So my right side track is now to the point that it keeps coming off the sprocket even thought the idler/tensioner is extended to the max. Last I had an inspection I still had 50 percent track life left Main Question: Why can't I just remove a link? are links just too wide that I will not be able to get the shortened track to be tightened back together? Dealer could not answer that question except that likely this is not going to work. Other Questions: Why is the left side still ok (i.e tight): Something about driving habits and favored side wearing out faster according to dealer. Should I have rotated the tracks regularly? SystemOne : Dealer tells me it was not a good idea from Cat to implement it and I am in for major costs coming up. What is he talking about? Why is the Dealer recommending that I try to put a new sprocket first and that will extend life of the undercarriage.. i.e get more tension on my loose track. Any cheap solutions or just byte the bullet?
Is the sprocket worn out , if its worn out it has to be changed . I have removed links on two dozers and it stopped the tracks falling off pronto . Its a tricky job all the same , make sure the chain will still reach once the link(s) is/are removed . Make sure track frame mounts have not worn enough to cause the long track issue .
I’ve taken links out of chains before,but never a system one undercarriage. I should point out,that it’s the sort of stunt I’ve pulled simply to get me to the end of the job when the complete undercarriage is going to get replaced soon.It’s not really a solution to anything. In the case of system one, I believe you’ll need specialist equipment to do the job.If you have to hire someone in,then the cost of their labour and any parts needed will likely outweigh the benefits.
This older post explains why you can’t remove just one link. Just like potato chips, can’t eat just one. HeavyEquipmentForums
As for one side wearing out faster than the other,most likely driver habits or some unnoticed trackframe movements indicating wear.
A single link cannot be removed from a SystemOne track chain. Because of its construction (think bicycle or motorcycle chain) two links have to be removed. Even if you pulled the front idler all the way back you would never be able to join up the chain again if two links were removed. Also SystemOne chains require a boatload of special hydraulic press tooling to disassemble. Heavy Duty Chain where you can remove a single link. Can you post a Serial Number and also how many hours are on the (I assume) original undercarriage as of right now.? SystemOne undercarriage appears to work OK in certain applications but not in others. Maybe you are in one of the "others".? With your Serial Number it would be possible to come up with a list of parts that would be required to convert your machine from SystemOne to conventional Heavy-Duty undercarriage. This would not be as simple as just putting nre tracks on it.
machine is actually a D5K2XL: KWW00628 3290hours only ...original undercarriage. It's definitely a SystemOne setup
Unfortunately there is no definite information regarding the parts required to convert your tractor to Heavy Duty track groups. I can tell you that the track shoes are different in addition to the Link Groups. There is a difference in link pitch between the SystemOne track with 36 shoes compared to the HD that has 40 shoes. Track rollers and carrier rollers are different. Sprockets and front idlers are different. Maybe the track frames are also different but it is impossible to tell.
I am getting the Cat service/sales guy to look at it later today and if just replacing the sprocket will buy some life or not. What is the nature of some much stretch?
Without seeing it in the flesh so to speak it's hard to form an opinion.
Ok it the bushings...they are all dried up need to be replaced (among other parts)... Apparently 3300hr is well behyond the life expectancy of tracks.
Pardon me to what i´ll write, but a set of tracks should last a bit more than that, even in a convetional track arrangement tractor, unless u´d be grinding them in sandy soil or other highly abrasive conditions. But that would not explain that much stretch, wearing and stretching are not always linked. Sometimes in a 6K hour chain only 10 to 20% of the links lost lube and wore and stretched, when that hapens, in my world we remove a link or 2 and use the chain untill it fall´s off , sometimes one gets amazed on how many hours more u can squeze out of it. Also the stretch might actually not BE present, failure of components in the track system may mask other situation, probably u should check how many links have play and inspect the rest of the undercarriage for a proper diagnosys. BTW i never heard or read "system one" is a good thing besides CAT propaganda!!!.
So the main issue it the bushings or whatever had oil in it...most are dried up and then the pins will heat up/bend and the whole tracks will just expand I was just quoted 30K (after discounts) from CAT (he is also looking if HD can be installed on that machine)
That is a robery in plain sight.... 30k huhu
If I can correct that statement. The oil doesn't "dry up", the seals inside the cartridge pin assemblies (#2 in the illustration below) fail and allow it to leak out. This allows metal-on-metal contact and rapid wear ensues. SystemOne undercarriage is known for this failure mode. There used to be factory support programs to help owners with the cost of premature pin/bushing failures. Try asking.....
you're right! I think the issue is I was doing a lot of sideways grading in sandy soils and millings. The gave me a 25 percent discount (so 40k->30 Why are they replacing the idler group and sprockets? They look fine but maybe that it part of the "package" as they give me 4 year/6000hrs warranty.
You don't install new tracks on old idlers & sprockets IMHO. Did the PSSR give you a copy of the Service Report showing the waer percentages of all the different undercarriage components.?
the risers were at 60percent wear...he did not mention the other wears because the metal on metal grinding was his concerns and the fact that the pins were "bent"
All him for the “CTS Report”. He must have done one. It will make interesting reading
I think the 25% off is just a gimmick to make you think they're giving you a good deal. The same as when stores try to pass off the MSRP is $100 and we're selling it for $75. It's a bogus number and the item has never sold for $100 anywhere. Everything I've read, System One is a poor choice except in a very few specific applications. I don't understand how tracks could be at 50% and falling off because they are out of adjustment. I'd guess maybe something like rail height might be 50% but everything else is way beyond 100% worn out. Still think the 50% isn't an accurate assessment. If mostly worked in sandy soil and/or slopes 3300 hours could be equivalent to 4300 or more hours working in dirt.
System One tracks don't gradually wear like a normal set of rails. The bushings roll on a set of internal permanently lubricated bearings inside of each box section instead of being a press fit into the next 2 links. The outside links press onto 2 pins beside each other. Think of any standard roller chain. What happens is the oil seal fails and the bushing goes dry. This causes a very sudden (within a couple hundred hours) catastrophic failure of this interface between the bushing and the pin. The box section basically instantly pitches out an inch or 2. It's impossible to take out enough slack to remove a bad box section, and the idlers ride on the bushing surface instead of the links. This means the roller frames need modified/cut to accept standard idlers and rollers. My experience with system one is if you're running in the most highly abrasive conditions that exist, where undercarriage lasts sub 3000 hours, it's decent. Under normal, everyday, 90% of the time conditions, they suck.
Question is "where do u wear out a track set in 3k hour on small tractors" , can´t think of any!!! When i used to build roads some years ago D8/9 size machines on abrasive rock would destroy a set of grousers within a year... somewhere in the 2k hours, very often we weld rebuild the grousers, and chains lasted some 2 or 3 rebuilds. Of couse we used the chains untill they fell off, and also chains need atention... sometimes only one link or 2 goes bad, its not a bad idea to replace them, one can easily get 1k hours more. Those days are long gone and today things goes diff pace.
TVA machines in Kentucky have special grouser pads for loading and moving coal on the barges. Damn things feel indestructible and the wear bars the put on are Inconel I think and the 7018 weld will wear off on the bars. They will pick the wear bars up off the ground and weld them back on.
We could take a set of Super Extreme Service (3" tall bar) grousers on a D10 from new to worn out in around 750 hours in abrasive conditions. If this D5K has been working in sandy conditions + working on side slopes somewhere around 3300 hours on the link group is probably classed as around normal. I think what also factors into the equation is a possible lack of understanding about what was wearing. referring back to the OP it is only the RH side link group with the problem of a tensioner that has run out of travel. The LH side is still within limits. If a couple of worn cartridge pins on the RH track had been identified early and replaced the owner might not be in the situation that he is right now.