As i sit here watching you busting your solo ass replacing tracks on an excavator im procrastinating installing my alternator on my old plow truck to go plow my driveway lol.. your energy never ceases to amaze me.
I really enjoy your videos; a guy can learn alot watching you; i wished you lived closer to me; i need to change a transmission in a payloader and believe me if we weren’t 18- 20 hrs apart i would hire you in a heartbeat; thanks for sharing your knowledge and taking the time to make these videos
I've watched pretty much all your videos, and this is probably one of my favorites.. I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one that runs into stupid little snags all the time. Haha. Thanks for putting out raw videos like this. Sheds some light on the real daily struggles of a field mechanic
Sometimes a second pair of hands would make life alot easier, it's great to watch how you just use what you've got a get the job done alone. Thanks for another great video
That’s hard work my friend. Just wish I lived closer. I’ve done this job on many smaller machines....Only once on a 1450 Case. My first one was a nightmare...Learned a lot about gravity...I think my dad still has some JD track bolts laying around his garage. I’ve taken my chain to Germantown NY to get the pins replaced...Thanks, drone shots look good.
I haven't hardly begun the video and I have been laughing so hard. Not at you but at myself. Dead battery, lots if either, risky battery swap, and chain falls off the shovel. That was my life as a teen, especially on the land 2.5 miles from home. Had to overcome the problems and get the fields done or there would be hell to pay when I got home. Tons of pressure and you had to think it through, do trial and error and make it work. Most of the time I succeeded, but I sure hated to phone dad in town and give him bad news. Also hated to have him think I was a slacker. So thanks for laughs and the memories!
if you would have just picked up the side off the rail and then used the gear to walk the rail up over the top that would have worked for you.or just hook a chain to the rail to the bucket and used the hydraulics to pull the rail over the top.
Just you being able to GET THE JOB DONE is incredible enough. But to add your camera capability to record this makes it extra special! These videos are super educational. Thanks for everything,
Love your videos. I am not saying I know everything.... I am only saying this to help you on the next one, but when you got the “chain” (as I call it) (rails as you call it) over the sprocket with the service truck all you needed to do was pick up that side of the excavator by using the bucket to get sprocket off the chain on the bottom side. Then just track backwards to rotate the chain up and over the sprocket. You almost had it! Hope this will help on the next one. I love what you do and you have a real talent. Also, I like that you keep it real and explain why your new service truck is not working in the field yet. We all have problems and life is not easy. You are doing the best you can. Keep up the great videos.
Oh shit, ya got a fuckin drone. That's awesome. Thanks for the videos man, I'm a field mechanic in Ohio and enjoy watching and learning from your channel. You never know when you're going to run into the same issues and it's just nice to be able to broaden the diagnosing process.
I've become hooked on your videos. You're just as good of a man as you are a mechanic. If you ever decide to come to Florida to go to the theme parks give me a shout out. I'd love to meet ya. I am a swimming pool repair contractor so I can relate to your trade from a mechanical viewpoint.
I am enjoying your videos, been doing this type of work for 45 years, these days working on locomotives, and also restoring old machines ( see my channel ). I can relate to the hard work you put in, you need a helper / apprentice to pass your skills onto, as you get older you will find it much harder lol I could do with your help and rig on a few projects I am working on. Keep posting
laughed all the way through this every time you swore. i know the struggle. it's tough being a one man show. been swearing like that at an old 1944 Clark forklift for a month. fix one thing and find something else broken.
Just saw the vid. I have no negative comment sir. You got the job done and that's what counts! I would suggest you research the military tankers and how they do track repairs in the field. A person in your field could profit from some of their methods.
Yes warren that could be true they may have been off before and the way they put them on not knowing which way they are supposed to go and they have put the track plates on that way anyway cause it fitted, on some excavators the plates will go either way, I wouldn’t worry to much warren that machine is nearly done for anyway so as long as it travels the owner wouldn’t care , I don’t know if you have any manual for it to show which way they are, is the left side on the same way, warren it’s your choose you are the one there I’m not just do what you have to do to get it going again you are doing a top job by yourself at least they could have had the operator there to help you I know what involved I have done it for 26years in the field myself
You are a real one man band of the highest level. I can't imagine doing this alone. “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” ― Calvin Coolidge
Are these the rails that you had so much trouble getting? Interesting I would have thought you would have assembled it before trying to mount the tracks.
What a great old excavator! Way cool! I saw one of these old girls when my wife and I were in Alaska for are honeymoon. Lots of old iron up there! Great video. Glad you were able to get the rails and get her put back together.
You only need one welding cable to jump start a machine bump your rear bumper against the machine or hook the crane for a ground and the cable goes to positives on the batteries. From back in the days of metal bumpers on cars and trucks. The welder is grounded to the truck so just a positive should have started it.
My friend roger luthy works on equipment too !!!! He mainly does construction equipment only, and isnt as diversified as u are sir !!!! kNOWING HOW BUSY THAT U ARE , WARREN , PLEASE GET YOUR SON TO PREP, CLEANUP and PAINT YOUR SERVICE BODY WHEN POSSIBLE, SIR !!!!! My friend rogers,s service truck looks that bad , too !!!!! I offered to either clean it for him, or find somebody who would !!!!!! i have had my own business and understand the time factors !!!!! Love watching u work, sir !!!!!!
Hey Warren, on my 6x6 cribbing blocks i took an old 3" strap and cut it into 24-30" sections and screwed them to the blocks makes them so much easier to pick up and move around. keep up the good work,
Warren I think you mistook my comment as a negative..my pain is not my horror but my empathy for how hard you work..the suggestion of occasionally having help is not spending your money but just for safety as well as I watch you work your ass off in these remote locations I only speak from personal experiences
With the battery it’s kind of like a dog that’s been kicked. So used to the worse case scenario a guy forgets the easy things. Best o luck in the new year. I enjoy guys like you that fix real problems in real world situations
tip --a long chain use the truck to pull the track chain under the machine then use the crane to help to pull the track chain around so you can put the main pin in
I have a question on a JD 3.9T engine! it is a late 1990s model engine and my question is can I take the balancer off and run without it as I would like to use it in an automotive application! If so would I have to get the piston, rods and crank balanced ?
You had the right idea to start with going over the track but you use the bucket like a crutch for the side that is being replaced. Swing the bucket to that side and a bit ahead, pick up that side of the machine with the bucket, track forward on the opposite side while swinging the boom/pivoting the cab around past the bucket with the lifted side. it takes a few tries to get the hand controls down right, but if you can play with a machine one day while the tracks are on you can get the hang of it rather easy. Either way, you got it done. Thanks for the videos.
After watching part of this video, and seeing others, where you have a tough time figuring out how to lift awkward items like the tensioner here, you may want to invest in a scissor grip for your crane, it's very similar to the ones used to lift logs, where as you pull harder it pinches harder, it would work great for things like this, or even changing/moving tires.
Warren love your videos & I believe you’re good mechanic to know in your area lol. I have to ask you a question, out in the woods or where ever they leave this equipment your supposed to work on how in the hell can you find it with no addresses? Other than that, I’m good.
Warren, could you pull the master at the idler pulley, hook the new rail to the old one then drive back draging the new rail up and over the rack till you get it in position?
I have run one the same model, it needs turn table work and hydraulic lines repaired from being broke from the turning motor busting off the table. But it was a pretty good excavator got the job done. But the turn table could be replaced but we are going to try to weld it back together.
Great video and I know how you feel when things don't go right and I curse and swear too! Really enjoy the videos they are informative, real life and at times really funny! Priceless quality to be honest and worth looking forward to seeing the next installment.
Defiantly a frustrating start !! Working in that dirt sucks for sure. I noticed the threads were packed with dirt that your treads will bolt on to. 😭 As for OLD equipment comments. HAVE YOU SEEN THE PRICE OF THE NEW MACHINES ! I would run that thing until there was nothing left !! GETTER DONE WARREN👍
Warren, it's called determination, spunk, effort and hard work. You are the man! If I lived close to you, I putter part time for food and fun just watching your sharp ass working. Great video guy. You are quite a guy. Thanks.
Warren it looks to me that you have the rails on backwards, the bush end should be at the bottom at the front and the links that the master pin goes through goes over the ldler from the top and swings down to join up, that’s the way I would have put them on, at least that’s how CAT ones fit
As far as the beginning of the video goes sometimes we are our own worse enemy........I'll bet when you drove that pin home you thought "thank God"! Don't know what you charged those folks but you earned every penny.
I think when you had the rail hung over the top of the sprocket if you would of used the bucket to pick up the machine you could of drove the rail right on. These things always seem easier in my mind than they are in real life though. I know what a pain tracks can be to work with as I have fought some so called easy ones for hours.
Warren you need to learn how to travel on sideways on one track with the other off the ground, slew sideways & travel on the one track. Now im shouting use the bucket to pull the track along, forget the comealong lol, the fitters I worked with always joined the track on the sprocket rather than the idler end.
There are those days brother where you just really need some help. Good help aint cheap and cheap help aint good but man sometimes another pair of hands can make life a hell of a lot better.
The way we did it with a Volvo be took the sender pin out of the old track and then took the sender drive gear out of the track drive gear so it free treacked then hooked the new rail to the old one n pulled the old one out with a skid loader but I think a pickup would work
Half the shit that shows up at my place the batteries are either shot or the damn thing is almost outta fuel. Or if the tank needs to come out you can bet its full of fuel.
Hay why don’t you run a heavy cable from your truck battery back to your welder. If you would do that you shouldn’t have to worry about your welder being dead ever again. You could even put a master switch in line so it wouldn’t drain your truck battery.
The rail should had been in the front of the machine. Then you wrap a cable around the sprocket then pull the rail under the track by running the sprocket in reverse and let the machine pull the rail under and then over the sprocket.
Warren you get a super workout everyday ..up and down 500 times. I'm 73 and i get tired just watching you move. :) Love your energy.
As i sit here watching you busting your solo ass replacing tracks on an excavator im procrastinating installing my alternator on my old plow truck to go plow my driveway lol.. your energy never ceases to amaze me.
Warren I love those tracks were you don't need a pin press, but the press comes in handy when having to replace a link
I really enjoy your videos; a guy can learn alot watching you; i wished you lived closer to me; i need to change a transmission in a payloader and believe me if we weren’t 18- 20 hrs apart i would hire you in a heartbeat; thanks for sharing your knowledge and taking the time to make these videos
I've watched pretty much all your videos, and this is probably one of my favorites.. I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one that runs into stupid little snags all the time. Haha. Thanks for putting out raw videos like this. Sheds some light on the real daily struggles of a field mechanic
Sometimes a second pair of hands would make life alot easier, it's great to watch how you just use what you've got a get the job done alone. Thanks for another great video
Problem is you ain't goin to make any money - help will make more than you do.
2 guys always do the work of three if the owner is around.
@@mt1885 2 guys work faster and onto the next job sooner
That’s hard work my friend. Just wish I lived closer. I’ve done this job on many smaller machines....Only once on a 1450 Case. My first one was a nightmare...Learned a lot about gravity...I think my dad still has some JD track bolts laying around his garage. I’ve taken my chain to Germantown NY to get the pins replaced...Thanks, drone shots look good.
I haven't hardly begun the video and I have been laughing so hard. Not at you but at myself. Dead battery, lots if either, risky battery swap, and chain falls off the shovel. That was my life as a teen, especially on the land 2.5 miles from home. Had to overcome the problems and get the fields done or there would be hell to pay when I got home. Tons of pressure and you had to think it through, do trial and error and make it work. Most of the time I succeeded, but I sure hated to phone dad in town and give him bad news. Also hated to have him think I was a slacker. So thanks for laughs and the memories!
if you would have just picked up the side off the rail and then used the gear to walk the rail up over the top that would have worked for you.or just hook a chain to the rail to the bucket and used the hydraulics to pull the rail over the top.
The bottom line is, if YOU got the job done and YOU got paid, it doesn't matter how anyone else would 've done it. Good job
Thats damn good thinking
Just you being able to GET THE JOB DONE is incredible enough. But to add your camera capability to record this makes it extra special! These videos are super educational. Thanks for everything,
Love your videos. I am not saying I know everything.... I am only saying this to help you on the next one, but when you got the “chain” (as I call it) (rails as you call it) over the sprocket with the service truck all you needed to do was pick up that side of the excavator by using the bucket to get sprocket off the chain on the bottom side. Then just track backwards to rotate the chain up and over the sprocket. You almost had it! Hope this will help on the next one. I love what you do and you have a real talent. Also, I like that you keep it real and explain why your new service truck is not working in the field yet. We all have problems and life is not easy. You are doing the best you can. Keep up the great videos.
Oh shit, ya got a fuckin drone. That's awesome. Thanks for the videos man, I'm a field mechanic in Ohio and enjoy watching and learning from your channel. You never know when you're going to run into the same issues and it's just nice to be able to broaden the diagnosing process.
I've become hooked on your videos. You're just as good of a man as you are a mechanic. If you ever decide to come to Florida to go to the theme parks give me a shout out. I'd love to meet ya. I am a swimming pool repair contractor so I can relate to your trade from a mechanical viewpoint.
Wow, now I'm doubly glad my Hitachi 135 used rubber tracks. And as long as the Chief Boats ain't griping, how you rig stuff is your own business.
Two armed guy doing a four armed job 👍🏻🇺🇸‼️
Would a portable generator and battery charger be a good investment for the new truck?
That service truck crane is a backsaver! Thanks for the great videos Warren.
I am enjoying your videos, been doing this type of work for 45 years, these days working on locomotives, and also restoring old machines ( see my channel ). I can relate to the hard work you put in, you need a helper / apprentice to pass your skills onto, as you get older you will find it much harder lol I could do with your help and rig on a few projects I am working on. Keep posting
laughed all the way through this every time you swore. i know the struggle. it's tough being a one man show. been swearing like that at an old 1944 Clark forklift for a month. fix one thing and find something else broken.
is that chain (rail) section that heavy? i figured you could just lift and pop one link over the sprocket at a time until kinda snug.
Just saw the vid. I have no negative comment sir. You got the job done and that's what counts! I would suggest you research the military tankers and how they do track repairs in the field. A person in your field could profit from some of their methods.
Gee I thought I was the only one that had that kind of day thanks Warren you make me fill a whole lot better man.
Yes warren that could be true they may have been off before and the way they put them on not knowing which way they are supposed to go and they have put the track plates on that way anyway cause it fitted, on some excavators the plates will go either way, I wouldn’t worry to much warren that machine is nearly done for anyway so as long as it travels the owner wouldn’t care , I don’t know if you have any manual for it to show which way they are, is the left side on the same way, warren it’s your choose you are the one there I’m not just do what you have to do to get it going again you are doing a top job by yourself at least they could have had the operator there to help you I know what involved I have done it for 26years in the field myself
That hydraulic truck crane is invaluable to your work - saves your back quite a bit
You are a real one man band of the highest level. I can't imagine doing this alone. “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
― Calvin Coolidge
If u don't mind me asking what would that set them back if they bought sprockets too?
Are these the rails that you had so much trouble getting?
Interesting I would have thought you would have assembled it before trying to mount the tracks.
Take my hat off to you Warren . Working on heavy plant all by yourself and in the middle of a field. Need to call you Macgyver .
OMG how much can you charge for that kind of work? If you say any less than 3k I think your underpaid.
What a great old excavator! Way cool! I saw one of these old girls when my wife and I were in Alaska for are honeymoon. Lots of old iron up there! Great video. Glad you were able to get the rails and get her put back together.
1986 JD 690B wonder how many hours this has on it. But it's got new shoes.
You only need one welding cable to jump start a machine bump your rear bumper against the machine or hook the crane for a ground and the cable goes to positives on the batteries. From back in the days of metal bumpers on cars and trucks. The welder is grounded to the truck so just a positive should have started it.
i could not see what brand those chains (rails) were, are they Bercertex ?
My friend roger luthy works on equipment too !!!! He mainly does construction equipment only, and isnt as diversified as u are sir !!!! kNOWING HOW BUSY THAT U ARE , WARREN , PLEASE GET YOUR SON TO PREP, CLEANUP and PAINT YOUR SERVICE BODY WHEN POSSIBLE, SIR !!!!! My friend rogers,s service truck looks that bad , too !!!!! I offered to either clean it for him, or find somebody who would !!!!!! i have had my own business and understand the time factors !!!!! Love watching u work, sir !!!!!!
Not many [ if any ] could do the job better than you do it on your own Warren, so stuff what anyone else may think. You are The Man at what you do.!!!
Thank you sir.
What drone are you using? How old is that John Deere excavator? Thanks for uploading Warren.
Nice video thanks for sharing bud and thanks again for the info on that seal installer I appreciate it 👍
Hey Warren, on my 6x6 cribbing blocks i took an old 3" strap and cut it into 24-30" sections and screwed them to the blocks makes them so much easier to pick up and move around. keep up the good work,
That's a damn good idea.
My 4320 JD was push button or key since the previous owner updated the ignition. I guess it was whatever you felt like for the day.
I laughed when I heard "f***, f***".
I can relate!😃
Watching this channel is addicting. Your skill with the equipment is awesome. Good work.
What year did you start working on equipment full time - just curious
Man, I like this channel. You show the good with bad and still get the job done. I can relate. Good job!
Aye, those pallets don't hold up well when you've got 3k+ on em.
this may be a dumb question, but why does the sprocket have twice as many teeth as needed? different rails with smaller sections?
I am not sure I am understanding the question.
@@westerntruckandtractorrepa1353 it looked like there was two teeth on the sprocket for every one notch in the chain.
Warren I think you mistook my comment as a negative..my pain is not my horror but my empathy for how hard you work..the suggestion of occasionally having help is not spending your money but just for safety as well as I watch you work your ass off in these remote locations
I only speak from personal experiences
Some strange terrain around there. Where are you?
With the battery it’s kind of like a dog that’s been kicked. So used to the worse case scenario a guy forgets the easy things. Best o luck in the new year. I enjoy guys like you that fix real problems in real world situations
Well one thing for sure it looked peaceful
tip --a long chain use the truck to pull the track chain under the machine then use the crane to help to pull the track chain around so you can put the main pin in
your sounding stress old boy , sending you happy thoughts and good wishes ,
I talk to myself when I'm working as much as you do with a camera running and i'm not making a video. HaHa.
the camera is just so people dont think hes crazy.....
I have a question on a JD 3.9T engine! it is a late 1990s model engine and my question is can I take the balancer off and run without it as I would like to use it in an automotive application! If so would I have to get the piston, rods and crank balanced ?
Thank you.
Waiting to see the pads being put on.
The video ended to soon lol.
Who needs a gym membership ? You got it sorted 👍👍👍
You had the right idea to start with going over the track but you use the bucket like a crutch for the side that is being replaced. Swing the bucket to that side and a bit ahead, pick up that side of the machine with the bucket, track forward on the opposite side while swinging the boom/pivoting the cab around past the bucket with the lifted side. it takes a few tries to get the hand controls down right, but if you can play with a machine one day while the tracks are on you can get the hang of it rather easy. Either way, you got it done. Thanks for the videos.
Exactly how we used to do it. back in the days when I was a mechanic.
PERSISTENCE AND A HOIST!
Persistence and work ethic overcomes a bunch of things.
After watching part of this video, and seeing others, where you have a tough time figuring out how to lift awkward items like the tensioner here, you may want to invest in a scissor grip for your crane, it's very similar to the ones used to lift logs, where as you pull harder it pinches harder, it would work great for things like this, or even changing/moving tires.
Warren love your videos & I believe you’re good mechanic to know in your area lol.
I have to ask you a question, out in the woods or where ever they leave this equipment your supposed to work on how in the hell can you find it with no addresses? Other than that, I’m good.
that winch on his service truck sounds like a fucking train coming down tracks lol
Warren, could you pull the master at the idler pulley, hook the new rail to the old one then drive back draging the new rail up and over the rack till you get it in position?
I have run one the same model, it needs turn table work and hydraulic lines repaired from being broke from the turning motor busting off the table. But it was a pretty good excavator got the job done. But the turn table could be replaced but we are going to try to weld it back together.
Great video and I know how you feel when things don't go right and I curse and swear too! Really enjoy the videos they are informative, real life and at times really funny! Priceless quality to be honest and worth looking forward to seeing the next installment.
Defiantly a frustrating start !! Working in that dirt sucks for sure. I noticed the threads were packed with dirt that your treads will bolt on to. 😭 As for OLD equipment comments. HAVE YOU SEEN THE PRICE OF THE NEW MACHINES ! I would run that thing until there was nothing left !! GETTER DONE WARREN👍
What a job by your self. Thanks again
Great work. You make it look easy.... and it's far from easy work. Thanks for the vids
f**k f**k just another day in paradise. Life as I knew it for many years. One of the best vids on traveling mechanic Keep 'em coming !!
Warren, it's called determination, spunk, effort and hard work. You are the man! If I lived close to you, I putter part time for food and fun just watching your sharp ass working. Great video guy. You are quite a guy. Thanks.
Why doesnt the winch-motor has a stop, i always wonder when i see and hear you using it.
Interesting video Warren, I wondered how that was done, thanks.
That winch motor on the crane sounds like a 2stroke Detroit running from this side of the camera...
Warren it looks to me that you have the rails on backwards, the bush end should be at the bottom at the front and the links that the master pin goes through goes over the ldler from the top and swings down to join up, that’s the way I would have put them on, at least that’s how CAT ones fit
Well I guess the previous ones were on backwards too.
where do i get one of those cool hats i always see you wearing?
As far as the beginning of the video goes sometimes we are our own worse enemy........I'll bet when you drove that pin home you thought "thank God"! Don't know what you charged those folks but you earned every penny.
I think when you had the rail hung over the top of the sprocket if you would of used the bucket to pick up the machine you could of drove the rail right on. These things always seem easier in my mind than they are in real life though. I know what a pain tracks can be to work with as I have fought some so called easy ones for hours.
Warren you need to learn how to travel on sideways on one track with the other off the ground, slew sideways & travel on the one track. Now im shouting use the bucket to pull the track along, forget the comealong lol, the fitters I worked with always joined the track on the sprocket rather than the idler end.
That's the most I run excavators, just to work on them. I'm sure if I had one to sit in all day day after day I could learn all that.
There are those days brother where you just really need some help. Good help aint cheap and cheap help aint good but man sometimes another pair of hands can make life a hell of a lot better.
The way we did it with a Volvo be took the sender pin out of the old track and then took the sender drive gear out of the track drive gear so it free treacked then hooked the new rail to the old one n pulled the old one out with a skid loader but I think a pickup would work
ahhh the good old tractor smack.
another good show. thanks for the show, i know you could go faster if you did not make thise taps for use, but thanks.
Hi warren , it's easier if you had run to the end of the rail then pulled the top half over the idler and back to the sprocket , join it there
Those are the jobs that make money!
Thanks for sharing Warren great work 👍👍
Half the shit that shows up at my place the batteries are either shot or the damn thing is almost outta fuel. Or if the tank needs to come out you can bet its full of fuel.
Same shit I run into constantly.
I lv these videos // he just gets in and does it
Hay why don’t you run a heavy cable from your truck battery back to your welder. If you would do that you shouldn’t have to worry about your welder being dead ever again. You could even put a master switch in line so it wouldn’t drain your truck battery.
I’m worn out just watching you do this job. U R one strong M F
Netter Bagger. Bagger means something different in German, the yellow thing is a Bagger, not a guy who puts your groceries in bags. :)
On soft ground we would have put the new chain on top of the old one. It's hard doing on your own and like you say the cab is on the wrong side.
Let the bucket do some of the WORK!
hope that 7.3l powerstroke treated ya well. mines still running good.
Just smashed your Subscribe button 👍🏻🇺🇸‼️
I love that you say it as I see it, in real life people throw in the 'F'
Cool video Warren.How What's the weight of one track.
I think your doing bloody good
How do u get it unhooked from either?
The rail should had been in the front of the machine. Then you wrap a cable around the sprocket then pull the rail under the track by running the sprocket in reverse and let the machine pull the rail under and then over the sprocket.
Nice country