that are master mechanics for pipeline company's I work for and they couldn't think of anywhere this pin came from. I consider it a blessing that the damn thing was where I found it. We had 449 1/2 inches of snow last year and I'm grateful it fell out where it did.

[Jim B]

Be very careful of getting down into an un-shored pit, with or without a crawler straddling it. A soil slip could be fatal.

[LeonardL]

It would help if we knew what machine you have?

[Blademaster]

I'm sorry. It's a 450C crawler dozer.

[Blademaster]

Be very careful of getting down into an un-shored pit, with or without a crawler straddling it. A soil slip could be fatal.

So Jim, it turns out this pin is from the lower part of the draw works on the right hand side. I think Ill jack that arm up and drive it in with mash hammer and put a new keeper bolt in there and get that part fixed and the new fan should be here Tuesday. Hopefully I don't have to put the fan on in the snow that's coming Wednesday. Thanks Jim

[Jim B]

Thanks for the follow up, it may help someone in the future. Glad you found it.

[Blademaster]

So it is that the bottom pin on the right skewed my whole dozer. I spun the blade around to center and picked it up with the loader til I got the pin back in and bolted up. Looking at the tractor from the front and everything was just "off" to the right. I loosened the big bolts on the frame rails that hold the front end on and worked everything with the loader til the radiator and shroud looked straight. Then took the top radiator hose off and tied off to the top. Fan slid straight in with minimal effort. I got it bolted in and spun it about a dozen times and had a half in of space all the way around.
So it turns out the front end was separating from the frame and was tilting forward. We got everything to line up right and tightened all bolts up. I cut a piece of 1/4 in x 1" steel and bolted the front end to the existing hole in the frame in front and to the rhs of the air filter. I got the belt on and tight and ran for 10min, 20min and checked everything and then put her to work for an hour or so and kept checking alignment and belt tension. All was good and we are working for the season. Thanks for all advice, especially from Jim.

[boaterri]

Rather than dig a pit and drive the machine over it, I lay 2 8x8 timbers in front of each track and drive the machine up on them. Plenty stable and enough room to crawl under and do maintenance.