Tracked skidders, again

[Coon]

amberwood thanks for the help.  I will look for that crosspin later today and see what I find.  I hope you're right as it would save me a pile of work.  Hope the older ones than what you had were the same.  If not I will have to remove it with the cross member and then figure it out from there.

thecfarm, I think the 6 ft wide seems about the best for me.  I don't know if the 10 ft long will be long enough though.  I was thinking 10 feet because I can build the tracks 8 feet long from end to end and still have enough overhang in the back for my bullboard and also enough frame out the front for the blade to be attached.  Will see how it goes as I have the unit figured in my head and am tryin to cut a little timeoff by not having to draw it up on paper and then have to change it over and over with every mod I do from the original plans.

[Coon]

amberwood, thank you very much.  You were correct about there being a crosspin.  I managed to get the cv axles and the struts out but that was as far as I got today.  I may have a chance to work on Crit more tomorrow but may not as I am supposed to be getting company first thing in the morning.

[Coon]

Time for another update with some pics this time.

This first one is of the engine ready to be pulled.  Just three motor mount bolts and lift it out.




This one shows the cab mostly stripped of everything.  Even less in there now.




These next two just show all of the parts laying around waiting to be used on Critter.

[sprucebunny]

You're doing some serious 'taking apart' Coon

I'm real good at taking apart.. haven't done as well putting together on my project.
You are just about to turn the corner and be building your machine instead of taking apart 

My J5 hasn't made it out of the garage untill today
I was gambling that I could just put new tires and bearings on this machine and hit the trail but it hasn't worked out that way. I knew the machine was modified and a little beat up but I hadn't counted on there being different axle lengths or corrosion inside the differential housing. Silly me

The body of the machine is the differential housing. It was pretty beat up but the oil wasn't pouring out and the gears sounded fine. My attempts at welding it had mixed success and ... well.... it was a waste of effort because one area of the metal was so thin from rust inside



Oh well. You win some , you lose some

So I got around the longer rear axle problem and got the wheels kind of aligned with the sprocket/track on one side.
On the other side, the rear bogey axle is bent forward and the drive axle was an inch too long   Hey, the rear bogey axle is an inch longer on each side, why not have a drive axle longer That makes 3 out of six axles that are an inch too long. Not all on the same side

Anyway...poor Ted (Theodore Tugboat ) is off to the doctors.

[Coon]

Glad to see you're gaining progress there sprucebunny.  I have gained some more too.



Next little project is to get my frame ready....

[Dave Shepard]

Here's a picture to help you think, Brad

(Image hidden from quote, click to view.)

That pic is giving me flashbacks, hate track work!


Sprucebunny, Coon, how are you making out with your projects?


Dave

[Coon]

Well Dave to tell you the thruth they are coming along sloooooooooowly.  I have totally restarted my build.  That unit was ending up to be too large for what I wanted.  I drew up new plans this winter and I am going hydrostatic instead.  This will help my weight issues.  I want to be as low of ground pressure as I can get.  Just started work for the season this past week s my time is limited, however my days off will be build days.  I don't have any current pics to show you but I will get some when I get to working on it.  These 10 days away from home at a time are not my cup of tea but I need to save up for a downpayment on a beautiful piece of land with a 2 year old home. This land is a 1/2 mile from the Porcupine Provincial Forest and separated by wildlife development lands.  Gotta buy land soon as prices are sky rocketing. 

[sprucebunny]

Dave, I got the J5 all fixed up but haven't had a chance to go logging with it because of too much snow !!!

 

There is a picture of it plowing in one of this winter's "snow" threads. It is a great plow !!!
I'm hoping to go out and drag in some blow downs this week. This is usually the time of year I can get the most done because there isn't much traffic on the state snowmachine trail ( my skid road ) and the trail is frozen in the morning.

Once the welder put new axles in and we got the wheels and drive sprockets in line with each other, the track work was WAY simpler 

[leweee]

  Looking good Joan! 
Love the new paint scheme.
Looks like a lot of hard work has payed off....you must be proud.

[sprucebunny]

Thanks, Leweee !

It was alot of hard work .

I'm happy that an old machine will move into the future instead of the scrap pile.