# Track adjusting bolt broke in middle



## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

one of the 2 bolts that adjust the tracks broke in the middle.

anyone here have any experience on replacing this bolt. I went down to the dealer and the head mechanic told me to grind the welds on the head of the bolt and then punch it out and replace with a carriage bolt.

I haven't taken out that rear axle yet. is there anything I should know before attempting this?


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## YSHSfan (Jun 25, 2014)

I can't recall how it was set up, but if it was me I would remove the bolt, install a new one and tack weld it (this is a bolt that you want to be steady whe you adjust/deadjust the tracks. I'd start spraying penetrating fluid on all the parts that you think need to come off......


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

YSHSfan said:


> I can't recall how it was set up, but if it was me I would remove the bolt, install a new one and tack weld it (this is a bolt that you want to be steady whe you adjust/deadjust the tracks. I'd start spraying penetrating fluid on all the parts that you think need to come off......


he told me that is why you use a carriage bolt. he said grind the hole into a squarish so you can hammer it in so it does not move.

i guess i have to take the rear wheels out and loosen the crawler to slide the axle out. I was just wondering if anyone here has done this before.

ok. I just sprayed everything with blaster to let it soak overnight. fortunately this machine is garaged so it's pretty clean.


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## YSHSfan (Jun 25, 2014)

I took a quick look at one of my tracked Hondas and I can see why the dealer suggested that. It would be a good suggestion if you didn't have a welder or didn't know how to weld and want it to go the grinding/filing the hole route (I wouldn't), plus there is the risk of the bolt not being completely straight. I also took a quick look at one of my old tracked Yamaha YS624T (it has ungraded Honda HS724 tracks by the way) which has about the same set up as the Honda, the bolt on the Yamaha has a regular hex head and it is tack welded to the axle. I would grind the welds, remove the broken bolt, buy a 10x1.25x100mm hex head grade 8 or 10 bolt, install it and tack weld it in place. Also get 2 10x1.25mm flanged nuts (one for inside, one for outside). It should be a straight forward repair as long as everything comes apart easy.....


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

YSHSfan said:


> I took a quick look at one of my tracked Hondas and I can see why the dealer suggested that. It would be a good suggestion if you didn't have a welder or didn't know how to weld and want it to go the grinding/filing the hole route (I wouldn't), plus there is the risk of the bolt not being completely straight. I also took a quick look at one of my old tracked Yamaha YS624T (it has ungraded Honda HS724 tracks by the way) which has about the same set up as the Honda, the bolt on the Yamaha has a regular hex head and it is tack welded to the axle. I would grind the welds, remove the broken bolt, buy a 10x1.25x100mm hex head grade 8 or 10 bolt, install it and tack weld it in place. Also get 2 10x1.25mm flanged nuts (one for inside, one for outside). It should be a straight forward repair as long as everything comes apart easy.....


it's done. don't understand Honda engineering on the rear axle. 

I grinded the weld on the head and punched out old bolt. then drilled 4 small corners of the hole and hammered carriage bolt head in for a very tight fit. tack welded for good measure and then reassembled axle wheels , tracks etc.

a little time consuming since it was my first attempt on doing this. next time it will take half the time, the time after that, a quarter of the time.

Honda mechanic told me it takes him about 30 minutes but he has done it dozens of times. These bolts break a lot according to him so that is a flaw Honda should take care of.

stronger or bigger adjustment bolts.


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## YSHSfan (Jun 25, 2014)

Glad that you got it fixed...! How did it break? I had to remove the tracks assy on a unit that was very rusty, the adjusting nuts were seized from rust build up, I was able to remove them using a combination of heat and penetrating spray. I replaced the nuts afterwards. 10mm is a good size bolt for that (Yamaha uses only an 8mm bolt for that application). There isn't a crazy amount of tension when the track are properly adjusted. IMMHO if that bolt breaks it is more like ones fault.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

YSHSfan said:


> Glad that you got it fixed...! How did it break? I had to remove the tracks assy on a unit that was very rusty, the adjusting nuts were seized from rust build up, I was able to remove them using a combination of heat and penetrating spray. I replaced the nuts afterwards. 10mm is a good size bolt for that (Yamaha uses only an 8mm bolt for that application). There isn't a crazy amount of tension when the track are properly adjusted. IMMHO if that bolt breaks it is more like ones fault.


Have no idea how it broke. It belongs to a friend of mine. The best part is that it is always garaged so I sprayed some blaster on everything and was able to remove easily.

I'll have to add a torch to my arsenal for rusted and frozen up stuff.

thanks once again for the advice. BTW I am still working on that 1132 bucket but haven't had time to finish it yet. the welds are pretty much done on all the cracks and my buddy gave me a custom fit piece of medal that seems like it fits like a glove.

the honey-do list fills a whole page of a notebook. doctors and lab work for the wife, shopping, yada yada yada. before you know it , it will be snowing.


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## CalgaryPT (Dec 7, 2016)

orangputeh said:


> before you know it , it will be snowing.


Yup, getting darker already, sad, except for the Honda fun to come!


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## kane (Nov 13, 2017)

@orangputeh - such a small world, this literally just happened to me today, on a Honda HS624 and I found this thread in Google. The weird thing is I'm also in Tahoe (Stateline)


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

kane said:


> @orangputeh - such a small world, this literally just happened to me today, on a Honda HS624 and I found this thread in Google. The weird thing is I'm also in Tahoe (Stateline)


it really was not too hard to do. just time consuming. take off that axle. used a 4.5 - 5 inch carriage bolt. grind the welds off. put new bolt in and weld in place. 

I am always looking for good 28 inch augers with teeth . so if you have some , i'll come around the lake for them. just PM me.


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## kane (Nov 13, 2017)

Unfortunately my welding skills = 0 but my neighbor is a snowblower repair guy so he's gonna help out 

I'll definitely let you know if I have any spare augers, none at the moment though!



orangputeh said:


> it really was not too hard to do. just time consuming. take off that axle. used a 4.5 - 5 inch carriage bolt. grind the welds off. put new bolt in and weld in place.
> 
> I am always looking for good 28 inch augers with teeth . so if you have some , i'll come around the lake for them. just PM me.


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