So I’m order to change the drive motor gear oil on my bobcat t180 I had to ditch the tracks and sprockets... When I did that I noticed that the shield/guard that covers the hydraulic hoses for the motor has been worn down by the track... what gives? Is this normal?
Not sure if its "normal" or not, but may be from the tracks being run too loose. It also may just be a Bobcat "thing" like having to disassemble half the machine to change the final drive oil, way to go engineers!!
My T300 was the same way. In fact it wore a groove all the way through on both sides. I ended up welding the groove shut and putting another piece of plate over it. I dont know if that helped, but figured it couldn't hurt. Luckily to change the drive oil they had two plugs on the front of the finial
On bobcats I have found that a worn sproket allows the tract to rub these guards. Have seen them wear through the guard and the pressure hose 90' fitting.
Tracks are at 50%... I would like to do the right thing and change tracks and sprockets but my checkbook says otherwise... so I’m cutting out the damaged area and welding in 1/4” plate to get going again. Will keep an eye on it and see how long it lasts.
I understand the cash flow issue, but the track is rubbing on those wear plates continually. Adding metal to the top of the plate is going to further damage your tracks. The sprockets wear funny, the valleys between the sproket points get worn deeper making the inner track lay on those sheilds. If I recall correctly the sprockets are not to expensive. I think we get them aftermarket, I will check with the parts man to see where we got ours from.
eBay sells cheap sprockets.... I’ve cut out the damaged area and welded in plate so the cover won’t be any higher, also plan on lowering the shield a bit to increase clearance. All just temp fixes since I want to replace tracks and sprockets at same time... otherwise the wear will be accelerated on the sprockets by running old tracks, correct?
Is there enough clearance to weld plate on the inside instead?
No... couldn’t even slide the cover down all the way. It hit the hoses. Can’t believe bobcat allowed for an inch of clearance between that cover and the tracks. With my worn sprockets it’s at like 1/2” clearance