Kcanarr Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Good evening, I recently replaced the rubber bands on my spare set of tracks and in the process of reinstalling the track on the rig. I was able to get the old track off mainly because it was 3/4 of the way broke already. I have the two brackets off the side of the haul and the front pulley loosened up. I can’t get the new track on, it appears that leaf springs have to be compressed in order to slide the track past the boggie wheels. I don’t see how that’s possible to do with a bottle jack because the track would get in the way. Anybody have any suggestions? Iv thought about splitting the track again and then using a few straps to suck the track back together and bolt it back one the track is on. thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZM29C Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 @KcanarrThe TM recommends to remove the outer front idler wheel. Try that and see how you go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kcanarr Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 Okay awesome thanks! I’ll try that tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kcanarr Posted January 4, 2021 Author Share Posted January 4, 2021 Alright so I took that wheel off and the track made it on. What’s the best way to get the front leaf spring drop and under the adjustable brackets to set the tension? Right now it’s setting quite a bit higher then the backers even bolt on. I can pull down on it but it appears that I may need some sort of pry bar on it. Is that normal? thanks again for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZM29C Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 @KcanarrYou will need to beg, borrow or steal 😀 a Weasel special tool (Highlighted below) to either make a copy from or to use to tension your tracks. It would be nice to have a track jack to go with it as well but I ended up making a tensioning device out of somescrap heavy duty threaded rod. The spring tensioning bracket is really the only way to easily tension your tracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kcanarr Posted January 6, 2021 Author Share Posted January 6, 2021 Thanks! Do you have a photo of one that you use? I ended up getting it tight but I don’t think it was done the easiest way possible. Just working with what I had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kcanarr Posted January 6, 2021 Author Share Posted January 6, 2021 Well. I got the track tightened down. Worked well. Went to go test drive it and it appears that after rolling forward a few feet the rear drive stokers start to have a hard time engaging into the grousers. If I back the machine up to where it was setting originally then the teeth go back where they should. The spacing on the grousers is the same throughout the whole machine so I can’t figure out what would be causing this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZM29C Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 @KcanarrRegrettably I am not an expert on tracks. I bit the bullet and purchased a set of LAR tracks to avoid the kind of problems that you are having. Having said that, put simply, there are 55 and 56 Grouser tracks. They in turn have different track pitches. Each type of track has a matching specific diameter drive wheel (what the sprocket is attached to). I am not sure what the diameters are so I would hope that other could add to this post. This topic was discussed at length on the old weasel forum so I would hope that perhaps @Byronwould have kept copies of this information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.R.H. Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 (edited) K, a few questions for you. Are the nuts interfering with the drive sprocket and front idler wheels? What thickness conveyor belt did you use on the inside? When I rebuilt one of my tracks last year, I could see that there would be a potential problem the the heads of the bolts I was going to use interfering with the Drive and Idler wheels. I used "T-Nuts" for my inner fasteners and 7/8" thickness conveyor belt. I measured the original inner belt thickness to be 1". Fixing you problem may be just as easy as doing what I did. See my photo below. Dave. Edited February 14, 2021 by D.R.H. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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