I'm in the market for a CTL and right now, need to keep my investment <$25k. I know features I want, but am struggling with track drive style - sprocket drive or "cage" drive (like ASV or Cat xx7 models). For fear of opening a can of worms, ASV claims the open drive system is self cleaning. In sand, maybe, but in wet clay, I highly doubt it. I've seen a couple of Cat machines near me (247) that is in my price range. Nige...please chime in on your experiences...Thank you in advance.
ASV works well here in FL, sandy conditions. Mine is CAT 287b.
Personally I'd avoid the asv. Too many wear points on the track system. Search and you'll find threads on here about people having issues with those machines.
When I was appraising for the Cat dealer, the ASV style undercarriage lasted about 1,000 hours max and cost around $10,000 to replace. The cost per hour was more than a D8R working in hard rock.
It all depends on what you're doing. If you're mostly doing landscaping chores like spreading screened topsoil/loam constantly and general grading without a ton of sharp rocks the ASV style will work fine, but you need to respect that style track and drive, counter rotating constantly to spin the machine around in place instead of a three point turn isn't so great (for any track machine really). Sharp stumps, rocks, and spreading tons of 1 inch and larger trap rock isn't so great for that style either. I had a Cat 287B and got 2200 hours on the original tracks but did replace idler and some boggie wheels along the way. The CTL style undercarriage will hold up a lot better to abuse but still needs to be run with some care to not burn up a set of tracks...
We found that it didn't make much difference in what you did with those machines. Tracks would look just fine and there would be bad roller groups, damaged idlers and broken hardware. There is a reason Bare Industries came into business selling aftermarket "improved" parts for those machines. Cat doesn't sell an ASV style undercarriage anymore as far as I know. I looked at dozens of them a year with junk undercarriage in the mid 2000 years. People wanted out of them even at a loss.
I will agree on the asv comments. But a track machine is twice the wheel machine. Makes a worthless operator productive, at a expense... Personally I hate the suspension and have made stoppers for mine. Rides nice yes! Hard to maintain a cut or grade. Not much "feel" in you seat.
Cat still make the 257. My experience is about how John describes, original tracks totalled at 1000 hrs, every roller, idler and drive cage needed replacing.£12,000 total replacement cost eight years ago. Same work, same conditions on a 289, 2000 hrs plus two sprockets, £2,400.
I would stay far, far away from the ASV style UC. Just my $.02 and others that have posted upthread.
If you want a reliable, simple, and built like a tank, I'd recommend a Takeuchi machine. Their track system is very simple and holds up well to most any condition. I put new tracks and 1 roller on my TL230 at 1650hrs. The tracks would have made 2k+ hours if I didn't hit metal and break a bunch of cords inside one of the tracks so it wouldn't stay tight. I now have 2680hrs on the machine and haven't had to replace anymore rollers or idlers yet. I use the machine in just about all conditions from woods/stumps to 3" rock and gravel to topsoil and pavement.
Thank you all for the comments.