1998 Kobelco SK60LC Serial;# LEJ 0481- 2500 hrs I "roaded" my little hoe app. 1.7 miles on a gravel road Sunday. It has steel pads. The left top/carrier roller got quite warm. I could keep my hand on it but it was almost hot. The right side roller was cool. Both seem to be tight but it had the weight of the tracks on them. This is a farm machine that sees little work. But I would like to keep it in reasonably excellent condition. Is this something I should be concerned about? I understand that it depends on how much the tracks are used but any idea as to how long before It needs replaced? Also, Are a few metal shavings from the undercarriage normal on a trip like this? Thanks, Greg
Check and make sure there is oil in the roller. a little metal shavings would not be a concern if not to much.
Just replaced a roller on a Zaxis 120. First symptom was a little noise then it was getting hot. After that it seized. Good news is it was only $88 for an after market. Look for abnormal wear on the inside surface were the track rides.
Thanks for the replies- Digger-The operator manual shows that the oil should be checked every 2,000 hours but has no info(that I can find) as to how check it. Looking at the online parts book it appears that the plug on the cover could be removed. I assume I squirt oil in it until it will not hold any more- that would leave it about 1/2 full. Does that sound right? There are no signs of leaks but it may have never had oil in it or leaked all out before I bought it. Rob-I figured I was looking at $500.00 in replacement parts. There does not appear to be any abnormal wear. As dry as it is- the tracks squeak so much I don't know if I could determine if it did squeak- any suggestions. I appreciate y'all, Greg
Place something- a piece of channel or box tubing (I use a 4x6) between the track and the frame. It needs to be long enough to stick out 2' beyond the track. Jam it as far up as you can and put some blocks next to the track on the ground then put a bottle jack on the blocks and lever up the track. If your tracks are adjusted properly, you'll have enough slack to lift the track off the roller without loosening the track. You might have to lift the track a bit to get more slack. Give the roller a spin. You can use this method to replace the roller but block up the end of the lever for safety. There was a thread the other day about roller maintenance. There were differing opinions. You might want to search for it. We had a JD 160 and one of the top rollers was bad. It was a little spendy but they had a rebuild kit. I went that route.
If your only doing farm work and don't mind the sqeak you can run that roller till it falls of the shaft. (I've seen it happen often). The cost to replace a tottaly shot roller is the same as half shot.