d3 undercarriage repair cost

[cwheat]

Just acquired this older 73 model and brakes, clutches and undercarriage are needing attention. The engine, transmission and appearance of the old machine is in very good to good condition and runs and operates as it should. It does not run hot or quit pulling after an hour or so. Wondering if anyone knows the current real cost to replace chains and sprockets. I have read all posts but the only cost estimates were several years old that I found. Naturally I want to get by as reasonable as possible, probably with aftermarket parts as the machine will be used for hobby and personal use only. My rails are already measuring 25 and 1/32 inches over the 4 links which puts it at 100% worn out and the sprockets are worn to sharp edges but nowhere ready to start jumping teeth. The rollers and idlers look pretty good and should get one more run out of them as the wear on the chains are nowhere near the pin bosses yet. Also wondering how many hours is left before the rails and sprockets are to the point of not running any more or causing more damage than I am getting good out of them. The pins and bushings have not been turned and my chains have the quick connect alligator link so they have been replaced before. From what I have read turning p&b's is not practical on these small tractors. Is that a fact? Like I said, just trying to get by as resonable as possible. Lots of questions and kind of long winded post. Thanks for any responses in advance.

Charles
 

[Billy NY]

It sounds like you may want to compare costs of new CAT, aftermarket, say Berco ? or similar, for complete new.

SO the chain is stretched, needs sprockets (non segment type?)

You have not run to destruction yet, if you have rail height or enough, that is a small track, if you check the cost with a track shop, you could compare getting the pins turned which may give you more room on the adjuster again, tighten up those tracks and get those pins to sit back near the root of the sprocket, it is possible that you won't have to change the sprocket, but I am not totally sure in that case when done you won't experience accelerated wear, or a higher wear rate than normal or in normal conditions, I know the pins can ride back closer to the root of the sprocket teeth once the chain is tighter, not an expert so don't quote me. It sounds like you have options, and good that the pin bosses have not started hitting the roller flanges, what a bumpy ride, in that case some cut off the flanges, again not an expert on that.

Decent rails, or enough to get a few hundred maybe towards a 1000 hours, pin/bushing turn, tightens the track, then the pin sits where is supposed to in the sprocket, you have good pads, idler, rollers, carrier roller, for the use you describe, take all that and compare to replacement,CAT after market.

At least its not a large tractor where the costs, are so much more, last time I brought a D8K to the CAT dealer for undercarriage work, '93 it was $30,000 + and that did not include new pads, it was run to destruction, I mean pieces falling off as I unloaded it from lowboy, the yard guy, (union too) would not touch it, we always unhook, unchain and they unload, UAW rules I thought, it was the first time I ever saw anything like it, looked like the old Munsters Episode where grandpa's hot rod was leaving a trail of major parts and components. Yard guy was afraid of tossing a track, I got it off and parked before that happened.

I do know that some combinations of the above can work and other times you may accelerate wear, whereas you may want to do a better job, and you can replace more, still save a few bucks and renew some hours on those track frames. A good undercarriage person could measure all components, compare against new and really tell you where you are at and know what the options are.


It does not make sense to replace some parts, and say your sprockets are plumb wore out, run on those and still have sloppy tracks that could come off or wear other components drastically, you don't save there, unless you can run awhile to destruction, not sure on that older D3, must be a pedal steer, need a good size puller or special tools to take a sprocket off if not segments.

Places I worked had a lot of these size tractors, its amazing at how the undercarriages wore, between operators with good and bad habits, various soil conditions and so on. Most of these guys were grading, spreading topsoil and so on, running like heck, 1200 hours or so before some U/C work was needed, don't recall all the particulars, but some guys could trash them in a seemingly short amount of time, given the expected hours from a tractor and U/C.
 

[dpendzic]

My last cost estimate for after market link group for my D3B--sealed/dry was $665 per track
sprocket rims--$115
 

[MSM]

Replace the sprockets and keep on running them. If you aren't in sand they will probably last another 5-700 hours.
It really doesn't pay to turn the p&b's on a small tractor, time you buy a 1/2 set of pad bolts and pay the labor you have all but bought a new set of chains.
 

[Track cost]

One of the problems with running worn out undercarriage is that the tracks will come off quite easily unless you tighten the tracks up. That it turn rapidly increases wear. Turning pins and bushings costs about half of the cost for new tracks but isn't recommended on tracks that are too far gone. New rails will probably be in the $1000 to $1500 range per side. You can get weld on sprocket rims for about $150 a side. Berco is often more expensive than Cat but there are other aftermarket undercarriage manufacturers and dealers.