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Grouser galvanizing, Rebuilding Thiokol Tracks

corkuck

New member
It's done!!!!

Special thanks to all with great input.

Tracks are adjusted and tested and I drove it around the back yard. I changed the oil in the engine and it’s ready to go.

I will say, it sure spins around a lot easier then it did before. The new galvanizing is slippery on the snow more so then the old rusted grousers. I would think it would be the same with newly painted grouses as well. Turns right and left much easier then it did with the old rusty grousers. This is something I didn’t think of.

Man is it nice on the shop cement floor with the rubber cleats quite and non-marring (I love it).


Long Live Thiokol!!! Go Thiokol Go!!!


/rk
 

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corkuck

New member
Well we have been driving the cat all round for the last 4 days.

Right off the bat on the asphalt or cement it didn’t seem much different other then smother, very quite and leaving black rubber marks all over, due to the rudder inserts on the grousers/tracks.

Next I noticed that when turning on harder packed snow just deep enough that the entire length of the grousers was leaving imprints the machine/cat turned much easier then ever before. I’m sure this was due to the slickness of the galvanized surfaces.

In deeper snow 1 foot or so I could tell no difference.

This year was my first year to drive the cat in 3 actual feet of 4~5 feet of self compacted virgin snow for miles. I first thought something was wrong when starting out because the cat was looping. After about 5 minutes of this I got out of the cat and sinking in the snow looking at the bolts, tracks, drive wheel, drive wheel bolts check them for tightness, snow, idler wheels, etc.etc. Finding nothing wrong we got back in and continued. Then I noticed the looping was in sync with an up and down motion of the cat. I then realized it was the cat dropping down in the snow as it would climb on top of the snow then drop down to settle in on the snow to support it’s weight. Cool nothing wrong just the snow conditions!!!!!

Having fun, hoping everyone has a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The attached picture below can be found from the live camera from the cabin at causeyestates.com

/rk
:clap:
 

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muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Looks like you are enjoying all that work making it get around easier. Cool pics.:biggrin:
 

corkuck

New member
Thank you for the kind words Muleman.

Here is a tack jack somone is selling and somone may want to pick up on it!!!! It's on Ebay with No Reserve!!! Closes soon. Cheap shipping. :brows:
/rk
 

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Cali2Idaho

New member
Nice job on that track rebuild.:smile:

Im getting ready to do the same project.
My cat has 4 belt 5" 1202 tracks with staggerd J grouser.
A couple of questions for you if you dont mind.

1- where did you get your rubber belting, what type did you use, and how much was it?

2- Did you buy them pre drilled or did you use or make a template and punch them out yourself?

3- How did you go about removing the original track bolts to begin with?
Mine are grade 8, rusted on, and wouldnt respond to an impact gun at 90 psi?:hammer:
 

Dr. Zaugg

New member
I use Joe Suman at Mountain Services in Denver.
1-800-294-3579 He is a super good guy with good prices and good stuff.
To get the bolts out, i usually just heat the nut with a torch till it begins to turn pink. That will break the rust USUALLY. it is then easy (most of the time) to get the bolts out.
 

corkuck

New member
First of all we just got back from our third trip up to the cabin and are planning on going up next weekend for the 4day Martin Luther King Day weekend. Then the following weekend with 35 boy scouts. They had so much fun last year they asked to do it again.

So on with the details.

Removing bolts? You can’t swear enough and I’m not a swearing man!!! I did 1/8 of them in everyway I could think of. I’m not as good with a torch as my brother but I cut 7/8 of them off with the torch that’s about 1000 of them. All I can say is have a good time in figuring out that one.

I bought enough belting to do the Snowcat 3 times over. Hallelujah!!! I will never have to buy, hunt or look for that again in my life time. It was from a surplus belting company back east somewhere. I can’t find the name of the company right now for sure. Attached you will find a company, not sure if this was them or not. I didn’t think they were this far from Utah looks like they are in Maine somewhere.

It cost me more to have the belting shipped then it cost to buy it, I remember that. With shipping it was about $1500.00 from what I remember? Regardless it was much cheaper then buying it from any snowcat repair parts companies around, not to mention any names here. New ready to go pre-punched they run about $2500.00 in 2010 for a set of 72 hole, 4 belts per side, 5” wide, three ply. It appears 3 ply is the newer stuff because the cords today are said to be much stronger then the older 4 ply.

Don’t let people scare you about belting it’s not rocket science, not to say that there isn’t four million different belts and opinions out there. Just saying this will get people going about belting. I used ½” this is thicker then needed, older 4 ply belting, but the price was right!!!! The work of doing this is the killer as I have said before. This is more work then most people are willing to do. But I’m cheap and have always been cheap.

Cutting the belting is easy, doesn’t take allot of time about 3~5 hours I would say. That would be to do all of it, 8 strips. I used a very good worm gear type skill saw with a side cut guide set at 5 inches. Then just keep the guide against the rubber and rip it. I went longer then the 72 holes. I went 76 holes, better to be longer then short. You can use a very very strong table saw, this is what I used for my rubber track inserts. This was not easy on a table saw it kept tripping the over loads on the motor but it did work. Table saw was much slower to, and harder to handle the belting. With the Skill Saw you just lay it on the floor, place a wood 8 foot 2x4 under the place you are going to cut and letter rip.

You will have some good black boogers if you don’t wear a mask, even when you’re just drilling the holes. If it’s smoking you are not cutting, check your blade sharpness or alignment or your binding things up. I used a standard carbide wood ripping blade, nothing special.

I made a wood jig up with a hinge on it and two smaller the ¼“ bolts to over lay the belting in the previously drilled holes to keep the hole right every time. (see pictures) The holes need to be right on the money, no room for error here!!!! Holes take longer then cutting you belting into strips, a good 8~12 hours. But still nothing compared to bolting everything to gather.

Special NOTE HERE!!!!: I feel this to be very very important even though I just lucked out when I did it and would definitely do it again.
When drilling your holes use a bit that makes it very very hard, but still possible to push in your ¼” grade 8 bolts. Why you ask? When you go to lining up your grouser/belting/backing plate the tight hole allows you to drill the bolt in using its own threads on the bolt or press it in with your thumb. Then your track will also free stand up on it’s side without a single nuts on the back side. You can put your nuts on with your backing plates when you are ready later. But don’t kill your self having the hole to tight, meaning don’t drill ¼” holes that is to tight. Just make it very hard to press the bolt in with your thumb. The 3~4 ply belting when drilled will have raged holes. You will soon find out that in using a air/electric drill or die grinder with a 7/16” 6 star shallow socket runs those ¼” bolts in thru the rubber and grouse really nice, easy and fast. This tight hole holds everything in place to add the additional ¼” nut and backing plates later (this being your last step).

One of the other most valuable important tools in my book is what I call a toad sticker. It’s a ¼” or close to it long shafted screw driver with the point ground off to a point. You can just use a Phillips screw driver also with out grinding it, but when lining up 1152 ¼” holes anything that lines something up better, faster and quicker cuts down on allot of time, work and frustration.

I hope this help you and others a little.

I can’t tell you how good it feels compare to last year, to be going in four gear and then realizing your are at 3500 RPM down hill with your family having to pull on a right or left hand stick to slightly change your direction with a cliff on your right, knowing that all your running gear is in excellent working condition. It feels so good to have confidents in your design, engineering, workmanship and abilities. I only thing I ever questioned was the rubber inserts. I have been on Cement. Asphalt, Ice, Packed snow and Powder. At this point would change a thing!!! I’m loving it!!!

Long Live Thiokol, Go Thiokol Go!!!

/rk
 

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corkuck

New member
Some more fun family and freinds pictures.

I also didn't include the Belting company I may have used in my last post. So I included this Screen Shot in this one. Remember it may not be who I used.
 

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corkuck

New member
Here are some pictures on Christmas Eve going to the top of the of the mountain, cutting down trees over the road, Son-In-Law digging holes to seen how deep the snow is as we go, going up and past were the snowmobiles have all turned back, enjoying the beauty. It nice to feel you know the maintenance and condition of you machine for such a trip with your loved ones. The new tracks and all the work is paying off.
/rk
 

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corkuck

New member
Here are some more pictures taken out the window and not on Christmas Eve 2010!!! Going to the top of the mountain then coming back down. It's supposed to snow Saturday Sunday and Monday Feb 6~8. Hopping for snow. Not much in Jan 2011 like in Dec 2010. We now love winter not as before.
/rk
:clap::wow::w00t2::brows:
 

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shopman

Member
Great, Great information on the track rebuilding and grousers - the details will be invaluable some day when we have to do that... hopefully not for a while though... a lot of work!!

Thanks for sharing your pictures of getting out there in the snow with family and friends - that's what it's really about... snowcats are of course, awesome just in their own right - but getting out and using them is the real pleasure.

:clap::clap:
 

redsqwrl

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
You are a rock star the Bus photo is the coolest. I really appreciate the effort you made to share the track info. I am a bus owning spryte shopping new comer to Snow cat's the first one I test drove is in need of rubber belting. I am now confident that I can do this. thanks
Mike
 

MontanaTweak

New member
Old thread but curious how the mild steel tracks are holding up? I know others have said mild steel is a no-go, but it seems one poster above had success and the original poster has had success, too?

Thx
 

redsqwrl

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Old thread but curious how the mild steel tracks are holding up? I know others have said mild steel is a no-go, but it seems one poster above had success and the original poster has had success, too?

Thx
Didnt he rebuild old grousers?
 

PradoTDI

Member
I have read about some Thiokols having hardened grousers from the factory, but a quick file check on the grousers from my 601 show they're mild steel. Some of them have a bead of hardfacing along the road contact patch.
 

BoyToys

Active member
I have no idea if my 1404 grousers are mild steel or hardened, but from a wear standpoint they are holding up very well for being 47 years old. My biggest challenge last fall was taking them all apart (nuts and bolts rusted frozen...had to cut half of them off with a plasma cutter). New rubber, new grade 8 gold zinc coated nuts and bolts, good to go. Grousers had normal rust patina, no pitting, thought about hitting them with phosphoric acid to convert the rust and stop further rusting but bagged that idea. The tracks will hold up long after I'm dead provided the rest of the cat hangs in there!
 

MontanaTweak

New member
I have no idea if my 1404 grousers are mild steel or hardened, but from a wear standpoint they are holding up very well for being 47 years old. My biggest challenge last fall was taking them all apart (nuts and bolts rusted frozen...had to cut half of them off with a plasma cutter). New rubber, new grade 8 gold zinc coated nuts and bolts, good to go. Grousers had normal rust patina, no pitting, thought about hitting them with phosphoric acid to convert the rust and stop further rusting but bagged that idea. The tracks will hold up long after I'm dead provided the rest of the cat hangs in there!
It sounds like at least a couple anecdotes of mild steel grousers holding up to medium to lower HP machines. Since were on the topic, what belts did you replace your old with?

Thx for feedback.
 

BoyToys

Active member
How well does galvanizing hold up to abrasion? If my tracks were still apart, and if I were still living in American Falls, I might hit you up!
 
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