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The one man show to grow
- Thread starter Fastdirt
- Start date
JNB
Senior Member
Pretty tight fit next to that house.
390eric
Senior Member
Did you Armorall those pads? or are they just wet?
Nige
Senior Member
You're going to lose a bit of flotation (about 10% maybe?) with those new shoes, they're significantly narrower than the steel ones. This could affect you if you're working on really soft ground.
nedly05
Senior Member
The cat looks cool with the rubber pads. Were you able to back your bolts out or did you have to burn them off?
Armorall.....not just yet. They were just new and we washed the machine after making a mess of it. We used a lot of simple green on the body and it could've cleaned the tracks as we washed it. Armorall my tracks haha. I'm not that bad am I.. actually I might do that in the future so I should probably not laugh.
Thanks Nedly, The chains were replaced two years ago so I kind of figured we wouldn't have to fight them to hard. We had to sledge hammer tap about 10 out of 368 bolts. I had my welder help because I don't have anything over a 1/2" impact. He used his 3/4" impact. His 1/2" impact didn't budge them. We only tried the 1/2" because we didn't have the correct socket. I had to run to Napa for a 15/16" 3/4 drive socket. I had to get a non impact socket because of thickness. The recessed holes were tapered not allowing a thick impact socket to fully grab the bolt head. I sure wish I had pressure washed the tracks first. I was the nut holder and that impact was blasting dirt in my eyes, ears, hair, mouth, etc. Lot's of fun.
JimBruce42
Senior Member
Perhaps you already explained it, but what is the story/plan for the "digging mirror'?
Thanks, Jerry.
I have experience chaining a similar setup but this setup was a bit different and that method didn't work too well. At first I looped around the shoe because there is a lot of clearance between shoes where they round over the sprockets/idlers. When I released the chains this morning I saw some slight damage to the rubber. So I was not going to do that again. I had to really think about how I could make it happen. I cross chained the rear but obviously the bucket won't allow that method on the front. I really don't like cross chaining because I think the shorter the chain the better. So I think the method on the front might be a good solution. Take a look and see what you think.
This was how I did it the first time. Won't do that again.
This was a much improvement. I felt ok about this. It would require more time also.
These two pics show how I solved the front chaining. I felt really good about this. It got tight quick, chains are short, and it's not that time consuming which is a plus but not a priority. All we had left was a strap for the bucket but I already got a chain to replace that. Let me know if you think chaining to the steps is wise. It feels good and I'm adamant about load securement so I want the best scenario. Actually the rear cross chaining doesn't even contact the rubber shoes and the front does just slightly. This might be my best bet.
When digging a pool you can't always walk around the pool and cut the walls by positioning the machine to see exactly what you are digging. A lot of time I will be forced to dig out of the deep end and when you are up on a 8' shear cut you can't see what you are doing so my guys guide me. We can't afford to just gouge the wall because the builder will have to pay to shoot that over cut with shotcrete. It's frustrating for me when my guys guide me with hand signals and then when I jump out to look over the edge it's always like dangit we got 8" to trim by hand or just keep guiding me. Might as well be blind. A remote camera would be wonderful. I'm just looking for ways to make our life easier and more productive. BTW the non convexed mirror did not work well today. If I could just slide the mirror out on a pole about 5' from the cab it'd work great. A lot of times I'll stand up in the cab bent over leaning out of the cab to see deeper down but You still just can't see it all.
Today I actually got a little ROI for having rubber tracks. Just unloaded in the street. Several 100' of driveway and just drove up it like a car.
Nige, they are 24" compared to the 28" steel shoes. I would have to say that the 312 at roughly 15 tons with an L undercarriage on 28" pads is about as low of ground pressure as any excavator. It was really stable and would really float good. 24" steel pads vs. 24" rubber pads would also be a significant difference. They almost leave a sheeps foot imprint in soft dirt. I was going to take a picture because they left a very significant imprint. The dirt squeezes between the shoes and leaves a huge imprint in fluff. Plus the middle is also recessed so it has two contacts per shoe verse a steel flat imprint. You could fill each shoe imprint with about a half gallon of water when in soft stuff. The good news is I can get good compaction which I have to contend with almost every day. Especially with a bucket full. I'm thinking a bit more than 10% increase. Good and bad I guess. Also, now the machine is not considered a wide load by my state laws. 24" rubber pads are very rare amongst this class. Must are 22" or 20". They took 6 weeks to get. It think the stance looks good. I was hoping it would still look like a wide track machine and I think it does.
We are finally legal width and they will be gentle when side loading off and on the lowboy trailer.
Nige
Senior Member
Thanks for the explanation about the flotation. I can that you already had it figured out.
Another vote for NOT chaining to the steps. Personally I would weld 2 D-Rings on to each track frame, right next to each step between the step and the end of the frame, with the "ring" of the D pointing upwards to meet your chain coming down over the top of the track frame.
Another vote for NOT chaining to the steps. Personally I would weld 2 D-Rings on to each track frame, right next to each step between the step and the end of the frame, with the "ring" of the D pointing upwards to meet your chain coming down over the top of the track frame.
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My guys really took care of business while I went to pick up the pipe from the property owners other piece of property. He had me tote his UTV back and we also had to go to the pipe supply place and pick up another 20' section. While I was gone the trucks were able to come in the original entrance and dump in the huge hole that was created to get the cows down in the creek.
I could not have asked for better dirt. It compacted great.
I could not have asked for better dirt. It compacted great.
Trying to make the smallest impact possible on the land. We got the limbs and problem trees piled up. Be back tomorrow to finish.
The 312 barely wanted to hug the 150 but after having my lowboy stolen I will at least give it an effort.
The 312 barely wanted to hug the 150 but after having my lowboy stolen I will at least give it an effort.
nedly05
Senior Member
I'm with getting some D rings and having your welder put them on. I have chained to the step before myself, and I have also gotten jammed up in a bad spot and ripped one off (not proud to admit this). Seeing how easy it ripped off made me realize it was a bad securement spot.
The driveway job looks fun, how much do you have to pay per yard for your fill and trucking?
Keep the pics coming!!!
The driveway job looks fun, how much do you have to pay per yard for your fill and trucking?
Keep the pics coming!!!
No fans of chaining to 1/2" steel welded by Caterpillar. Great, my welder will probably charge $500 to weld a good tie down point. He will be here tomorrow.
In two days I have 36 loads of dirt hauled in, 10 loads of trash loaded out, and 3 loads of #34 stone. About 50 loads I had to handle along with keeping it spread out and clearing at the same time. We will return as soon as I have an opening to gravel the drive and pad the house. I believe the house is in a bad area. It looks like a flood zone/plain. The creek is about 7' below the proposed house site. I don't like it one bit and have tried to talk the owner up the hill along with the driveway. He's not budging yet but I'm not done with my case to him. I have to go get the excavator tomorrow on Sunday and will try to convince him its gonna be a bad idea.
Dirt showed up as fast as the gravel did. It was all I could do to keep them moving and they were moving.
In two days I have 36 loads of dirt hauled in, 10 loads of trash loaded out, and 3 loads of #34 stone. About 50 loads I had to handle along with keeping it spread out and clearing at the same time. We will return as soon as I have an opening to gravel the drive and pad the house. I believe the house is in a bad area. It looks like a flood zone/plain. The creek is about 7' below the proposed house site. I don't like it one bit and have tried to talk the owner up the hill along with the driveway. He's not budging yet but I'm not done with my case to him. I have to go get the excavator tomorrow on Sunday and will try to convince him its gonna be a bad idea.
Dirt showed up as fast as the gravel did. It was all I could do to keep them moving and they were moving.