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bombardier 252 skidozer track removal help

treeeman00

treeeman00

Member
I am going to go look at a 79 bombardier 252 skidozer with the 29 inch tracks. How do I remove the tracks in case I have to for trailering. What tools will I need to take with me? I have never done this as I am new to snowcats. Im assuming there is a masterlink kinda like a bulldozer? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Take a small end wrench to take out the grease zerk that is used in the front to detension the tracks by letting the grease out.

More end wrenches, or better yet a cordless impact wrench and sockets too...Find were the belts overlap and splice. Remove the two grousers and all the bolts, and the tracks come apart..
The 29" steel grousered tracks are the "summer" tracks. They are fairly tough, and will work on midwest snows as well.

Hope this helps,

Kirk
 
Your cat probably is narrow enough to haul "as-is", depending on your local laws. It's under 8' wide, IIRC. I didn't take mine off to haul it.

When you take out the zerk, located between the 1st and 2nd bogey wheel, you may need to force the front rack back into the frame. I used a pry bar and some pieces of wood. That gives you the slack to take apart the track.

My tracks were simply overlapped by 3 grousers. But I believe it is possible that you might find a link instead.
 
well the cat only has 1 track on it and all I have is a car hauler that is not a deck over. It is 83" inbetween the fenderwells. Do you guys think it would fit with only 1 track on? If not I have a way to get the cat to ride over the top of the fender. I was just going to take some tools in case I have to take the other track off. Thanks for the info on how to take the tracks off and what tools I will need. I have a JW-69 so this will be my first actual "snow cat". He said its been sitting for 5 years and needs some work and is only asking 2000.00 OBO so I cant resist it.
 
easier to roll with track removed, should probally have only 2 bolts through lacking, just undo bolts probally 1/2 or 9/16 wrench, don't even worry about releasing tensioner, as with one track front axle will be off and will not move very easy, may need a track jack or come along to release some tension on lacing bolts pull them out and roll it off tracks, I remove sprockets when trailering with tracks off, way to easy to damage them loading or unloading
 
The original bolts holding the tracks together were carriage bolts. In my case, they would spin in the track guides when I tried to loosen them. I ended up having to bust them off with an impact gun. But some of my bolts were regular hex bolts. I guess you'll have to see what's there.

We also lacked a deckover trailer, so we used wooden cribbing to raise the cat over the fenders. This might not be possible with the tracks removed. With one track removed, it will be at least 12" narrower, so perhaps it will fit as is.
 
ill keep that im mind. I dont think id have to pull the other track off but I thought that just incase I better be prepared as the cat is 6 hours away. Undy thats what I was gonna do with the cribbage. Ive done that with mud boggers with to wide of tires. I talked to the owner today and he said that the reason the track is off is that the bearings went out of the bogie wheels. Can you still get parts/ bearings for this? Are they hard or easy to get?
 
It might be easier to remove the track than to load it with only one track on. Just a guess, as I've never seen it done.

I've just gotten done with replacing nearly all my bearings and races. Easily available, but I found the best prices online. The bigger ones (Timken 522/525) were cheapest on EBay, but the intermediate ones (Timken 2788/2735X) were from Rock Auto.

In any case, Prinoth just opened their midwest office in Madison, which is less than 30 miles away from me. They can supply the hard-to-find parts too.
 
I got the cat loaded onto the trailer without taking the track off. They had a big sky trac and just put the forks under the whole thing and lifted it onto the trailer. The one side only had to wheels on the front so I had to cribb the back. Now that I got it home I have no way off getting it off of my trailer without puttung the bogie wheels on. Guess I didnt think that one all the way through!
 
Perhaps you can move the second bogey towards the rear to limp it around. On mine, the front and rear wheels have a different axle dia. than the other intermediates.

Also as I mentioned, I've got intermediate rims with "usable" tires on them, if you need.

Otherwise, perhaps you can chain a timber under the frame to act as a skid if you need to drag it off the trailer.
 
I did think about doing that but the 2nd bogie wheel isright at the fender so I wouldnt be able to pull that wheel off. I have a rim and tire and ill get bearings and stick on it so I can move it. The rear axle is bad though. Looks like the bearings went out while they were driving it and it chewed the axle up pretty bad. So I am looking for a axle. Anyone know where I could get one?
 
Yeah, that rules out that idea.

I'm not sure if Boggey carries axles for those, but probably. If not, I'm pretty sure you can get them from Prinoth in Madison. Call Bill at 608 268-3330 ext. 201.
 
Thanks alot undy! Ill try boggie first then ill try prinoth. Laurentian I thought about that also. I was gonna try to find a shop local but I was wondering if those could even be machined since the axle is welded to the torsion part. I didnt think it would be able to be put on a lathe or do whatever they do to weld it up then grind it. Thats a good idea about the dolleys, I may have to fab something up.
 
If the arm has been welded to the Flexitor axle, I have removed them by grinding away the bead and simply pulling it off like normal. The splines were likely damaged somehow so they resorted to welding it together.

FYI, regarding Prinoth, they mentioned that they have a pre-season sale on things. I can't recall the time of year.

I found a couple arms with the stub-axle damaged from some previous mishap. I was able to fix it sufficiently with files, etc. to allow the bearings to install. I'd guess if it's much worse than that you'll have to replace the arm.
 
Simonallen,

A while back you posted pics of some old Flexitors you've got laying around. The dimensions look as if those are front axles from SV252's, and I could stand to replace mine. Did you ever get a chance to count the number of splines on those flexitors? Thanks.

Paul
 
undy. I think the only way the axle could be fixed is if it was welded then reground. The damage done to it has taked quite a bit of material away from the axle. Simonallen that would be wonderful! My email address is mxracer000@gmail.com. Thank you very much!
 
Treeman, what kind of motocrosser do you ride ?
( judging from your email )
I have a 426, haven't riden it since 2004 but looking to
get into it again. Not always easy running my own shop..
 
ahhh. a yamaha 426. A good bike. They have some good power. I used to race 125 some and I had a cr 250 for trails. Then I stepped up to a kx500 (for a little bit). That kx 500 is a handful now! Now the only bike I have is 2 klr 650 enduros and I also ride a Honda 450R quad. I know what you mean about not having much time to ride anymore. I used to love it.
 
Treeman,

I wasn't suggesting you actually rebuild the arm.

In my case, material was damaged both within the arm and on the Flexitor's splines. By enlarging the slot in the arm and clamping it down with the bolt/nut, I got the arm tight on the splined shaft, then welded the end to prevent slipping. It's a hillbilly fix, at best.

But since both pieces needed replacing to really fix things right, it works as a patch. Assuming we ever get enough snow on this planet again to justify owning a snowcat, I may replace parts later.
 
ill have to look and see if my splines are damaged. Yeah now that I have the skidozer it prolly wont snow! Im hoping for a baaad blizzard!
 
My take is snow fall will be erratic going forward, severe winters followed by snow drought like last winter here in Québec. I have never seen so much snow as in 2008. For me snowcat ownership would be 50/50 collector and sometime user. You guys on the west coast have the best conditions ! Northeast we are more limited weather and accessable terrain.
 
treeeman00 said:
I did think about doing that but the 2nd bogie wheel isright at the fender so I wouldnt be able to pull that wheel off. I have a rim and tire and ill get bearings and stick on it so I can move it. The rear axle is bad though. Looks like the bearings went out while they were driving it and it chewed the axle up pretty bad. So I am looking for a axle. Anyone know where I could get one?
Click to expand...

Our axles were really damaged and we fixed our axles by installing some axle sleeves, worked really slick. Had a tough time finding a shop to make some, at a reasonable price. I believe they cost us around 28.00 each in the end. Which I think is cheap
 
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