Track jammed

[oldchips]

JCB 150LC used in a wood.

Started up, shuffled back, then forward, going up a slope and right track stops, no movement forward or back.

Swore, checked the obvious for jammed sprocket, etc, nothing.

Left it, came back, lifted track off the ground, exciting on a slope! Track would move just an inch or two forward or back, then stopped dead. So not the brakes. Had a much closer inspection of track and sprocket for foreign objects, nothing. I would have thought that getting something in the sprocket would stop one way movement but not the reverse.

Gently rocking the track forward and back and then it would move 4", then a bit more, then cleared. Ran track forward and back looking for frozen links, busted chain, anything in fact but nothing at all.

Now wondering did a tooth fall off the reduction gear.

Any ideas please?

It makes quite a few groaning noises as tracking over stumps and things, but take it slow and make sure the tracks are on the idler and sprocket, but stuck as for what would cause it to stop, in both directions.

 

[Bri963]

JCB 150LC used in a wood.

Started up, shuffled back, then forward, going up a slope and right track stops, no movement forward or back.

Swore, checked the obvious for jammed sprocket, etc, nothing.

Left it, came back, lifted track off the ground, exciting on a slope! Track would move just an inch or two forward or back, then stopped dead. So not the brakes. Had a much closer inspection of track and sprocket for foreign objects, nothing. I would have thought that getting something in the sprocket would stop one way movement but not the reverse.

Gently rocking the track forward and back and then it would move 4", then a bit more, then cleared. Ran track forward and back looking for frozen links, busted chain, anything in fact but nothing at all.

Now wondering did a tooth fall off the reduction gear.

Any ideas please?

It makes quite a few groaning noises as tracking over stumps and things, but take it slow and make sure the tracks are on the idler and sprocket, but

Almost certainly a tooth off. Drop the oil and see what comes out. I wouldn't run it too long before you take the cover off, the last thing you want is to take out the seals with debris.

 

[JD450A]

Almost certainly a tooth off. Drop the oil and see what comes out. I wouldn't run it too long before you take the cover off, the last thing you want is to take out the seals with debris.

Agreed

Good chance if it's a bearing gone or a single tooth it's salvageable. Any more and it's a case of bin it

 

[V8Druid]

tooth off or a split planet gear ...... strip it and see ..... before it goes completely bang and gets REAL expensive

 

[oldchips]

Umm, as you say, look now or regret it!

Thanks.

 

[V8Druid]

Umm, as you say, look now or regret it!

Thanks.

any news on the track drive front fella?? .... curious

 

[oldchips]

I am trying to get to the wood this weekend, suitably armed with gallons of EP90!

 

[V8Druid]

I am trying to get to the wood this weekend, suitably armed with gallons of EP90!

I'd be taking plenty of summat to wash it out with first .... like a 20 ltr jack of kero, a big catch tray, a selection of paint brushes, plenty of rags and ideally a bottle full of compressed air for a blaster to extricate all the kero, last going off ...... find the culprit first and foremost, then get it clinical

 

[oldchips]

Ah yes, paraffin to clean it, didn't think of that, normally use WD40, it is there and in a nice sprayer. Jizer biodegradable degreaser is also good stuff.

 

[oldchips]

Oh well, just back from the wood. The track gearing is well and truely busted, see photos.

So now to fix it, anyone have a spare track gearbok for a JCB JS150LC? Just the planetary gear cluster will do, the damage to the sun gear and rings is survivable.

What is the best thing to clean the remains out of the housing? Need some sort of industrial level degreaser, I tried petrol, all I had, but not very successful.

 

[Shovelhands]

I think you will be better off trying to source a secondhand complete unit to be honest.

Try Vicary Plant or Eric Warburtons possibly?

 

[Shovelhands]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jcb-Js15...100393?hash=item361685c8a9:g:Si0AAOSwHnFVsM~X

Might be a lead?

 

[V8Druid]

bin it .... and replace it OC .... that annulus will destroy anything you put into it

James -- those guys in Glanammon break a lot of m/c.s and seem to have decent feedback

What make is the final drive box OC ... could well be other sources for a.n.other unit

this is a 130 ... but yer never know https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JCB-JS13...907730?hash=item2f2eef7452:g:wfIAAOSwTGBcrml3

 

[JD450A]

Sod Secondhand for Final drives.

Try FDC/https://plantparts.eu/index.php/fin...spu2_6w09qHihFzb7FPtgUbCCF9P0mOMaAro9EALw_wcB

We have replaced two finals in the past 12 months. Both with ones from FDC as they where the cheapest and the service is spot on. I'd be hesitant to buy a S/H final drive as they won't be massively away from new price and likewise could easily go wrong again

Another thing to note is that often when one goes the other is not massively far away although yours looks to of chipped a tooth rather than seals so hopefully it won't.

 

[Shovelhands]

I agree with you Rory, for front line machines, it’s probably worth looking at new with warranty etc. But I’m not sure @oldchips is in that position? I get the impression the old JS is not a daily driver? Therefore it might be a bitter pill to swallow buying new

Coincidentally it’s final drive day here, only oil changes mind, a few litres of oil at every service is well worth it, despite the service schedule not calling for it. I think we all take for granted how much work these things do for us! I’d guess most failures could be prevented by more regular servicing?

 

[JD450A]

I agree with you Rory, for front line machines, it’s probably worth looking at new with warranty etc. But I’m not sure @oldchips is in that position? I get the impression the old JS is not a daily driver? Therefore it might be a bitter pill to swallow buying new

I would agree with most things and i'm more than happy to put S/H parts on my frontline gear as you know. But the tolerances and complexity of a final drive wouldn't leave me happy with putting a S/H unit on that size machine, Plus the cost difference between new and salvage is unexpectedly small in my experience.

Quoted £800 for a S/H unit for the TB015, and a New unit came in at about £1000. Likewise on the 2t Kobelco S/H was £900 and a new unit was £1200.

Might be different up tonnage, but I'd be looking at new cost before I started trawling breakers yards. It might surprise you.

 

[Bri963]

I'd go new non-OEM, the last thing you want is another failure. Just because one side fails doesn't mean it's inevitable the other side will.

 

[oldchips]

Thanks to all that replied. Trying the leads suggested.

I am surprised the failure is so common. Would have thought that at the slow speed they operate, bathed in oil that failure wouldn't happen at all. So what is it that starts them off, how is the first tooth chipped?

When I bought the machine I changed the oils, did notice that one side was new, the other original, and it is the original one that has failed.

The problem with replacing the whole thing, apart from money, is the work needed. Split track (how), unbolt sprocket, unbolt unit, remove (how, weight), then reverse it all. The machine is in the middle of a wood and if I can't get the digger to act as a crane then I can't shift heavy stuff.

 

[doobin]

Strong mate or hire a mini for a day. Easy enough job.

 

[Bri963]

Walk it out on one track, lift and slew the other side with the bucket, plan your route. Take your time and be smooth. When you get it somewhere handy, don't be frightened of parting the track. Mind you, if you've stripped the final out it should roll, it'll just drive one side and you steer with the bucket. Slack the track right off and part the master link over the sprocket to save handling too much spare chain. As Doobin says, a mate, mini or both and it isn't a hard job, as long as you've got plenty of hydraulic blanks, a good 1" socket set and a lump of scaffold pipe and plenty of wood for scotching up.