Track links frozen

[oldchips]

After nearly a year of hospitals, not me, then two years of Covid, finally back into the wood, and the track links have frozen with rust.

Both tracks of my JS150 are as stiff as boards, normally can press them down to move them.

How to free them up? Going to try some penetrating oil to start, but what is the normal, best method of freeing the link pins please? Didn't expect to be just leaving the digger in the wood for 3 years so took no protection against the links freezing.

Have seen machines with frozen links, and avoided buying them because they never seem to free off. As far as I know, never split a track, there are no seals in the track, all just metal to metal joints. Will oxy-acetylene crack the rust?

All suggestions gratefully received.

 

[V8Druid]

After nearly a year of hospitals, not me, then two years of Covid, finally back into the wood, and the track links have frozen with rust.

Both tracks of my JS150 are as stiff as boards, normally can press them down to move them.

How to free them up? Going to try some penetrating oil to start, but what is the normal, best method of freeing the link pins please? Didn't expect to be just leaving the digger in the wood for 3 years so took no protection against the links freezing.

Have seen machines with frozen links, and avoided buying them because they never seem to free off. As far as I know, never split a track, there are no seals in the track, all just metal to metal joints. Will oxy-acetylene crack the rust?

All suggestions gratefully received.

have heard that parking it in a river for a week or two will soften it all up

 

[JD450A]

Water and tracking.

 

[DaveDCB]

A splash of diesel on the links was my first thought..

 

[Tacitus]

Apparently keeping the tracks submerged for a couple of weeks in fresh water and then pressure clean them with a zero nozzle until the rust starts bleeding out of the bushes. But I did not do this myself.

 

[Danny]

A splash of diesel on the links was my first thought..

That's exactly what I did on my 13t last night little splash of diesel as it's been sat for about 6 weeks and one link looked like it needed it

 

[craig]

A splash of diesel on the links was my first thought..

Red or White?

Just re-read the op, he said in the woods, so forestry, red should be fine

 

[Bri963]

Water and tracking.

X2, plus a sledgehammer on the odd one that won’t free off.

 

[DaveDCB]

Red or White?

Just re-read the op, he said in the woods, so forestry, red should be fine

Red obviously
Not all of us have our pwn private lake to bath our excavators in

 

[Tacitus]

To dunk the tracks in water, I would build a bath of sorts by digging under the tracks by hand and line the hole with thick plastic and fill with water. A bit of work, but cheaper than buying new tracks.

As for the diesel option, kero is way better at loosening rust than diesel. A bath in kero would be ideal, but I don't know what will happen to the rubber submersed in kero for a week. Probably nothing good ... or may be ok, Don't know.

Here is a study of water penetration in concrete compared to diesel and petrol. Steel rust is more porous than concrete however this shows that water is way more able to penetrate porous solids than diesel is. Kero with its lower density would perform better than diesel. Petrol is of course out of the question unless you are after insurance money .
Try to soften up with water submersion and later pressure cleaning. Best of luck

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.686.2829&rep=rep1&type=pdf

 

[V8Druid]

...... by digging under the tracks by hand

**** that .... he's got a digger to dig the baths/holes with ..... then walk it in there

 

[Tacitus]

I thought the thing is frozen? Suppose it can be dragged in with frozen tracks? May be it can. Sure easier that way

 

[oldchips]

Thanks for the interest, sympathy.

Can't soak it in water, none in the wood. But will try the usual penetrating oil solution. Has anyone used an impact drill on the end of the track pin to give it a few shocks?

Have to try to find out the viscosity of different liquids, water, diesel, paraffin etc to so if there is a difference to getting some penetration. From catalogues penetrating oil is 30% less viscosity than water, is this a lot, or lot.

 

[Shovelhands]

Is it every link seized or just a few?

 

[Smiffy]

Thanks for the interest, sympathy.

Can't soak it in water, none in the wood. But will try the usual penetrating oil solution. Has anyone used an impact drill on the end of the track pin to give it a few shocks?

Have to try to find out the viscosity of different liquids, water, diesel, paraffin etc to so if there is a difference to getting some penetration. From catalogues penetrating oil is 30% less viscosity than water, is this a lot, or lot.

Think you would need a bit more than a drill
A jcb beaver pack might do it

 

[Shovelhands]

Trouble is with hitting the pin, the last thing you want to do is encourage movement between the pin and the link.

 

[Bri963]

No, you hit down onto the plate. Problem with any form of penetrating oil is you’ll end up with the chains wearing prematurely as it’ll go like grinding paste. Water and mud dry out.

 

[Shovelhands]

No, you hit down onto the plate. Problem with any form of penetrating oil is you’ll end up with the chains wearing prematurely as it’ll go like grinding paste. Water and mud dry out.

Nobody is suggesting that the chain is lubricated for the rest of its life, just to feee it off.

 

[Bri963]

Nobody is suggesting that the chain is lubricated for the rest of its life, just to feee it off.

That’s not what I’m saying, either. Diesel or kero will kill the chains fairly quickly if the machine then works in dry conditions.

 

[oldchips]

Pressing the tracks and it felt like all the links were frozen, but spent no time or aggro on it, that is next week.