CAT SystemOne Undercarriage

If you are a CAT customer who invested in CAT’s SystemOne undercarriage you are likely aware CAT has since stopped production because the design fell short of expectations.

The decision has left many construction companies and individuals scrambling when it comes to options beyond doing a complete change over back to traditional track systems. Fortunately, there is a solution and it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to get your machine back on track.

CAT SystemOne undercarriages were designed to fit a variety of bulldozers and crawlers. Engineers at CAT said the tracks would handle friction better, reducing wear out of the track chain with the use of lubricating pin and rotating bushing joints.

The belief was SystemOne tracks would cut track life wear by 35 to 70 percent, making the extra cost - about 30 percent more than traditional tracks - worth the investment.

Unfortunately, CAT engineering didn’t meet expectations as SystemOne undercarriage life ended up being a fraction of what they were designed to achieve. Individual parts failed, leaving customer only one option.

“Failing parts need to be ordered directly through CAT and that got real expensive,” says Ed Worthman of Crawler Parts in Indiana.

The machines most affected by SystemOne undercarriage failure are machines handling rock and high impact jobs such as the CAT D5 and D6.

Dirt, rocks and debris gets packed between the idlers and pins causing tracks to become extremely tight. Seals fail, leaving chains dry.

Because no aftermarket parts are available for SystemOne tracks, the only real solution that makes any financial sense for SystemOne owners unhappy with performance is swap back over to traditional tracks.

Fortunately, owners of many CAT machines can still save thousands of dollars by replacing their undercarriage using high quality aftermarket undercarriage parts from established companies such as ConEquip Parts.

“We have a lot of success with our aftermarket undercarriage supply lines,” says ConEquip co-owner Ben Krentz.

“We sell hundreds of undercarriage components each month for a fraction of what customers will spend at the dealer.”

The CAT list price for a D6 bulldozer bottom roller runs around $170. Aftermarket, you can get the same roller for about $100. In the end, a SystemOne owner wanting to swap back to traditional tracks can expect to save at least 20 percent off what they would have to pony up with their local CAT dealer without compromising quality.

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