track loader maintenance

[marcin]

Hi all,

I purchased a brand new Tak TL12 1 year ago. It has been a terrific machine. We have just over 500 hours on it. Thus far, the machine has been terrific. We have used it to mainly doze, level and grade post-gravel mining land. The last 200 hours we have also used a Denis Cimaf 180D mulcher on it and cleared approx 15 acres of very densely treed, difficult terrain. So far, we have only had minor issues with the machine.

Yesterday, I took care of the 500 hr maintenance and had some questions.

1. The engine oil (last changed at 250 hrs) was extremely dirty. Even after the complete change, it is still dirty and we will need to replace it again. Is this a sign of us using the machine very hard or is there possibly a problem? How frequently should we change it then (the manual says every 500 hrs)?

2. The travel gear oil was also very dirty and we replaced it (last changed at 250 hrs) although the manual says every 500 hrs? How frequenty should we change this?

3. There is a lot of squeaking from the tracks during travel. Is this normal because of the metal-metal contact after the rubber has worn off the inside guides of the tracks? Can anything be done to decrease this?

Thank you all for your help.

 

[whis]

1. I would change oil every 200 hr especially using mulching head
2.don't know
3. the one I ran squeaked quiet a bit

 

[cycle_gator]

If by dirty, you mean black, for the oil I would not give it a second thought. I have owned five diesels now, three of them instantly make the oil black, two it would stay clear for quite some time. The oh thing I would ever figure out is the difference between closed and open crankcase. If you really want to know why it is black, have an oil analysis run on it.