Thinking of Over the Tire Tracks?? What they don't tell you

[brianv]

Just got off the phone from the company that starts with the letters MC... They make the over the tire tracks. These people do NOT have their act together! After a month of waiting for the replacement tool (one that I have was redesigned because of a flaw..they freakin break!)to put these things on I just learned that I had to purchase it. This is after I was told it was a free replacement. I only had these tracks for 2nd season and the POS tool broke. I was left high and dry. I would have just went to a machine shop to make a new piece but I was told it was in the mail week after week.
Talk about wear on these things! I purchased the rubber tracks and the rubber breaks and rips off the tracks! You would not think these would have dry rotted by the second season. They were made not to last so you will have to buy replacement pads at .5 the cost of new tracks!!!!
After all of this I stopped in my local NH dealer and have a friend that works their. He just told me that over the tire tracks VOIDS any transmission warranty!!!! It puts undo strain on the entire machine. I was told differently by the same company mentioned above!
Make your own decision on what to do. My hopes are that us skid steer owners stick together and stop taking crap from these businesses!

 

[brianv]

BTW I have 86 hours on them.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Rubber pads are never going to be as durable as steel. They are all subject to chunking. 86 hours is not much, but the life depends on how the tracks are used. If the loader makes alot of sharp turns on abrasive surfaces the life will be short. Its the same way some get 1000 hours out of a cheap set of tires andother only get 200 out of a good set.
As for your warranty, NH has tracks available for their machines in their literature. It would be a poor decision on the dealers part not to look after their customer over a issue like this.I doubt you will have a trans failure, in the event that you did most dealers would cover it. Most off them sell and install some brand of ott.
Ken

 

[shelby]

We use a set of metal tracks on our 865, mostly to get us through the mud of spring break up here on the farm, these tracks are metal bands(24 of them) connected with chain that is welded to the end of the band, on both sides, each band is a bit wider than 12 inches by 2.5 inches, when running these chains the tires and rims need to be reversed so the off set is too the outside. These chains were recommended by a New Holland dealer, they said that metal chains are better because they self clean, rubber tracks do not. The biggest grief we have, is keeping them tight enough, its a bit of a procedure to get them on, but we can run around in some very soupy conditions, when it becomes impossible to move forward, we can always back up, we have not been stuck while using them yet, one has to be careful when turning on firm ground, if they are somewhat loose, because they will want to derail......if the chains are to loose, the tires will spin out inside them, we run quite a bit on cement, which has wore them down, and we have reached the point now where we need to replate a 10 inch portion of the band, I have been contemplating using T1 quarter inch plate, for a little bit better wear.... When using the tracks....be prepared, because they give a rough ride, but if you are dealing with mud, they are worth the investment, we paid $2000.00 for this set, and we got a decent deal, regular price was $3500, this would be our forth season using them. We have not experienced any axle problems or anything of that nature, deflating the tires would make life easier when putting them on, of course the valve stems are on the inside, which adds a degree of difficulty, we found that making a couple of small tail chains and using a chain come-a-long works pretty well, we can get them pretty tight.....I wish the company that manufactured these tracks would have used system 7 chain, because regular chain does stretch a lot quicker.....hope this info is useful....S

 

[skidsteer.ca]

We use a set of metal tracks on our 865, mostly to get us through the mud of spring break up here on the farm, these tracks are metal bands(24 of them) connected with chain that is welded to the end of the band, on both sides, each band is a bit wider than 12 inches by 2.5 inches, when running these chains the tires and rims need to be reversed so the off set is too the outside. These chains were recommended by a New Holland dealer, they said that metal chains are better because they self clean, rubber tracks do not. The biggest grief we have, is keeping them tight enough, its a bit of a procedure to get them on, but we can run around in some very soupy conditions, when it becomes impossible to move forward, we can always back up, we have not been stuck while using them yet, one has to be careful when turning on firm ground, if they are somewhat loose, because they will want to derail......if the chains are to loose, the tires will spin out inside them, we run quite a bit on cement, which has wore them down, and we have reached the point now where we need to replate a 10 inch portion of the band, I have been contemplating using T1 quarter inch plate, for a little bit better wear.... When using the tracks....be prepared, because they give a rough ride, but if you are dealing with mud, they are worth the investment, we paid $2000.00 for this set, and we got a decent deal, regular price was $3500, this would be our forth season using them. We have not experienced any axle problems or anything of that nature, deflating the tires would make life easier when putting them on, of course the valve stems are on the inside, which adds a degree of difficulty, we found that making a couple of small tail chains and using a chain come-a-long works pretty well, we can get them pretty tight.....I wish the company that manufactured these tracks would have used system 7 chain, because regular chain does stretch a lot quicker.....hope this info is useful....S

Shelby
You should look at the tracksplus.com line the next time around. The 5/8" dia pins they use will give you more hours b4 the tracks need tightened compared to tracks with welded chains. They can be adjusted for length 1" at every shoe and any shoe can be removed to shorten or replaced if ever needed. Best of all they are less expensive then the figures you have quoted.
Ken

 

[shelby]

Shelby
You should look at the tracksplus.com line the next time around. The 5/8" dia pins they use will give you more hours b4 the tracks need tightened compared to tracks with welded chains. They can be adjusted for length 1" at every shoe and any shoe can be removed to shorten or replaced if ever needed. Best of all they are less expensive then the figures you have quoted.
Ken

....Hi Ken....thanks for the advice on the tracks....I will certainly look into it. What I do find find quite remarkable is tire wear, our 775 weighed about 4500lbs, and had 10x16.5 tires, running on cement(albeit wet)....we could really wear out tires quick. But the 865 has 12.5x16.5 tires....weighs in about 7000 lbs, and we got close to 3000 hours on the first set, running in virtually the same conditions, that extra width sure does make a difference..... Anyway....thanks again....S