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Cleaning your dozer

T

Tennmogger

Active Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2012
Messages
30
Location
Tennessee
I've had my first dozer, a JD650G LT, direct drive Powershift, for several months. I am working on a new pond and there's a little mud. I worked a couple of days without cleaning and some mud built up on the undercarriage.

My question: If you have the means to do so, would you wash your undercarriage at the end of each day? I'm only a couple of hundred feet from high pressure water that makes the job easy, but it takes time and I have some concern that water penetrates bearings and seals easier than dry dirt. Of course I drag off as much dirt as I can reach with a shovel and pick.

So, what would you do, wash it every use?

thanks,

Bob
 
JeremiahSr

JeremiahSr

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Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
204
Location
Houston, Tx
Occupation
Vice Pres./General man./Technician
Fact is that you don't have to clean it daily. Just by shoveling out the dirt every day you are doing more than some people are. Of course if you do it daily it will be alot less cleaning necessary. I would keep digging out the main dirt like you are and wash once at the end of the week. Then be sure to re-grease everything....the high pressure water will definately get in spaces you don't want it. After washing you will see how much extra gease it takes to get good lube and the first few squirts will pump water out of bushing. Some owners like to clean there machines each week and some do it per job. I don't know of very many that pressure washes on a day to day basis though.
 
R

rsherril

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Joined
May 2, 2009
Messages
264
Location
Far West Colorado
Occupation
Geologist, Retired from teaching sciences
If it freezes in your part of the world, clean off the moving parts around the tracks or you might find it won't move the next morning.
 
T

tctractors

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
2,411
Location
Worc U.K.
Tennmogger, we dont see any J. Deere iron in the U.K. on construction kit , we used to about 30 years ago??? only Farm eqipment is sold here with the J.D. name tag.
 
T

Tennmogger

Active Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2012
Messages
30
Location
Tennessee
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'll save some water.

Tctractors, that surprises me that there's not much JD construction stuff there. Bet CAT has a good presence though.

Who needs JD when you have JCB!! I would really like to have an HMEE: http://www.military-today.com/engineering/hmee.htm high speed back-hoe loader. Be sure to watch the video on that website :)

Bob
 
Dozerboy

Dozerboy

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Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
2,232
Location
TX
Occupation
Operator
All we doing is clean out around the rollers daily...ish, but we are in the mud every day.
 
P

pf/l

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Joined
Jan 11, 2012
Messages
236
Location
Prince Albert Saskatchewan
Occupation
Farmer/logger/heavy equipment op.
I always clean out the complete u/c as best as I can at the end of each day. If handy I use a 2" water pump and fire hose to wash out the u/c. Less pressure and allot more flow. Makes life a little easier for the real nasty days. Most days I just use a track shovel but if I've been in mud and water all day the pump works like a treat.

Ryan
 
ROGER482

ROGER482

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Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
28
Location
UK
Occupation
Director
tctractors is correct, when I was very young my Father had a couple of JD Dozers. I cannot say I have seen any other JD construction equipment since and I am rapidly heading for the wrong side of 50!!!
 
LDK

LDK

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Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
219
Location
UK
ROGER482 said:
tctractors is correct, when I was very young my Father had a couple of JD Dozers. I cannot say I have seen any other JD construction equipment since and I am rapidly heading for the wrong side of 50!!!
Click to expand...

Roger, I think that in the very early eighties Blackwood Hodge was a dealer for JD equipment. I know that Dalton Contracts had a couple of 850's and 2 more dozers that were about the same size as a D3 (don't recall the model number), that was in 83.
Russ
 
L

lumberjack

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2011
Messages
1,044
Location
Columbus, MS
pf/l said:
I always clean out the complete u/c as best as I can at the end of each day. If handy I use a 2" water pump and fire hose to wash out the u/c. Less pressure and allot more flow. Makes life a little easier for the real nasty days. Most days I just use a track shovel but if I've been in mud and water all day the pump works like a treat.

Ryan
Click to expand...

Agreed.

2-400psi and lots of gpm is better than high psi and a few gpm for removing mud. For cutting grease, psi wins.

For a few hundred bucks you can get an electric 1" boost pump which will do wonders.
 
Last edited:
stumpjumper83

stumpjumper83

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2007
Messages
1,979
Location
Port Allegany, pa
Occupation
Movin dirt
Well here is when i clean my undercarriage off... 1. Before I move the tractor to the next job 2. Every night, if its in the winter, as it doesnt take long for mud to freeze on a stationary tractor. Other than that, I dont worry about it, sooner or later it will dry up and fall off. It seems once a year I get caught using a weed burner to free up a roller or to thaw out the tracks because i missed something.
 
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