I was wondering if anyone out there has done a retrofit to their front idlers on a mini excavator to add lubrication. I bought my machine with 1444 hours on it, and soon after realized that my yolks, bushings, idlers and pins were completely destroyed from wear. I had to completely replace both sides for a pretty hefty price in parts. Please share any ideas. Thank you, Bobby
Although it seems like the hours are a bit low for a complete replacement, the age of the machine (10yrs) sounds about right. I'd make sure your tracks are not overly tight and that your idler moves freely back and forth (i.e. no binding - track isn't warped). Type of ground you play on makes a difference... I wondered about why no zerk on idlers, but I see mine are filled with oil...I got new ones and the design is an improvement over old (less spots for debris to bind idlers).
Keep the uc clean. I have been replacing my bottom rollers with greaseable stuff over oil. At leaxt with grease you can kinda purge it out. And its ni e as most bearing companies offer a c3 double sealed bearing so if the out seal fails the inner one should save it for a while. I got the parts to rebuild 5 more rollers on mine and it was only 200 bucks and some of my time, but the time part is the killer.
Ok, good tip. I was informed by a neighbor (old timer...retired equipment operator) that you need to keep the tracks tight. I'm going to loosen them up some. Can you steer me to a source for aftermarket oil filled idlers?
Well for your machine, check ebay. I have seen them on there before. Or call around and see if there are any used parts dealers around as most of them can get after market parts