Komatsu D20A-6 ?

[GuglioLS]

This is how they look installed:



They look much better now:



Last one:



Thanks for checking this out,

Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

Track Roller Replacement:
After acquiring the Dozer, I ordered and received a set of shop manuals, I went over every square inch of the machine to check wear limits.

Overall it's in excellent condition. The only things that are warn past their limits are the track rollers. I did quite a bit of searching for the lowest price on replacement parts, and found new OEM Rollers from someone that wanted to get rid of them. The price fit what I was willing to pay. I think the price was near or below cost, so I felt they were a bargain.

Here is an overall picture of what needs to be replaced. (Click on the thumbnail pictures for a full size image)


I figured that if the rollers are replaced now, the life of the track links will be greatly extended, thus reducing overall maintenance costs. A little preventive maintenance now will save big time in the long run.

This is a close up of the top track rollers, they will be real easy to replace:



The track links are like new - don't let a little surface rust & over painted chipped paint fool you. They are well within the wear limits, and the link bushings? (the part that is driven by the sprocket) show no signs of wear.



A picture of one bottom roller near the drive sprocket. The Drive sprocket is also in great condition:



Rob (3RRL) and his lovely wife Loretta, came to visit Esther and I. We flew the two of them out here, first because they are my friends and second in appreciation for Rob making me the gear box for my back blade project. Rob & I speak live on a regular basis. I mentioned to him what I was up to with the dozer and he graciously offered to help me replace them during their visit. It's not often that superman comes to visit you, so I better take full advantage of his Power, knowledge, and skills - Rob will be lifting the Dozer off the ground while I replace the rollers.


Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

Here are a couple of pictures of Rob helping me remove the old track rollers. First we had to get the dozer completely off the ground. Using the hydraulics, I lifted the front blade off the ground to make the Dozer front heavy, then we used a 3 ton floor jack to lift up the rear of the dozer. After blocking up the rear with 6X8 blocks. Rob started to remove the outside rear rock guards so that we could remove the rear track rollers. Some of the bolts were frozen so we used a torch to heat them up for removal.



After getting the rear tilted up and blocked, Rob lifted up the front of the Dozer with one hand - he didn't even break a sweat.




Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

What we really did to lift the Dozer, was use the front blade hydraulics, By lowering the blade, we were able to lift the dozer completely off the ground. After getting the front of the dozer up in the air we blocked up the front, then lowered the blade again for extra safety. It went pretty smooth and exactly accordingly to plan.

We placed a couple of sheets of plywood under the dozer for better working conditions:



This is Rob replacing one of the top rollers:



Rob & I worked together as a Dozer mechanic team. I crawled under the Dozer (in the cool shade) while Rob worked out in the hot sun.

In order to remove the rollers, the track tension had to be relieved, we did that by loosening a nut that lets grease out of a cylinder. That cylinder pushes against an idler pulley holding the tracks tight. When we got the tracks loosened up we were able to remove all the bolts and track rollers.

Rob really busted his butt helping me get the rollers replaced. He held the new rollers into position while I started the threads of the bolts. Together we tightened them up. I could not have done this without his help - it was a two man project for sure and I am so thankful he was there to help me out.

Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

While Rob and I were hard at work on the Dozer, Loretta and Esther were hanging out sitting on the FEL bucket of my tractor "Goldie". They were really yucking it up having a great time.



After we finished with the track rollers, Rob took the Dozer out for a test drive:



I think Rob has more photos of this project, and I am hoping he posts them along with his version of what it took to get this done. He always tells an interesting story.

Larry

 

[3RRL]

Indeed I have more pictures.
We had such a great time at Larry's place that Loretta and I spent the first minutes loading up the pictures and going over each one as soon as we got home. There are many we have from the 6 day 5 night all expenses paid vacation at Larry and Esther's place. I will start by adding to Larry's thread of working on his bulldozer. Man, is that thing ever neat! It has so much power and is a blast to drive. Here are some photos where Larry left off.

Larry let me do the easy part while he did the hard part from under the crawler. Look closely in the shade and you will see Larry.



Larry had everything laid out for the replacement of the rollers. Those suckers are heavy at about 35 lbs each. But first was to get them all off, once he had jacked up the dozer. It was very solid on the 6 x 12 posts he made to hold it up.

 

[3RRL]

These are some really neat pictures I got of Larry.
While I was screwing around trying to take the bolts off, Larry had to heat some up to get the stubborn ones out. Then he crawled underneath to make room for the rear rollers to come out. He had to use his cutting torch to remove about 1/4" from the interior rock guards just so his bolts could come out. Wrenching from the outside was a lot easier than from underneath where Larry was working.



Here he is starting to cut some of the metal away to get 2 bolts out. You'd think it would be easier than this, but it was needed.



A closer view of Larry cutting under the crawler's belly.



It was about 90° that day but very hot in the brilliant Sun. I could tell Larry had no concept of what a vacation should be like. He does this on a regular basis at his place. Larry and Esther live about 12 miles from the nearest highway in a secluded Meadow surrounded by Pinion and Juniper trees. He has to monitor everything himself from water, toilets, electricity ... you name it....and that was AFTER he built it all himself.

I knew better than to leave my work clothes at home. I'm surprised I only lost about 12 pounds. Of course I made it up every night with a huge dinner and snacks after that. Sorry about leaving your pantry kinda bare Larry.

 

[3RRL]

OK so now you can see that the rollers are almost off and we are making progress.
Look again closely. Under the dozer in the shadow is Larry getting all the inside bolts loose. Just 2 more rollers on the bottom to get off now. Whew, what a job!



We still needed to get the top rollers off too. But this was a lot easier than the bottoms.

 

[3RRL]

This is when we were still installing the bottom rollers. Larry was under the crawler and I on the outside. The two of us would hold the roller in place while while trying to get the bolts started.
- Add lock washer and washer to each bolt.
- Add LockTite to each bolt.
- Hold and lift the roller into position.
- Try to start each bolt
- Larry wrenches from the inside while I wrench from the outside.
- Then torque the bolts to about a billion pounds.



It went surprisingly good once we got all the bolts wire-wheeled and clean. Here are all the rollers installed, top and bottom.
The tracks are ready to be greased, which tightens them onto the rollers. I am impressed with the knowledge Larry has of working on, maintaining and operating his bulldozer.



Here is Larry going over every bolt with his super torque cheater bar to be sure all the bolts were tight.



The work was pretty hard for an old guy like me, so we took smoke breaks about every 15 or 20 minutes and to cool off in the shade.
I told Larry, "Man, all this hard work and exercise is bad for my smoking"

 

[3RRL]

I knew to keep my mouth shut if I ever wanted to drive that dozer, so I did my best to keep the smart *** remarks to a minimum. And it paid off.
Larry finally let me drive the dozer around. It is way cool!



And he even let Loretta drive the bulldozer. She enjoyed this very much.



After driving the bulldozer and seeing what it can do herself. Loretta might have a different point of view about getting one for ourselves?
OK...NOT.
In postings to follow, I will show some photos of the road work Larry did on that thing. I'll put a link to that thread in here and also a link to the rest of the vacation we had at Larry's house (as soon as I start those threads).
Anyway, it was great to see the new rollers on the dozer ready for a grueling workout later.
I'll post more through the week but I have to soak in some Epsom salt right now and change the bandages from my vacation.