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D4D with a Shot Undercarriage

RickyBobbyD4D

Active Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2025
Messages
25
Location
Vancouver Washington
Hi Guys,

My church recently got a D4D for some earth moving on our church land/camp project.

We recently brought it into town, and started cleaning it up getting it ready for work in the spring.

Now that we had it, we, we, we're able to take a really good look at it's condition ( especially the undercarriage ) and it looks like it's shot.

We don't have the funds to repair/restore the U/C. So I'm kinda stuck between a few options.

Do we try to slap on a temporary redneck fix?
Just run it until it falls apart?
Abandon it, and just get a different machine?

I'm open to all thoughts and opinions. Anything that would keep it running for a few more seasons. Please pitch in your thoughts.

*btw, ive never operated a Dozer. My experience is limited to living on a farm and operating farm equipment. I'll attached a few photos of the undercarriage.
 

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Mcrafty1

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2019
Messages
535
Location
Central Maine
Occupation
Earth work
What I can see of the undercarriage it doesn't look terrible, I think I see one sprocket tooth and that looks ok. I guess the question is how much are you planning to do with the machine and what is the rest of the tractor like. If it's good overall, it may be worth an aftermarket undercarriage. Especially if you can use it as is long enough to save up the cost of the parts. jmho. ITR makes decent undercarriage parts and are reasonably priced. That being said, I haven't purchased any dozer undercarriage parts since the virus so that could have changed.
 

TomA

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2012
Messages
165
Location
Mariposa, CA
Hard to tell from the pictures. Run it enough to clean it up and get some shine on it and take some better pictures. It may have many hours left on it.
 

RickyBobbyD4D

Active Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2025
Messages
25
Location
Vancouver Washington
Thanks MarcusZ1967, I feel like I've struck a gold mine. Over the past few weeks I've been reading up on all the D4D forums here on HEF. Gathering priceless information.

@TomA, you have a good point. We just brought it into town. Planing to do the usual maintenance on it. Oils, Grease Points, Filters, ect.

To give you guys a better overall idea, this is a 83J 1971 dozer with Direct Drive and a 4 way blade.

Our main agenda was to level/grade a few fields for our church land (maybe make a pond too). That's pretty much it.

Here, ill put up a few more photos.
 

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RickyBobbyD4D

Active Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2025
Messages
25
Location
Vancouver Washington
Looks decent from here I would put it to work maybe consider sprockets but they are weld on so a pain make sure that they never skip and pop Tracks do look pretty extra tight
Thanks for your input, could you please elaborate what you mean by sprocket? Would you suggest replacing it?

I've noticed the tracks is as tight as a bow string. Could you please explain to a new operator why that might be a bad thing? And if it needs loosening, how much? Question what would you suggest do if it starts skipping teeth when loosened
 

Nige

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
33,174
Location
G..G..G..Granville.........!! Fetch your cloth.
I've noticed the tracks is as tight as a bow string. Could you please explain to a new operator why that might be a bad thing?
If you were to get a rock trapped somewhere in the undercarriage and as a result the track idler was pushed back compressing the recoil mechanism until it became solid the result could easily be a broken track, and much pain............

And if it needs loosening, how much?
Get the tractor on a piece of level ground. Accelerate it forward a few yards then flick into neutral and allow it to stop on its own without touching the brakes. Lower the blade to the ground but do NOT push down with it.

See the illustration below. Put a piece of string across the top of the tracks from the track carrier roller to the front idler as shown and pull it taut.

If the maximum distance between the string and the track shoes (arrowed) does not hit directly on top of one of the grousers put a straight edge between two shoes and measure to the bottom of it, as shown by the second (lower) horizontal line.

The vertical distance from the string to the track shoes (or to the bottom of the straight edge) should be in the range of 1.5-2.0 inches.

1737228275154.png
 
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Nige

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
33,174
Location
G..G..G..Granville.........!! Fetch your cloth.
Seeing as it appears you don't know too about the operation and maintenance of this tractor my advice would be to get hold of some manuals regarding Operation & Maintenance. This requires two separate manuals, one for Operation, the other for Maintenance. Each one costs $30 to download from the Cat Pubs web site. For the Ops manual, put SEBU5270 in the box, for the Maintenance manual put GEG00779 in the box. In each case click the Search button. Once you go to the checkout the documents are available in about 5 minutes.

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tctractors

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
2,460
Location
Worc U.K.
The Track chains look to be SALT assembly's and to be fare look worn but will still rattle on for a few 1'000 hrs, so put it to work and see how things go, a few driving tips to help you, slowly pull the main clutch towards you when you set off and as it starts to move pull it over center to lock it in drive, always place the clutch engaged and the gear shift out of gear when the engine is running, never leave the clutch open, never put the forward / reverse lever in neutral with the engine running only the main shift as you will loose oil lubrication on the top shaft, try to aim the tractor where you want to push dirt before you load the blade and keep your hands off the steering levers as much as possible under load, cut out the fancy work and just keep everything level helps no end.
 

Shimmy1

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2014
Messages
4,858
Location
North Dakota
Looks decent from here I would put it to work maybe consider sprockets but they are weld on so a pain make sure that they never skip and pop Tracks do look pretty extra tight
These were my first thoughts as well. Probably going to have to run them a little on the tight end of spec so the sprockets don't jump. Hopefully the work you have is mostly flat ground, those rails are not going to appreciate uneven ground or slopes at all.
 

Mcrafty1

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2019
Messages
535
Location
Central Maine
Occupation
Earth work
Overall I think it looks to have life enough in the undercarriage to run it long enough to see if the rest of the machine is good enough to replace it. You should know a lot more about it in a few hundred hours. In the meantime start looking for replacement parts to swap it out when it comes time. Aftermarket will be your friend for those parts. You'll get some good help here when the time comes.
 
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