Track frame soil retention

[Monkeybusiness]

Right then - I’ve had a run of quick jobs (a day on site or less) digging wildlife ponds (which I really enjoy!).
However, I really don’t enjoy digging out track frames for transport…
I have yet to own a digger that doesn’t fill its tracks with compacted earth/silt/clay/reeds/muck etc as soon as you cross a site, and trying to clean them out for road transport is a right slag of a job!
We had a Cat D4 dozer on a job a while ago and its track frames were a superb design that held no muck at all - very steep angles at the top prevented any buildup, and no bolted-on steps to hold mounds of muck in situ!
I’m not really familiar with dozers in general so am not sure if this is how they all are - I do wish more thought could go into excavator undercarriages though.
Does anyone have any tips or tricks for speeding up digging out?

 

[hiluxman]

Its usually a case of ignorance is bliss

 

[DaveDCB]

A grafter / trenching shovel/spade… ie something narrow to get in.
Dozers have a lot bigger track frames so it’s hard to replicate on a mini digger I guess.

 

[Lancs Lad]

Right then - I’ve had a run of quick jobs (a day on site or less) digging wildlife ponds (which I really enjoy!).
However, I really don’t enjoy digging out track frames for transport…
I have yet to own a digger that doesn’t fill its tracks with compacted earth/silt/clay/reeds/muck etc as soon as you cross a site, and trying to clean them out for road transport is a right slag of a job!
We had a Cat D4 dozer on a job a while ago and its track frames were a superb design that held no muck at all - very steep angles at the top prevented any buildup, and no bolted-on steps to hold mounds of muck in situ!
I’m not really familiar with dozers in general so am not sure if this is how they all are - I do wish more thought could go into excavator undercarriages though.
Does anyone have any tips or tricks for speeding up digging out?

Mate had the Stihl cordless power washer on Saturday. Very impressed. About 20 mins run time. Easy enough with a few 20ls to clean a machine down

 

[doobin]

Mate had the Stihl cordless power washer on Saturday. Very impressed. About 20 mins run time. Easy enough with a few 20ls to clean a machine down

It takes a good five minutes with a 21l/min flow to clean a 2.7t track frame properly once it's been in the mud. I think I'd rather s**t in my hands and clap than try to use a cordless pressure washer running off cans!

6hp is the minimum you need to run even a 12l/min washer at 3000psi- whats that in battery power?

I've run the numbers, and the top of the line Stihl is claimed to be 4.5 litres/minute at 1800psi. I reckon I could top that after three cans of Pepsi and a Viagra.

REA 100 PLUS Cordless Pressure Washer | STIHL

STIHL REA 100 PLUS battery pressure washer: lightweight and compact for domestic cleaning tasks without a power or water connection

www.stihl.co.uk

 

[Lancs Lad]

It takes a good five minutes with a 21l/min flow to clean a 2.7t track frame properly once it's been in the mud. I think I'd rather s**t in my hands and clap than try to use a cordless pressure washer running off cans!

6hp is the minimum you need to run even a 12l/min washer at 3000psi- whats that in battery power?

I've run the numbers, and the top of the line Stihl is claimed to be 4.5 litres/minute at 1800psi. I reckon I could top that after three cans of Pepsi and a Viagra.

REA 100 PLUS Cordless Pressure Washer | STIHL

STIHL REA 100 PLUS battery pressure washer: lightweight and compact for domestic cleaning tasks without a power or water connection

www.stihl.co.uk

Ok maybe I was a tad hasty . Crapped up in a mud I agree you might need 2l bottles tho ?

 

[Stroppymonkey]

Petrol Honda on a 2” pump with a fire hose nozzle and about 500lpm flow rate seems the best way to get the lumps off according to some. Then a follow up with a nice soapy hot wash.

 

[V8Druid]

Petrol Honda on a 2” pump with a fire hose nozzle and about 500lpm flow rate seems the best way to get the lumps off according to some. Then a follow up with a nice soapy hot wash.

absolutely .... need a hell of a water supply though ... my 2" pump shifts some volume of water ... but'd leave the machine sat in a lake of tish ... would really need the machine up on a tump or a couple of sleepers

 

[Monkeybusiness]

A grafter / trenching shovel/spade… ie something narrow to get in.
Dozers have a lot bigger track frames so it’s hard to replicate on a mini digger I guess.

It’s the 15 tonner that saddens me the most!

 

[DaveDCB]

You know that jet wash thing you have….

 

[Lancs Lad]

It’s the 15 tonner that saddens me the most!View attachment 80430

Doob a 3l of white lightning

 

[V8Druid]

It’s the 15 tonner that saddens me the most!View attachment 80430

first thing I'd try is get it up in the air on the blade and bucket and give it a run in high speed tracking (with the door and windows shut )

 

[Storrsy]

It’s the 15 tonner that saddens me the most!View attachment 80430

You need a midget roughneck shovel ideally with a midget to operate it. That's what I use. No easy way around it though dislodging thick mud with a pressure washer is a job in itself

 

[Storrsy]

Be nice if a device which clamped to the track with machine in the air and reached underside pushing out the mud as the track went round

 

[Monkeybusiness]

first thing I'd try is get it up in the air on the blade and bucket and give it a run in high speed tracking (with the door and windows shut )

It doesn’t make much difference sadly - there’s no real shortcut to digging out that I’ve found yet.
I’m sure there must be better designed undercarriages out there, and/or something that pushes the muck clear as the tracks rotate.

 

[DaveDCB]

Be nice if a device which clamped to the track with machine in the air and reached underside pushing out the mud as the track went round

That’s called unwanted chunk of rebar wedged in the tracks… which unfortunately will end up all along the side of the cab annd bodywork and probably stick into your leg as well!

 

[V8Druid]

It doesn’t make much difference sadly - there’s no real shortcut to digging out that I’ve found yet.
I’m sure there must be better designed undercarriages out there, and/or something that pushes the muck clear as the tracks rotate.

I did see some sort of scraper device in a vid a while back, but can't recall just how it was arranged?

 

[6feetdown]

Been battling the same with clay, friggin nightmare sticks to the spade , sticks to everything!

 

[Smiffy]

There are usually loads of videos on Facebook of a flat plate with a slot in it that can slot onto the track and clear the top of the undercarriage. But I can't find the videos right now and I don't know how well it would work in reality