Friday, May 21, 2010

Dozer

I got up this morning, wondering what I was going to do today, my first day off on summer holiday. About 7:15, the phone rang. Second son needed my help with putting the tracks back on his bulldozer.



Final drives installed with new steering clutches, but the track is off. In the picture above you're looking at the rear of the dozer. That big star-shaped thing is a drive sprocket and we've got to reinstall the tracks. Did I mention that nothing on a bulldozer weighs less than a cross-tie?



Tracks installed, the brakes need to be adjusted. Then we adjusted track tension, re-installed all the body panels and safety racks, bolted the seat to the transmission, then got ready to start it.



It fired right off, and he took it outside and tested everything. Brakes, clutches, blade controls, everything works like it's supposed to work. We backed it back into the shop so that he could change the thermostat and a few hoses and I headed back home. It's noon now and I'm about ready for some lunch.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Did I mention that nothing on a bulldozer weighs less than a cross-tie?"

Nor did you mention that this is on a very SMALL dozer.

Pawpaw said...

Yeah, it's a small one. Thirty horsepower. Still, you can tear up a lot of stuff with a 30-horse dozer.

Rivrdog said...

Those dozer tracks must have been a snap after main battle tanks...

Rivrdog said...

BTW, the outer edge of your dozer blade shows chipping and wear. A bundle or two of light welding rod at medium heat ought to reinforce that.

Anonymous said...

That's a Case Terra-Track, right?

My buddy used to have one of those. I used to have a 1938 vintage D-2. It had a pull rope start pony motor. It was a bear to put the tracks on. It had a habit of throwing off a track out in the woods.

Tallpine (THR & APS)

Unknown said...

Bravo! You managed to put things back together. =D Performing a pre-start inspection after such maintenance work is the proper way to ensure that the machine is ready to be operated again. Also, a periodic inspection is necessary to see whether your dozer needs new parts. It would be dangerous to operate a dozer that is in poor condition.

Beau Proctor