I have a 299D3XE CTL & wanted to ask a little feedback on what is considered acceptable travel distance to jobs with a rubber tracked CTL. I'm semi retired & float the machine for jobs that are more than 1/2 mile away (most jobs are much farther), but occasionally a neighbor will ask me to do a small job down the road & being aware of excessive use of traveling, I tend to lean away from much road travel to & from job sites. We are in a rural setting so road travel is not a problem for the unit, but the track use/wear is my concern. Is traveling a 1/2 mile or so to a job considered acceptable, or better to float a rubber tracked CTL like mine for that distance? Loading & chaining is a pain for short distances! I don't put many hours on the unit, usually only about 120 hrs per year, so may never wear the tracks out anyhow. Any feedback would be appreciated!
1/2 mile down the road would be a lot shorter distance, than the guys grading a parking lot or prepping a warehouse interior slab, travel in a 8 hour day
I agree with that statement, however the argument could be made that travelling X distance in one go at a relatively high travel speed is far more damaging that travelling the same accumlated distance at a much slower speed over the course of a working day. We used to have similar discussions in respect of the damage done to bigger tractors accumulating dozens of miles moving back & forth 100-150 yards at a time over the course of a day versus being walked a few miles in one go at high speed in 3rd gear.
Well a half mile or so down the very, very, rural road may be one thing for a good neighbor, but getting to "Jobs" further away is something else. This isn't about wear and tear on the machine, but being on the road and loosing the value of your setting up and transfer time. I would trailer the machine, and tell the neighbors that this is certainly part of the job! And as such, it's part of your payment charge, which also includes that you have cost for insurance, maintenance, diesel, and your up front cost on your initial purchase of the machine and trailer. You might also want to have if you don't have it already, is to be license, bonded, insured, less you damage the customers septic system, driveway, etc.
Yes, I was thinking more along the lines of premature wear from possible heat buildup at higher speeds etc. I fully realize that job working equates to much more distance over the course of a day, but was thinking a "steady run" may induce more excessive wear, hence shorten life of the rubber tracks as they are $$$.
I'm not an operator but in my simple mind I don't see there being much wear on the track system if you are just roading from one location to the other. The machine isn't pushing anything under a load, and I would think the steering on a road would be very minimal. Someone explain to me where I might be wrong cause I don't know for sure.
The OP needs to find a $4000 bumper pull trailer to haul this skidder if he's REALLY concerned about wear from roading it 1 or 2 miles. AND, before someone gets their panties wadded up, if someone can't make it a few miles down a road they would be otherwise driving the skidder anyway with that rig behind anything bigger than a Ford Ranger, they better turn in their license.
Them concrete boys got one speed- wide open, and use it in both directions. Without much slowing down from one direction to the other. If we were talking about a 80,000lbs excavator, then walking it all over isn't a great solution.
I do .5-1 mile road travel on semi regular basis. Every time I start bouncing along, I think about buying a wheel loader instead. I try not to do it when it's above 90-95°. I have 1600 hours on the original tracks and I haven't killed them yet. It's probably not great for rubber tracks, but it's still better than sharp rocks on hillsides and that's what will probably kill them someday.
Thanks for your input!......I was just interested in knowing if others do the same & whether or not there were any ill results from road travel.
Not quite apples to apples comparison, but in the winter I use my CTL to feed the cattle when the wheeled SS or tractor isn't handy. Its over 1/2mi from the barn to the back field, that's roughly a 1mi trip every day. Never gave any thought to it.
I appreciate the feedback!
For occasional short distances like you are suggesting I wouldn't think twice. Just keep tabs on finals for heat, keep tracks shovelled out (if off-road) and keep up on final drive oil changes. Just last week I walked an ASV RC50 (small tracked skid steer) 10km through deep snow/mud. As the machine is new to us I did keep close tabs on drive motor temperatures. Barely got warm to the touch....but there was a lot of snow for cooling. We have no option but to walk our equipment long distances (off-road/rough-steep mining roads); last season I put 40km on our 5 ton Deere 50d. It travelled this distance on a set of completely worn out tracks (how it came to us when purchased a few years ago). I take care to rotate/turn on 'high spots', and over a typical 10km walk will shovel out the tracks several times. Steep hills require some cooling time to keep finals from getting too warm. Have probably put 100km of straight walking on our 210 over the years....jump turns, shovel tracks, monitor finals...The worst is off camber narrow rutted trails where it is impossible to pick a line that prevents track "twisting".
I've walked mine along the road (not quite a 1/2 mile) on several occasions, from one storage lot to another where I needed to do some work. Several days later walked it back and didn't even think about putting it on a trailer.....in my mind not worth the hassle. If it's less than a mile and rural I'd walk it.
I guess i am a cheap ass. There is no way in hell I would walk down the road a half mile in a tracked skid steer because i was too lazy to load it. I would use a wheeled machine or trailer it. Don't want to be that far away from tools and support truck. It is a waste of time driving it a mile. I absolutely hate driving my metal track machine's if it is not working. Each push it is working and on the way back it is back blading. I do not waste movements if it is possible. If it is rolling it is costing money, a truck cost less no matter how you figure it. If it's mud and bad terrain different story... Even a 1/4 mile is too much for me. I am currently working on a track that spans 3 miles. I don't even like it 100 yards away now, that I think about it.
Just curious on everyone's thoughts, but are yall doing jobs with such tight margins that undercarriage cost needs to be figured in? For me my time is far more valuable than some wear on undercarriage parts. I take good care of my machines and don't abuse them, but also don't worry about using them however I need to get the job done.
I will walk an excavator up to 2 miles, 3 miles if the truck isn't close by. It takes about 30 minutes to walk 2 miles. To get the RGN warmed up takes about 10 minutes, then IF it's onsite, it takes 3 minutes to detach, 3 minutes to load, 3 minutes to hitch up, then 10 minutes to drive, and then same old, same old. If I choose to chain down, now I add another 10 minutes. (you safety police just pretend you didn't read this) So, without chaining down, a 2 mile move takes 40 minutes. I have never worried about undercarriage wear because of moving. Billable hours are way more valuable usually.
I'd road it. If you are really worried about heat, slow down a bit. RE not chaining down an excavator on a short move: I was just the operator, but one time the heavy haulers moved the 400 series 6 I was operating a couple of miles without chaining down. It was pretty well stuck on there hanging over each side a bit Later in the job I got to looking hard at the tracks, and found a half dozen cracked rails from a hard life on the rocks. I had not noticed until one of them separated a bit. It had worked bridge jobs on rock levees it's whole life. The upper was sweet but the tracks were beat, and I got really careful with it after that and was happy to see it go without tossing a track off.
I recall in an older CAT publication on rubber tire machines, the problem of heat build up in the rubber from hi-speed usage. They had some calculations based on "Ton Miles" or similar. Whether or not this would apply to the rubber tracks I do not know, maybe CAT has some information on it ?
X2 especially if the road is paved. A CTL will shake the windows out of the cab and whatever's in the operators gut traveling a continuous 1/2 mile on a hard surface. I'd have to load one of mine up and travel 30 mins to find a road I could go 1/2 mile down without getting pulled over by the cops.
I used to road the rental Kubota a mile to mow the place. That guy retired and closed his business
I have never had a machine shake/vibrate as bad as our Deere 5 ton mini, just terrible over the unavoidable cobble/exposed bedrock sections….if at all possible I give my wife the job of walking this machine lol!
The parameter you're thinking of is ton miles/hour (TMPH) and applies to anything with rubber tyres but more importantly any machine travelling heavily loaded and/or at speed, or any combination thereof. TKPH, also known as Ton-Miles Per Hour (TMPH), is a calculation that determines the rate of work a tyre can perform while staying within a safe temperature range under normal load and inflation conditions When a tyre is manufactured it is vulcanized and cured. If a tyre is operated under any combination of load & speed for too long the internal temperature will rise. If that temperature rises above a point known as the Reversion Temperature the vulcanising process used in the manufacture will start to "revert" and the rubber compound in the tyre will start an irreversible journey back to its original state. Once the process starts it is unstoppable and the tyre is farked, maybe not today but no way is it going to achieve the expected life. Soon after the event external signs will begin to appear on the outside of the tyre that indicate what's going on. Based on my experience with earthmoving tyres but without specific knowledge about the process of manufacturing rubber tracks I would bet money that the same phenomenon can happen. Hence my earlier comments regarding average speed and distance spread over a working day versus going balls-out for a short time at high speed in one direction. The latter can have a much more damaging effect on a tyre, I'm guessing it could have a similar effect on a rubber track.
I don't know if it adversely affects the rubber tracks like Nige is describing but it'll damn sure shake the machine apart. The Bobcat T250's were so bad you'd think the windows were about to blow out tracking a long way on a hard surface. The Cat 279's are are a little better not on the shaking part but the windows are better made and have clip stops for lack of a better word to hold them tight in place.
Yep, it's not great. If I needed to do it more often I'd be looking for a compact wheel loader.
Depends on time of day or night as well