Excavator track tension

[Farmrboy]

new to the excavator market bought a deere 270LC to clear a woods on a farm we own. Not a new machine by any means but pretty straight machine anyway I was curious how often a guy should check tension on the tracks the book just says as needed I've ran it probably 2 weeks in some less then ideal conditions and noticed tonight one track seemed to be loose is this uncommon to where I need to tear into it this winter thanks

 

[Jonas302]

Lift the track look for about three fingers of sag a little loose is better than to tight Mud and snow will pack in and tighten then sometimes so may need to readjust to conditions otherwise adjust as needed hopefully they hold adjustment so you wont need to work on the seals

 

[John C.]

Loose tracks should be something to check from time to time but not necessarily need to be continuously adjusted of a weekly or monthly basis unless the machine is doing an excessive amount of tracking. A track that get loose all the time might indicate a track adjuster cylinder leaking by. The link below shows basic maintenance for an excavator and includes adjusting tracks.

 

[92U 3406]

An old hand told me that in general you want a gap about the size of your fist between the track chain and the middle roller with the track lifted clear off the ground (don't actually put your hand in there though). 9/10 times that gets you pretty close. JD/Hitachi set their track tension by the amount of sag at the centre of the track frame, between the bottom face of the track shoe and the bottom of the track frame with the track frame fully suspended. You could always call the dealer and ask them for the spec.

 

[9599svt]

I'm sure this is common knowledge to those that have run an excavator for a while, but if you watch someone with experience driving an excavator they use the bucket to help take some weight off the front of the tracks while turning, when going into a pile of mud, or first starting up a steep incline. I only have one summer of private use on my Deere 200lc and have found if I just try to drive through some soft mud that is more than a foot deep it will loosen up my track tension on one side. It only does it on the one side so I am sure if I resealed it that it would solve the problem, however I can drive it around almost endlessly and it doesn't need to be retightened as long as I don't put that extra tension on the non drive side. If the track tension even gets a little loose and you don't use the bucket to help turn, the track sometimes wants to ride up on the bottom roller.