Komatsu D20A-6 ?

[GuglioLS]

Hey Bob,

Thanks for your kind comments and that link to Murphy pressure gauges. I like the adjustable limit switch feature, that way you can monitor pressure and get a audible or visual warning too -very nice. I need to get me one for the Dozer. So you monitor fuel pressure too? I assume before the filter? What's your typical fuel back pressure and how high does it go before you change filters. Is that setup on your dozer?


The Tiny Tach is from well "TinyTach dot com" ------> Design Technology, Inc., Home of the Tiny-Tach - Diesel Tiny-Tach Tachometer


Oh and you might be happy to know I replaced the steering clutches and steering breaks on my Little Komatsu, however it was NOT a little job! (to me anyway) I'll post that next........



Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

About a month or so ago I finally decided to replace the steering clutches and breaks on the Dozer. The Steering and breaking was slowly degrading the last couple of years. I had been collecting parts over a year to spread the cost out. What had been happening was the breaks would sometimes lock up, or the steering clutches would not disengage causing the engine to bog down and not steer at all. I took a week off from work to get it all done.

First was to jack up the entire Dozer front to rear, the tracks had to be completely off the ground so as to be able to rotate the tracks to access all the bolts around the clutch / break drum.

After doing that was to remove the floor plate, seat, rear plate, batteries, a few tubes and disconnect all the linkages.




Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

After removing all the linkages, valves and other "Stuff" I finally got to the steering break bands and steering clutches. What a mess, it was amazing it worked at all. After removing the steering clutch plates and friction disks (there are 7 of each, on each side) I discovered they were very rusted and worn. No surprise it was hard to steer and the clutches were frozen together by rust. I never got the machine stuck in a bog or otherwise any way to cause this in my very dry climate so I am thinking the machine was stuck in a mud bog for a very long time and never cleaned out before I purchased it.

I realize I should have taken more pictures to show how the clutch and break really work but got lost in taking everything apart, plus I was trashed from head to toe and did not want to touch my camera.



Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

After getting everything cleaned up and allot of sand blasting I painted a few parts and put it all back together. The last picture shows the New Clutch / break drum installed, all new clutch plates and friction disks (inside the drum and cant be seen) and around the outside a new break band. Looks like new. I sure hope it works after putting it all back together. Ive got at least 40 hours into it at this point.




After tightening the last bolt I could hardly wait to feel the results of all that work. After taking it for "A spin around the block" I must say it steers as smooth as butter now, it feels like a new machine with power steering. I am soooooo excited and happy I was able to pull this off and get it completely restored. I'm really enjoying my Dozer now! Thanks for checking this out.


Larry

 

[GuglioLS]

Now for the Financial "Damage" report on this steering break / clutch repair...

I would have "cut the check to the man" for this repair if the price tag were not more than what I paid for the Dozer. Dozer parts are marked up at least 1000% if not more. Labor is 125 / hour. I think they figure most who own a Dozer are road contractors who have no choice but to pay the ridiculous high prices and then pass it on to the government. For instance a simple break band is 200 bucks each (I needed 2) clutch discs and plates enough to do both sides (28 pieces in all) are over $1500 from a dealer I got after market ones off e-bay for 550. The break / clutch drums are 250 each (e-bay). I needed two small splined shafts (dealer only) about 3" long and .75" diameter I got the "shaft" on those at a mere 130 each. Plus a few springs, metric bolts, 4 sets of needle bearings, bearing seals, plus several cans of custom matched paint from NAPA. Oh almost forgot they wanted $44 each for those gaskets (last picture on the right), I needed 2 but made $88 dollars worth of gaskets for 5 bucks worth of gasket material from an auto parts store. It was an expensive repair but overall the dozer has paid for itself with just the road it built for me on my land. Plus I plow snow with it allot now in the winter, then there is the "cool factor" of owning your own dozer which at this point appears to be "priceless"

~ 45 hours labor (I work slow) and $ ~2065.00 in parts and material. Most all my parts are off e-bay from a very good supportive member of this and many other forums, so I got the parts at a fraction of the cost that the manufacturer would have charged. I figured I saved at least 7 grand or more in parts and labor for a steering break - steering clutch job.

Larry

 

[jinman]

Larry, I've noticed over the years that your projects are always superbly done. This is no exception. Both the tach installation and your brake/clutch job were completed with extreme attention to detail. Enjoy the rewards of your labor.:thumbsup:

 

[tlbuser]

Larry

I would have never guessed you could get a timex to match your dozer! New steering clutches and brakes has to make you a happy camper.

 

[Bob Rooks]

Excellent quality professional work, as always Larry.
It seems like there was a lot of condensation in the steering clutch compartments to cause that much corrosion. I installed one of the 1/4" ones on each of my steering compartments to eliminate condensation issues.
Parker - EM SERIES MUFFLER/FLOW CONTROLS

 

[john25mm]

Does anyone know if the hydraulic system on a D20a-5 is stackable i.e. can I add another hydraulic circuit to the system? I want to make a 3 point hitch to the back of my dozer and this would be the easiest way to do it. I want to be able use some of my 3 poin tools and make a ripper attachment also. Any ideas/help would be greatly appreciated

 

[GuglioLS]

Jim - Thanks for your kind comments, I appreciate your support and feedback.
TLBuser - HaHaHa that's great, I didn't even realize that El-cheapo wrist watch matched! Thanks for pointing that out. I glued a magnet on the back of the watch with a plastic stand off to hold it to the dash.
Bob - thanks, you nailed it, condensation inside that cavity is a real problem. Perhaps it's the freeze thaw cycles in the winter? Around here in the summer humidity runs 5% or less. Not sure if venting will stop condensation from winter freeze thaw cycles or if I need to build a shed to park it inside? I'd hate to have it all rust up again.

 

[GuglioLS]

Does anyone know if the hydraulic system on a D20a-5 is stackable i.e. can I add another hydraulic circuit to the system? I want to make a 3 point hitch to the back of my dozer and this would be the easiest way to do it. I want to be able use some of my 3 poin tools and make a ripper attachment also. Any ideas/help would be greatly appreciated

John,

Yes you can put a valve in series, I did just that to operate my log splitter, dump trailer and future ripper. I also plan on some sort of future TPH arrangement as well. See post 89 on page 9 of this thread.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/construction-equipment/99717-komatsu-d20a-6-a-9.html#post1246392

What you need to do is place a valve in series between the output of the pump and the input of the OEM control valve. One of the large steel lines will have to be removed from the valve that goes to the pump. It's a little hard to get to, but do-able. The seat, seat plate, and floor plate will need to be removed. You have to find a hydraulic shop that can make hoses with 30* JIS (Japanese industrial Standard not JIC) 22 mm dia x 1.5 mm thread pitch metric female (Japanese Komatsu) Metric thread fitting on one end and whatever fitting you need for the new valve on the other. Use at least 5/8" ID hose and a good at least 20 GPM rated valve and you wont have any problems.

Larry

 

[james 61]

MR. Guglio LS, I have a komatsu d20a-6 like yours, I need to replace the right steering clutch I torn it down and have the tracks jacked up off the ground. I've turned the right track to get the bolts out of the clutch. But, I can't turn the left track to get to the bolts on the bottom of the clutch. The other thing is how on earth do I get that monster out of there. I can't afford to pay a dozer repair man to do this please advise. many thanks,
jamesreeves811@yahoo.com

 

[GuglioLS]

Hard to believe 12 years have passed since acquiring my hobby Dozer. With over 89,100 views and climbing the popularity and interest in these affordable crawlers for the small homestead owner never seems to fade. Reviving this old thread (hopefully not a violation of some sort of code of ethics) is a good place to continue the saga of the maintenance history and life of this D20A. With all that said here goes with an update on the "liittle Dozer that could".

First off is to answer the 4-year-old question above, my bad for not getting to it sooner. That issue must be resolved by now. But here goes in the interest of how its done. The trick to unbolting the clutch pack is to first remove the 8 bolts closest to the center drive case (yolk release side of clutch pack), then the 8 bolts on the track side, doing it that way you only have to rotate one set of tracks at a time to access all the bolts. Use a strap to pull the opposing break lever to keep the clutch pack from rotating while unbolting. Pulling out that heavy clutch pack is to tie a rope (I prefer a soft cotton rope) around the break band tabs to make sort of a handle then lift it straight out, easy squeezy.

Now for the latest Cooling and exhaust system maintenance and restoration. I do the best I can to keep my equipment up and running with proactive preventive maintenance. If something needs attention take it apart address the issue, then put it all back together in a timely manner just in case something happens to me, that way my wife will not have any trouble unloading all this boy toy stuff "over my dead body" How thoughtful of me is that?

The Winter of 18-19 set in, the ground is frozen hard, snow pack on top, its cold, windy and no outside projects lined up for the dozer, so decided to perform preventive maintenance on the entire cooling system, then exhaust.
First was to drain the radiator, loosen hose clamps and a wire for the head lamps. After that I fitted a small winch on trusty old scissors lift to remove the entire front cowling with radiator attached, its held on by eight bolts, four on each side. Amazingly simple to remove the entire assembly, just need a means of lifting it up and out of the way.

First couple of pics show what it all looks like with the front cowling assembly remove. And of course, to show off the spacious man cave shop to work on it. It's still up on blocks from replacing the steering clutch yolk bearings. Sorry no pics of that project it would have been boring anyway. I do have a picture of the custom yolk pulling tool I had to fabricate. If interested let me know and it will get posted.

 

[GuglioLS]

After unbolting the radiator from the cowling, the cowling was cleaned up, sanded, primed with Red Rust-Oleum, followed by Gray Primer then the finish coat.

 

[GuglioLS]

While the Alkyd Enamel was trying to cure, believe you me paint does not dry(cure) when its 18* outside. Do not let the sunny pictures fool you "Baby its Cold Outside" We are at 7000 feet and its the middle of January this just happened to be a sunny day. I finally wound up lowering the whole thing down inside a very large cardboard box with a ceramic space heater to bake the enamel @ 120* for about 7 days. In the meantime, the radiator was taken to a local radiator shop to be rod-ed out, flushed, pressure tested then painted. The nice thing about painting in the dead of winter there are no bugs to land on, stick to and ruin your perfect paint job. Looks nicer than I could have imagined.

 

[GuglioLS]

While the Radiator was at the rad shop in Albuquerque, the water pump was removed Pic1 and replaced with a brand new one from Amazon. Amazing to get a brand-new water pump online for a very reasonable price. The old one will get rebuilt for a spare or re-sale. A new 82*c thermostat and bullet proof Kevlar fan belt was installed at the same time. Pic 2 Water pump rear view, a bit rusty all the gaskets and O-rings were very much disintegrating. Pic 3 New water pump installed and ready to start putting everything else back together.

 

[GuglioLS]

Radiator reattached to front cowling, got it all hooked back up to the winch cable and hanging off the scissors lift. Ready to be moved into position and bolt back on. Between the scissors lift and winch I was able to get all 8 bolts perfectly lined up and threaded in by hand, Man I'm good, okay really lucky. Installed the hydraulic fluid heat exchanger tube assembly, connected the hoses, now ready to attach the front grille. Front grill installed, now ready to move onto the hood and muffler restoration. Oh and last pic sanded and repainted the engine oil pan skid plate.

 

[GuglioLS]

Underside of the hood was a bit of a rust bucket, so it got sanded and painted with a good matching finish coat. Its too darn cold to paint any more. It has been in the single digits early in the mornings then teens in the afternoons. Should I give the entire dozer a paint job when it warms up then enter it into the pinto bean fiesta parade down main street? In the last pic you might notice my supervisor pleased with the results while at the same time keeping my ride back to the house warm and cozy, what a good boy. He is the best Junk Yard guard dog we have ever had, he is always looking for trouble.

That is it for tonight, must get some much needed shut eye.

 

[ptsg]

Just went through the entire thread. That's a neat dozer you have there! Really nice and compact.

You have been doing an amazing job restoring the machine.

Thanks for bringing the thread up with an update.

I love the way it looks with the rubber tracks!

I had this small 1962 Italian Crawler tractor with 26 HP that I restored from top to bottom and I've always wanted to replace the tracks with rubber ones but ended up trading the tractor.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Underside of the hood was a bit of a rust bucket, so it got sanded and painted with a good matching finish coat. Its too darn cold to paint any more. It has been in the single digits early in the mornings then teens in the afternoons. Should I give the entire dozer a paint job when it warms up then enter it into the pinto bean fiesta parade down main street? In the last pic you might notice my supervisor pleased with the results while at the same time keeping my ride back to the house warm and cozy, what a good boy. He is the best Junk Yard guard dog we have ever had, he is always looking for trouble.

That is it for tonight, must get some much needed shut eye.

Why not hang some drop cloths and paint inside? Fire off the salamander afterwards to help the dry time. Maybe break out the redneck powder coating stuff again . I missed the switch to rubber track, what do you think of them?