Undercarriage of heavy equipment

[rvrdivr]

I'm thinking this is as good a place to ask this question on this forum, so... I have been looking for a track hoe to buy and notice that there are a few ads that will say "80% under carriage" or "70%, ect. I'm thinking thier refering to the bottom of the machine that is in the dirt all the time, but what's with the percent? And at what percent is it no good? Any other suggestions I should look for when buying one?

Thanks in advance, Brian

[Dale Hatfield]

% of under carriage  is in reference to the amount of life left in the tracks and such  things of wear.
With a track machine  that will be your big expense when it come time to repair or replace. Check what kind of pads or grousers are on the track.  Get the right ones for the  type of work you will be doing.
With track wear price usually comes down/ as repair is costly.


Dale

[Mr Mom]

     From what i under stand that 80% on a track hoe will last a good time. because a track hoe
is not made to move all the time like a  bulldozer.
     At least thats what i was told by my neibor and he should know 30 some years working for Ohio Cat. If i remember right a track hoe moves to a spot to work and sit in one spot a digs all day so the wear and tear is less. i asked him that question too along time ago.




     Mr Mom

[Frickman]

Yep, 80%, 60%, or whatever is an estimate of the life left in the undercarriage. It is just an estimate, or guesstimate. The wear parts include the track pads themselves, the chain, rollers, sprockets, and all sorts of other expensive goodies. When you replace one item you usually overhaul the whole undercarriage while you're at it.

[Gary_C]

Yes, the wear parts are the pins, bushings, idlers, drive sprockets and pads. The reason the estimated life is important is because when they are used up, you can easily drop $20,000- $30,000 in repairs and still not replace everything.   

[duramax]

 We replaced our first undercarriage on the Timbco a year ago at 6200 hrs which is quite good. They were at about 5% i would guess. Once they're down that low you start having trouble. The trick to making them last is avoid walking the machine long distances without stopping, especially during the summer.

[rvrdivr]

Thanks y'all. I ended up buying my neighbors Kamotsu PC-65 track hoe this weekend. Not sure what the % of the under carriage is but it all looks to be in great condition and I've ran this machine before in the past and it runs great. 

Thanks again for the great info.

Brian

[Tom]

Brian,
Whatever you do, don't list it as a piece of equipment for your business.  The State will clean your pockets with a tangible tax.

It's just a for-fun, hobby thing 'cause you always wanted one.

[OneWithWood]

Brian,
Whatever you do, don't list it as a piece of equipment for your business.  The State will clean your pockets with a tangible tax.

It's just a for-fun, hobby thing 'cause you always wanted one.

Well maybe, maybe not.  You need to weigh the cash flow advantages of listing it as business property and then depreciating it.  The current tax treatment of accelerated depreciation could make the tangibles (property) tax a non-issue.  Of course that assumes you are making money with it.  ;)