Cat 303C CR Tracks

[spitzair]

Hello everybody,

My dad's 303C CR is in need of some new tracks. It's sitting at a jobsite with one track almost completely ripped in half, from what he tells me it's only got about an inch left until it's torn right through. He needs to get it loaded up to get it home and is worried that loading it will tear it the rest of the way. I had an idea of drilling some holes through the track and bolting a hinge across the tear on the inside of the track just to get the thing loaded up and home. Do you guys think this will work?

Then the next question is since he's on a (very) tight budget, where can he find the best bang for his buck for new tracks? What brands are we going to want to avoid? Another idea we're floating around is to install steel tracks as we do use the machine in some sharp rocks from time to time. Are steel tracks available for this thing and how much cost difference would we be looking at? Would we need different rollers, sprockets and idlers? Any ideas would be very much appreciated!

Here's a picture of the machine I took a few years ago while doing a clearing job...

 

[eric12]

the rubber tracks are going to be the best bang for your buck. unless your in really rough conditions i wouldnt switch to steel tracks, even the steel chain with rubber pads dont offer as much floatation as the rubber tracks and theyre more expensive. dont buy the cheapest tracks you can get either though, youll buy sets of cheap tracks for a good set of tracks.

 

[joispoi]

If you have an old tire that you can cut up, you can cut 1' long piece of tread to use in place of the hinge that you mentioned. It would only be a bandaid to get it onto the trailer.

Price out bridgestone tracks. They'll give a better return on investment than the cheap stuff.

 

[dylantl]

Have you tried caterpillar as they did have a competitive deal last month for the UK.

 

[spitzair]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! My brother is going to fetch the machine tomorrow and then we'll see what we can do for tracks. We haven't had a chance to phone around yet as it happened last thing friday and of course everybody likes their weekends...
THanks for all the help so far!

 

[spitzair]

Have you tried caterpillar as they did have a competitive deal last month for the UK.

Thanks for the tip! They still had their sale on and a new set of tracks will be here on Wednesday

 

[Lil' Puss]

All rubber tracks have their chains and/or cables cast into them. I've never heard of a situation that you described. Rubber tracks are not held together by rubber. I have rubber tracks on my dozer that have been cut by rocks in a few places that reveal the internal cables.

 

[mitch504]

Be careful when you say all, always, or never on here. Frequently someone with different experiences will come along and prove you wrong.

 

[Lil' Puss]

All rubber tracks I have ever heard of have their chains and/or cables cast into them. I've never heard of a situation that you described. Rubber tracks are not held together by rubber alone. I have rubber tracks on my dozer that have been cut by rocks in a few places that reveal the internal cables.

That should fix it.

 

[spitzair]

I'm just going on 3rd hand information here, the guy borrowing the machine told my dad who in turn told me... I am 500 miles away from the machine... My dad and brother went and got the machine and said the track was completely off now. They just hobbled it onto the trailer using the arm as a crutch and they're getting the new tracks tomorrow and be back in business!

All rubber tracks have their chains and/or cables cast into them. I've never heard of a situation that you described. Rubber tracks are not held together by rubber. I have rubber tracks on my dozer that have been cut by rocks in a few places that reveal the internal cables.

 

[Lil' Puss]

I'm just going on 3rd hand information here, the guy borrowing the machine told my dad who in turn told me... I am 500 miles away from the machine... My dad and brother went and got the machine and said the track was completely off now. They just hobbled it onto the trailer using the arm as a crutch and they're getting the new tracks tomorrow and be back in business!

It's usually what happens when you loan your machine to somebody. Your friend obviously broke the track chain. Wow! I can only imagine how that happened. Hopefully there was no damage to the final drive or track tensioner. Good luck.

 

[spitzair]

It's usually what happens when you loan your machine to somebody. Your friend obviously broke the track chain. Wow! I can only imagine how that happened. Hopefully there was no damage to the final drive or track tensioner. Good luck.

I don't think I even want to know how it happend, and I agree, sure hope that the damage is limited to the track... We'll soon see I guess...