Rayco and Fecon (mainly Fecon in my case) did step up and do a ton of upgrades on the machines. I only know what my machine got and who stood behind it.
My machine got a new C-Frame, had plates installed to beef up the in frame fuel and oil tanks, new upgraded final drives (well after warranty expired) even fixed a final or two before new ones were available after warranty had expired. Slotted lugs were put in on the bottom pins so the head had some tilt side to side, the quick attach plate was replaced by a three pin system. I am sure there was more!! That was all factory stuff.
On my machine we had a problem with the rocks tearing up undercarriage parts so I had all of the rollers and rock guard bolts tapped to larger size bolt, pulled the computer and had it re-programmed to run the top fan wide open all the time, i had the thin steel plate taken out of the head and had 1/4 installed because the thin stuff had begun to bow up from material passing through (see the 140s on machinery trader), there is much more that escapes me right now.
I wanted to sell my 140 for quite a while but it is needed right now. It is currently working at an altitude of 9000 feet on good soil and she is kicking some major tail. we elected to leave it there and bring the 148 to AZ because the 140 is just grinding piles left behind and the extra reach is not needed. if you get one you'll figure out what she likes and don't like fast. main thing is to not tear stuff up, they all break because of the job they do but unnecessary abuse just gets real deep into your pockets fast.
