We know we harp on about maintenance for your final drive motors, but there's a great reason why: we know that your final drive will last years longer if you take care of it.
Repairs and replacements are not only expensive, but also lead to downtime, missed deadlines, and frustration
. A few hours a year can save you a few weeks of lost time when your final drive breaks down unexpectedly! And it will break down, if you don't take care of it.
In this Shop Talk Blog post, we are going to talk about three key tasks that can help you keep the final drive on your hydraulic excavator running
efficiently
.
One of the first signs of trouble with a final drive may be the presence of fluid where it shouldn’t be. Leaks will lead to final drive failure. In this Shop Talk Blog post, we are going to discuss how to identify possible sources of leaks and the types of fluid involved.
There is a big difference between replacing hydraulic fluid and flushing the system.
Replacing hydraulic fluid only involves draining old fluid and adding new fluid; flushing the entire system is much more thorough, and aids in eliminating both contaminants and old fluid
. In an ideal world, fluid would only ever need to
be replaced
. However, there are situations in which the hydraulic system
really
needs to
be flushed
.
In this Shop Talk Blog post, we will discuss the why and how of flushing the hydraulic system on your construction equipment
.
Have you or one of your operators noticed that your final drive motor is vibrating excessively or has become a little too noisy for it to be normal? In this Shop Talk Bog post, you'll learn step by step how to troubleshoot a noisy or vibrating hydraulic motor and what steps you need to take to keep your equipment running.
Hydraulic fluid may seem relatively harmless to work with -- until it is pressurized. In this Shop Talk Blog post, we are going to take a look at why hydraulic fluid under pressure is so dangerous, what happens when you come into contact with it, and what you can do to minimize those dangers when you're on the job.
Note: If you're working with pressurized hydraulic fluid and feel a prick (like electricity) on your skin, please seek medical attention right away.
If you have a Bobcat T180, Bobcat T190, or Bobcat T140 compact track loader, you may eventually need to replace the brake pack. In this Shop Talk Blog post, we are going to talk about what the brake pack is, how it works, signs of wear, and what to expect when it comes time to replace it ... complete with a video from Dr Drive himself!
Why Gear Oil Is Important
Did you know that a general rule of thumb is that the life of your final drive gearbox is directly proportional to how frequently the gear oil is changed? That’s why one of the important maintenance tasks for a final drive is to regularly check the oil on the planetary side. Ideally, you should check the oil level about once every 100 hours of operation, and change the oil out at least once a year. In this article, we are going to talk about how to check the gear oil level in your final drive, and how to change it out when the time comes.
In this Shop Talk Blog post, you will learn how to troubleshoot problems with the gear oil in your final drive, focusing on leaks as well as having too much fluid in the planetary hub. We typically recommend checking the gear oil about once every 100 hours of operation and changing the oil at least once a year.
Clogged case drain filters are responsible for a significant number of failed final drives and hydraulic motors that come into our shop here at Texas Final Drive. In this Shop Talk Blog post, we are going to talk about what case drain filters do, what happens when they clog, and how you can prevent case drain related failure from wrecking your final drive motor.
A customer sent in a Hy-Dash brand final drive in for repairs. The symptoms were quite simple: the tracks on one side of the machine had been losing power and finally refused to move, so he pulled the track drive and brought it to us. In this Shop Talk Blog post, we are going to look at what caused this kind of catastrophic failure and how you can avoid a similar fate.
