MF2244 throwing track

[tonyinga]

I purchased a Massey Ferguson 2244 for the farm. It has a 6 way blade and a root rake. Seems the guy I purchased this from saw me coming. It throws tracks. If I angle the blade and “plow” the soil the side forces cause this little dozer to throw tracks. I am trying to figure out why. What happens is as you are pushing dirt the track starts riding up on the idler. You can hear the clunking sound when this starts to happen. If I stop working, put the blade as far as it will go and root rack down to lift the dozer in the air, then run in reverse, the track snaps back into place. I found a broken spring, and replaced it. The track adjustment pistons were at full travel, so I made up the difference with some large washers. I don’t have much experience with tracks and any advice would be appreciated. How can I tell if the sprocket or idler is worn? Can the track be worn out?

 

[grs0820]

Don"t feel to bad dude, but it sometimes pays to hire an expert. It sounds like you could have one or more problems. It sounds like the idler brg, is bad, But Undercarrage tends to ware evenly. As so if you do not understand what you are looking at It is hard to say without see it. Two things keep the track tight 1) the track adjuster. 2) Their is a large spring that take up any shock that may occure. This is something that you do not need to mess with. Many people have gotten seriously injured by these springs. the railing that keeps the idler in place is probely worn, causing the idler to tilt back an forth. Either way The parts are expensive and hard to get. Thier are measurement you can take to determine the % of wear.

 

[Anonymous-0]

look at the teeth on your rear sprockets...on the very tip of teeth there should be a flat spot around a half inch wide...if its pointed or teeth are curved you need sprockets.
look at pins in chains...wear usually shows up by a groove worn in one side of pin but it could be wear in the bushing too...turning pins and bushings is the cheapest way to fix if they havent been turned already...new chains arent that expensive if you wind up needing them...i bought new for my 350B last year...they were around 750 plus shipping.
another place to look is front idler...there should be a definite STEP in center of idler...no rounded corners or gouges.
tracks have to have tension or you will walk out of them...the way you described your adusters means worn chain or associated parts.

 

[JimInOz]

You need to keep good rollers ,sprockets & chains on a crawler to get proper service.
I have 2244 parts here if you need them.The track parts will need to be sourced locally....try Heavyquip.
I had a similar problem with my 2244 drott...the idler seal had gone bad & the tension on the chain was loose.
Broken recoil springs are common on these things also.

I recently bought 2 Berco weld-on sprocket rims for my 2244...cheaper than whole sprockets.Berco number is LA 101

I think I saw a 2244 manual on ebay yesterday,in the US.
St Josephs equipment used to deal in these things...they seem to know a bit about Massey stuff.

Email me if you need to.

 

[Fordman6442]

If your track adjusters are so far out you had to shim with washers I would say your rails are hooped. They will be so snakey you could tie a knot in them. Are the sprocket tips wore to a razer edge?? This is caused by rail pitch being stretched. You could try and take 1 link out and keep tracks tight. Also if you don't have roller guards and your bottom rollers have broken flanges you will never keep the track on.

 

[oldhousehugger25]

Last year my Komatsu D20 was throwing the left track like clockwork. I was doing a bunch of steep side hill grading and it was a real pain in the rear. Finally I took the machine to Heavyquip because I figured it needed bushings because I had already replaced the rollers and made a practice of keeping the tracks tight. Turned out after they disassembled both sides and then put them back together that all the tracks needed was spacer washers. What caused the track throwing they claimed was the idler slides being real worn and loose. They welded shims onto the rails in several places in order to get the slop out of the idler travel. When I got it back I took the side thrust caps off because they were easy to get to and built them both up with 7018 rod. There were also shims under the caps which I took out. It hasn't thrown a track since although I am constantly listening for the snap of the chain riding up on the idlers. I have the pyramid swamp tracks on this old girl and when it throws a track it's a mess cause the tracks jam up against the frame and it will not move.
As you all know the tracks never come off in a convenient place. You are usually up to your neck in freezing mud or the like. (Murphy again)

If I had it to do again, Before I took it to the shop I would drive the machine up across a railroad tie to take the weight off the front idler and a couple of rollers. Then I would loosen up the tracks as far as they will go. Then with a crow bar start jimmying the different components to see whose loose and where. There really isn't a way to effectively service tracks in the field although I'm sure it's done every day. When I watched those guys at Heavyquip disassembling the track off a D6 I was convinced that some times hiring the work done by pros is worth the cost.
John