Inspect Tracks, Tires, and Drive Systems

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How NOT to buy a Skid Loader!

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What happens here

Thoroughly inspect the tracks and tires. For wheeled skid loaders, examine the tires for scuffs, scratches, and any signs of wear at the wear bars. Pay attention to the quality of the tires: check for a rim guard and determine the ply layer (e.g., 10-ply vs. 12-ply), as cheaper tires can indicate a lack of investment in machine longevity. For tracked machines, check the track depth indicators, visually inspect the bogie wheels for excessive wear, and feel the sprockets/cogs for any missing or severely worn teeth (they should not be sharp or pointed). Additionally, check if the tracks are sagging, which might only require a simple grease adjustment rather than a full track replacement. Always ensure the final drive and sprockets are not leaking and do not produce extreme noise or grinding sounds, as these are very expensive components.

Goal: Assess the condition of the undercarriage components for wear and damage.

Tools and materials

Bogie Wheels N/A — Inspecting for wear
Eyes N/A — Visual inspection of wear and damage
Final Drive N/A — Checking for leaks, noise, and grinding
Hands N/A — Feeling tires/tracks, checking components
Sprockets/Cogs N/A — Inspecting for missing or worn teeth
Tires N/A — Inspecting wear, scuffs, quality, and ply
Tracks N/A — Inspecting depth, wear, and tension

What they say

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the things to look at, uh, if somebody's telling you it's got 2,000 hours on it, you want to look at tires and tracks. And what are the tires and tracks telling you? So, in this case, as you look at these tires, what are you seeing? You know, little bit of scuffs and scratches in them. uh cheaper tires, you know, got a little bit of life left. They're not at the wear bar. Not crazy bad. Um but you said something, they're a cheaper tire. I can look at I bought so many sets and sets and sets of tires that I looked at these go, that's a cheaper tire. It doesn't have the rim guard on it. It doesn't have the HD. It doesn't I bet it's a 10 ply, not even a 12 ply tire. Yeah, that's the cheapest. This is a yard machine, so there's no need to put anything more than that on there. So, the overall condition of the tires is an indicator of what's going on with the piece of equipment, but it's also an indicator of are you getting good tires, are you getting bad tires? Now, as we look at this one, what are you guys seeing with the track? The track depth is definitely it's got this little like louver here, you know, for when it's worn, when you're going to start getting into the metal. Yep. I definitely check all the bogey wheels for wear, you know. Um, definitely other things too while you're listing them. These things will get super thin if they're super worn. Um, and then again to the cogs, you know, they'll start looking like a point when they start getting worn and they're ready to be replaced. I also check the inside of the teeth. You know, a little bit of metal showing isn't the end of the world. That's going to happen. You know, but you can see if any of these teeth are missing or totally off of there because that's going to cause you to potentially slip off the track. Yep. And then, you know, again, just check all this stuff cuz if your track is ripped or torn anywhere around this area right here, you're just asking for it to fully tear off if you're in a position where you're putting a lot of stress on it. Here, will you hold this camera? Yep. on a tired machine. If they ever had uh steel tracks over the top of it, that's tough on a machine. It's It's not It's not the end of the world tough, but these machines actually have big chains in them and you can stretch those chains inside. And when you have tracks over the tires, that can put a lot of extra stress on those chains, especially when you're turning. A tired machine is really meant to allow one set to stop…

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