Shop Talk Blog

Every rental return is a chance to catch a final drive problem while it's still small. Once the machine goes back out, you're relying on the next renter, who doesn't know the machine's history, to notice a slow leak or a new noise. Usually they don't, until the machine stops on their job.

A short final drive check at check-in costs a few minutes of a technician's time. Skipping it can mean an emergency service call, a machine off rent, and an unhappy customer. Here's a practical check-in routine for compact track loaders, skid steers, and mini excavators from Bobcat, Kubota, John Deere, and other brands.

Why Final Drives Deserve Their Own Line on the Check-In Sheet

The final drive takes everything a renter does. That includes overloading, counter-rotating on concrete, running with packed tracks, and operating in mud and standing water. Renters don't own the machine, so they rarely report early warning signs.

In our experience, most premature final drive failures trace back to a few maintenance items: a clogged case drain filter, low gear oil, or gear oil that wasn't changed often enough. We cover this in Maintaining a Bobcat Final Drive. All three can be caught on a regular schedule, and a rental yard's check-in process is the natural place for that schedule.

The 10-Minute Final Drive Check-In

1. Clean before you look

Pressure-wash or scrape the final drive area first. Packed mud hides leaks, and it gets into the gear housing when you open the fill plugs -- and an excessive build up can even force the face seals apart. Also clean around the plugs before you open anything.

The Bobcat 864 track loader was Bobcat’s first venture into the compact tracked-machine market, and these robust machines are still in use. In this Shop Talk Blog Post, we are going to look at some interesting facts about the Bobcat 864/T200, like when it was first built, what kind of specs it has, and what some of the initial variations on the Bobcat 864 were like.  We'll also throw in a little bit of information about reman final drives for the older model Bobcats such as this.

Here are some additional Shop Talk Blog posts you might find interesting:

• Bobcat T190 Drive Shaft Bushings
• Reman Bobcat T190 Final Drives
• Anatomy of a Good Final Drive Maintenance Plan for CTLs

If you have a Bobcat, it can be a challenge to correctly identify which model you need when it's time to replace your final drive. In this Shop Talk Blog post, we are going to cover how to differentiate between the most confusing models.  It's important to recognize the differences if you want to make sure you order the correct one for your machine!