Haddy
Well-Known Member
No worries . I think machine has too much horse power ( 100 ) for it,s own good , even it is one good operator machine and we aren't in hard material . What do you think , is 100 hp to much for the tracks ?
My dealer is working on it. They have sold a pile of asv units, so i guessed they would have some experience dealing with these undercarriages.
The asv units they have done before use a sealed bearing instead of an open bearing, like my CAT. They got 3500 hours out of the last unit they serviced(note that is an RC50, which is much lighter than the 257b. That is a major factor.)
The routine they use is pull all the wheels once a year, and inject grease into the bearings with a grease needle. It is very time consuming, but the bearings last. On mine, with open bearings, the consensus is to drill the wheels and countersink a grease nipple into the wheels so we can add grease easily. The only problem may be blowing out the seal with too much grease, but the seal design is extra heavy duty, so they figure that might not be an issue.
Either way, with only 500 hrs to the first teardown, anything is worth a try. It can't do any worse.
We are installing the bair wheels across the back, new bearings across the front wheels, as well as a few of the boggies. The dealer was surprised at how much dirt was inside the hubs. I guess even though i try to baby the unit, and really wash it a lot, its not enough. So the best approach is to loosen the track and physically check the wheels for play often.
What i have learned is the undercarriage problems are very application specific.
We have a 287C that is used in stream channel construction, in mud, in cobble, through water, in freezing temps, etc. I have replaced all of the composite idlers with steel from Cat, and will soon need to replace the tracks. They have a few small tears, but are hanging in there so far. We now have 1500 hrs on the origingal set. I suspect that when I replace the tracks I will replace all the bogeys, as well as the sprocket bolts and bushings. I would like to find all steel or aluminum bogeys but have yet to find a supplier as I don't think Cat has come out with steel bogeys yet. Does anyone know af an aftermarket company that carries steel or aluminum bogeys?
I would guess that the MTL cost per hour is more than the CTL, but the ride and productivity because of faster speeds due to smoother ride would be hard to part with.