Hi everybody I have some questions on an ls98 dragline we aquired. We bought the thing to clean some ponds with and the main drive chain that runs from the engine to the big sprocket jumped. It appeared that at some point and time somebody had replaced the engine or removed it and when they put it back didnt align it so the chain would run true. The big sprocket is ground down to nothing, and we were planning on replacing the whole works, but I heard somebody say you can replace it with belt drive? Do they actually make a kit for these things where you can run a belt instead of the 4 link wide chain? It would seem like less maintnece and parts to for the gears and chain are going to be pretty pricey so I thought Id ask on here because I dont know much about frictional cranes. Thanks
Link-Belt belt drive There is a company in Spokane WA called Industrial Welding that has set up hundreds of the 98 Link-Belts for logging. One of their modifications is belt drive. I have converted several machines as well and it works excellent if done properly. I believe Industrial Welding will sell a kit to do the modification. I do not have their phone number and I don't believe they have a website, but I'm sure if you called information you could get their number.
Pyramid Parts in Cleveland, Ohio can supply the Aftermarket sprocket and drive chain parts. I've personally has extremely good luck with they're parts and the prices are way better then OEM. They only deal undercarriage and drive parts for new and old crawler cranes. Here is the link for the LS98 http://www..com/Parts/Catalog/Construction/LinkBelt/c-lb98.pdf Check them out.