Excavators, Hydraulic Shovels and Rope Shovels spend most of their time digging and loading. They are only required to move short distances to reposition themselves or to move to a new area of excavation. In the mining environment, most undercarriage inspections will utilize the machine hours to forecast the residual life of the components. […]
Using Propel Hours to Forecast Residual Undercarriage Life on Shovels Read More »
Undercarriage Chain is built to operate in a specific direction of motion, this is the forward direction in which the machine operates under load. When the chain is installed in the incorrect direction, the reverse direction, will cause wear at 3 times the rate of the forward direction. It is thus critically important to
Ensure Chain is Installed in correct Direction to avoid quick destruction Read More »
The Front and Rear Idlers on an elevated sprocket machine are effectively the spreaders for the track chain. The idlers keep the chain reasonably tensioned and guides the chain as it rotates. The track chain is essentially a rail that is laid down and picked up again in a continuous movement that allows the machine
Undercarriage Idler Failure can be detected to avoid further Damage and Expense Read More »
On the non-rotating sleeveless bushes, the wear on the bush is typically on only 180% of the bush as shown in the following diagram. Bush Life before Turning The speed of wear on the bush will be determined by various factors such as:- the abrasiveness of
Bush Turn Budgets ensure Turning of the Undercarriage Bushes are not Missed Read More »
Technology is everywhere today, being used to increase efficiency and reduce costs. Undercarriage Management is no different and any customer operating tracked machines is using Undercarriage Management and Asset Wear Monitoring Systems to track the condition and performance of their components and plan maintenance activities. OEM’s or Manufacturers and their dealer network are using these
Independent Undercarriage and Asset Wear Monitoring Systems Read More »
Failed Undercarriage Frame components can cause untold damage to the undercarriage, reducing their life expectancy substantially. Any reduction in expected life increases the cost per hour. Looking at our first example in a series on frame components, is Major Bogie Pin failure or collapse. The bogie carries 2 track rollers in the minor bogie. There
Scalloping is a dangerous condition leading to significant downstream costs if not identified early. So what is scalloping? Scalloping of the links is where the midsection of the link becomes hollowed out. As the hollowed-out link /rail passes over each roller and idler, it creates vibration. The larger the scalloping, the greater the vibration. This
Scalloping of Undercarriage Links causes significant downstream costs Read More »
Are you trying to manage your continuing operations under the Covid-19 lock-down? Have you considered the potential impact of supply chain disruptions on the operation of your fleet? Could part of your fleet end up being parked due to lack of parts? How long will this continue? Many of these questions cannot currently be answered
Continuing Operations under Covid-19 lock-down Read More »
Managing Undercarriage Bush Turns to save money requires skill, inspection data and systems to accumulate the data. Under Covid-19 conditions, many companies operating tracked fleets may need to manage this in-house, since supplier inspectors are not currently able to visit the machines. Technology can now provide solutions to this challenge. Looking at Bush wear, the
Undercarriage Bush Turns can save money Read More »
Every earth moving operator will faithfully ensure Oil Samples are taken to determine the internal health of the engine, transmission etc. It is normally part of the warranty requirement on the machine or those components. Every Oil sample analysis report is examined carefully for any signs of potential failure to ensure that the component (example