Was asked to insert some track links on a D11T the other day. Never done links on a dozer before, certainly not that big. Job went well right up to the point of joining the repair links with the original track... customer had supplied genuine cat parts but the tracks were berco units... Not compatable... Waiting for parts!
WTH? Where's the mud and muck? That doesn't seem right as I can see every link and nut, and bolt.
Why are links being installed? Not my expertise but I've only ever heard about taking a link out when the rails were wore so bad there was no adjustment left. Edit: OOPS, I see the broken links now. What caused them to break like that?
Is that in the oil patch, or up north? Never been out west, wondering if that is the oil on top of the ground, that they talk about.
One word - Berco
Go big or go home! Simonsrplant took that old saying, literally. Must be in the oil sands. Great pictures.
Makes you wonder why a mine operator that has the need for a tractor the size of a D11 apparently doesn’t have the finance available for a spare set of tracks.....
The machine is around sparwood BC working with coal. Undercarriage is not essentially worn out, exact hours unknown.
Even less reason why they shouldn't have a spare set of tracks to wrap on it while the broken track pin(s) are fixed. That machine will probably cost anywhere up to $1000 in lost productkion for every hour it's down.
When I cared for the D11 doing reclaim work I BEGGED them to get me a spare set or even for one side. Hard to say how many days of work we lost due to track pins and bushings going south. Weird thing is we had berco on it and replaced quite a few links, pins and bushings with Cat and didn’t have an interchange issue.
What’s the cost of a new d11?
In 1996, a new 400 super Hitachi was half a million Canadian, so I would be scared to ask what the new big kitty cat would be. Plus Taxes, and financing.
Depends on exactly where you are but North of $1.5m US a copy in round numbers, and most mine operators don’t just buy one at a time. Biggest delivery I ever saw at one time was 17 IIRC. I think I have a photo of it somewhere.
A D9 is over a million now days. Probably add 300K more for a D10 and and 500K for a D11 I'm guessing. Getting close to 2 mil. I checked Machinery Trader for used and the there are two of 2018 vintage, both over 10K hours. First one asking 1.1 and the second ask 1 million. In general, a dozer will depreciate it's asking price 50% minimum in four years on single shift work.
I thought most, if not all, aftermarket undercarriage is supposed to interchange with OEM? Most aftermarket specify it's a direct cross. A fully outfitted D11 with ripper, I could see being in the $1.75-$2 mil. Canadian range, maybe more. Approx. 30-35 years ago Finning auctioned off all of their old rental/lease fleet at Ritchie Bros. There was an original D10. Finning supplied a price list of what new machines were selling for and at that time a D10 with ripper was about $1.1 Mil. if I recall. I think just under a $1 mil. without the ripper. I believe it was the first D10 sold at auction in Canada and went for $285,000.
Interchange as an assembly, yes, internal design, parts, and dimensions may vary. In fact may be REQUIRED to vary due to patent infringement issues, though mostly that's an excuse to make the customer come back to you for spares.
Might depend on the particular machine. I think my old rails were a mix of Berco and Cat.
Parts have been sourced. Customer has an after market dealer removing two links as an assembly from a track group. Guessing individual links just be a ways out. Should arrive tomorrow or Monday. Pays to keep it genuine...
Just drop it into the conversation with the Maintenance Supervisor “how much has all this downtime cost then?” and watch the furrows deepen on his brow......
that track press is bigger than our stand up shop press
Some prices back in the day
The levy days... Not seen or heard of leverton for years....
Curiosity has set in, Not worked later model machines where as I peered at the link photo it looked to be similar to a old Dry Rail Master, are ALL links on this size machine removable just by removing the pin and the bushing not extended into the pin end link ears? Seems in that respect IF is a truth would put a greater level of strain on the pins.
Same could be said of Bowmaker. A couple of cousins of mine did their apprenticeships with them back in the day.