News

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 will create health issues for the operator and cause secondary damage to the machine. The vibration and impact also accelerates 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 as we venture into the unknown, but you can control aspects by becoming more self-sufficient in your condition monitoring. Undercarriage 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 skill is identifying the point where the bushes can be turned and whether it is economically viable to do this. 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 “Engine”) achieves its desired target life.   Engine Cost – $250,000 (Cost of a rebuild on average) Average Life achieved Read more…

Undercarriage systems are made up of multiple components. Each component has its own distinct life span.  The challenge is to ensure the entire set of components achieves the greatest possible life, (The “Target Life”), for the system as a whole. This will depend on the weakest component. The individual components cannot be replaced individually when they are showing signs of wear as new components will simply wear down quicker.  Corrective actions and repairs should be Read more…

Digitization is the process of converting a manual process into a digital format. There can be many reasons why this is done not least the following:- Increase the accuracy of data collection Increase the volume of data collection such as images, comments and calculated results from readings. In some cases, the history can be available to inspectors as a reference when measuring Increase the speed of data collection Storing of all the data in a Read more…