Make Your Undercarriage Last Longer!
There’s a number of product selection, operational and maintenance things that can be done to prolong the service life of your undercarriage components.
Choosing heavy duty, greased filled and poly sealed excavator chains will;
• Increase external bush wear up to 20%
• Reduce internal bush wear up to 25% compared to dry chains
• Reduce undercarriage noise for operator comfort
Choosing the narrowest shoe possible, with good floatation will;
• Minimize internal wear on pins and bushes
• Reduce shoe wear and prevent bending or cracking
• Reduce stress and wear on the entire undercarriage system
Minimize reversing;
Excavator and Dozer chains are designed to operate with less wear when traveling forwards. Excessive reverse travel can cause faster undercarriage wear. The extra power required when reversing will also increase fuel consumption.
Correct care and maintenance will also increase service life;
• Ensure the correct track adjustment is maintained – Check this regularly after installing a new set
• Measuring and monitoring of wear areas to determine any wear issues- especially in abrasive and high impact conditions
• Keep the undercarriage components as clean as possible at all times. If you allow the tracks to pack or build up with dirt, mud, dust and other ground products it will lead to increased wear rates, perceived lower power and increased fuel usage.
Understand your working conditions;
Look at the conditions where your equipment is operating; this can be a major contributor to wear. High impact, abrasive or sandy materials on a wet site, will contribute to faster undercarriage wear.
In the past, it was accepted in an abrasive environment that you would simply run the tracks to destruction, then replace the links. Now, the preferred option is to carry out regular inspections and do a pin and bush turn (turning the pins and bushes 180°) when they are worn to a certain level.
Dig over your Idlers, not Sprockets:
Its important to note for excavator operation that, digging over your sprockets will increase bush wear and possibly cause pin and bush cracking. Always dig over your idlers as the weight is on the chains links not directly onto the pins and bushes.