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CaterBling
- Thread starter LanceNE
- Start date
willie59
Administrator
That does look radical. LoL
grandpa
Senior Member
How many hours are you getting on the Cat or aftermarket under carriage's.?
LanceNE
Well-Known Member
The plastic undercarriage parts that Cat sells...not good. That particular machine (297) we bought it at 600 hours and the undercarriage and tracks had been replaced. We replaced that set at 1200 hours. It is on its 4th set of rubber ...with a little over 2000 hours. This is the first set of aftermarket tracks...we'll see how they handle. Put the steel idlers on about 900 hours and they look like they are new even in rock conditions. Not sure why Cat fought the steel idlers so bad but unless you are running on sand dunes, I feel they are must. Just trying Bair's aluminum alloy bogeys since the outside bogeys get demolished quickest, try them and see how they work.
xcmark
Senior Member
Nice Dubs! I think you will find the aftermarket non-plastic stuff last much better !
makin mulch
Member
I was told not to run the steel that it would wear tracks faster because there would be no give like with rubber on rubber.
We dont run in real rocky conditions mostly stumps and logs.
We dont run in real rocky conditions mostly stumps and logs.
LanceNE
Well-Known Member
And they might. But, the reality is, Cat went plastic to sacrifice the undercarriage instead of the track. If you price undercarriage parts, obviously not a good move on their part. I would run without steels first and see what the wear is like. Since in our conditions both the undercarriage and tracks wear rapidly, we decided to beef at least one of them up. I was told by an ASV salesman that they are going to almost exclusively steel idlers on their machines but I don't know if that is a fact. As far as steel on rubber, like I informed Cat....what exactly is their CTL's?.....steel on rubber. I do know the difference on the tracks, one being steel braided the other nylon. But still....Cat spent way too many hours with their machines exercising on treadmills and not actually in where the rubber hits the dirt scenarios.