I wasn’t expecting what I have signed myself up for, but I found a path forward with my track. 

Individual track links are all back ordered and not available. After making lots of calls yesterday and asking one company “So uh.. what do I do?” .. the service guy did some out of box thinking and found that the entire chain assembly is available for purchase instead of just buying two links.  I kind of laughed at the idea but asked for the price just in case. He came back with $2,500. I was shocked. I had to call back 30 minutes later to double check I had heard him correctly.  That is about $7500 less than I was expecting.

So… I’ve decided to go for it! I am going to replace the whole chain assembly by myself… YIKES. All in it will be about $4k including new tools which is actually a little less than what it would cost to have the mechanic come and replace two links! And one of my tracks will have a brand new chain. Very happy about that.

This does not come without challenges or concerns or a big time investment…..but my main concerns are the following:

• There are 49 chain links on the whole chain assembly. Each chain link has a metal “Track pad” bolted onto it with 4 massive bolts. 4×49 is 196.  That means I have to remove 196 old bolts. This is no small feat. I ran up to the land last night to make sure I could do it. Without using any heat or any wd40 I was able to get 5 bolts loose, however it was not easy. BUT I was able to get one track pad off (SEE PICS) and with a slight tooling adjustment I think I will be fine. 1 out of 49 track pads removed, and 5 out of 196 bolts loose, almost there 🙂

• Next…. the old and new chain assembly is 1200 lbs. Maneuvering that around is going to be tricky. My excavator boom is still working though.. and I think with some long straps I’ll be able to pull the track down to the machine and will be able to maneuver it around and get it into position. Maybe tricky but I don’t think that I will personally have to man handle it (which is good cause obviously I can’t.. unless Dr. Banner goes green of course)
• And Finally.. the new track will come with one pin not in place. Also known as the master pin.  It is a bit of a press fit and honestly I’m not sure I’ll be successful getting the pin in. Last year the mechanic used a hydraulic pin press and I am fresh out of those.  I’m going to bring the master pin out in dry ice to make it extremely cold (and get it to shrink a very tiny little bit) and hopefully between that and a big sledge hammer, I HOPE I will be successful. 

So easy peasy. Chain should be here tomorrow and after a couple hours on Friday, I’m sure I’ll have a brand new chain installed and ready to go (or maybe 3 out of 49 track pads removed haha)

Anyhow.. here is to hoping! Worst case I have to pay someone to come bail me out. But the whole new chain is still very attractive to me. Wish me luck!

Mark