If any operators of the Cat 16G/H/M and 24H/M series of graders are interested in improving the life of their blade slide inserts, some poly plastic slides have been developed here in Brisbane. Currently, they are priced just under the cost of the OEM bronze slide inserts and so far, lasting almost as twice as long under field testing in the coal mines in the Bowen Basin. To find out more about these, send me a private message with your email address and I will send you further information about these products. I usually only visit this forum on the week-ends so could be a few days delay in replying. Regards, John
Sounds like a good deal, and I bet it will reduce the wear on the slide rails as well as letting the blade slide easier.
I've just contacted the supplier and ordered 6 sets as a trial to see how they go. We have terrible trouble with the bronze wear strips and the only other option up to now was to go to steel wear strips. This however only transferred the problem to the 2 bars on the back of the blade which are almost impossible to replace successfully.
If they are made from the right compounds, they will be a hit. We have several Deere blades which use the poly inserts on the circle and have been hands-down the best idea I have ever seen. They last much longer and are easier on the circle where wear is concerned. Now if they just made a poly drive gear to stop the tooth wear, the machine could go to the grave with the original teeth in place. lol
hi, am interested, currently running 5 24M and 5 16M. Please email me at [email protected] cheers Steve Young
hi aussie john we would use them also. Have had a lot of bronze/alloy inserts fail on the 12h i operate.cheers shaggs
Is anyone familiar with the company that provides these slide inserts or something similar. They are a constant issue here.
We tried them. Not exactly impressive, went back to the bronze ones. If you have wear issues with the bronze wear strips there are alternative steel ones available. There's a Service Mag on it somewhere.
Are the steel inserts available as the two piece version, or just the pos one piece?
AFAIK just as a one piece. We cut them and make a steel 2-piece replica of the original bronze inserts.
We use the bronze inserts in our blades too but I spray the bars almost daily with some graphite spray. I think it helps a lot but don't know if the cost of the spray offsets the price of the inserts but it does save on keeping the bars true and straight. I can imagine a 16 or 24 wearing them out very fast with or without spray. It's a shame they don't come up with a roller system for the big boys. Nothing worse than a sloppy moldboard.
I think a roller system would be more hassel/maintenance than it would be worth on a 16/24. The big production graders dont really need to be super tight, their more haul road maintenance or bulk grading machines...when was the last time you saw one blue topping in a parking lot lol. Now on a small frame grader....you might be onto something there.
You are correct about the use of the grader but also you think about how much heavier a moldboard is on one of the big graders versus a 12 or a 140. The inserts will last much longer on a lighter blade.