Track recoil system

Claim 1

In combination with a track frame for a track-laying tractor, a recoil system for yieldably maintaining track tension comprising: said frame including a pair of transversely spaced track-adjuster guides defining horizontal channels opening toward each other and front and rear end walls closing opposite ends of each of said channels; said front walls projecting towards each other beyond said channels and each defining a rearwardly facing abutment surface; each track-adjuster guide being provided with an access opening leading vertically into the channel adjacent said front wall; a first stop fixed to the frame at a location spaced rearwardly from said track-adjuster guides; a coil compression spring having one end engaged with said stop and a second end located between said track-adjuster guides; an extensible and retractable hydraulic track adjuster having a flange engaged with said second end of the spring and said flange including a pair of oppositely projecting tabs respectively slidably received in said channels defined by said pair of track-adjuster guides; said tabs being dimensioned to pass through said access openings and being located so as to pass through said access openings only when said spring is in an unloaded state; and a pair of preload spacer blocks respectively releasably secured to said pair of track-adjuster guides in sandwiched relationship between said flange and said rearwardly facing abutment surfaces, whereby said spacer blocks establish a preselected preload in said spring and transfer all forces exerted thereon as a result of the action of the spring directly to said frame.