1010 belly pans

[olrobk]

I had an interesting conversation with the previous owner of my machines. He was horrified to hear I was running them without belly pans. I'm digging sod and sand right now so I'm not too concerned about the pans. When I get into woods, swamp and rock, I'll put them on but for now I'm still sorting out mechanical problems and making adjustments. One thing he claimed was that belly pans increase the strength of the chassis when you're working the machine. I guess he meant they serve as a sort of boxing for strength. Frankly it sounds like old wives talking tales to me. What do you all think? Anyone ever heard this?

[wwattson]

I think he's right. When you look at the basic frame of a 1010, it's two parallel side frames held together by the two cross bars, the center frame, and final drives. The bottom pan is going to add a lot of stiffness to the side frames and not allow them to move separately.

Just my opinion.

[olrobk]

Interesting, so what you're saying is that a big plate spanning the underside, if viewed from above, provides diagonal re-enforcement to prevent racking. ??? It would seem to me the belly pans would have to be much more solidly riveted to the frames to do that kind of work. I view them as shields much like skid plates on military vehicles. Anyone else have any thoughts or research on this?

[wwattson]

Again it's just my opinion but the thing is held on by eight 1/2" bolts in the front alone. In as far as they are Grade 5 bolts, that equates to an ultimate strength of about 240,000 pounds of resistance to racking the frame. Seems like it would be a significant factor in the strength.

[Trucker Dan]

I would agree with Bill that it makes the frame stronger. I find that when you take the pan on or off you sometimes have to uae an hydraulic jack to press on the rails or the pan a little to get all the bolt holes lined up so there must be some flex in the rails. If the machine was working, my guess would be that turning and twisting would put a lot of pressure on those rails so the pan would help stiffen them.