5 Steps to Reduce Wear on Undercarriage

Reducing wear on undercarriage ensures optimum performance and longest life. Clean, check tension, shift weight, and balance usage to reduce wear on undercarriage. Follow these steps to decrease wear and tear on your undercarriage.

1. Clean undercarriages frequently. Prevent packing of soil and debris in undercarriage components by cleaning out the track as frequently as possible. Packing prevents the proper engagement between the mating components such as sprocket teeth and track links. This can cause increased loads on undercarriage components and higher wear rates.
2. Proper track tension on your tracks ensures top performance, extends the life of the undercarriage, and reduces wear on the track drive components.
3. If you’re working uphill shift the weight of the machine to the rear. This adds more load to the rear rollers and increases sprocket teeth and links forward drive-side wear. There will be a light load on the undercarriage when reversing down the hill.
4. When working downhill shift the weight to the front of the machine. The additional load will be placed on the front roller, idler tread surface, and track links. When you reverse up the hill, the links rotates against the reverse-drive side of the sprocket tooth. This helps wear the undercarriage evenly.
5. Working on a slope or side hill shifts weight to the downhill side of the machine and causes additional wear on the roller flanges, sides of the track links, and grouser ends. Balance wear between each side of the undercarriage by changing the work direction on the slope.

Summit Supply is a leader for quality construction equipment wear parts. Its undercarriage is high quality hardened steel to ensure long life. Sealed bearings reduce maintenance, labor costs and downtime. Precision-manufacturing meets and exceeds OEM specifications. With nine locations across North America, Summit Supply has massive inventory in stock.