bought a JD 330 for farm ,clearing woods in muddy conditions , every day tracks get mud around everything ,do I need to clean them out every day (☹️) or is it OK to run them days at a time with mud packed in them in warm conditions , I understand freezing conditions it is a must to clean daily
Every company I worked for and for myself it is part of daily maintenance no if's or but's, just like greasing. If you don't want to do it the next thread you'll start is " how do I change flat spotted rollers"
In the summer we clean the tracks occasionally they are going to be full in a few minutes of working Considering the age of our dozers and long life we get out of the undercarriage I dont think I could be convinced that they are being harmed sitting with mud in the tracks overnight
Look at it another way, tasks such as housekeeping, fluid level checks, daily greasing and cleaning undercarriage on track-type machines gives the operator half a chance to spot small problems before they become big ones.
We clean them when it is going to freeze and when it is getting moved down the highway which can be every few days to once a month. Maybe it is the soil condition around here but undercarriages last 10 to 12 thousand hours on these excavators.
I've tended to look at the material the machine is working in as a gauge to when the track frames needed to be dug out. Clearing land tends to pack a lot of sticks and fibrous material all through the top and if you don't dig it out at the end of the day you will have a hard time getting the stuff out with the mud dries and hardens. The same goes with material that has a lot of larger rocks. If you are working at pushing top soil a maybe spreading gravel on building sites then maybe its OK to clean just before loading the machine on the trailer to go down the road.
Tracks packed with compressed clay, other side, tight as a banjo string. "It just fell apart." They said. You can see the pin was suffering for a while.
Good day If it is top rollers that are of concern skid rails are an alternative to reduce maintenance. Kind regards Uffex
When you go to do a repair on an excavator and the tracks are so full of **** that you can't even see the steps to climb into the cab.
"I shouldn't have to clean, it should just run! " "You don't know what yer talking about kid, been doin this fer 30 years, never hadda clean tracks out before. " Kid,? I'm damn near 50.
Most contractors I’ve worked for don’t want to shut down machine on there time to clean tracks except in freezing weather. A lot don’t want to shut down to grease machine.
I welded a spike to a skiddy backplate and dig them out with that. Makes me smile every time I hook up to that attachment.
If it’s around freezing or below we shovel the entire undercarriage at the end of every day. The whole thing also gets shoveled before it touches a trailer. If we’re working day in and day out in muddy conditions, we only shovel around the rollers and the turntable seal. Some people probably frown upon that but I can’t see telling my guys to shovel the tracks at 5:00 and then launch the machine back into the mud at 7:00 the next morning
This is what I do as well. Very seldom am I on a single job for longer than a week, and if I think there's a chance I'll stay out of the muck, I'll clean them off. What really sucks is when it's freezing, and you fill them up right away in the morning. Well, I guess I get to shovel them twice today, lol.
Good day Ommited this document may be helpful. Kind regards Uffex