Return rollers

[John chamney]

Personally think the track horns need reducing , by reducing them by 3 mm isn’t going to affect them in any way as there will only be a mill clearance .As I measure the centre boss is roughly 2mm thick , if the horn is being held off by 2mm when it beds in there is going to be hardly any centre boss left ! Then over a period of time does it keep wearing and the cast iron track keeps on grinding away only now at the steel shaft ?

[Richard Goodwin]

Huge sigh of relief, thank you Armortek. I agree with Phil in that I may just help the process and take the edge off the lip; that should help in reducing the impact on the bush and bearing. I still think however that I will secure the rollers to the shaft with Loctite 648 as a precautionary measure; there's not much room for error here.

[Youngjae Bae]

I didn't pay much attention to this issue from the beginning.
Three months ago, when I was making and inspecting a return roller, I expected that there would be stability due to wear.
At that time, I modified it directly because there was a problem with other parts.
And if there's a problem coming up in the future, I thought I'd actually process the return roller and use it.
But I'm very happy that Armortek, the production company, gave me the same clear answer as I thought.
And I have no fear because I'm lucky to have tools and conditions that can process certain parts.
The turret motor has not arrived, so it's still driving. I'm already past 16 hours of accumulated running time.

If things happen, I'll share my experiences, too, although I'll be short and lacking.
I hope many Chieftain owners will overcome their worries and fears and enjoy the ride.

Have a good day.

Youngjae

[John Clarke]

I totally respect Amortek's suggestion on the return roller question. To make the changes is long winded exercise that could lead to long stay in A&E if proper precautions are not realized.

Nobody wants to have less digit's at the end of the day than they woke up with in the morning.
Though in my Village loosing a digit, most would still be able to count up to eleven on their fingers and thumbs....That's if they could count that is.

I know it's not a Rolls Royce and sadly, I can't wait for the knocking to stop, so I've taken up the Glen Campbell song and put it into action. The "Grind stone cowboy"
The track link horns are a little off scale, so a little more won't hurt.

Simply found a piece of plate the right thickness (metal ruler 15mm), painted the offending bit 2mm+ (my opinion only) ground it off, and finished by hand. The track horns well within 0.5mm tolerance of each other.

The tracks are fantastic, even with some of the abnormalities and casting marks that some have. A small bubble hole here, a lump there.

One things for sure these tracks will last and last. So once their on, I should never need any more.

SAM_2051.JPG (148.96 KiB) Viewed 2613 times

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Ahhh that better (my opinion only)

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[John chamney]

Spot on , only Correct solution for me , after all if you had a car door that didn’t fit would you keep slamming it until it did ?

[John Clarke]

John, You obviously haven't been to my village.

[John chamney]

Guessing webbed feet that sort of thing

[John Clarke]

You nailed it.

[Steve Stuart]

Roller

The measurement of the 'neck' is precisely two inches. Taken at Bovington on Saturday. Hope this helps to answer any questions.
Steve

[Youngjae Bae]

I did maintenance on my Chieftain drive system for several days.
I operated for about 20 hours after assembly and learned many meaningful situations.
The U-shaped erosion of the return roller was about 1mm deep and the remaining flesh was 2mm deep.
This translates into correct values published by Armortek.
Therefore, I will use my track horn as it is now and I will not modify it in the future.

Youngjae

[John Clarke]

Excellent pictures Youngjae and Steve, I'm sure many will be happy and have there fear's laid the rest on what damage might have occurred if nothing was done to avoid the impact on the return rollers.

That said, I've nearly completed my horn modification so they (Horns) will have no impact on the return rollers now or in the future.

Keep up the great R & D work, it will be wonderful guidance for all during the Chieftain builds.

I'm sure we're all watching intently at the options fit and operation.

[Mark Russell]

Here is my solution for modifying the return rollers. I don’t have a lathe so used my faithful Bosch drill as a substitute. Put the return roller in the chuck held with a suitably sized bolt and a power file. No need to modify the tracks and all done in less than 30 minutes for all 12 return rollers...

[John Clarke]

Great solution, certainly simpler/better than mine. This way you've predetermined the profile and not had to worry about a balanced in bedding in process. No lumberjack song sung here either.
I hate squeezing hand drills like that, but sometimes "you gotta do what ya gotta do" makes a cracking little lathe:D