Pins, Bushings and: The Discipline Of Track Management - Looking for longer life and lower costs from crawler undercarriages

摘要

You've heard the statistics: A crawler undercarriage typically accounts for 20 percent of a dozer's purchase price, but 50 percent or more of its lifetime repair tab. With that potential repair expense at stake, doing what you can to trim undercarriage expenses can considerably lower per-hour operating costs. That, in essence, is "undercarriage management" - a discipline (part science, part intuition, all refined by experience) that encompasses machine operation, routine maintenance, periodic evaluation, and, toughest of all, judgment calls about how best to handle wearing components. Ignoring undercarriage management can be costly: "Wait until something catastrophic happens, like breaking a chain on the job site, then it's field service, and you're out there lifting and shoring to get the tractor out of the mud," says Steve Deller, product support manager for West Side Tractor Sales, an equipment dealer in suburban Chicago. "Had the owner in that situation been just a little proactive - measuring wear periodically and following a few basic recommendations - that expense might have been avoided."