T340 - pics and track gauge question

Hello there,

I finally got the T340 home. Here are a few pics.

Besides the rusty paint, the machine is in good
mechanical condition; the undercarriage looks
pretty good to me.

I would like to check the undercarriage; in my
service manual, it shows pictures of a track gauge
tool; would anyone happen to know the part #, or
have one? It would be nice to have in the tool
box.

I could use 2 more scarifier teeth for the Drott;
anyone know a part #? I do not yet have a parts
list for the 4-In-1 loader.

Also, previous owner greased, not oiled, the
rollers; I will take them all off over the winter,
and the service manual states to use oil, but have
any of you had better or equivalent results using
grease? I assume they use oil because of the oil
impregnated bronze bushings in the rollers. I
appreciate any thoughts.

Other than a total fluid change (note the moisture saturated oil in pans under the crawler - no rust inside, thank fully)and some greasing,
I hope to use it next week to clean out the silage
mess around my silo; should be a good time!

Thanks for looking!
a173469.jpg

a173470.jpg

a173471.jpg

a173472.jpg

a173473.jpg
 
If you have leaks in the seals of the rollers you can use cornhead grease in them, we rebuilt all of our rollers on our Oliver OC46, and use cornhead grease in them from time to time. Lots of lubrication quality's in cornhead grease and it doesn't harm the bronze/brass bushings. As for the gauge for tracks I can't help on that, but maybe on the IH redpower forum they would know of or have one. Looks like if they have one, someone might cut out a pattern (metal) or cardboard and send it to you, then you could make your own gauge from metal from the pattern.
Hope this helps, and nice looking crawler/dozer.
LOU
 
You have no track worries for a long time,those chains pads and sprockets look good,though the one in the picture is on the wrong way around,its got the male link coming over the sprocket,it should be the female,keep an eye on ebay for a track gauge,for now if you measure across four links that's from center to center of five pins,stick a piece of wood in the sprocket and reverse a bit to stretch the track,new would be 610mm, 25% worn 613mm, 50% worn 616mm, 75% worn 619mm, 100% worn 623mm,you should inquire about the availability of the roller seals etc before disturbing them,the cornhead grease Lou mentioned works ok,keep an eye on them for leakage,good luck.
AJ
 
I think your track looks very good. overall it does look pretty good. You do need to pay close attention on the track adjustment and rollers. I would say buy the looks of the rear sprocket the track is to tight. Theres still a lot of life left in the sprockets for around house/farm use. It seems as though it common for people to tighten there tracks to much. feel the pins on the track and see if you can feel a flat spot or are the still good and round. check your final drives and make sure there full of oil. I think you have a nice little crawler there and if you adjust and maintain it like the manual say it will last you a long time. good luck on your find. norm in missouri
 
I'm glad you posted the photo out of the book, it could be very helpful to another reader in regards to measuring undercarriage wear.

The track gauge is a simple tool that easily allows you to determine what the real percentage of wear is on each component and it allows you to see the difference.

I would look on ebay, years ago I found one for my Caterpillar D7. Previously, another member of the ACMOC forum, used an OEM track gauge for a pattern and made a few in his spare time, I bought one of those from him and tossed in a little extra "beer money" being thankful as they don't seem to be listed that often.

With all the questions asked about undercarriage condition here and on other forums, its really odd that this kind of gauge or tool has not been reproduced. It has to be the easiest and quickest way to determine how worn an undercarriage is.

I'd double check for what the book calls for on the track rollers. Caterpillar called for 2 things to lube their track rollers, the first being track roller grease. I believe Chevron Multifak is still available and is a 0 or 00 grade made for the purpose.

The other thing was an Alemite volume pump, a device that holds the roller grease, a stringy/tacky chains saw bar oil kind of lube. The rollers have button head fittings, so you hook the end of the hose onto the fitting and pump the lube into the roller. The volume pump does not create high pressure, the hose end has a relief valve on it.

I am not sure if the IH/Drott rollers are the same, similar or not, but if so, good to know about this. Some have adapted a hand pump grease gun to lube these rollers, only problem is that the pressure is high enough to rupture the roller seals, hence the volume pump.

The undercarriage on that tractor does appear to be good, the track adjustment left should back that up. The strange thing is that the leading edge of the track pad is backward in the photo, as has been mentioned. You have to wonder if there is any reason, did someone do this perhaps to replicate a pin an bushing turn. You see this every so often, that and someone taking a link out of the track chain to try and get more life out of the undercarriage. More a curiosity for me as to why.

The tractor looks like a nice set up, 4 in one bucket and scarifiers or multi shank ripper on the back. If its missing shanks, maybe salvage or having them made up would be a solution.
 
Those bottom rollers have expensive spring loaded seals in them. 20 yrs ago when I attempted to rebuild my bottom rollers, new Berco brand rollers were cheaper than just the the seals. I adapted my top idler roller to gun grease and got it from the Deere construction dealer by me. Its "track Roller grease". Those chains look great and will run a long time for home use. I have a 340 Drott loader that I am going to Part out/scrap/ sell. I am going to keep the tractor portion but would sell the complete drott 4 in 1 off of it.
 
Thank you everyone for your thoughts; I appreciate
them.

I thought the tracks were on backwards when I went
to look at it, too. Being my first dozer, I was
unsure. I will measure the bushings, and see if
they are egg shaped/or wore. I wonder if the
previous owner goofed up putting them on.

This machine sat for a number of years outside.
Should I oil up the chain before use? It is going
to sit all weekend with the transmission/engine
oil drain plugs out, and I will fill it up with
oil on Monday night. I was thinking that I could
oil up the chains, let them sit over the weekend,
and then wash off the excess oil before I use the
machine in dirt. Any thoughts?

Thanks again!
 
I would advise to NOT oil track chains, for the reason being its highly likely even after you clean it, abrasives will stick in places you do not want such material.

The father of the owner of one outfit I worked for 25 years ago, jokingly asked me if he should oil the chains on the D3, as they were a little squeaky at times, "whaddaya think, probably should oil those right?" I knew better, he was a real good sort, lot of fun to work with. Made me get off the D3 and run the PC 300 excavator, so I would learn it, as I was good on the dozer, literally never ran an excavator before, and I learned from him, glad I did as it helped pay the bills for 5 years. Your question reminded me of him, within the last year I was talking with his son, he said dad is still working ! He's got to be 80 or better by now.

I've heard it mentioned that if the pins and bushings are stiff or seized, to run it in water, maybe a shallow creek bed, shallow pond with a hard bottom! Oil will likely not be a good idea due to what will stick to it, I believe it would accelerate U/C wear.
 
redroundhead,
The gauge you have shown were handy and easy to use but not sure the accuracy was that great. Later went to straight edge, tape and calipers.
Pictured, hope you can read them, are specs for your tracks using a caliper and tape.
Glad you had noticed the tracks being on backward. Some folks don't know there is a difference.
Hope you find your u/c satisfactory as it is hard to come by now.
Have fun with it.
Dennis



 
Lubriplate 5555 is also listed in my TD340A manual for the rollers, and it's what I use. There's a special nozzle that's easy to make to inject it in a way that pushes it into the back of the roller. Very similar to cornhead grease, just a very slight viscosity difference I believe. One scarifier tooth is about all I can pull with those loader tracks slipping, in gravelly soil with roots in it. The part number is an old Drott number; you may find it via Case.
 
Once again thank you for all of the replies and information on
this machine. I truly appreciate everyone's thoughts and
experiences.

It is amazing how hard it is to find information on the
undercarriage for this particular machine! Are the links an odd
size pitch or something? Do newer bulldozers all have
different pitches that vary by manufacturer?

Once again thanks very much!
 
Yes, I believe there are conversion/cross reference charts, but what you mention, it may have changed over the years, so older undercarriages may be long obsolete and no longer available, depends on the mfr and specific models.

One example is a Caterpillar D2, original U/C is not available OEM or aftermarket, just salvage, however you can convert to D3 U/C, but it involves some extra work. Years back someone posted this exact build on ACMOC. I just mention it as an example. Berco or another similar supplier may be able to determine if something is available, obsolete or there is a conversion. Other track type machines and or tractors may have the same or not. The details are beyond me, but I believe there are conversion charts out there some where to cross reference.

I know very little if anything about IH so don't mind me, in short you are correct though, its possible you may have a tractor with an uncommon U/C.
 
One of the problems with 6'' pitch u/c is that no one that I am aware of builds a crawler machine small enough to use it anymore.
Not enough demand for the after market folks to build it either.
There is more to it too than just what the pitch is, link width, bolt pattern, bolt size, bushing size etc.
I have a T6 which is 6'' pitch also and not available. At one time folks were putting TD7C u/c on the TD6's but the track frames had to be modified so the rollers would fit.
Hopefully yours is good enough to do what you want it to do.
Otherwise keep your eyes and ears open.
Dennis
 
Hello again;

I was able to play in the shop with the dozer this
evening, and do some measuring.

I am very happy.

Apparently the the whole track is/was new. As are
the front idlers. I did not have my large
micrometers and calipers at home, so I will
measure the rollers and idlers tomorrow.

It makes me wonder what the back story on this
machine was. I know the fellow that I purchased
it from bought it at an auction in Indiana, back
in the early 90's. He has not done any repair
work to it, so you wonder if it was a trade in, or
an estate piece; whoever had owned it put alot
into the U/C.

As a sign of what the guy did, he put slightly
wider grousers at the master links, so they are
easy to find. I wonder if he "upgraded" the
rollers to grease, and said to heck with those
expensive seals as well. I may take one apart
this winter, just to see.

All of the pins in the loader are nice and snug,
too. Not all hogged out. Hmmmmm.

I do not have a measurement for the sprockets; if
anyone would know what they should be, I would
appreciate it. I do not know if they check span
over teeth, or perform an over pin measurement.

As a side note, how many hours of service does a
person get out of an undercarriage? New or old
machines, I am just curious what the manufacturers
try to achieve.

Other things I did was to drain all the oil out of
the machine. I removed the rear pto delete cover,
and swamped out all of the crud from the watery
oil. No rust anywhere, and I felt the
differential "brakes" - don't know what to call
them - and they are nice and smooth, no scoring.
Everything looked good in there. No metal pieces, or piles of shavings.

I then replaced the filter and refilled with Hy-
Tran. I had taken all of the fitting off of the
loader valve bank, and disconnected the valve case
drain. I then started the engine, and cycled the
valves until clean fluid came out. I then hooked
the valve bank back up, and then did the same with
each cylinder. I got most of the old fluid,
anyway. It was a grand oily time!

Once again, thank you to all of you for your advice and opinions; it has helped tremendously!

Thanks for reading.
 
ReRoundHead,
That's good news on your u/c.
No measurement specs for sprockets that I know of, just a visual thing. Yours look good in photo.
Your rollers are, no doubt, replacements. If the rollers have a pipe plug in the shaft or in the roller itself best advise is to leave them alone if they roll good, not loose and not leaking. Theory is by opening them up causes more contaminants to enter and cause more damage than good. Current rollers are considered life time and the plugs are there for original fill.
But, they are yours so you can do what you want.
Important to turn you tracks around, they wear rapidly when run backward.
Enjoy your new toy.
Dennis
 
Your sprockets look good. A worn sprocket will have sharp points, from the pin/bushing riding up higher onto the tooth, and not at the base or root of the tooth like it should. This wear I believe is when you have stretch and or pin/bushing wear, and can be accelerated if let go. It's good practice to keep track of the wear on components as timely repair, may prevent accelerated wear, so if the pins/bushings needed to be turned, doing it when needed, will restore significant run time, and not accelerate wear to the other components. Rail height or links, say you get those worn to the point that the pin bosses are hitting roller flanges, which makes for a bumpy ride, the track could be split and the rails built up, probably one of the easier repairs, though some would lop off the roller flanges and run until destruction. Running the tracks too loose or too tight will also accelerate wear. Its wise to check and maintain correct track tension at all times.

As far as run time, it all depends, what kind of soil conditions, operator habits, and we know that running in reverse causes more wear than running forward.

Crawler loaders, when used for loading trucks, there is a lot of turning and backing up, you work off a pile or bank, then back up with a full bucket, turn and align with the truck to dump the bucket, best done in a gentle "K" pattern between pile and truck. A crawler loader used for this work daily, will certainly show significant wear at a certain amount of hours, vs one that was not used this way.

The hours you get out of an undercarriage are dependent on the soil conditions, (sand being most abrasive) and operator habits. I was an operator for about 5 years full time, and one of the companies I worked for had 80 pieces of equipment, many small grading tractors, D3 size, and some of those guys that were finishing sites, spreading topsoil, ran like crazy, and needed undercarriage work sooner than most other tractors. Maybe you'll get 1000 hours before you need a pin/bushing turn, maybe 1500, but on those smaller ones, as I recall, overall you could get a few thousand hours, but somewhere in between, the pins/bushings were turned and the undercarriage looked after and any work needed is done, not ignored. The things I mentioned here, like the previous, may not be so common today, years ago, components were rebuilt, and pins/bushings turned etc., but undercarriages are a lot more advanced today to get more hours from them.
 
Good to know!

I do not see putting 1000 hours on the machine ever. Maybe if I keep it long enough!

My guestimate is that I have about 100 hours of work to be done with it, and I am guessing on the high side.

Thanks for the infomation!
 

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