Question for those more experience than me, which is everyone. I'm looking at purchasing an excavator that has a lot of corrosion on the track frames. It's mainly the thinner metal that has some rust through, but not so much of the heavier pieces that make up the main frame of the track frame if that makes sense. I know I can find used track frames and replace these, how big of a job would that be? If I treat the track frame and stop the rust, could I weld pieces 1/8th or 3/16th flat plate back into the areas to regain any lost strength? Any thoughts or help is appreciated.
Picture would be very helpful if possible.
That's the only one i can find on short notice. You can see a little rust through just in front of the sprocket.
What breed of machine is this? Looks like somebody has been mucking around in salt water. It needs sprockets too. I saw a 9030 Case that had been run in saltwater and the undercarriage was total junk from the house down, swing bearing, track frame, rails, rollers, and the hydraulic drive tubes were rusting out.
Most of those track frame assemblies are fabricated with 572 gr 50 plate. Pretty common these days and not much more money. You will want to figure out the original thickness if possible. You can go a bit thinner with your patches but you never want to go thicker than what is there. Definite chance of cracking then.
Machine is a 160c deere.
Those sprockets will run a long time. The tips are still better than a 1/4" wide.
New sprocket on old chain leads to premature wear on sprocket
Here's a few more pictures. The chain and sprockets look pretty good, I wasn't too worried about them. After some of the crud was cleaned off, to me it appears to be heavy surface rust. My thought is to sand blast, metal etch, expoy prime and paint the area. Any places such as inside the rails that I cant get to, use a rust neutralizer product to stop any further damage. But again looking for thoughts on if I'm wasting my time buying a machine with this much rust on the bottom side or what other issues I should plan on.
You cant really say that as a generalization without measuring the track pitch wear. I have found on high drive Cat dozers that keeping up on sprocket segments leads to reduced wear on the rail bushings. It may be a different case with dry pin tracks on excavators.
Not owning it yet changes the picture. There is a lot of work to be done to repair that right. I don't know your welding and fabricating skills. But it depends on how involved you want to get into it and how much work it will see.
Thanks for the responses. I'm currently working my equipment part time as ive just started my business. I have a good full time job i can rely on until getting up to speed. I have a mid size 220 plasma cutter, mig and stick welder. I'm decent at fabrication, i take my time and stress the details. I don't mind the work on the equipment if it saves me some money over time. If i HAD to run it full time as soon as i bought it, I'd look elsewhere. But in my situation, i think it might be a good fit for the money and with some work, will make a good addition.
Just curious, do you have any other pics of the rest of the machine? How many hours are on it?
That looks like salt corrosion. Nothing can be done to fix it, but that isn't what worries me. Salt (or whatever caused the corrosion) is everywhere. Hydraulic lines, electrical connections, and fasteners worry me much more. I don't think that machine can be priced low enough to make up for the headaches that are lurking.
Actually what I see there is no big deal. As long as the sprockets, rollers and idlers aren't leaking those pits and rust balls are doing nothing to change the original strength of the frames or carbody. I've seen far worse from the gray market machines and many of those are still running from fifteen years ago when I did the first inspections.
I believe the machine has been used in fertilizer at some point, but certainly in salty areas. In other pictures, I haven't noticed any corrosion on any lines, connectors, etc. It seems to be limited to the tracks and track frames. I know of a complete track system for this particular size of machine for $6k, from the turntable down. If I had to replace everything, that would be a possibility. Thanks again for the replies. I'll post later this week what I decided to do once I go look at it.
Do any of the links in the tracks appear to be stuck and unable to be straightened. The condition is called bridging. If they are not stuck you are most likely OK.
I've not seen the machine yet, only pictures and video. The video wasn't the best quality, but the chain seemed to be free with no bridging as you mentioned. I'll look it over this weekend and hopefully it'll be as advertised.
I would pass on it everything you go to take apart for repairs will be a major pain in the but
Thanks for all the replies. After looking the machine over good, running it, etc, I went ahead and bought it. It does have some rust issues on non-critical areas, but everything else is ok. My biggest challenge is a lack of maintenance from previous owners. I'll be posting some new questions to get thoughts on fixing some issues.
Reminds me of an ol dodge ram I picked up a few years back. The truck was used up north as a parking lot snowplow/salt spreader. I inspected it at nearly sundown and was blinded to thec erosion taking place..Purchased it that night and took possession the next day..What a disaster I discovered when started looking around in the engine compartment. I could literally peel rusted metal off the heads and engine block. All I can remember is feeling like someone punched me in the gut. Every issue I took on was a nightmare..Do not buy this one..pass immediately !
Pressure wash the scaly rust off, chip it if the pressure washer's not enough. Spray it with some diesel and forget about it. Could use that Fluid Film lanolin product if you want it to smell good. Don't forget any enclosed cavities that you can't see, those will be the worst rust issues. I don't think this will bother you more than an extra broken bolt or two, or hundred if you do the track pads.
Just to add to what others have said I would take off the track motor cover plates and clean everything out from inside there as good as you can. Also around the track tensioners if you can get to them. A needle scaler and a big air compressor are your friends.
Hi I recently bought an old e 140 that had been used in a open tin pit near the roaring ocean and you should see the scale i got off it. I am worried but then again i am not worried about it as i only muck about on a hobby farm. The undercarriage sounds to be a lot thinner than it should be but it still sounds thick enough for me. I will keep you all posted. I simply washed then rough scaled then painted.
Heck if you dont mind the appearance of things just keep the crusty rusted areas coated in old oil of any variety..
I did a lot of pressure washing so far, it's not as bad as I first thought. The biggest issue is just a lack of or poor maintenance. I'm slowly fixing the issues. I've run it for about 4 hrs so far, no major issues. I was thinking of doing the old oil treatment. I didn't think about pulling the final covers, something I'll do here soon.