Limit unrpoductive

The basic rule is limiting unproductive and fast driving, which causes excessive wear of individual undercarriage elements. Another step is limiting reverse driving, which causes very high stress between pins, bushings and teeth of sprockets, as well as between links, idlers and rollers. When reversing, around 75% of the connections between pins and bushings of the chain are in contact and work under load, starting from the track rollers through the idlers, support rollers and upper part of the sprockets. These loads cause significant increase in wear of the elements listed. In forward driving, on the other hand, only 25% of pin and bushings connections are in contact and are under load.

Use stone guards selectively, since installing guards at entire length of the body when working in ground will cause earth to accumulate between the guards and other elements of the undercarriage, causing increased wear. Stone guards should be used on stony ground, allowing them to reduce the risk of penetration of large stones between the sprocket or idlers and the chain link.

The width of track plates is another very important element that to a large extent is decisive in chain wear. It is very important that the plates used are as narrow as suitable for the given type of terrain.

Plan your turns reasonably; turning constantly to one side will cause excessive wear of parts on that side of the vehicle, for instance. Also, work on top of a hill causes that only the inner part of the plates are in contact with the undercarriage, and work in a pit causes that only the external parts are in contact with the ground. These types of work will cause excessive wear of internal or external elements of the track, accordingly.

Do not forget to regularly clean individual elements of the undercarriage parts of your machine. The cleaner the space between individual elements, particularly between the sprocket and the track chain bushings, the higher their life. Plan operation of the machine, adapting it to the given terrain - this will significantly reduce undercarriage wear.

Regularly inspect the condition of individual elements of the undercarriage, starting with top rollers, through sprockets and idlers, track rollers, and ending with bushings, pins and individual chain links. Remember that timely replacement of even a single supporting roller may significantly extend the life of the whole chain.

Another very important issue that is very often ignored or postponed is tension of track chains. Too high tension of track chains may increase their wear by up to 50%, compared to correct tension. Therefore, always check correct tension of chains in the operating manual of the machine. For that purpose, the manual may require you to measure the distance of the chain from the flange of the middle track roller in the excavator.

Please note that we are making our best effort to ensure that the advices contained on this website are helpful to machine users. We do not accept any responsibility for potential damage that the user may incur by following them, however.