I hear people talking about standard and long undercarriage configurations and their applications but have never really come to a proper conclusion. So my question is what are the different applications for these different undercarriages? I would assume that a longer undercarriage would provide more stability but at what cost... probably not as maneuverable? And if I were buying a 12-20t machine for general work what would be preferred? Cheers
The LT is the way to go.Makes for easier finish work,more flotation.You won,t notice any difference in turning.Cheers
And wide pads are equally needed. Sure, I assume some never get in a soft earth situation. And the Long Carriage and wide pads just mean you go a little futher into the muck before you really get stuck. I suppose the same quandry exist with dozers also.
Good day Rudolf73 Your question is an issue of great debate in some factions of the industry, I will try to keep what we know as brief as possible -LC (Long carriage) appears to address the ground bearing pressure reduction required in soft standing applications, OK this increases stability along carriage only however using this format on hard ground is not to be recommended since this will increase the risk of stress cracks and wear to the undercarriage. Often manufactures specify either the same drive transmission as the standard carriage resulting in poor turning performance and or a higher spec transmission with reduced travel speed to compensate. We have some documentation in respect of this issue if you are interested in the details send a request to [email protected] KR Uffex
Reminds me of when I was a kid and went four wheeling a lot. You get stuck and get somebody with a winch to pull you out. The guy with the winch gets stuck and waits for summer.
Thanks for the replies, yeah the reduced ground pressure does make sense. I would probably lean towards a standard undercarriage seeing as most of the work around here would be on solid ground.
You won't see many standard undercarriage lengths on any brand of excavator used in the United States. If you see one it has almost always been brought into the country through the gray market. The standard lengths wear out at the same, rate per pad width, are way less stabile and the operators always complain about how the machine rocks and they can't run it smooth because they are thrown around in the seat. The standard carriages don't command the same amount of purchase price so generally end up in the hands of those that don't have the money to take care of them.
I have had a look around the local machines and taken more notice of the model numbers, seems most of them are LC also. In that case an LC would be the wise choice.