Grouser Repairs Illustrated

[Don Coyote]

Hey there.......... I just thought I'd start a new thread instead of continuing to hijack redsqwl's "Aktiv Small Wheel Project" thread. (Hi, Mike)

..... This is what I've been doing to the bad grousers on my 442. My Cat came with a box of spare parts, including a half-track of grousers. That's convienent, since I can repair a grouser and THEN swap 'em out.

First... I make a bunch of new tabs.........

 

[Don Coyote]

THEN I cut off the bad tab on the track segment.....

 

[Don Coyote]

..... mate them up...

 

[Don Coyote]

..... and weld them together.

 

[Don Coyote]

OOPS!!! ........... I missed a step........

I cut a nice pocket in the grouser for the new tab to sit in on my Haas VF-4 CNC Mill.

 

[Don Coyote]

After weld, I grind the inside nice and flat. I don't bother grinding the outside.

 

[Don Coyote]

After that,..... a little black paint on the bare metal surfaces and it's ready to assemble and re-install!!!

..... I love my job!!!

Unfortunately, I only get about 25 minutes a day to work on "home projects" at work... and that's only when it's not going to interrupt production. Most of my projects have their own fixtures that I can bolt down to my machine table, totally out-of-the-way of anything I might be doing for work, so I basically get to "play" every single day.

 

[Don Coyote]

Man,................... if you're going to own a steel-track sno-cat....... you GOTTA be a tool-and-die machinist.

 

[DAVENET]

Man,................... if you're going to own a steel-track sno-cat....... you GOTTA be a tool-and-die machinist.

Or, at the least, be very good friends with one.