Both tracks are pumped out far as they can go. Cat undercarriage tech measured and said links are stretched out beyond wear limits. I was planning on replacing front and rear idlers hoping to get some adjustment back but he told me that would not help and suggested just run it out to destruction. This undercarriage has only 2700 hrs on it and pins and bushing were turned (wet turn) at 1800 hrs with new sprocket segments. Never saw any pin and bushing leaks Just wondering if I got a dry turn instead of wet. If that is case, I can see why there is no adjustment left. Machine has 6100 total hrs now and original undercarriage was replaced at 3458 hrs with present undercarriage. Serial Akm 372. Seeking thoughts and opinions. Thanks
This is a cat D6nxl dozier. Serial no. Akm 372.
Was it Cat undercarriage or aftermarket and who did the bushing turn? I didn't think there were many shops that did bushing turns anymore. Idlers wouldn't add much if any adjustment. Also what type of material and operating conditions. Are you doing long pushes and high speed in reverse? I thought new Cat undercarriage generally goes for 4000-4500 hours on a D6 size machine.
My local cat dealer did the turn. Yes, it was cat sealed and lube rails and all components were cat . I operated the machine 100% of the time mostly second gear operator. Conditions were mostly solid and mostly c&g type work. I got 3500 hrs out of first set of undercarriage.
Post pictures of the rails, bushings, idlers, and bottom rollers. It is very rare for P&B turns to be profitable on this size of machine as we typically get 3500 hrs without a turn. We always run the UC to point of destruction and do full replacement. I’ve seen several sets of Cat UC that has high pin wear and low bush wear. From what I’ve seen, ITR does quite well on this size of machine and has a very similar life to Cat UC.
Our conditions in South Mississippi are somewhat abrasive.
Pictures of machine not available for a day or so, but I'll try and get asap.
I'm considering taking out a link, but never taken one out on sealed and lubricated track.is feasible and would it be too short to re connect.
That's quite interesting. Did they figure out what was causing the increased pin wear?
It’s possible, we’ve done it. Depending on the wear, it could be tighter than you’d like when you get it together.
Dave- I think a lot of it has to do with running an LGP machine on hard surfaces (asphault and concrete on road demo jobs) wears the pins faster than the bushings.
Would only allow four pictures.
More pictures
More.
That's an odd blade lift set up. The rails look like they are wearing a bit of a curve in them from the idlers and also looks like they are rubbing on the side of something excessively. There's actually metal scraped up. Wondering if tracks were maybe run too tight and/or track frames are out of alignment.
Most of the D6 high tracks I've seen are LGP even at the RB sales.
Yeah, not many D6N's with semi U with tilt around. Best set up for my kinda work. Can get in out fairly quick and get into Rome KG blade and c frame. Roller frames are true and straight. Rails are indeed cupped and reason why I don't actually know. I have been told every thing in the book. I bleive it's faulty rails. Never happened before on any other dozier I've owned.
The lift cylinder set up is odd. If the tracks were any tighter than in the pic. or had some packing would make them too tight and that could at least contribute to the rails cupping.
Has the tractor still got the same size of 24"-wide track shoes it was originally built with.? How about the track groups. When they were replaced at 3450 hours were the new tracks the same setup as the originals.?
I'm gonna say it, bottom rollers were shot to hell 1000 hours ago, and probably contributed to hammering the pins out. I'd be curious to know how much lube is left in the links.
Yes nige exactly the same.
OK, so the track groups are only moderate service, not heavy duty, and based on the text below where did all the rock guards go.? I'm with Shimmy. What % wear are the track rollers showing on the undercarriage report.? Well over 100 I would have thought. TBH unless you need loads of flotation I'd say those shoes are probably about 2" wider than they need to be.
Rough riding for sure
Nige, machine has never had bottom guards. Looking for last undercarriage report.
Last undercarriage report. 6100 hrs.
The roller flanges aren't hitting the pin boss on the links too bad yet though. From the report it is clear that the links have worn faster than the rest of the components, but I certainly don't know what would cause that other than possibly being run too tight.
Interesting that the U/C report doesn't list the wear for the RH track rollers but does for the LH ones. Any idea why.? Track tension was too tight on the LH side and REALLY tight on the RH side according to the report. No idea whether this is typical throughout the life of the U/C or not. I also wonder if the tension has any relation to the RH track roller wear.? From the photos it appears as though the link pin boss wear is far higher on the RH side of the tractor than it is on the left.
It was March of 2023 when he did measurment . Told me why he did not do right side but I don't remember. Any way I had just pumped the right track out and never got around to letting off some grease. Machine been sitting since. Start every few weeks to keep batteries up.
Nige what is a field replacement order?
It means that something has been cancelled/superceded/improved and the original is no longer available. So if you were working out in the field then instead of ordering 110-2978 you should order 558-9212 which is the "field replacement" for the (in this case) superceded Part Number. This updated number is most likely what the dealer will quote you.
So the question now is to turn or not to turn. Save the turn money, put new sprockets segments as needed and hope for the best. Unless you are standing right there watching, you just don't know. As far as accelerated wear on my undercarriage, I, being the only operator accept my operating could have some bearing on fast wear. However, maybe there are several things that contributed to problem.
If as per your OP you do a lot of operating in 2nd speed that could be a contributing factor.
Personally I see a lot of wear on the sprockets in reverse, this probably contributes to the overall wear of the undercarriage. I would never let them talk me into a P&B turn again. It just doesn’t make sense on a machine this size. The whole undercarriage is worn out and needs replaced. If it’s a farm tractor, you can go cheap and get some more hours out of it. If you’re selling it’s services, you need to do it right or you’ll be dealing with broken tracks while you’re trying to do a job. You don’t have to go back with all cat parts, like I said earlier, ITR is a good performer on this size of machine. The only thing new segments on old rails will do is slow the bushing wear. Nothing else will change, they’ll get a smidge tighter for awhile but it won’t last long. The choice is really yours and depends on what you need from the machine.
Long pushes and long reverse in 2nd gear would accelerate wear in addition to the tracks being too tight. New sprocket segments would be basically throwing money away if the tracks have to be replaced anyway. You'd want new sprockets when you put new chains on. Worn sprockets would wear the new chains prematurely. Still not sure what's causing the excessive wear on the sides of the links, worn rollers maybe?
Bottom rollers worn is likely causing the wear pattern on the links. You can see it well in the last picture on post #15. I think their % numbers on the report are a bit conservative, but I’ve found that’s generally the case.
I would agree 100%
Just found out links are heavy duty. Left 106-1626 11 right 106-1625 11.
I’ve never had anything like the value I should get out of any Cat undercarriage I’ve ever had apart from D9. It’s good,but far too expensive here in UK and can easily stick another few £ per hour on my track costs. For D6N size,I’d have no worries whatsoever of buying new trackgroups for it from ITR.Never turn them,but be prepared to put new segments on them when the segments hit the 50% worn mark.If you do it correctly, you’ll get 3 sets of segments out of one set of trackgroups,then throw the lot away.In the case of your lgp machine, you should get 2 sets of rails out of your grousers. Cat most certainly is not the most profitable choice for many instances for owners of dozers. Exceptions do apply though obviously.