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5 Warning Signs Your Final Drive Might Be Failing (And What to Do Next)

by Jim Strong | Apr 06, 2025 |

Final Drive Failure

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You鈥檙e halfway through a job鈥攎aybe clearing land, moving dirt, and making real progress鈥攁nd suddenly, your skid steer or mini excavator starts acting up. Perhaps it鈥檚 slowing down, losing power, or making a noise you know it鈥檚 not supposed to make. That sinking feeling hits: something鈥檚 not right.

If you鈥檙e like most independent contractors, every hour your machine is down is money lost. You don鈥檛 have time to sit around guessing at what鈥檚 wrong, and you definitely don鈥檛 want to throw parts at a problem, hoping for the best. Ignoring these warning signs could lead to a major breakdown, more downtime, and significantly higher repair costs.


Here are a few other Shop Talk Blog posts you might find interesting:


Final Drive Motors: Frequently Asked Questions

Final drive motors are essential components in heavy machinery. They turn hydraulic energy into mechanical motion to propel equipment. Understanding their function, maintenance, and common issues is crucial for optimal performance and longevity. Here are some frequently asked questions about final drive motors.


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What is a final drive motor?

A final drive motor is a hydraulic motor that converts hydraulic pressure into mechanical torque. It drives the tracks or wheels of both heavy and compact equipment like excavators, compact track loaders, and skid steer loaders. A final drive motor combines a hydraulic motor with a gear reduction system to provide the necessary force for movement.

Don鈥檛 Get Spooked by Your Final Drive!

by Jim Strong | Oct 28, 2024 |

Final Drive Failure, mechanical gore

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Halloween Horror Stories from the Construction Site!

As Halloween draws close, tales of haunted houses, monsters, and things that go bump in the night are in full swing. But for those in construction, there鈥檚 another type of horror to worry about: the dreaded equipment breakdowns that bring your jobs to a screeching halt. One of the biggest culprits? Final drive motors. Join us as we dive into some familiar 鈥渉orror stories鈥 and, most importantly, how to avoid them!

Metal Hardness and Your Final Drive Motor

by Dr McCaslin | May 27, 2024 |

Final Drive Failure, Materials

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The choice of materials used in your final drive motor is extremely important. The engineers behind hydraulic motors don't randomly choose what type of steel or brass to use. So here is a quick introduction to one of the characteristics engineers consider: material hardness.


Here are a few other Shop Talk Blog posts you might find helpful:

Catastrophic Failure: Why Gear Oil Maintenance is So Important

What does catastrophic failure caused by a lack of maintenance look like? Let鈥檚 look at an example: a totaled planetary on a John Deere 332 final drive.




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Dr Mac鈥檚 Notebook: Basic Metal Failure

by Dr McCaslin | Mar 26, 2023 |

Final Drive Failure

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Failure in a final drive motor is always bad -- but a good understanding of basic metal failure can help understand what causes it and lead to a better understanding of metal behavior in general.

In this Shop Talk blog post, you'll learn about basic metal failure and the material properties that explain it. This includes an introduction to tensile testing, a discussion of key metal parameters, and an example of how these parameters can vary.


Here are two other blogs in this series:

Dr Mac's Notebook: Basics of Mechanical Stress

Dr Mac鈥檚 Notebook: Displacement Under a Load

How Many Ways Can an Oil Seal Fail

Oil seals are used on the final drive motor axle to keep the gear oil for the planetary gear set or bearings from mixing with hydraulic oil. These seals are vital to the operation and performance of your final drive motor -- and learning how they can fail is essential.

Dr Mac鈥檚 Notebook: Displacement Under a Load

by Dr McCaslin | Jan 11, 2023 |

Final Drive Failure

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In a previous post, we talked about basic mechanical stress -- but this one is going a step further and looking at the relationship between stress, deformation, and strain -- all of which affect how metal parts break.

 


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Dr Mac's Notebook: Basics of Mechanical Stress

by Dr McCaslin | Sep 19, 2022 |

Final Drive Failure

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Mechanical stress is behind any of the failures we encounter when inspecting a final drive motor. Sheared fasteners, bent gear teeth, dented roller bearings, and broken races are examples of where stresses have gotten high enough to do permanent damage. To help you learn more about the mechanisms behind this and other types of failure, we'd like to introduce you to a new blog series entitled Dr. Mac's Notebook. 



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Simple Forces

There are three basic types of forces:

  • Compressive, which pushes things together
  • Tensile, which pulls things apart
  • Shear, which causes things to slide apart

4 Horrifying Final Drive Failures

Not all final drive motor failures are equal! Some are just horrifying ...


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