Show us your Arb Diggers please.

[Malus]

@doobin that's interesting mate. Don't see many 3 tonners on steel tracks these days. How do they compare weight wise? Still under the towing limit?

 

I spoke to Evans and Reid probably five years ago about getting steels. I think it was for a Kubota kx61-3 back then and I'm pretty sure they said I'd have to replace all of the bottom rollers as they needed to be a different profile. I think I'll look into it again.

 

I wish I had steels on for the job I've been on the last five months.. lots of really sharp rocks in the ground and when you think you've got them all covered one will stick out and put a fresh slice in the tracks. Fairly steep ground too and because I'm building mountain bike trails you can't always dog a nice level bench to sit on. 

 

Had a track snap on a bank a couple of months ago after being damaged on said rocks. No big drama but there was plenty of life left in it and it had to go when I was on a steep bit. As usual photos don't really show how steep it is. Had to roll the track a few hundred metres down the trail to the digger though. 

 

It's well worth keeping a socket set and a 1m 1t strop with the digger. If a track pops off it pretty much always comes off on the idler end first. Let the grease out, blade all the way down, use the strop to pull the track back into place. Every digger should have a grease gun in it!! 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Malus
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[doobin]

24 minutes ago, Malus said:

@doobin that's interesting mate. Don't see many 3 tonners on steel tracks these days. How do they compare weight wise? Still under the towing limit?

 

I spoke to Evans and Reid probably five years ago about getting steels. I think it was for a Kubota kx61-3 back then and I'm pretty sure they said I'd have to replace all of the bottom rollers as they needed to be a different profile. I think I'll look into it again.

 

I wish I had steels on for the job I've been on the last five months.. lots of really sharp rocks in the ground and when you think you've got them all covered one will stick out and put a fresh slice in the tracks. Fairly steep ground too and because I'm building mountain bike trails you can't always dog a nice level bench to sit on. 

 

Had a track snap on a bank a couple of months ago after being damaged on said rocks. No big drama but there was plenty of life left in it and it had to go when I was on a steep bit. As usual photos don't really show how steep it is. Had to roll the track a few hundred metres down the trail to the digger though. 

 

It's well worth keeping a socket set and a 1m 1t strop with the digger. If a track pops off it pretty much always comes off on the idler end first. Let the grease out, blade all the way down, use the strop to pull the track back into place. Every digger should have a grease gun in it!! 

Based on those pics mate, you should give Astrak a ring first thing Tuesday after the bank holiday! Unbelievable difference so far. I'm off out today to harvest some ash on a steep slope- will get some pics of the steels in action.

 

They add around 170kgs vs rubber tracks. If I wanted to be squeaky clean I'd have to take the grab and rotator off when transporting....

[dumper]

31 minutes ago, doobin said:

Based on those pics mate, you should give Astrak a ring first thing Tuesday after the bank holiday! Unbelievable difference so far. I'm off out today to harvest some ash on a steep slope- will get some pics of the steels in action.

 

They add around 170kgs vs rubber tracks. If I wanted to be squeaky clean I'd have to take the grab and rotator off when transporting....

So better stability or not?

[Stephen Blair]

Malus I was always popping tracks off my Cat and I had it down to a fine art of getting the tracks back on, I’ve owned the Bobcat for 2 years and it’s never come close to coming off so over time the sockets got used somewhere else and never returned, the hand held grease gun was launched in anger and replaced with a battery Makita that lives in the yard 😂. 
 Any more pics of your track building? 

[doobin]

16 minutes ago, dumper said:

So better stability or not?

You don't really notice the extra weight (the E27 is very 'planted' to begin with) but you don't slide around half as much.

[doobin]

2 hours ago, dumper said:

Edited April 30, 2023 by doobin

[josharb87]

If you have a machine that throws rubber tracks often, would it throw steel ones as often? 

[topchippyles]

20 minutes ago, josharb87 said:

If you have a machine that throws rubber tracks often, would it throw steel ones as often? 

Steel doesn't stretch like rubber if a machine is throwing tracks then there's another issue.

[monkeybusiness]

Rubber tracks only stretch when the internal steel cords are broken (and the tracks are subsequently goosed). 
Tracks coming off regularly are either too loose or idler bearings have failed. 

[Malus]

11 hours ago, Stephen Blair said:

Malus I was always popping tracks off my Cat and I had it down to a fine art of getting the tracks back on, I’ve owned the Bobcat for 2 years and it’s never come close to coming off so over time the sockets got used somewhere else and never returned, the hand held grease gun was launched in anger and replaced with a battery Makita that lives in the yard 😂. 
 Any more pics of your track building? 

I wonder if there's a difference in idler/roller design between brands that's better or worse. The little Kubotas are usually pretty good until the tracks get a bit stretchy. Have had issues with the Kubota u48 though, that used to throw off brand new tracks with no noticeable wear on the idler. Also had issues with the check valve on the track tensioner on a u48 so it wouldn't let grease in after putting the track back on.. may have lost a grease gun or two in a similar fashion to you 😂

 

I'm not the best at taking photos but here are a few from this job