The "Not So Pro" discussion thread...of course Pros are welcome!

[Skeans]

The problem I run into is that a lot of my gear is very specific and some of it is being shipped to another contractor the first. There aren't a lot of Cat 345/349 (100k lb class) excavators plumbed with double auxiliaries and progressive link thumbs anywhere in the US, and from what I understand I have one of maybe a half-dozen of the 568 roadbuilders on the east coast. With that said, 330/336s with thumbs are plentiful, as are D8s.

So I could do work, but it would just take me a lot longer. I already called about 336 and D8s, but I'm aftaid I won't be able to get anything on such short notice.

What are you running on then or building road?

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[catbuster]

What are you running on then or building road?

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The D8s are angle blades with winches, which are nearly impossible to find this side of the Mississippi unless you're into the pipeline business, and the hoes run anything from hammers to flail mowers/brush mulcher heads to rotating grapples. With the hydraulic thumb it can pull off a very good heelboom loader. I also run plate packers on them for packing bedding material for when we do run pipes up to well sites.

Northman, the operators are running two ten hour shifts with two hour layovers at the end for the mechanics to grease, fuel, check fluids, do PMs from what the operators may have noticed while working, etc. There's just so much oil and gas work up here, plus site remediation after they leave that even doing production work 20 hours a day I still have a month backlog.

I'm not really worried. We'll plow snow over the winter and do just enough service work to keep them busy and then go whole hog back when the spring thaw rolls around. It would just be nice to crank out another couple high revenue weeks before we close it down.

 

[Skeans]

Have you looked into other brands?

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[catbuster]

Have you looked into other brands?

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I've used Komatsu, Hitachi, Kobelco, Deere, Volvo and other excavators in the past. They work well, but they don't seem to have the auxiliary flow the Cats do, and the Komatsu dozer drivetrain seemed to break down an awful lot on us in the fairly extreme (steep, abrasive) conditions we work in.

 

[Skeans]

I know a lot of the guys here use Doosan and Kobelco. Lots of 850 deere dozers too, they seem to be easier to find with winches.

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[catbuster]

The Deere dozers are solid little machines. They're very smooth, but kind of gutless. And they have terrible visibility out the front. Granted, that's almost a given on a dozer. But the high drive Cats have you sitting higher and have a little shorter hood that makes it easier to see out of.

And I haven't used this Deere dealer yet for anything bigger than a 6320, so there's an issue of service and parts availability.

I ended up with a 345C (best excavator Cat's ever made), 330D and two 8s.. The rest of the equipment I can make do without or own outright

 

[Skeans]

Have uou ever thought about a used buncher to do the mower duties? I know what you mean we have a hi track skidder but they are about worthless for pushing, compared to the old D7F.

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[Metals406]

Have uou ever thought about a used buncher to do the mower duties? I know what you mean we have a hi track skidder but they are about worthless for pushing, compared to the old D7F.

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We had a near new d6 on a couple fires. The owner was also the operator. Smart son of a b****, owns a pretty good sized construction company. He mentioned the same thing about the high tracks not being good for pushing in road. His was different though with the drive set more forward or backwards, I can't remember which. He said it got rid of the problem that the d6 high track skidders had.

 

[Skeans]

We had a near new d6 on a couple fires. The owner was also the operator. Smart son of a b****, owns a pretty good sized construction company. He mentioned the same thing about the high tracks not being good for pushing in road. His was different though with the drive set more forward or backwards, I can't remember which. He said it got rid of the problem that the d6 high track skidders had.

The rear mounted sprocket are the dozer set ups, well the track skidders are center mounted sprockets to help balance out the weight when winching or pulling in a turn with the fixed grapples.

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[Metals406]

The rear mounted sprocket are the dozer set ups, well the track skidders are center mounted sprockets to help balance out the weight when winching or pulling in a turn with the fixed grapples.

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Yeah, that's it.

That's the reason he said skidders didn't cut good.

 

[Skeans]

Yeah, that's it.

That's the reason he said skidders didn't cut good.

That's the reason I still like the old D7F big winch tons of weight and lots of pushing power with foot turning brakes too.

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[catbuster]

That's the reason I still like the old D7F big winch tons of weight and lots of pushing power with foot turning brakes too.

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The D8Rs we use are high drives. The drive motors up high, and I don't think I can tell a difference between them and the D8K I used to run. I do like foot steering/U shift more than the way my 8Rs drive.

 

[Skeans]

The D8Rs we use are high drives. The drive motors up high, and I don't think I can tell a difference between them and the D8K I used to run. I do like foot steering/U shift more than the way my 8Rs drive.

Yeah I'm really familiar with the high drive but ours is a track skidder so the drive is centered on the machine instead of being towards the back like a dozer.

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[Skeans]

This gives you the idea, they really weren't made to push with but they will do a little.

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[catbuster]

This gives you the idea, they really weren't made to push with but they will do a little.

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Huh. I knew they were mounted on the center of the track frame but I wouldn't have guessed it had that much effect on the tractive effort of the machine. Low drives it makes sense, but I'm not really grasping from a physics (sorry, my engineering background is a real PITA sometimes) sense how having more weight on a high drive affects it. Unless it has something to do with break angles and length from the rear idler to the drive.

Interesting. I don't have any seat time in one, so I'll take your word for it.

 

[Skeans]

Huh. I knew they were mounted on the center of the track frame but I wouldn't have guessed it had that much effect on the tractive effort of the machine. Low drives it makes sense, but I'm not really grasping from a physics (sorry, my engineering degree is a real PITA sometimes) sense how having more weight on a high drive affects it. Unless it has something to do with break angles and length from the rear idler to the drive.

Interesting. I don't have any seat time in one, so I'll take your word for it.

You spin out more because the weight isn't in the rear to push you forward. And the blade isn't supported as well it seems.

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[catbuster]

You spin out more because the weight isn't in the rear to push you forward. And the blade isn't supported as well it seems.

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You're saying the machine is too balanced to really be able to dig in and find traction?

I didn't think of that.

 

[Skeans]

Yeah and like I said the blade is on a single point as well its not hard to bust one off.

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[treeslayer2003]

hi

it working for now

 

[northmanlogging]

Hiya!