How do you guys get frozen material out from inside of tracks, we had some guys leave it too long and now there’s globs of clay sand rocks snow and branches frozen in solid balls inside the tracks. Can only get small tools inside the track frame they’ve already damaged undercarriage so don’t really wanna spin them out unless there gonna break up quick… maybe a small chipper ?
Thaw is your only friend now. This stuff has to be dealt with as happens not until reaches max compaction.
Pressure washer and torch are my other thoughts haha it’s really wearing out the steel so if we gonna keep working in the winter gotta get a method that’s cost effective to get the stuff that’s hard to reach
Put diesel in a pump up sprayer, and spray the tracks about 3 times/day. Works like a charm. Be sure and dig out anything still stuck in there at quitting time, and give it a third and final spray then.
Diesel really does fix everything
....and duct tape
It shouldn't hurt anything, as long as your top rollers are turning. we always clean the tracks off at the end of the day in the cold weather, but if a bit of frozen mud is wearing out your running gear that fast, might be some cheap a@$ parts. Rocks get in there all the time, and just get crushed by the sprockets so, it's designed for abuse unless it a rubber track.
We use a skid with the forks on push together or drop one off a loader with forks also works well can use in summer if pack with wet clay to beats shocking
Ya it was the sprocket that got damaged! looks like somehow they got enough goodness James up in the tracks and I’m sure a few other bad situations at same time to get the track off the machine… butttt… still attached at either end lol I didn’t see it but the damage is on every tooth of the sprocket so it wasn’t the stuff in the track that hurt it it was the track chain moving at a different angle then the tracks was lucky it didn’t rip the tracks apart but in the end that might have been cheaper good lord
I have heated the tracks up with a weed burner before.
A torpedo heater can work good, if you set it up right. A couple concrete blankets to go along with the torpedo makes it real easy.
Berta torch or 5 and a air chipper are pretty standard winter gear if you have time plywood, tarps, and a torpedo heater
I save all my discarded antifreeze just for such occasions.
Hand a ledge hammer, pick bar and a torch to the guys who let it freeze and be ready to pay them for a few hours. After that it wont happen again.
I find as long as you clean them off at the end of day everyday you can get 95% at least with a shovel. Found getting a garden spade with serrated edge helps a lot. The bucket is the thing that gets bad, I find even diesel and used oil only helps for a short while, when it's really cold after a few days the bucket is 90% full and got to pull out the torch and get the massive chunk out. Or the best option, not working when it's really cold out, that's the option I like best My hoe has been in the heated shop for the past 6 weeks.
The fellow I started working for a long time ago, would get a tire burning and pick up the crawler loader and hold over the fire. It made a blackened mess but got the tracks thawed out. I clean out every night and park on tires usually. Much easier to prevent than to clean it up. Don't have time to do it right, but have time to spend latter trying to get it out after it has caused a lot of damage you might want to look for a different operator.
You forgot about baling wire?
Slowly chipping away at it when I have free time, reach arm inside and smash it over and over until I can break it up small enough to move it to a spot where I can hit it with a bar… brute force and ignorance!
That will get it done, just takes longer.
You'd have firetrucks and cops called in a instant trying to do that here on any sites, probably even at most yards too. Never mind the chance of catching the machine on fire. Dirt frozen on the outside of pads doesn't really bother me, lose a bit of traction but if working in winter they are going to be frozen full of crap the next day anyway, not worth it. Not going to cause any damage and the first warm day it all comes off by itself.