i have been in muddy soil on 10 degree slopes and the tracks fill up then one goes sliding. i have watched a few videos on ice but nothing in snow. will the snow act a lot like the muddy soil. i think it will but this old man isnt really a good lever puller much less an operator. some of the places this thing would stop i know i wouldnt like.
I don't know bout others here but last year I put dozer pads on my 953, I've seen an increase in traction in snow but It doesn't seem to help much if you are working on frozen ground underneath the snow. Segmented ice grips will do the job better than higher grousers on frozen ground and ice. If you are worried about ice filling the pads up, I've never had that problem to date and I've been working pretty much through the winter so far.
thank you. guess i will just have to give it a try on lesser slopes to see what happens
Sorry to post it here guys, I'm a new member and I need to reach my 3 replies before I start my own thread. All, We are the contracted undercarriage remanufacturers for Komatsu in India and SE Asia. We have been in business for almsot 25 years in India and are expanding our operations to serve the US and Canada markets. I'm looking to establish networks and see if we can help anyone out here with our expertise. Jags www.krausslynks.com
Frozen ground underneath the snow you are screwed with any kind of tracks.
As greg put it the frozen ground is the problem not so much the height of the grousers. Dozer pads on loaders can work but most operators will stick with the lower profile pads for the loaders because of ground disturbance while turning and loading. Dozer pads were made for straight line work and they are much better in that aspect but they can cause havoc on a loader working in close quarters on soft ground.
I know this would cost a good penny and take a little bit of time, but where I work, we've got a Manitowoc 13000 and it's got 1" bolts that stick up on the track pads for traction on frozen ground.
Up north they will put "corking" on there tracked machine to increase frost/ice traction. They are basically spikes for tracks. Somebody who has used them before could give better details than me. Not sure if the work would be worthwhile in your area though.
at this point in my life it is just an expensive toy that i use on 20 acres once in a while. i am just curious if i had to clear snow how safe it would be. it is a D75S komatsu and according to the manual it came with dozer tracks.
tracks while my toy is by no means camparable to yours...my international t340 loader has no problems in the snow. i plowed out a 3/4 mile path to my wood pile through 2 feet of snow. didnt notice any slippage and it climbed the hill no problem. it has new triple grouse pads. direct drive. no automatic or hystat. the pads seemed to stay clean but then again it was powdery snow...and i didnt not work across the hill...just up and down it. if the ground is frozen...and its hard as a rock over here... then i dont think you will have a problem. your d75 is aout 26 tons heavier than mine