Personally i'd start by calling your dealer for a price, then i would look at pulling the old idler down and see if the parts can be replaced. Hopefully the damage inside isn't too bad.
I got it out and it's bad. I started to try and disassemble it but I can't get the roll pins to budge. I think the roll pins would have to be drilled out for it to come apart. So...what does anyone know about Gaberdeen idlers? My dealer quoted me $779.00 for a new idler.
Something to think about , consider yourself lucky with only one idler out , your getting off cheap this time -----next time it could be , one travel motor installed with new filters and oil is pushing $5,000 , a couple of OEMtracks $4,000 plus , 6 or 8 bottom rollers @ $300 plus each , a couple of rear idlers at $700 each , T series are very expensive to keep running in the long run and they wear out fast , the cost per hour to running a T series with fuel , maintanance , repairs and operator hours is almost what it can bring in , I am seeing more people in the demo business switching back to wheeled skids with tracks over the flat proof tires and say they make more money and a lot less down time , just the track wear alone can figure close to $10 per hour , start saving up for next time
Today I experienced my first of a kind of break down I would have never dreamed of happening , involving Gerberdeen after mark front idler failure on a T series , it started with a simple track adjuster reseal and turned into a fiasco , after having a hard time removing the track as the idler would not go back into the frame to give slack even with another Bobcat pushing it , I had to pull it off the machine by wrapping a chain and having the operator turn the track while I pulled it with another machine , after getting the track off I could see the front idler bearing was still good but the wheel was worn really bad and very much smaller in diameter than when new as the wheel was barely sticking out of the frame , the was clay mud all over the frame so I could not see the real problem yet , I was trying to get the track adjuster /spring assembly out of the frame and it was stuck bad , tried come-a-longs , chains and another Bobcat with out any movemet , started cleaning out mud that was packed up around the spring when I blew throught the steel and found the frame which holds the track onto the machine had been cut like a can opener in two places from the front idler back 3 ft by the steel lugs/guides that stick down from the track to keep it on and in line with the idler , and had ate two inch deep by inch wide grooves thru the top of the plate that centers the track adjuster shaft and spring assemble in the frame , this happen as the idler got smaller in diameter it allowed the track to contact the frame , and to make matters worse the metal from the frame rolled over into the inside and was jamming the thing from coming out , took 3 hours to get it all apart and change the seals of the adjuster , going to finish it up after the holiday , need another idler @ $725.00 and to weld up the holes in the frame which look like a dual bladed band saw cut it in half or buy and change the $3,100 frame plus probally a good day of labor to do it , weld it no doubt --------I reall feel the cheap after market part caused the whole problem , the part was probally made from melted down toaters and washing machines , for a while it was bearing failure , and now it is metal deteriation , you get what you pay for sometimes -----BEWARE
I'm sure i speak for everyone, i so want to see pictures of this!
I have 3 pictures I took of the frame and idler but never have figured how to post them on this site , Skidsteer told me once how to do it but I have never been able to get around to doing it , the machine was to the point where I think it was going to start locking itself up soon , no doubt something should have been felt , the guy who owns and runs it is 78 years old and gets around very well , he took hits with he 20 lb mall today but I really don't think he felt anything going on , I never moved the machine , only operated it to jack it up so I can't say how it felt , was very surprized as that wasn't even the problem I was there fixing , since I posted earlier I was standing next to a T series and was checking out the idler wheel and the amount of metal gone off the diameter of the idler is unbelievable , very poor quality materials or incorrect or no hardening of the metal is my guess
I can post the piccies if you e-mail them to me, "taz38sup at yahoo.com.au" at = @
Well, I just recieved my gaberdeen front idler. It looks like a quality product and their shipping was fast (2 days). The total price including shipping was about $565.00. The price my dealer quoted me was $779 with out tax so with tax it would have been ~ $835. I figured I would give gaberdeen a try. My machine had all new rollers and idlers put on it right b4 I bought it so apparently Bobcats parts aren't the best either. I have only put 300 hours on the machine since I bought it 3 years ago.
Some parts are NAS but most can be repaired without changing the whole assembily.
Thanks Tazza for loading up the pics , they are pics of two different machines , twp pics of a t 300 show how to put one on by yourself with another machine or person to help and to show the basic size of the idler , as you can see in the other pics of the 190 the metal is all gone note on the 300 that the idler sticks up over the frame a good 3 inches or so , on the 190 it was no more than a 1/2 inch over the frame , I had bent the piece of metal thats sticking up , up and out the way to help in driving out the adjuster assembly , also note the 300 has some upper slide bars to keep the track from digging into the frame , fishfiles
Makes me glad I'm part of the MTL crowd!
