Just received a quote from cat for a new system one undercarriage and a quote to convert my d5n lgp (akd1810) to heavy duty undercarriage boy was I surprised!
18 grand?
I wish. 27! For system one and 24 for hd Then an addition 1350 per side to put pads on.
Dang that's up there.
Not to mention I got a quote for aftermarket for 13k. I can’t see much reason to go back with cat when I can get 2 for the price of 1!
I had CAT (Whayne Supply) order my aftermarket undercarriage because they could get it cheaper then I. I did have 2 issues with them ordering that cost me more CAT ordered all pads for both sides, but should have ordered 2 less of regular pads and ordered 2 master link pads. So I have 2 spares regular pads not used or returnable I didn't count the number of sprocket segments when received and it took me a few months before starting the install. Found that there were 2 missing large segments and since time ran out for notification, I had to buy those segments from CAT because the aftermarket only sold in sets I would order again from CAT, but would makes sure to count when parts received
How much longer do oem last over aftermarket I know depending what brand you go with is a factor but is the cat price worth paying for?
What aftermarket brand are you looking at? D5N application isn't the same as a D11 application so aftermarket is a viable option in most cases. That's a lot of money to change pads over. Price might be OK for both sides but is worth having done on a track press to get correct torque on the bolts.
Ctp. The only thing they cannot get is the pads. So I’d have oem pads. I agree 100% it’s just a finish dozer no ripping or bulk pushing. Runs slopes on occasion. Im not to proud to put my own pads on especially for that kinda money!
Torque turn method is best for pad bolts. Lots of aftermarket undercarriage available so is worth shopping around. Shouldn't have to get OEM Cat pads.
I agree I’m going to shop them all and see what the best deal I can get worth the money. Just that particular place couldn’t get the pads.
The two issues with aftermarket involve SALT chains. I've seen plenty with premature failure of the seals and no recourse. Generally Cat will always make some kind of reimbursement based on the hours left on the chains. In my experience, after market never covers premature failure in any way. Hopefully someone will come along and say they have had different experiences.
Unable to say how long SALT last, that's what I installed but have maybe 100 hours over the last few years. Farm not commercial Do remember, the CAT master pads were about a 1/4 inch higher grouser then the after market regular pads. I cut the master pad groucers even with the regulars because I didn't want them digging into the road when crossed
I see from your OP that you got quotes for both SystemOne and also for an HD undercarriage conversion from Cat. Did the 13K aftermarket quote for HD U/C include the hard parts for the conversion from S1 to HD.? Because if it didn't you're not comparing apples with apples IMHO. I was not aware that S1 undercarriage was available aftermarket, but I may be wrong.
As far as I know they don’t make an after market system one either I believe that’s cat exclusive. And yes that price was for the whole hd conversion aftermarket but using oem pads.
OK. I just wanted to make sure that you were comparing total cost numbers and were not going to get blindsided by an additional cost that you hadn't considered. My experience is pretty much the same as John C. Cat are usually good at sticking behind their SALT Link Groups if there is any problem, and credits for unused life in the case of a failure are quite common. Aftermarket the clue is in the "after" bit. "After they've sold it you're on your own." We used to say the warranty was 50/50 - 50 yards or 50 seconds, take your pick. Having said all that a lot depends on what work you actually do with the machine and how many working (as opposed to just the engine running) hours a year it racks up.
Talked to the aftermarket guys this morning and they allowed their parts come with a 12 month warranty. You think that’s pretty fair for aftermarket?
12 months might be fair. It all depends on how many hours you expect to put on it in that time and what the expected total life of the undercarriage system is likely to be. Our tractors would be clocking 6-7k hours in a year and go through at least one set of undercarriage if not more. I’m sure you will be nowhere near that. Did they tell you how the warranty would work if you needed to make use of it.? Did they also tell you what records you might have to keep in order to have the necessary backup to support any warranty claim.?
1 year and/or how many hours of warranty? Trek has 3 year or 4000 hour pro-rated warranty which includes SALT seals. I believe it is generally an industry standard warranty. http://www.trekdirect.com/pdf/warranty_en.pdf
FWIW I just got a quote for TREK undercarriage about a week ago for a Komatsu D65 EX-15. The Quote was for chains with 26" pads, sprocket segments, carrier rollers and bottom rollers for $12,950. My front idlers measured at 50 % remaining so I am hoping they will last through another set of chains. (that might be a mistake).
I'm building up a spare set of track groups for a D8T with brand new grousers I had in stock. Cat wanted 14k UK pounds for chains. I've bought a set of ITM chains for 5800 UK pounds. If they last one hour after 700 hours they will be putting a smile on my face. I've got a set of Cat segments with around 450 hours on that cost 1000 GBP and are lasting better than the ITR segments that were further worn at the same time. They were half the price than the Cat though. I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing or not,but I've lost alot of confidence in Cat quality and Finnings service in the last few years.