Hi all; I have recently purchased a 1999 Komatsu D31P-20; it has the standard 600mm swamp tracks on it. I have run swamp tracks on previous dozers and they are hopeless for the work I do, so therefore I want to swap them out for single bar grouser pads. The standard size pads on the D31E-20 are 330mm, however they are proving a little hard to obtain (not sure why) They was an optional 400mm single bar grouser pad available, which are easier to get. My concern is that the 400mm shoes will still provide too much flotation and not enough traction. The machine weighs just over 7 tons with 6-way blade and rippers. Anyone got any input as to which size shoe is best. Machine is to be used on my cattle property to do light tree clearing, cleaning out and building some small dams, pushing a bit of sand around keeping river crossings open after floods and general property road maintenance. Apart from the sand and dam cleaning, there will be no soft conditions. Any input appreciated. Thanks Brett
I'm not an expert, but I'd think for pond cleanout and work in sand the wider pads would be a good choice. If you have a lot of larger rocks, it might be best to look for the standard pads. Adding weight to the machine would tend to improve traction on hard ground.
Yea the wider pads would definitely be better for those two jobs, but I think I will be doing less of those than the others. I just don't know how much really world difference there will be between the 13.5 inch pads and the 16 inch ones in the hard stuff.
For the work you do, I would recommend single grouser shoes in the narrowest width available. They will provide excellent traction, but exercise some caution when cleaning stock ponds and river bottoms. Good luck.
Yair . . . Pony Not much help to you but as an indication of just how much difference pad width can make . . . . You may have seen pictures on here of two identical D9G scrub tractors that we took delivery of on Christmas Eve 1964. One was fitted with 24 inch plates and the other with 27's, the narrow plated machine would pull the other backwards in any conditions and there was no discernable difference in flotation. Cheers.
Thanks Scrub, I originally wanted the narrower shoes but they are proving a little hard to get. That puts things are bit more in perspective, although D9's are a bit bigger than my D31. The machine will spend most of its time at my block at Eidsvold just down the road from you. Anyone else got any real world experience with the D31 and grouser width. Thanks for everyone's input so far.
Yair . . . Gotcha mate. (big grin) I thought I'd throw that in there as some folks seem to think the wide plates give more grip/push Cheers.
I would think that wider plates would increase your surface contact area,thus decreasing amount of weight over that given track contact area,so in soft,boggy areas the weight would be spread on more area,less chance of breaking through ground surface. so what scrub says adds up,smaller width track,more ground pressure per square inch of contact area.