A pin and bushing turning and sprocket segment replacement at the time of the turn can help with the longevity of your complete undercarriage on dozers and track loaders. This is significant in that the bushings become completely worn out, which helps you with wearing the life of your track link assembly completely out.
With the cost of labour and less expensive aftermarket undercarriage, a lot of track shops don't feel pin and bushing turns save much money over running the tracks to destruction without a pin and bushing turn. On D8 and up size a pin and bushing turn might make sense.
Agree Welder Dave . I always figured D7 size & up might benefit from a pin & bushing turn . Like you said with all the aftermarket chain vendors a feller sure has to look at the labor cost on turning them with new bolts on the pads . It adds up pretty fast .
X3. ^^^^
Things sure change, in the early 70's before SALT we turned D8 tracks 3 times @ 120 degree turn to get max life, it's a throw away generation now.
Before amazon I had a friend want me to fix his weed wacker. Part was $100 new weed wacker was $60
Yeah I know that's how it is now, we also ran a 2nd set of P&B to run out the rails, never hear of that anymore either
In Alberta track shops charge around $140/hr. or more and most can't be bothered to do pin and bushing turns on smaller machines. One of the shops here used to run 2 sub-arc idler rebuilding machines day and night shift back in the 80's but I don't think they do idler rebuilding at all anymore.
On the smaller machines the manufacturers made the bushings thicker and all went to SALT tracks making the bushing turn cost prohibitive. They basically run to near the same life as the running area on the track links so it doesn't pencil out on a turn especially if you want to re-seal and run them in oil again. On the larger machines a turn only makes sense if there is enough link left to justify it. I know of a couple of operations where they replace the links and sprockets at around 3,500 to 4,000 hours and keep running the pads, rollers and idlers to around 6,500 to 7,000 hours. It's all about dollars and cents.
we used to have a good industry in NZ , Trackweld , not around any more . Used to build up rails , plates , rollers the whole lot . What seemed to limit the life of the tracks was the ability to hold pins after a turn or replace . I had tracks on a D4 with new pins and bushes with rebuilt rails ,trackbar on the plates to . Back of the plates was so sharp you could near shave on them , the odd pin that worked loose could be sorted by welding on the flat bit on the link , hammering tight , then a few runs with the welder over it again , soon pulled up tight when it cooled . Fiat (AD7 ?) next door was spitting its pins regularly with them welding the pin to the link to hold it , bad news for the next bloke wanting to squeeze some more life from the tracks with a new p/bush group and a squirt on the rails . It must have had a few pin and bush groups changed as the bolts were good on both sides .
I have a D8K that I am Currently replacing the sprocket sgments on... the pin bushingins are wore but I cant afford to get them turned. It be better off for me to probably sell my rails as they are and get a new set
If it is cheaper to sell chain that needs p&b turned and buy new ,why would some one buy used chain that needed p&b turned?
Hobby folks buy them running them to destruction which may take years on a play machine.
No need for new sprocket segments on old chain bushings . They will bind & crunch & turn into the old segments pretty fast .
Sometimes there is a need for new segments on old rails on an 8k aftermarket segments are cheap and easy to put on compared to a full undercarriage it doesn't matter that they wear a little quicker you replace them when the rails are run to destruction
Exactly....they cost me 750 per side....and they are easy to change. We probably only put 100 hours a year on it.
on my trash dozers d8R and d8T our average life is 4500hrs although i just broke that record on the d8T at 5600 hrs but almost all the bushings were broken in the rh chain, ran about a week too long did. one segement change at 3500 hrs pin and bushing turn is not cost effective in landfill work we usually run till they break or rite before they break and then everything is changed and made new again
I don't even know of a place around here anymore that turns them. Was a big shop close by in the 60's & 70's by the steel mills, that did it, but long gone now. Off shore parts saw to that. Tom