Excavator Track Question

**ScrapmanIndustries** · 06-15-2018, 03:23 AM

**** I knew people did that for like the owner operator leasing gigs from the big companies. Never heard of that happening at a smaller hourly company.

And the tracks I used in the army the track pad was like the whole chain link itself. the idler is on the rear on artillery guns. the track configuration is kinda different too if you ever look at one. We had ours fall off out in the desert during training and just took off part of the track and rolled on for another 3 days before we got out of the hills. look up the M109A6 theres like 5 or six road wheels between the idler and the sprocket. we just hooked on to the last road wheel. we had a really rough time trying to turn. Im sure you couldn't do that with a CAT though, nor would I ever want to do that with something privately owned as we did way more damage to the gun then we started with. But at least the 88 could find us the second time we broke down. the first time we woulda been stranded way longer. I'm pretty sure army wtf moments had us on there for a minute. our division did some pretty wild stuff out there during those rotations. At least it was all equipment related carnage and no one died that time I was there. Can't say the same about this last one.

**Proton** · 06-15-2018, 05:12 AM

Originally Posted by ScrapmanIndustries

**** I knew people did that for like the owner operator leasing gigs from the big companies. Never heard of that happening at a smaller hourly company.

And the tracks I used in the army the track pad was like the whole chain link itself. the idler is on the rear on artillery guns. the track configuration is kinda different too if you ever look at one. We had ours fall off out in the desert during training and just took off part of the track and rolled on for another 3 days before we got out of the hills. look up the M109A6 theres like 5 or six road wheels between the idler and the sprocket. we just hooked on to the last road wheel. we had a really rough time trying to turn. Im sure you couldn't do that with a CAT though, nor would I ever want to do that with something privately owned as we did way more damage to the gun then we started with. But at least the 88 could find us the second time we broke down. the first time we woulda been stranded way longer. I'm pretty sure army wtf moments had us on there for a minute. our division did some pretty wild stuff out there during those rotations. At least it was all equipment related carnage and no one died that time I was there. Can't say the same about this last one.

My mistake, apology forthwith please accept.

Should have remembered as I did once wreck out a couple of converted WWII tanks that had been converted to tank drills.yes each pad had rubber vulcanized onto the top side and the whole pad was designed as a link in the track.

I can't remember if the pins were pressed in or fit in loose.

Tank drills were used to drill blasting holes in rock al ltha was used was the under carriage with the engines removed the rear sprockets had large pneumatic motors on them to move the drills around. The large mobile air compressor that powered the rock drill llso supplied the air for these motors. When ever the drills were moved the compressor was hitched to the machine like a trailer on a pintle hitch.

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