How to Change the Tatou 4S Drive Gear

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When changing your track system to a different machine, you may need to change the drive gear and/or hub. There are several scenarios when this may be necessary. For one, a different motor size may require a different drive gear. Changing from a different brand machine to a Polaris will require a staggered gearing setup. Also, Polaris, John Deere, and Kubota all require a different hub than other brands. John Deere and Kubota have a five-hole hub system, and Polaris has a different hub center size.

Before starting this project, you should make sure you have all the parts and tools you will need for the job. The drive gear kits will come with complete instructions for installation, including torque settings. The kits will also include a bag of bolts and nuts with Loctite. You should have 15mm, 16mm, and 17mm sockets for all the different bolt sizes. You will need two 14mm wrenches. You may need an allen wrench head for removing the top seal, if necessary. Two hammers, one of which is a mallet, will be necessary. You can use regular ratchets, but an air ratchet will make things go much faster. You will also need a grease gun with standard water-resistant grease. Finally, this job is much easier with two people!

When disassembling the drive gear, please follow these steps:

1. Remove the cap from the track valve.
2. Use 14mm wrenches to loosen the track adjustment. Note: next to the track adjustment is a t-bar bracket, topped by a nut with a cover. DO NOT REMOVE THIS COVER. It is precisely installed by the manufacturer.
3. Completely loosen both nuts on the track adjustment.
4. Push the rear bogey wheels completely forward. There should be a gap between the adjustment sleeve and the locking nuts you just loosened. The track is now completely loosened.
5. At the track valve, use a 16mm socket and loosen the hub bolt. Note: the hub bolt washer has a bevel on it, but the new washer won’t. This bevel is created by torqueing the bolt into place and keeps constant pressure on the bearing.
6. Slip the track off the gear wheel and slip the gear wheel out of the hub housing. Note: if the gear wheel doesn’t easily slip out, you can use a socket and a mallet to tap it out on the opposite (cap) end of the hub housing.

The new parts necessary for this installation are in the parts bag. We will be using four 15mm bolts with pre-applied Loctite approved by Camso, plus a 16mm bolt and washer for the hub.

1. Preinstall 4 x 15mm bolts in the new gear wheel. Lightly tighten the bolts with a 15mm socket. DO NOT TORQUE BOLTS. They will be torqued to manufacturer specs after installation on the hub.
2. Note: in the hub housing there are three bearings and possibly some minor oil seepage. This is normal. If a lot of oil seeps out when removing the bearings, there is a seal cap on top that can be removed to add oil. The owner’s manual will have the correct amount to add.
3. Re-grease the hub before inserting into the housing. This will help protect the seals in the frame.
4. Insert hub of gear wheel into the housing through the bearings. Note: it may be difficult to push the hub through the final bearing. You can insert the 16mm bolt and washer into the hub and tighten it. This will pull the hub through the final bearing.
5. Make sure the tracks are aligned between the gear wheel guides.
6. Push the rear bogey wheels back into position and retighten the locking nuts on the track adjustment mechanism. Note: you should consult your owner’s manual for proper track tension. While Camso sells a track tensioning tool, you can perform this by hand. If the track can be moved from side-to-side with effort, it should be at the correct tension. Slipping too easily or not moving at all indicates improper tension. You can learn more tips for track tensioning in our video Drive Gear and Track Adjustment.
7. Once on the ground, torque the hub nut and four gear wheel nuts to the appropriate settings. In this case the hub nut should be torqued to 92 psi, and the gear wheel nuts to 52 psi.
8. Replace cap over track valve. This will require bleeding air from the valve, so you may need to press the cap into the frame 10-15 times to bleed out the air. Alternately, you can remove the cap from the top oil reservoir and press the valve cap on, as this will bleed the air through the oil valve.

This process is almost identical for front tracks and rear tracks. However, the front tracks have a rolled edge that can make gear wheel removal difficult. This can be made easier by removing two of the bogey wheels at the front:

1. Remove hub cap from the bogey wheel.
2. Remove 17mm bolt from the bogey wheel hub.
3. Use a hammer handle from the inside of the bogey wheel to tap it off.

This will create more space for slipping the track from the gear wheel.