How far can an excavator be driven

farmerlund · Aug 11, 2019

That sounds like a lot more abusive conditions John C.. How many hour does the UC last on some of those machines?
Sounds like mine has an easy life cruising the township roads and farm fields.

John C. · Aug 11, 2019

I've seen some get less than 2,000 hours in the early days. Now I see excavators do 3k to 4.5K on a set of chains and able to do two sets of chains per one set of rollers and idlers. Last time I was around loggers you could see 3.5K for the whole undercarriage. Haulback might be able to give a better idea of what's happening now. I think he still has a shovel logger or two.

Skeans1 · Aug 12, 2019

In the thinning with a track buncher/harvester running a D5 undercarriage on a 40k machine we’d see 3500 to 4k with single bar grousers in an application where you’re always bouncing off of stumps.

farmerlund said:
That sounds like a lot more abusive conditions John C.. How many hour does the UC last on some of those machines?
Sounds like mine has an easy life cruising the township roads and farm fields.

John C. said:
I've seen some get less than 2,000 hours in the early days. Now I see excavators do 3k to 4.5K on a set of chains and able to do two sets of chains per one set of rollers and idlers. Last time I was around loggers you could see 3.5K for the whole undercarriage. Haulback might be able to give a better idea of what's happening now. I think he still has a shovel logger or two.

Oldcatpusher · Aug 12, 2019

I have 4100 hours on my hoe. Rails are shot. Lots of walking across job sites, land clearing, sometimes I'm on solid rock running a hammer. Hasn't had an easy life. I have a few slightly bent pads but rollers and idlers are all in great shape. Sprockets even look brand new still with hardly any wear except for a few chips gone off the corners. I've been debating whether to take a link out and run them till they break and try to tough out the bouncing that comes with worn rails or to replace the bent pads and put a set of sealed and lubricated tracks on. Adjusters are maxed out and tracks are starting to really sag. Any input?

John C. · Aug 12, 2019

I've looked at lots of machines where a link was removed. It will work fine as long as the roller flanges are not riding on the track pin bosses.
As far as using SALT track on excavators, I've never seen it done. The problem in my mind is that excavators put weight to the links and push them apart over time. If you look at the joints on old tracks you will see the big end of the links have pushed apart. SALT track has seals in that joint and if you push the outsides away from the trailing link the seals will lose their contact and leak.

Oldcatpusher · Aug 12, 2019

Thanks for the info. The rails haven't worn much on the part that rides on the rollers and are nowhere close to hitting the pin bosses so I may just have a link took out. For some reason I thought you could use Salt tracks on a hoe

farmerlund · Aug 12, 2019

Would be interesting if they had a miles traveled meter. Maybe some newer ones do. My volvo 210blc has 6,000hrs on it. Still has original UC on it, and I will get probably get 2,000 more out of it easily. Obviously mine is a trailer queen compared to logging and other applications.

Shimmy1 · Aug 12, 2019

farmerlund said:
Would be interesting if they had a miles traveled meter.

My Case has a log of hours traveled in low and high. A guy could probably come up with a reasonable estimate of miles traveled.

Skeans1 · Aug 12, 2019

I looked in the wheel machine today at 2360~ or so hours it was over 500 miles.

John C. · Aug 12, 2019

I think I might be able to be calculated but there is nothing in the finals that counts revolutions. Nothing like in a transmission that can count turns of a gear or shaft.

Oldcatpusher · Aug 13, 2019

Shimmy1 said:
My Case has a log of hours traveled in low and high. A guy could probably come up with a reasonable estimate of miles traveled.

What kind of case hoe do you have?

Former Wrench · Aug 13, 2019

I would go back to the use/abuse line theory. Walk it accordingly. Are you covering shot rock, sand, field dirt, pavement, and so on? Don't get it bouncing and causing a bunch of stress that could lead to cracks. Take your time.

Shimmy1 · Aug 13, 2019

Oldcatpusher said:
What kind of case hoe do you have?

210C

Oldcatpusher · Aug 13, 2019

How do you get it to pull that up? I have a cx210c and cx160c both 2015 models and I can't get the machines to even switch the auxiliary hydraulics from crusher to hammer mode on the monitor. All I can change is the flow amount.

Shimmy1 · Aug 13, 2019

Oldcatpusher said:
How do you get it to pull that up? I have a cx210c and cx160c both 2015 models and I can't get the machines to even switch the auxiliary hydraulics from crusher to hammer mode on the monitor. All I can change is the flow amount.

You have to go into menu mode and setup the aux hydraulics. In setup, it will make you warm up the oil if it's not warm enough, then you set what pressure you want, then it will prompt you to hold the aux hydraulic control until it finishes its calibration. I have mine set at 2900 for my thumb, and 4500 for my tilt bucket. To get to the data log, you have to go into diagnostic mode. I can't remember which buttons you use without looking at the screen. I'll look tomorrow.

Numbfingers · Aug 14, 2019

We walked an old CAT 225 and a older Komatsu dozer out of a mine 34 miles to the road a few years ago. Nothing bleeding oil when we were done.

Shimmy1 · Aug 15, 2019

Sorry, guys. I don't run in turtle, lol.

I also don't run in "A" mode very much.

farmerlund · Aug 15, 2019

that's a cool page Shimmy. looks like your using the power boost also

Oldcatpusher · Aug 15, 2019

I'm going to try to find that tomorrow. Definitely never seen that page on mine. But I'm still finding out stuff if does all the time. Had it since new and just found the aux plug in the other day for the radio 4100k hours later.

Oldcatpusher · Aug 16, 2019

You've got me beat on power boost time shimmy. But I still can't get my attachment to switch to hammer mode. I had no clue you could look at all that. Last time I put hammer on I called the case dealer to come flow test machine and the mechanic told me my monitor was out is why it wouldn't switch over. He only brought a 3/4" flow gauge that went to 32gpm for a 1" line. I called dealership and told them how highly disappointed I was. Never got charged but never got what I asked for.

How far can an excavator be driven

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