unseizing track

[Rob Dyba]

I have managed to aquire enough track to fit-out another carrier but it is siezed fairly badly. The few links I have managed to un-sieze to see if it is useable have come up ok, but using an oxy to free up each individual link would be an expensive way to tackle it. I have heard quite a few methods-

Put it in a big bonfire
Soak in molasses & water mix
soak in brown vinegar
Alkaline bath with electrical current
soak in acid
soak in 205 ltr drum of hot alkaline floor cleaner with a gas burner underneath
soak in drum full of diesel fuel

Who has actually used any of these methods & how well did they work.?????Some of the links will be trash when freed but more than 1/2 look like they have had little wear, bieng stored outside is what has done the damage. Hate to scrap the lot when I don't have enough to do my Vickers project, if 1/2 of it is salvageable I will have enough...

Rob

[rob love]

There was a Ford bulletin on unsiezing track from outdoor storeage where you simply hit the pins left to right until free. This was for a year or two of outdoor storeage, which hardly compares to the conditions some of our track has been subject to. I have been lucky enough to have that work for my present set of track.

Another local carrier guy (Derk Derin) salvaged track that had been buried for 30 years. He broke it in to short sections and would put a section in to his woodstove each day before leaving for work. He was successful and is using that track to this day. I am not sure what he did to get the initial pins out in order to break it into the short sections.

[carrierbarry]

I have meet a guy how did the bonfire trick, with some T16 track and it worked.

[horsa]

I broke my T-16 tracks into sections and then had them chemically dipped. Took the place a lot longer than they planned to get the links free but they are very nice now. Will try and post some photos in the next day showing before and after shots.

Before you could hold a 3-4' section on two arms and it had no flexibility. Some sections would barely bend at all, even when using a tanker bar for leverage. Now they all roll up with a flick of the wrist and are waiting to be reasembled once I get the hull ready for them.

I tried phosphoric acid (similar but stronger than molasses) and it really couldn't get into the links where the pins are at. Did a good job on the outside but was going to take a long time due to the size vat I had and cost of the chemicals.

Place that dipped the tracks for me cut me a really good deal since they were doing it as a test to prove their system in the hopes of attracting other USA vehicle restoration projects. Paid about $100 but I'm sure that price won't hold for other people now that they know what is involved.

[Hendrik van Oorspronk]

The track I bought was on rols of about 160 links, after I had loosen up the first 1.5 meters, I Could drive one wheel of the forklift on it and then I could rol it of with help of the forks, then lifting it up in the midle and then slamming with a big hammer for about 2 till 4 hours each track made it loose. I then mounted them on the carrier, and after about 6 miles I had to remove 2 links because the rust was coming out between the pins and the links.


Green greetings Hendrik

[horsa]

Tracks in rolls. Must have been on a vehicle at one time as each end of the rolls had links that were blow torched which I still haven't removed yet.


Took quite awhile to force unroll and break into sections. Driving out pins was real fun with all the rust and lack of proper tools


Stacked in stiff sections on top of spare Weasel tracks.


After dipping, I laid the sections out on plastic and coated them with a marine grade spray grease. I know they run dry but the grease was to prevent rusting since this project might easily span a few years. No plans to paint the tracks so the grese won't hurt anything other than attracting dirt initially when I reassemble and run them on the vehicle but that will quickly rub off with use.


Showing the cleaned tracks and how easy they roll up. Should make final assembly on the vehicle a lot easier.

And more importantly, there shouldn't be excessive wear on the drive axle, transmission and motor from trying to break heavily rusted tracks free.

[Lynn Eades]

I aquired for free about 300 litres of hydraulic oil, so over several months I soaked the 21 link sections in it. I then took the track out, and with a couple of pry bars, I worked the links free. It was a bit of a mission. Some peices required heat, and the worst of it required sacrificing every second link to the gas axe.
I think oil is the method of choice because it does nothing to the metalergy of the steel. Firing the pins may ruin them. Most people can process the track through an oil bath while the rebuild is happening, and I think the adverse effects of oiling the track with hydraulic oil will soon fade to nothing particularly if your track lays around for a while after you free it up. It could be water blasted with a detergent if you want to use it immediately.

Freeing track pins up is never easy. One thing to watch for is the pin only being free in one of the two shoes it joins. This leads to the pin not being able to rotate and spread the wear around its entire circumference and of course all the wear being taken at the bearing pionts of just one shoe.

Perry

[Rob Dyba]

Thanks guys, the track I have to work with is in fairly sad state, will post a picc of how bad it is this week-end. I know that probably one in 10 links is trashed, I have already cut it into manageable sections. I will subject it to trial by fire & trial by molasses first with a short section.

Rob

[Ian Pullen]

I've used both the Molasses and Vinegar methods and if you're not in a hurry, they do work. Leave them there for about a month and they will free up. The Vinegar is quicker. I've also used the Vinegar to free up a seized engine block. The hardest part was explaining to my wife (who has horses) where her drum of Molasses went...............