Hey everyone, I’ve got a Cat e70B. Definitely gray market. My rubber tracks are shot, so I pulled the numbers of the existing Mitsubishi tracks. Picture below shows 46-150-41. No one can make sense of these numbers. When I measure the tracks, they are 19”wide, 5.5” between the links (approximate pitch), and there are 41 links total. I’ve been having a heck of time finding a replacement set. I believe these e70s came with steel tracks, so mine has been converted. Most websites want to sell me a track for Cat 307/308, which has nearly double the links. I can’t find a replacement Mitsubishi set. I am hoping some of the forum members can help me figure out what I am missing...
Are your sprockets only engaging in half the links, every second one? The tracks I see listed for a E70B are 450x71x82 so approx half the pitch=twice the links. I see your track as a 460x150x41 width(mm) X pitch(mm) X#links
Hi Benson, yes I agree that arrangement number showed me all units with steel tracks. That being said I came up with 450x71x82. which to me would mean the links/pads would likely be half the size so twice as many makes sense to me. So that would give you a narrower pad @ 17.72" . Just looking at model tag I would not suspect grey market. I am still doing more research, will send what more I learn. cheers
Those tracks look like mini dozer tracks to me. To get the pitch you need measure the distance between the valleys between the sprocket teeth. You need the width of the teeth also as some of the chains links have little space between each side. You also need to check the distance between the bottom roller flanges and note whether they have outside flanges or inside flanges. I've run into quite a few machines where the tracks wouldn't settle down on the sprocket teeth or the bottom roller flanges would ride on the rails of the chain links. Good Luck
g Greg- I assume you are getting the 460mm width from the number 46 on the track? Did they leave a zero out?? I'm going to go look at the machine again tonight, but I believe I counted exactly 41 links, so I’m still not getting the 82 number as suggested.
I am going to measure the distance between the valleys tonight, as well as the thickness of the sprocket, if I understood you correctly when you stated “width of the teeth”. I am still confused on what you are referring to as far as outside or inside flanges...could you help me understand better?
All my research says it’s a gray market, but I may have been wrong...I’m curious to see what you find out.
IMHO it's grey market. There is no information about it in Cat's online system, although there are other prefixes of E70B listed there. It looks as though it was built for the ISJ (Inside Japan) market. That said it wouldn't surprise me if a few of them ended up in North America.
On mini excavators there are two type of rollers. The usual roller has flanges that cover part of the outside of the chain links to keep the track chains in line under the machine. The other type has flanges that cover part of the inside of the chains. Think of those like a front idler flanges that ride on the insides of the chain links.
Ok , now I have an idea what a dog that's been chasing its tail feels like. I haven't learnt anything more than what has been posted already. As far has grey market, I need to learn more... apparently cheers and good luck
Seems like that’s always the issue with gray market! I knew that when I bought it though. I’m picking up the manual for it tonight, and I’m hoping it sheds some more light on the track issue.
Thanks John- I didn’t know there were different roller types. Your explanation makes sense to me now.
I think that the manual may only cover steel tracks because that’s what I believe it was originally built with. The other issue you are likely to encounter is that because it was never sold into the US market there will be no English documentation for it. The manuals for the variants of E70B that were officially imported may have detail differences between them and your machine, and can’t be relied on 100%.
Greg, you are correct when you suggested that the sprockets only engage every other link. While my experience with excavators is limited, this is a strange concept to me. Do you have any opinion as to how this affects the operation of the machine? I would assume it cuts down on wear of the teeth? Just curious if I should try to find a 41 link track, or go with the 82 link that seem to be more readily available,
So I have found several sets of tracks that will fit the E70B. Local CAT dealer has a set of IFR (not sure of tho is the correct spelling) tracks for 1800.00 each plus shipping and tax, so approximately 4100. McLaren quoted me 3500 for a set delivered(no tax will be added) and Summit quoted me 4500 with tax, free shipping. I’m actually dumbfounded that McLaren has the lowest quote out the door by a significant amount. I have read through several forums, and the general consensus is that McLaren and Bridgestone are the best OEM. I know there are dozens and dozens of threads on tracks, but I’m curious if anyone thinks there could be a better deal out there ? I haven’t found one cheaper than McLaren so far.
Just reading this thread, was surprised the E70b had rubber tracks. If you are not tied to the rubber tracks, a pair of chains last I checked was $900 for my E70B. One thought was there is a large salvage yard in michigan that I have purchased from before, they may have a set of steel tracks that you could put on their is price is a majory concern. It can be hard to put $4500 into a machine that is worth 15K. I was under the assumption that all E70B were gray market, as they were out at the same time as the 307 which was an american machine. Sometimes the Grey market will have genaric parts which are used across other makes, for instance the local napa store caries an air filter for my 2 grey market machines, but they do not carry the air filters for the US versions.
As far as I know the E70B is Japanese only, a rebadged Mitsubishi (cannot recall what the designation was) all documentation, if you can find it, is in Japanese. I had one, which was a cheap buy....cue manic laughter....... Every part I tried to replace was different, odd or special. It was a great machine when it ran right - which was sometimes for as long as an hour before something bizarre would happen. Had possibly the most needlessly complicated electrical system I have seen, coupled with dodgy insulation which cracked and failed frequently. The original tracks would have been steel for sure. My personal feeling is that a $4000 set of tracks would make the machine worth in the region of $4000.