Capital Equipment News October 2019

EXCAVATORS – UNDERCARRIAGE

A properly maintained undercarriage is very important to the overall life of the machine.

Optimising undercarriage life

Taking the time to inspect and maintain crawler excavator undercarriages will help you get longer machine life. If the undercarriage is not routinely inspected and maintained, it can easily cost you valuable time, money and potentially decrease the track’s lifespan, writes Munesu Shoko.

T he undercarriage of tracked heavy equipment, such as crawler excavators, comprises many moving components that need to be maintained for them to function properly. Let’s take a closer look at why correct machine operation, coupled with regular maintenance, significantly reduces undercarriage wear, improves operating efficiency and reduces running costs of tracked excavators. In terms of correct machine operation, Vaughan Ellis, MD of Maximum Equipment, the exclusive dealer of the Hidromek range of excavators and backhoe loaders in South Africa, says any undercarriage needs to be treated with respect because it is a fundamental component of the overall machine. “If you abuse it, it will cost you. You can tell the difference between a good and bad operator through the undercarriage. A bad operator thinks the undercarriage is designed to track over anything including rocks and stockpiles. This is a common scenario, especially in quarries. That’s not good for the undercarriage because it will prematurely wear the shoes and snap off track bolts quite quickly. My view is that the secret to a long lifespan of an undercarriage is a good operator,” says Ellis. The same view is shared by Shumani Tshifularo, the recently appointed MD of HPE Africa, who says the operator of a tracked excavator needs to apply different skills from operating a wheeled excavator, and that’s why operator training is critical. As far as maintenance is concerned, Tshifularo says because excavators have a strong solid steel construction, maintenance of the undercarriage is often neglected and that is an expensive mistake.

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS OCTOBER 2019 16