LifeTrac IV/Lessons Learned

Posts by Aidan- August 2014

These are some things I have noticed while using the life trac the past 5 weeks.

Wheels

• 1-7/8" shafts are susceptible to shearing.
• Tires must be fully inflated to avoid slipping in chain tracks and tracks falling off entirely.
• There is some discussion of wheel motors "fighting each other" at Quick_Connect_Wheel#Introduction

Power Cubes

• Power_Cube_7 mitered frame versions are too tall, require frame extension to fit properly.
• When tying hydraulic tanks together we add a tee with ball valve before the oil filter on the top tank that gravity feeds to the top input of the bottom power cube. This may cause lack of filtration as the oil may follow the path of least resistance and bypass both filters.

Tilt Cylinders

• After 10hrs of rough soil pulverizing for uHouse 2014 there was obvious damage in the form of slight bending of the right cylinder rod. In order to untilt the loader it is necessary to drop the arms down into the ground and then tilt the loader back.

Tracks

• The chain welded to the rebar begins to eat away at itself. This is noticeable if you look at the width of the chain at the top and bottom of its links. This will cause a loosening of the chain over time and, perhaps, eventual failure.

Hoses

• Over time the hoses on the loader arms show signs of wear in that the outer casing beings to fall off. This is happening on the right side.
• It is difficult to wire a hose to the soil pulverizer (and maybe for other implements as well) that will allow for the full range of travel of the loader arms without hanging to the ground when the loader arms are fully dropped.

Control Panel

• After 2-3 hrs of continuous use it is fatiguing to lift your arms to use the levers on the control panel. This seems to have been addressed in LT6 where the controls are lower, closer to the operators resting position.