How much can be an undercarriage?

[junior]

i saw this in machinerytrader http://www.machinerytrader.com/list...5046225&guid=002C2DBF029244A89C5569FBDD3CD09F and it seems nice but needs complete undercarriage and it is only 12K $ , but in here http://www.irr.ru/cars/special/showAdvert,40981731,37,34.html a unit with good undercarriage is 230K $ , how can it be? is it undercarriage so expensive?

 

[mflah87]

I have a Cat D8L and when I did the undercarriage, it was $70,000 for everything. I sent it to Cat. Someone I know has a 1970 era Cat D8 with the same track style as that, it cost them something like $40,000 for the undercarriage at Cat. All depends on whats worn out.

 

[RollOver Pete]

A few years back, we did a complete u/c on a Cat D9H. Parts alone were $45K-$50K + 2 weeks of hard labor in 110 deg. Indio heat + lotsa :drinkup .
Safety first :thumbsup . Gotta stay hydrated :cool2

 

[nedly05]

We did our old JD 350 about 15 years ago and I think it was like 12 grand. I think I'll stick to the little ones

 

[Deas Plant]

The Price Difference

Hi, Junior.
Yes there might well be $70,000 to $100,000 of track work needed on the CHEAP(?) but that is NOT the whole story. The second, more expensive, machine looks pretty much as if it could go to work tomorrow and actually survive a day or two. Just how long do you think the first one would last without major dollars being poured into it? And the second one also has ripper as part of the package - not only handier but more re-saleable.

These old bangers had one engine but the power was split in half and fed to separate drive trains. This allowed it it do spin turns. It still had normal clutch and brake crawler steering, but with one steering clutch control pulled right back, you could depress a pedal on the floor under your left foot and put that track into reverse. Imagine a 70 ton machine turning like a Bobcat.

Still and all, it hardly set the market on fire. Many claimed they would out-rip a Cat D10 84W series. I don't know. I never saw the two ripping side by side. But I'll bet there's not nearly as many of them running today as there are D10 84W's.

 

[junior]

understood. too much it means .Thanks to everyone.

 

[oldhousehugger]

price of parts and location, location, location

Hey All
I just replaced all 12 of the track rollers on my little Komatsu D20. Found chinese made after market rollers for $85 US each. Works much better now. Took me about 12 hours with cheater bars and 22 MM sockets to change them all laying in the dirt. By the way I found the rollers at HeavyQuip inc.
Earlier I welded mild steel grouser bars onto the old swamp pads to get a little scratch. Made a huge difference in power transfer.
Got the 20 year old machine from an importer for about $10,000. So far have added grouser bars, replaced radiator, all filters and fluid change, and of course the rollers. After trucking about 100 miles we've got close to $12,000 in it not counting my time.

I found cheaper machines further away but at $3.00 a loaded mile for trucking, distance is your enemy.

On the plus side I have dug 2 ponds, cleared an acre of woods and regraded 8 acres of swampy ground.
Equipment rental alone would have been prohibitive. Hiring the work done would have been also. I hope resale of the machine when we are done will be close to what we have in it.

Trick is you have to be able to work on the things yourself or maintanance will eat you up.

Back to Juniors question. One machine was in Ohio and the other was in Russian. Value all depends on where you are and what resources you have.

 

[machineman]

Hey All
Earlier I welded mild steel grouser bars onto the old swamp pads to get a little scratch. Made a huge difference in power transfer.

Where did you get the grouser bars and what method did you use to weld them on? I need spome bars for my D20P swampers.

 

[Deas Plant]

Shady Tree Workshops

Hi, Oldhousehugger.
Welcome to the forum. Good Info. Thanks for sharing.

I have done one or two repairs in the old Shady Tree Workshop - and one or two where, like your photo, there wasn't even a that level of workshop accommodation and facilities.

That little jigger doesn't look too bad at all in those photos. Thanks for posting.

 

[Countryboy]

Welcome to HEF oldhousehugger! :drinkup

 

[Deas Plant]

Grouser bar replacement

Hi, Machineman.
If you re-read Oldhousehugger's post you may see that he says he welded on mild steel bar for his grouser re-build. He didn't say if he used grouser bar stock or not but grouser bar stock is not usually mild steel. If it IS mild steel and he keeps working in relatively soft going like in his photo, he may get reasonable 'mileage' out of it.

The best CHEAP material that I have come across for this purpose is deformed concrete re-bar. You do lose the top 1/3 fairly quickly as the curve wears off but the remainder seems to last quite well, unless you put it into hard rock which will tear almost any rebuild material off anyway.

 

[Deas Plant]

What Time Is IT???????????

Hi, Countryboy.
Don't you ever go to sleep? What time is it around your neck of the woods?

 

[Countryboy]

Ummm.......can I plead the 5th?

Hi Deas, Its currently 9:46 PM in my neck of the woods. Since I work the night shift (5:00 pm-4:00am), the night is still young.

 

[Deas Plant]

Plead The 5th. You may need to.

Hi, Countryboy.
You may need to plead the 5th. If your hours are 5.00pm to 4.00am you're doing this in work time?????????????????????????? LOL.

 

[Countryboy]

Yeah, I don't have a personal computer so I got to do what I have to, to feed my addiction.

And no, my job doesn't suffer. Most of my time is spent waiting for this stupid bin to fill up with rock. I'm at 53% to full........30 more min. :sleeping

 

[oldhousehugger]

Grouser bars

If you read up on track pads and grouser bar you quickly see that the steel they use is very high in manganese. Manganese in high concentrations causes parkinson like symptoms and permanent brain damage. To wit I chose mild steel 1 x 1/2 inch bar stock. Cheap easy to weld and low in manganese. I welded it on with 7018 5/32 rod. If I had had a bigger welder I could have used bigger rod and higher heat but as it was some of the swamp pads bowed up at the ends. I skipped every 4th pad to see if I would get a little more bite because the machine is so light already. As it was there was about 240 linear feet of weld. Took me 2 days of welding not counting buying the steel and cutting it into 24 inch pieces.
I read in an old book Moving the Earth by Herbert L. Nichols (1955) that early cat owners would weld on just a couple wide bars per track when they were working in mud. I figured that skipping a bar every so often would have the same effect and make the ride a lot better.
I am here in central texas where we have only clay and more clay. Not very abrasive and very slick when wet. The mild steel grousers show some wear after 100 hours use but only from contact with an occasional rock.
I have heard that people use rebar, but I needed the extra height / surface area because thats what creates more bite.
The tracks load up with mud anyway but it's 100% better than polished round swamp pads.

The other drawback with this old machine I've got is the wide blade is designed for finish grading of loose material. Clay has one of the highest coefficients of friction of any soil type. Couple that with it not being loose and fryable and clay is very power intensive to dig up. Once piled up I can move 3 or 4 yards ahead of me over dry ground. A narrower blade would be better for digging for the weight of this machine but it's what I've got so it's what I use.

 

[PSDF350]

but it's what I've got so it's what I use.

Dont we all.