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Joining Tracks on a 1404 Imp

cloudcap

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I’m in the final phase of a track rebuild on my 1404 Imp and could use a bit of advice.

DSCN5892.jpg

I’m using a two-grouser overlap to join the belts and am struggling to get everything tensioned and lined up so that I can install the appropriate bolts. Ratchet straps do a great job of pulling everything together and the outer belt was a piece-of-cake. The inner belt, however, is a completely different animal – there’s just no room to get to where you need to be. I’ve tried moving the joint to the back of the cat, the middle, and the front and it is all the same story – I can’t get the hands, vision, or leverage I need to even begin to put things together. As with most things there’s probably a trick (or two) to make this easier, but I haven’t figured it out on my own. Anyone who’s been down this road before care to offer some advice?

Thanks

Ron
 
I like to join my tracks on top just in front of the sprocket. I bring the track around and hook it on the sprocket and drive it around until it is where I want it. I then pull the rest of the track over the front idler and back to the work area. As I apply tension I will lift that side of the cat( I have a blade so it is real easy) so the track lays as flat as possible and then lower the cat back onto the ground. This takes all the slack out of that portion of the track.

I have used a variety of devices to draw the two ends together but first I usually place a bottle jack under a grouser at the back of the sprocket to hold tension on the track up tight against the sprocket. Looking at your grousers you maybe a good candidate to use pipe clamps like these. http://www.rockler.com/sure-foot-pl...BBBq3713AsWqRWU_Nd1VoZ6Ab2Z7qKa4mCRoCwv7w_wcB I have also used bar clamps and racheting straps. Come-a-longs have been the least successful in my experience. I was looking at some spring coil clamps the other day that might work on your tracks. This year I am going to make some track jacks that are shaped specifically to my grousers as my tracks are 66" wide with 3" tall pyramid shaped grousers and they are a real battle every year as I store my snowcat with the tracks off in the summer. Hope this helps.

Randy
 

cloudcap

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I have a couple of original 1404 track jacks for that job.

I've got a couple sets of track jacks as well, but they really only work when you use a hinge-type connector. Since I'm using the two-grouser overlap approach to joining the belts the track jack has to span something like four grouser positions (i.e.,12" to 16") in order to reach the last solid grouser, and they're not nearly that long. I initially thought that was going to be a problem, but el cheapo ratchet straps do an excellent job of tensioning the tracks and they're actually easier to use.

The challenge I'm facing is access rather than tensioning -- how do you get to the bolts on the inner belt? I'm thinking that maybe I can roll the joint to the bottom side of the idler wheel at the front of the cat and then access the joint from below. Maybe put the center of the grousers up on a 2x4 to give a little more clearance. I've got some time to try that out on Sunday -- I'll let you know how well (or not) it works.

Ron
 

JimVT

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I have a track jack but also use a chain ratchet puller. I run the chain under the belt end grouser and it holds it straight and hook the chain end farther down.
those little chain puller that are 300lb pull are really handy for tracks. you can carry 2 of them in a shoebox size container.
if your stuck enough to need help I see your in Edmonds I can grab my pullers and come over.
jim
 
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Snowcat Pat

Active member
I've had to remove the rear bogie tandems to get the room to work on the inside belts.

I had to lift the machine a few inches to get them out and then back in.

Maybe just removing one wheel would do it, but I prefer just to drop out the tandems. That way I don't have to disturb the wheel bearing adjustment.

I use a coma-long or a hi-lift jack to bring the belts together, I don't use track jacks on lap splices.

The hardest part for me is getting the cleat spacing accurate while bolting up the joint.

-Pat
 

cloudcap

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Success!

Joining the outer belt is relatively easy -- I ended up doing it in the middle on the top because it gave me some nice long straight runs for the ratchet straps.

DSCN5960.jpg

The inner belt was more difficult, but I found that I could eek out the space I needed by moving the joint to the bottom of the track just behind the idler wheel. There's room to get to the bottom and top of the splice without a bunch of contortions. Had this not worked I'd have gone w/ Pat's suggestion of removing the last bogie in front of the drive sprocket -- that would have given quite a bit of room.

DSCN5951.jpg

The belts are a little more loose than I would like, but that's a self-inflicted issue. The original belts had 54 grousers, but I bumped it up to 55 since other folks had that number (grouser envy...) and it makes the pattern of a paddle grouser every fifth one come out even. I moved the idler out to the forward position to take up some of the slack, but the belts are still a bit floppy. If this proves to be a problem then I'll bring the idler back a bit and go to a three-grouser overlap for the joint. For today, however, I'm going to sit back and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.

Ron
 
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