There's a lot of knowledge on here so I'm sure someone will know the answer. I put new under undercarriage on my 931B. Weld on sprocket rims and everything else new except for top carrier rollers. I put Trek/DCF SALT rails on cause they seemed like the best bang for the buck, only about $200 over dry rails and still a lot cheaper than everyone else's dry rails. The sprocket rims were pretty rough castings but I figured they'd wear in soon enough. I tried talking talking to the manager at Trek awhile back and he was an arrogant jerk. Said I should talk to the dealer that sold them. They're the ones who suggested I talk directly to Trek since they should be the experts on their own undercarriage. I didn't buy directly from Trek but picked up the parts there to save some money since the warehouse was only 20 minutes away from me. I have adjusted the tracks as per the Cat procedure and have no visible wear on the bushings going forward but there is a flat spot starting on the bushing face from going in reverse. I've seen this on a Komatsu dozer as well. I was told it's from running the tracks too lose but having them too tight I think causes more problems. I only have a 1 speed reverse so it's not from going too fast or really long distances. I know reverse wears faster but just wondering if this is somewhat normal? I know not all sprockets are the same but being everything is new I'm puzzled? I'm hoping maybe they'll wear in and then won't wear as fast. I have approx. 750 hrs. on the new undercarriage but noticed it starting after checking at about 500 hrs.
Going to get wear in show out spots from the rough faces grinding across each other, seems the replacement rails/carriage components being sold by all including Cat under their budget sales variety wear fast these days. Most if not all are coming from across the big pond from Asian suppliers and are what I would consider second rate, I cannot get rails for my Allis so I am stuck with aging old stock and worn out being stretched thin. Keep us abreast of how they wear over time.
Hello Welder Dave, is there any chance that I can find out which Trek branch you are talking about? do you know salesperson's name by any chance? Thanks!
Edmonton. I think the managers name at the time was Ron. There was another guy that remembered me from when I bought some JD undercarriage and there used to be a Mel there that I think became a manager at another Trek location in BC. He was really good but after this last time trying to talk to this Ron, I don't think I would deal with Trek again. I'm spending $8000 on their undercarriage, the least they can do is help me figure out if there's something wrong. He seemed quite irritated like I was bothering him. Extremely rude and condescending. Cuts my old chains with a torch and says they don't have a manual impact wrench to take the one master link apart. I go in the back to load them up and a guy is using an impact wrench on some other tracks. This was several years ago though.
Thanks for your reply Welder Dave! May I ask if you are still using Trek or did you change your dealer for aftermarket parts? Did you hear anything about Trek after so? like their quality, customer service, price and etc. Thanks for your help!
Sorry it took a while to respond. I'd have see if the same guy was still at Trek and then compare prices to determine if I would use them again. Trek is pretty big in undercarriage but customer service makes a big difference. The MEL I dealt with in the past was great.
Hell ya can't swing a dead cat without running into import parts. Even the majority of CAT OEM comes from overseas...actually I think Trek parent company is DCF is making OEM. I haven't had a problem with their stuff...or customer service problems but I guess I have bad days too.
szone91 I see your local...what part of the state are you guys workin.