Hi all, I'm new to the forums and loving my new excavator. I have a 1 acre rental property I am doing lots of excavation work on and it is about 100 yards across an asphalt road from my house. My question: Is driving the excavator on asphalt bad on the tracks? I want to get as much life out of the tracks as possible so am I OK? My excavator is about 8500 lbs if that matters. Any other tips on ensuring my tracks last as long as possible Thanks for any advise you can give.
Will not hurt them a bit if you are doing sharp turns you will notice a bit more wear is all main thing is keep them clean and be careful running over sharp objects.
The road is the least of your troubles and prob better than dirt. Assuming you have rubber tracks its the sharp rocks where you are digging that's tearing huge cuts when you turn. The round rocks are not to bad but ones with sharp edges do so much damage. I am trying to get some distance out of my tracks and it is an endless task plucking out or going around rocks. Problem is the ones you don't see. Often you are forced to traverse bad or rocky ground and i find going as slow as possible is best. If you watch your tracks going over rocks the point load is huge and triple if you hit them at speed.
^+2 Also, keep tracks at a decent tension so point loads are spread out a bit. Not too tight either, as a sharp rock will slice them. I live on rock, and sharp ones at that. I never go rabbit speed over rough terrain, nor do sharp turns at speed. I've sliced mine up pretty good, but figure I am good for another thousand or so (put over a thousand on them already). If you can keep it out of rain when not in use, and salt, the metal ribbon impregnated in rubber will last longer. I'm finding I am spending some money on undercarriage components other than tracks (idlers and rollers). They add up. Likely from sand/silt/clay penetrating seals as I go underwater on occasion. Also, binding turns in tight spots will help wear out components. On pavement no issues, but avoid sharp turns at speed as the track will exert some force on undercarriage components. I have to think the easiest on undercarriage and tracks is torpedo gravel (small round gravel). I can turn very easily on it.
And if that isn't enough, roots and stobs will do a number on rubber too.
All of the above plus were possible drive the machine with the idlers at the front, it saves a heap of wear