5 practical tips to maintain the undercarriage of your machinery
Machinery undercarriage typically adds up to 30% of a vehicle’s total value, is made up of multiple parts that can be damaged relatively easily, affecting the useful lifetime and costly repairs that often add to downtime.
Follow these tips to promote the integrity of the undercarriage of your crawler equipment:
1.- Cleaning the undercarriage
Accumulation of debris on undercarriage elements will cause premature wear, roller binding, increased fuel consumption for high weight, improper track tension, asynchronous front idler movements, etc. It is convenient to perform periodic cleaning using pressure washers to minimize external elements.
2.- Routine inspections
Every vehicle manufacturer suggests carrying out pre-operational inspections to detect anomalies in multiple parts of the machine, especially the undercarriage. The most common faults are:
-Uneven wear.
-Missing pieces.
-Leaks.
-Fissures.
-Elements with inadequate tensions.
The parts that need inspection before the operation will be sprockets, idlers, shoes, chains, bolts, and rollers.
3.- Operational training.
The work environments and the purpose could generate greater or lesser wear to the undercarriage, so you should perform the procedures in the operator’s manual. The good practices are listed below:
-Reduces sharp turns.
-Avoid abrasive environments.
-Select the track shoes appropriately according to the nature of the job site. Remember that the number of claws directly influences the traction of your vehicle, a fewer number of these will make your vehicle to have better traction and penetration on the ground, and a higher number will favor the maneuverability, decreasing the traction.
-Reduce operating time on slopes when possible.
Continuous operator training and experience are fundamental to maintaining the useful life not only of the undercarriage components but of the entire machine.
4.- Maintain the precise tension of the track chains.
The inadequate track tension produces greater wear, from empirical knowledge it is known that for soft surfaces it will be necessary to provide a slight slack to the chains keeping the force within the values suggested by the manufacturer because an excess of amplitude in them could cause deviation in tracks.
5.-Use attachments or tools.
In small to medium size equipment, there are tools such as rubber tracks which provide operational advantages such as the level of flotation and the reduction of the footprint left by the vehicle, thus reducing wear or alteration of the surface. Keep different sets of shoes and attachments ready for use in case you want to modify the work environment for a better fit.