broken bolts on jd 450

mike clifford · Sep 9, 2014

Hello I have a jd 450 straight dozer. while doing some maintenance on it I noticed two bolts missing/broken both on same side of what I believe is the bell housing. I can see them easy enough thru holes in the frame. The 2 on the other side are fine. I believe these have been this way for a while. Short of splitting the machine in 2 is there a way of removing them and replacing.There is not a lot of room around them.
Any help would be appreciated.

MC

Roy Suomi · Sep 9, 2014

Ah yes, One of my favorite jobs.... NOT... You will have to get very creative on some of these bolts.. I have a air angle drill , which allows me to get to different angles to start a center hole.. I use a wooden dowel with a drill hole in the center of it to guide the drill to the center of the broken bolt.. Start with a 1/4" drill [ very sharp ].. drill in about 5/8-3/4" with the 1/4" drill bit.. Then enlarge it to 1/2".. This should allow you to drive in an easy out to remove the broken piece.. Hopefully , the broken piece is still there and not just missing.. Usually the missing ones have buggered up threads.. If the side ones are missing/broken , then the bottom ones are usually the same.. Happy drilling.. Removing the top roller bracket from the track frame sometimes gives some more clearance with a cable come-a-long to lift the track up.. That is if those bolts will come out..

2x4 · Sep 10, 2014

neighbor had the same trouble with his 450. He drilled out the holes & put 1 inch Catapiller bolts in it.

smallercrawler · Sep 10, 2014

mike, Lavoy or others at jdcrawlers.com may also have some insight into "tricks" to fix this problem.

mike clifford · Sep 10, 2014

Thanks for the advice. It appears it is just the top 2 side by side bolts. Roy, funny you mention the wood dowel I was thinking cutting a 3/4" hole saw plug it is about 5/8 on the inside and the mandrill makes a centre hole at the same time. "If only dozers were made with wood"
Good tip on the roller, I am going to try a flex bit on the drill and maybe add a angle air drill to my tool box. Do you think heat will help ?
tell me if I am crazy, here was my plan!
drill 1/8 hole thru bolts then 1/4" assuming bolts are not bottomed out spray in break away.
keep increasing drill size until I get real close to the threads then try a bolt extractor/heat?.
u cannot see in the hole so to get a straight in peek I gotta use a mirror ! All fun !!!

mike clifford · Sep 10, 2014

thanks I will check it out

mc

Roy Suomi · Sep 10, 2014

I'm a fool for Good , Expensive , long lasting air tools.. I've got a Snap-on 90 degree 3/8 air drill that I've used extensively for broken bolts.. Wouldn't be without it.. You can try heat but, it is hard on easy outs.. Ruins their temper..

mike clifford · Sep 11, 2014

Thanks Roy i will let you know how it goes
Its a weekend only thing.

MC

broken bolts on jd 450

mike clifford

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Roy Suomi

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2x4

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smallercrawler

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mike clifford

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mike clifford

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Roy Suomi

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mike clifford

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