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Morrisburg, ON | Hi there, We made the jump to a tracked tractor this year. I read every thread on here about tracks before doing so and I'm glad I did. The only thing that the search function couldn't find was how to change tracks. So here it is. :D
I'm really pleased with the mt765d. It performed extremely well on our 24 row planter with the 25" belts. Next to no berming on the end rows and you could hardly see where it had been after the planter had made its marks. I'm now almost 100% certain that the threads on track berming being an issue are more about extremely jealous neighbours or really bad operators than the limitations of a 2 tracked tractor. After a day in the seat you figure out how to move your hand that little bit to make the perfect smooth turn. Yes if you turn too sharp too fast it will make a ridge. However if you do a brake stand (the wheeled equivalent to a poor tracked tractor operator) with a tractor with duals it makes a ditch too! From reading the search function threads I was very nervous about berming. On our clay-loam conventional tillage soils it isn't an issue at all. Sand I just don't know we farm next to none.
We are going to run the 25" camoplast 6500 belts for planting, land leveling and grain cart. The 18" camoplast 4500 belts will only be used to side dress corn.
This is the process of changing the tracks in photos. The missing parts and fine details are well outlined in the owners manual. The first belt took us 3.5 hours to completely change. The second one took just over an hour. I'm going to budget 3 hours total for the job in the future now that we know what we're doing and have made our mistakes. 2.5 people did the work over that time. 2 would work but that third set of eyes watching while mounting and dismounting was a big help.
Any questions or comments are welcome.
Warren
We purchased some heavy duty 20mt screw type jack stands that go from 28 to 48" high. We needed that height to support the tractor. I feel much safer with a stand in its lower half of operation than all the way up. The tractor was completely stable throughout the process.
The tracks need to be about 8 inches off the ground to get the guide blocks to clear the drive wheel.
The book instructions were pretty good. Very simple to take the pressure off the tracks using the provided hydrualic hose. A tip a farmer in Texas told me on twitter was to use the forklift to help get every last bit of oil out of the cylinder! Thanks Alan.
I forget where I read this tip but it worked brilliantly. A light ratchet strap on the third bogey wheel keeps it from falling down when the tracks are loose.
You have to loosen all the bolts on the bogies and the front idler wheel while the tracks are tight and the tractor is on the ground. They spin easily if you don't.
I'm glad I listened to Nick Debuc (Soucey Engineer and college friend) and made the dealer let us keep the wide bogey wheels when we had them swap the wide drives for the mid sized. They really keep the 25 inch belt down and I think are helping with berming and wear.
Next you remove the 3 outer bogies and the front outside idler wheel. Book says take the rear outer drive off but that's too much like work!
We were unsure of the weight and opted to use the forklift for the first one. 2 people can easily carry the wheel so it wasn't necessary. Better safe than sorry!
Ready to remove the track
Our first setup at handling the track. Not recommended. See below for much more user friendly process.
This worked slick! I suggest using straps to carry the belt instead of chains. The forklift holding the track wide over the drive wheel and the engine crane holding the front slack. The pallet jack didn't need to be pushed it just rolled along on its own. This setup saved us about half an hour verses the above photo.
Swapped the bogey wheels and reattached the front idler. Then you can pressurize the track again.
25 to 18 isn't a lot on paper but man it sure looks different!!!
Side 2. Had it off in 30 minutes.
Ready to re-align the front idler wheels to make the belt track properly.
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Swapping 25" tracks for 18" on our MT765D pics
