Beepbeep Posted September 12, 2021 Share Posted September 12, 2021 Hi all, I joined the forum a year ago with the intention of buying a Weasel and sure enough one came up in March this year, a 1945 M29C with all the floater gear removed. I’m in the UK and the Weasel was in Norway. I’ve bought vehicles in the US and France in the past but buying during a pandemic was a learning curve and the deal was done with only photos, videos and phone calls. Shipping was the hardest part but back in June I travelled to Immingham docks to pick the Weasel up and bring it home. I was so relieved to find it was even better than described, very original (I think) and not messed about. The seller had said it needed new tracks and after re-commissioning (it’s been in storage for 20+ years) I finally drove it last weekend. The good news is that it moves ok in a straight line but any attempt at turning either way made the left track jump the sprocket teeth. Observations and thoughts are as follows, any advice would be greatly appreciated. The teeth on the left sprockets are very worn. I’m told that building them up with weld isn’t possible as they’re hardened. I’ve found new sets online from Accu-rite Machine in California and have read a couple of good reports on them on this forum. Anyone had any experience of them either good or bad? The tracks themselves seem in reasonable condition apart from one cracked groused. They have 55 grousers and have been rebuilt at some time with Norwegian inner bands and this bracket and link arrangement replacing the outer bands The tracks lack tension and the adjustment stops are fully at the bottom of their travel so there’s no adjustment left. The tensioning spring looks to have some arching in it but does anyone have the correct spec and would re-arching help get more adjustment? The rubber on the idler wheels, drive wheels and support wheels is damaged in places and varies in thickness between 1/16” and an 1/8”. The worst one is shown below, the rubber is level with the metal rim. Does anyone know the correct thickness and am I right in thinking having the correct thickness rubber on would gain me a bit more tension in the tracks? Three of the bogie wheels on the right side are odd with a much bigger offset than the others. Are they post war manufacture or off something else? TIA Chris 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42rocker Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 (edited) Sounds like you are off to a great start. Good Luck with the sockets. My Weasel tracks are in several piles, that's more than 4 piles of broken apart track sections. Thanks for your picture share. Stay Safe Everyone. Later 42rocker Edited September 17, 2021 by 42rocker spellllling 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Browning Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 Ive bought sprockets from the guy in California and had no issues with them. That will probably help your problem. Your tracks have probably stretched beyond the range of the tensioner. You’ve got a great project to start with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M29 Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 Your track bands look like new Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beepbeep Posted September 13, 2021 Author Share Posted September 13, 2021 6 minutes ago, M29 said: Your track bands look like new I don’t know the history of it but it was first registered in Norway in 1997 and I’m assuming it was painted and marked up at that point, whether the tracks were rebuilt then or by the Norwegian Army previous to that I don’t know but the bands are Norwegian. The seller bought it two years ago and told me it had been in storage for 20 years previous to that so it’s done very little, there’s only 2,850 miles on the clock. When I re-commissioned it I was amazed to find a Fram military oil filter in it, AC plugs and Autolite points etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZM29C Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 @Beepbeep Your sprocket teeth look decidedly worn. I have got a drawing somewhere at home that shows the correct tooth profile but as a comparison, attached is a photo of my LAR sprockets and you can see the difference in the teeth when compared to yours. Unfortunately LAR don't make this sprocket any more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beepbeep Posted September 15, 2021 Author Share Posted September 15, 2021 3 hours ago, OZM29C said: @Beepbeep Your sprocket teeth look decidedly worn. I have got a drawing somewhere at home that shows the correct tooth profile but as a comparison, attached is a photo of my LAR sprockets and you can see the difference in the teeth when compared to yours. Unfortunately LAR don't make this sprocket any more. Seeing those shows just how worn my sprockets are, thanks for that. I’ve ordered a set from Accu-rite Machine works in California so hopefully that’ll be the first step in rectifying my problem. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42rocker Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 Beepbeep Please let us know how the sprockets are from Accu-rite Machine works in California. Good Luck Later 42rocker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beepbeep Posted September 15, 2021 Author Share Posted September 15, 2021 32 minutes ago, 42rocker said: Beepbeep Please let us know how the sprockets are from Accu-rite Machine works in California. Good Luck Later 42rocker Will do rocker, they’re off to a good start I was messaged yesterday to say the sprockets will be shipped this week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beepbeep Posted September 26, 2021 Author Share Posted September 26, 2021 On 9/15/2021 at 6:38 AM, OZM29C said: @Beepbeep Your sprocket teeth look decidedly worn. I have got a drawing somewhere at home that shows the correct tooth profile but as a comparison, attached is a photo of my LAR sprockets and you can see the difference in the teeth when compared to yours. Unfortunately LAR don't make this sprocket any more. @OZM29C I see you've bolted your sprockets and drive wheels, did you use countersunk socket head screws on the sprocket side? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZM29C Posted September 26, 2021 Share Posted September 26, 2021 9 hours ago, Beepbeep said: @OZM29C I see you've bolted your sprockets and drive wheels, did you use countersunk socket head screws on the sprocket side? @BeepbeepI did indeed. Then I dressed the heads of CS bolts so they were flush with the guide plate. This prevents the hardened CS bolt heads chewing into the track guides. Attached are some photos for you to study. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beepbeep Posted September 27, 2021 Author Share Posted September 27, 2021 @OZM29C thanks for that, very helpful. One last question, your wheel looks as though it's been re-rubbered, something else I need to get done. Did you do it yourself or farm it out and what thickness rubber is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZM29C Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 12 hours ago, Beepbeep said: @OZM29C thanks for that, very helpful. One last question, your wheel looks as though it's been re-rubbered, something else I need to get done. Did you do it yourself or farm it out and what thickness rubber is it? @BeepbeepNOS😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beepbeep Posted September 28, 2021 Author Share Posted September 28, 2021 22 hours ago, OZM29C said: @BeepbeepNOS😄 Ah you lucky man! could you tell me what thickness the rubber is? I haven't been able to find that info anywhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZM29C Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 On 9/29/2021 at 4:48 AM, Beepbeep said: Ah you lucky man! could you tell me what thickness the rubber is? I haven't been able to find that info anywhere @BeepbeepMy idler wheels and sprocket drive wheels came from Norway and after measuring the rubber tyre thickness I believe that the wheels may have been reconditioned in Norway post WW2 as opposed to being NOS. Anyway all rubber tyres are 5mm thick. Hope this helps👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beepbeep Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 @OZM29C thanks very much for that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthorse 31 Posted November 14, 2021 Share Posted November 14, 2021 On 9/15/2021 at 3:08 AM, Beepbeep said: Seeing those shows just how worn my sprockets are, thanks for that. I’ve ordered a set from Accu-rite Machine works in California so hopefully that’ll be the first step in rectifying my problem. Thanks again Does anyone have a web address or phone number for Accu-rite machine in California? I looked on the internet and can't find what looks right for them. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beepbeep Posted November 14, 2021 Author Share Posted November 14, 2021 51 minutes ago, Lighthorse 31 said: Does anyone have a web address or phone number for Accu-rite machine in California? I looked on the internet and can't find what looks right for them. Mark Hi Mark, they don’t appear to have a website, phone number is 559-292-6933. I bought my sprockets from them through eBay Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tipton Posted November 15, 2021 Share Posted November 15, 2021 I just received a new set of sprockets from them too - assuming it is Accu-rite - bought them off of Ebay. I am working on the wheels but should be in a position to get them back on the M29 and test them next week. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beepbeep Posted November 15, 2021 Author Share Posted November 15, 2021 @Patrick Tipton let us know how you get on, I’ve just split the wheels from the old sprockets so a little way behind you 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthorse 31 Posted November 15, 2021 Share Posted November 15, 2021 18 hours ago, Beepbeep said: Hi Mark, they don’t appear to have a website, phone number is 559-292-6933. I bought my sprockets from them through eBay Chris Thanks Chris! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomek Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 Hello, I'm new here. I have installed gears bought on ebay, I enclose a photo of these wheels after driving about 200 km, the teeth in them are made of two elements welded together. Now I have temporarily fixed some of them with a welding machine and I am working on making new ones. Greetings Tomek 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beepbeep Posted April 2, 2022 Author Share Posted April 2, 2022 5 hours ago, Tomek said: Hello, I'm new here. I have installed gears bought on ebay, I enclose a photo of these wheels after driving about 200 km, the teeth in them are made of two elements welded together. Now I have temporarily fixed some of them with a welding machine and I am working on making new ones. Greetings Tomek Hi Tomek, thanks for your post. I bought the sprockets on eBay but haven't fitted them yet. I've got to say yours look really worn for having only done 200 km, I asked a local machine shop about hardening when I bought them and they advised against it, guess I'll go back and see them 😞 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomek Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 Hello. Hardening is not the best solution - the gears cannot be too hard because then the tracks will wear out and they are more difficult to repair. I have to have a proper hardness check of the gears and track plates to choose the right hardness of the new gears 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tipton Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 Tomek - welcome! I bought the same sprocket set and they are wearing pretty quickly. I look forward to seeing how your repair works out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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