Cleaning undercarriage

[Willie B]

I've been around machinery my whole life, yet I'm pretty new to owning, and operating a small bulldozer. I've heard the term "cleaning undercarriage" but it's a new experience to me. Home, the soil ranges from boulder to gravel. A bucket of water disappears into the ground immediately. The little bit of use I've put the crawler to has left no deposits. "The land" three miles from home, is ledge, with a shallow layer of fine sand, ranging to very deep deposits of more fine sand. It's all covered with a thin layer of organic topsoil. The weekend was warm, and wet. The crawler gets a mass of mud on the track frame. I know I need to clean it, but a satisfactory tool has thus far evaded me. There are a hundred little crevices that can't be reached with a shovel. How is it done? I long for a freeze.

Willie

 

[moriboy]

I'm watching for responses on this thread. My property is pretty wet most of the year, and I can't run my equipment without getting mud packed everywhere on the undercarriage. I pressure wash it, but man that is a pain! Hoping someone has a better idea.

 

[willie59]

May not be a workable solution for you guys if you don't have a skid steer, but I have to clean the track frames of our rental fleet quite frequently when they return and I use a skid steer with a pallet fork attachment with a single fork on it. You can whup the heavy stuff of the track frame in a hurry with that tool.

 

[moriboy]

That's not a bad idea. I don't have a skid steer but I could throw a bale spear on my tractor and do the same thing. Sure would beat a pry bar! Thanks for the tip.

 

[ol'stonebreaker]

We always kept a "sharpshooter shovel" on all tracked equipt, don't know if that's the actual name for it, which has a long, narrow blade and a short wooden D-handle for cleaning track frames. If you run in wet material all day and it's going to be below freezing at night, best clean them at quitting time 'cause the next AM you won't be able to. Your upper track rollers will thank you for not making flat spots on them!!
Mike

 

[Welder Dave]

It's actually called a track shovel but there are other similar shovels (drain spade) in the hardware stores with a long narrow spade. I'd worry about damaging something using a fork or bale spear. My Cat has a cover over the adjuster I wouldn't want to bend or the cover over the track springs. It's not heavy gauge steel.

http://jacksonprofessional.com/products/sub-family.aspx?LineId=75&FamilyId=76

 

[bam1968]

I have been using the short handled version of these. They seem to be virtually indestructible.

 

[Nige]

Maybe this thread will give you some ideas ............. https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/threads/track-cleaning-tool.47356/

We call them "track spades"

 

[g_man]

I use a carpenters bar to get the track chain and all those nooks and crannies cleaned out.

 

[DMiller]

And I use and have used a sharpshooter all my years. Main idea is to remove the bulk of the mass when parking the machine for awhile. One in winter keeps the wet soil from rocking up and locking the rails down, two in summer keeps the moisture trapping mass off enough to minimize rusting and from weeds/plants from rooting up taking up house keeping keeps them and water away from seals as on adjuster pistons, lastly minimizes the spoil falloff after loaded as the machines are transported.

 

[56wrench]

cleaning undercarriage isn't fun, especially with a wide-pad machine, but it has to be done. small machines are harder than large ones, especially if they have rock guards around the rollers. i have seen a set of rollers ruined by a lazy operator who wouldn't clean them. its the old pay me now or pay later

 

[auen1]

small machines are harder than large ones,

Geeze, compared to what I have to do, some of you guys are spoiled.
Frick, Imagine 3 475s,

Spoiler

running through water and mud at -20F weather.
I've been chipping tracks for ever.
Solid ice and mud from the uc frame up to the tracks.
About 8 hours to clean one up.
After it's clean, it's iced up the next day.
The excavators are the same way.

We love/hate this tool


.
But we never are in tenny shoes or ripped up pants. LOL

 

[JS300]

I use a sharp shooter to get the east tx mud out and it takes a good while. Yesterday I used a claw hammer because it was all I had handy and it worked surprisingly well.

 

[watglen]

At trick I use if I am going to be out in the frost is calcium. I get it from the local farm tire guy. They use it for tire ballast. Starting from clean tracks above freezing, spray the track frames and everything else that collects mud. At the end of the day you will find the mud frozen, but not frozen to the machine. It doesn't take too much to get the mud off the machine in big chunks. Corrodes the track frames a little bit, its a tradeoff.
Just make sure you spray the track frames each morning.

 

[old-iron-habit]

I'd be concerned about getting any bolts out after a few years. The calcium on the roads sure corrode and eat everything up here.

 

[Sanya_Promstal]

At Fiat-Allis used undercarriage made of steel with boron. Because of this, no dirt clinging to the tracks. Now these do not ...

 

[cuttin edge]

We have several track machines, and the only time I've ever seen anyone cleaning tracks is when the float is coming to pick up the machine for transport. If commercial vehicle enforcement catch the truck driver with dirty tracks, it is considered an insecure load. In the fall when temps drop, I see them clean around the sprockets, idlers, and rollers before they go home at night. There is no premature wear that I am aware of. In fact the dozers which spend more time in the mud, outlast the excavators on the water and sewer jobs who's tracks are always dry. Anyway, all we use is a gardeners space with a short handle. Perhaps the firehouse if they get near the shop.

 

[cuttin edge]

Firehose I have auto correct