Dozer Blade for in the Woods

StxRancher · Sep 2, 2016

Great story! I just did my JD 450 too. I put 2 sprockets, 10 rollers, rebuilt both idler tensioners,and repainted u/c. It was definitely a lot of work. I had to use the torch to heat up several bolts on the rock guards.

TWD · Sep 11, 2016

Wow, that's a job (repair) I wouldn't tackle!! I am jealous of that dozer though!

cqaigy2 · Sep 11, 2016

Thanks for posting the pics and thorough explanation!

City Farmer · Sep 14, 2016

I don't know how I missed this thread. Good job Gordon!! You gave me a few pointers on what to look for on my dozer.... thanks, it helped a lot. I went and looked at an excavator and the track was shot. The salesman insisted there was 70% left, he got mad when I called him out. I feel bad for the poor guy that's going to walk into that mess. There's nothing worse than buying something and having to spend another $4k to rebuild an UC.

ovrszd · Sep 14, 2016

City Farmer said:
I don't know how I missed this thread. Good job Gordan!! You gave me a few pointers on what to look for on my dozer.... thanks, it helped a lot. I went and looked at an excavator and the track was shot. The salesman insisted there was 70% left, he got mad when I called him out. I feel bad for the poor guy that's going to walk into that mess. There's nothing worse than buying something and having to spend another $4k to rebuild an UC.

And that would be my problem if buying a track unit. I don't know how to determine it's condition.

City Farmer · Sep 14, 2016

ovrszd said:
And that would be my problem if buying a track unit. I don't know how to determine it's condition.

I don't wanna hijack Gordons thread but Look at his pictures. See how the chain bushings are wore through to the pins? Don't believe them when they tell you "just pull the pads off and rotate the bushings". It's not happening. For laughs, I put a 2' pipe wrench and a 4' pipe and couldn't rotate them. You'll see the wear groove in the bottom rollers, upper roller and idlers. Sharp tips on the sprocket. Look at the chain tightener cyl, if it's at the end of its stroke, bad UC. Look how far the idler is pushed forward, if it's close to the end.... Bad UC. My final drive is different than Gordons. The splines of my sprocket would move fwrd/rev a 1/2", almost everything was shot and had to be replaced. Look at the chain tensioner spring assembly for excessive rust, they're very expensive to replace and a pain to rebuild. Look at the tips of the shoes/pads, if they're worn down, there's a good chance the UC is bad too.

Gordon Gould · Sep 14, 2016

The best thing to do is bring someone with you that knows what they are looking at. I found a dozer that I thought I might want and then brought a equipment guy that knows dozers to look at it. But realize it is still a gamble and don't put a burden on him just get his opinion. There is so much you can't see. In my case I new the u/c was shot but there are a ton of other things that a well experienced guy can see or feel.

gg