Thinking about buying a t-250

[RussB]

Hi All, I've been shopping for a good used t-190 this summer to compliment my 773 and 331. I haven't had too good a luck finding one in good shape at a decent price, but, I did come across a 2005 t-250 with 2200 hrs on it. My question to you all is.... you people that own one, is there anything "extra" I should be looking out for on one? I've rented and ran enough t-190's to get very familiar with the track machines but the t-250 is a new animal to me. I know it does need tracks( which is part of the deal ) but is there anything specific to these machines that I should look into before buying it? Thanks in advance, RussB

 

[siduramaxde]

I think if I was buying a used track machine I would want to make sure all the rollers and idlers were good. I would look at he sprocket for wear. I would raise the cab and look for leaks and wear from hoses rubbing. Another thing I would look at would be the oil that came out of the track drive motor carrier bearing. All these things are real easy to check. You could also look to see if the machine has the newer version of the drive motor carrier. The newer version has larger bearings in it and is less likely to fail. You will easily be able to tell if the carrier is the newer style by looking at the sprocket. The newer version will have a "deeper dish sprocket" than the older version. I'm not sure of the dimensions of the "newer" sprocket but I think if you search on here you will find out more about it. Just remember that a bad carrier bearing in the drive motor can cause major damage to the whole hydro system(costing thousands $$$$) so you want to pay close attention to the oil that comes out of the carrier bearing. The oil should be clean with no metal flakes in it. I always use flash light to look at the oil see if there is any metal. Sometimes the metal is so small you can't really see it to good. Good luck!

 

[bobbyjoe]

I know about the drive motors. See if the drive motors have ever been replaced. 2000 hours is about average on these I thinks. Make sure to change the oil in the motors every 200 hours (there is a plug you can get access to without removing anything, looking right at the sprocket). These drive motors are not cheap, 5 G's for each from dealer. Or a little over 2 for rebuilds but there is only one place that offers those that is legit. Sweet machines though. Also, for maintenance keep the area between the sprocket and motors sprayed out after muddy jobs. They fail mostly due to dirt grinding in there and getting into the face seals. Once it gets through then it will wreck the front housing also and you are looking at a new one. Keeping it clean will expand the life by far.