Bobcat T770. Mowing pine rows, climbing stumps and hills tracks keep coming off

[adammillerclearingco.]

I have a 2018 T770. Its at 300 hours, its been perfect so far. I started mowing pine rows recently with it. These particular beds have been cut before and cross bedded so there's stumps everywhere. After about 10 hours of climbing over stumps the tracks started popping off. The first few times the left side popped off to the inside of the sprockets. 3rd time right side to the outside. I tried running them with more slack, no improvement, tried tightening them banjo tight, no improvement. Set them exactly as the manual states, still popping off. Anyone ever had this issue? Is it something fixable or just the nature of the work im doing?

 

[KSSS]

I wonder if you didnt snap the steel bands inside the tracks. Thats what holds the tension in the track. You break those and it allows the track to expand under tension and pop off the sprockets. Running over stumps can easily snap those cords, especially if the track tension is set tight.

 

[adammillerclearingco.]

What would I look for for that?

 

[hosspuller]

What would I look for for that?

This is an interesting question.
When a tire belt breaks, the tread is rounded in spots instead of flat across.

I wonder if the track would be angled as it goes around the tension idler ?

 

[Evening Digger]

I hope someone has some enlightenment as I've fought this since new on my 2014 T770.

Like the OP, track tension doesn't seem to matter. It's when I'm on a either a hill (like a small one right beside a stump) or I turn and the track catches something like a 2" high stump that I didn't cut off quite low enough.

I've had this problem with 2 sets of OEM tracks. I haven't seen evidence of the cables being broken but I may not know what I'm looking for, either.

Could the design just be bad? Rollers too narrow for these tracks? Or do other companies use very similar undercarriage components?

 

[KSSS]

I wasn't aware of this issue with the 770. The issue may not be with broken cables but a track design issue. One way to tell if you have a cable issue is to tight up the track. The tension should be equal across the top of the lead roller in the front of the machine. If you notice that one side is raised up higher than the the other side of the track that can be an indicator that the broken cable side is not able to keep the tension tight and so it raises under tension. Evening Digger, have you ever spoken to BC about the issue? CAT had similar issues a while back, especially with guys running mulchers. I have not heard much about that lately so I think CAT addressed the issue with different rollers. There is likely someone here that is more familiar with that issue CAT had. Maybe BC has done something similar.

 

[Evening Digger]

I haven't noticed the uneven tensioning that you mention, so I'm going to say I haven't had that problem. It's been a long time since I raised the question with BC, and the salesman I talked to at the time wasn't the sharpest. Sounds like it's time to start asking about this again.

 

[OTG AuGres]

OP...just curious. Do you continue to experience de-tracking under “normal” conditions or only when crawling over stumps and downed trees? I’ve got a combined 650 hours on my BC e42 and T595. I’ve only thrown 1 track and that was on the e42 traversing a log on little bit of an angle. At the time, I was running my tracks a little on the loose side (my salesman’s advice to extend track life). Since then, I run my tracks within factory spec and are more cautious when going over logs, stumps, and rocks. Good luck solving your problem.

 

[adammillerclearingco.]

OP...just curious. Do you continue to experience de-tracking under “normal” conditions or only when crawling over stumps and downed trees? I’ve got a combined 650 hours on my BC e42 and T595. I’ve only thrown 1 track and that was on the e42 traversing a log on little bit of an angle. At the time, I was running my tracks a little on the loose side (my salesman’s advice to extend track life). Since then, I run my tracks within factory spec and are more cautious when going over logs, stumps, and rocks. Good luck solving your problem.

Only had the issue when on a stump or running down the side of one. never figured it out, i figured out i couldnt do the work in a timely manner so i let it go.

 

[john hofer]

Had the same problem with a john deere 323e no sign of anything wrong with the tracks replace the tracks problem disappear ,

 

[KSSS]

Had the same problem with a john deere 323e no sign of anything wrong with the tracks replace the tracks problem disappear ,

I think that it comes down to the cable being snapped in the tracks. I am now seeing this issue with my Taki excavator. I can get it to detrack simply by turning on asphalt. The tension is set to spec. although It is now set as tight as we can get it.