16m!!!!!!!

[Eric]

Here it is in case you missed it. I have been running this for about 2 or 3 months now, it is awsome. It takes some getting used to but all in all it is the Cat's meow!!
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w109/ebeng5/101_1466.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w109/ebeng5/101_1464.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w109/ebeng5/101_1462.jpg

[Diagonal Brace]

Sweet ride! How many hours? I would like to try her out.

[Northart]

Hi Eric,

How'd the left door glass get broke ?

You run with the doors shut or one open ?

How long did it take for you to become familiar with the controls ?

Got any new muscle soreness, from the new style controls ?

Curious .:)

[637slayer]

how lucky you are, sorry i asked for the pictures twice, i went back and found the first ones you posted what a badass ride. i watched the m vids that machine looks soooo comfy to operaTE, ESPECIALLY when they put the h and the m operators side by side to show how much less you have to move, in some cases technology rocks.my friend is coming over after he gets off work to check out your new blade,i told him about this forum when i found it last week. we both gave up the road work for respectable mining jobs,he ran a finish blade for a long time. i hope when i show him the m vids it dont push him over the edge, cause its a union job so senority rules, and hes stuck on a scraper now and he dont like it.

[Eric]

650 as of today.

[Eric]

To answer your ?,s,
A. I never run with the door open if I can possibly avoid it. The glass cracked when it went down for edges. Truck shop guys are good about that sort of thing!!
B.As for getting used to the controles, the Cat rep brought a simulator with him about a week before the blade showed up. Spent about 20 min on the sim. It really takes about a week of running it all day before I got really comfortable with it.
C. No muscle soreness, we work a 12 hour day and I'm fresh as a daisey after 12 hours of dodging haul trucks.
D. It is super sensative, escpecially in the steering so I don't know how long it would take a finish hand to get used to it to blue top with. But for what we do in the mine it is awsome.

[637slayer]

working in a mine you prob have to share her? 650 hrs and new cutting edges were the old ones worn out? and i know exactly how bad it sux when oilers and mechanics think they are qualified to climb in the cab with all their greasy clothes on playing with the controls and getting grease everywhere?

[Grader4me]

It is super sensative, escpecially in the steering so I don't know how long it would take a finish hand to get used to it to blue top with. But for what we do in the mine it is awsome.


Hi Eric, let's talk about the super sensitive thing. You say it is especially in the steering. In your environment (mines) obviously the steering isn't as big an issue. I'm wondering what this steering would be like out on the road? How super sensitive is it? Example...In traffic, a little nervous, not quite used to it..No matter how you look at it, no steering wheel is a big issue. Don't get me wrong as I would love to try one out, and I would probably adjust quite quickly. It's just the steering wheel thing...

How about the moldboard lift compared to a regular Cat Grader? In your opinion would this machine be good for fine grading?

[Eric]

OK, to steer the machine you use the left joystick. It is VERY fast. You litteraly only need to use your thumb and pointer to steer. To give you an example, you can hit the jostick all the way and it turns at least twice as fast as if you were cranking the wheel with all your might. I would not hesitate to road this grader down the road. I have taken it in 8th gear down a flat haul road and had no trouble.
The way it's set up all the vehicle controles are on the left joystick, all the implement controles are on the right stick, with the exception of left mold board lift, which is also on the left stick. I think that it would be a great finish machine.... once you logged some time. The visibility is phenominal, when you get back in a G or H model it seems cluttered and you wonder how you ever ran them.
As for shareing the blade, there are 8 of us out of about 50 or so that are allowed to run it. All of us are extremeley proud to be running it and so we baby it, and lock the doors when we leave. Every other blade runs 24/7, ours parks at night.
We are kinda snobs...! We got a new 10T, 345C L, 994F, 16M, and we are the only ones who get to run them, everyone else has to run the older stuff. I'm in a good spot, I ought to be content to just stay put!!

[637slayer]

the grass is not always greener sounds like you got a pretty good deal goin on, thanx for the input post some pics any chance you get

[637slayer]

sounds like you got a pretty good deal goin on there, i noticed you said dodging haul trucks if i had a brand new 16m i would have the right of way wherever i went lol

[Eric]

You get a teenager or a young "kid" behind the wheel of a 200 ton truck, Believe me, I get the heck out of the way!!
Disclaimer: I in no way shape or form mean to stereotype,generalize, or degrade "kids". I used to be one, started mining when I was 19.:) :)

[Eric]

I hate to say it but my digital took a dump on Christmas, now I gotta get a new one!

[Grader4me]

Thanks for the feedback Eric. Sounds like you're in heavy iron heaven. :drinkup

[sdPete]

Maybe I can add a little on the steering.....

Using the 140M running the roads clearing snow, the steering gets the job done but it is different. The fine tune ability of a steering wheel moved a fraction of a turn and back is not well duplicated with the joystick, it takes about so much of a nudge to one side and back to center, maybe that was not enough do it again, too much..... correct the other way, now it is straight oops the wing dug in. This goes on at 13-14 mph. Sometimes after 10 plus hours my left forearm/shoulder protest a bit, the left arm does the steering no alternative whereas the steering wheel machine you can trade hands now and then. One time I tried articulating for a while to steer but that didn't last long.

Going around mailboxes the joystick is dandy, the front wheels move pretty fast when the joystick is leaned over.

Steering seems to handle fine at slower speeds. The attention required to manage the snow wing and steer at high speeds is where my challenge is, the old township roads are not so uniform, ditch banks and shoulders are always changing, when I look out the side and fiddle with the wing then a glance back to front and need to correct steering, seems like that requires a longer look than I was accustomed to, maybe my mind knew how much of a move on the steering wheel was required. Now with the joystick nudge I have yet to figure out how much I moved the stick and correspondingly how long to hold it there before returning to neutral. Maybe that will come with time.

[Eric]

Here's some more.

[Eric]

Here's some more.

[DirtHauler]

I love the "APE HANGER" front head lights!!!

[Grader4me]

sdPete, thanks for the feedback on the steering. That's exactly the type of situations that I would be curious about.

Great pictures Eric...One heck of a machine you have there.

[Tigerotor77W]

Oh yes, fun pics! How's she holding up?

[Eric]

Holding up pretty good, seems to be going through tranny filters pretty quickly though, hopefully just some dirty oil.

[Rockbreaker]

Hi Eric.

Woow man you goot some pretty cool toys to play whith:usa
I have only tried out on an old 143 grader for one day and the comfort was not so good in that one:Banghead

[calhusker]

Here's a 24H that was going into a mine in CA.

[Eric]

Man that's a heck of a blade. I'd like to run one someday.

[Grader4me]

Welcome to the forum Calhusker! Nice machine ...I'm definitely drooling..

[calhusker]

It went up to the Borax mine in Boron. The picture is taken at a rail spur where they offload/assemble new machinery. We took this picture when we were loading up a D11R to take to the same mine.

[Dusty]

that sure would be nice to move snow with

[Countryboy]

Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums calhusker! :drinkup

[Grader4me]

that sure would be nice to move snow with


It would! Could you imagine how big the plow and wing would be? Probaby be a little tight plowing city streets :eek: :)

[Cam7775]

Hey guys

I have put 30 hours on our 140M

have some pics for you shorly

sdPete i tryed moving the left arm rest around and found that for me ....if i put the wrist ajustment down and the arm rest up I have better steering control...I road the machine with the wing in traffic at 45kms and it does not seem to bad on the steering with my set up....however I do agree that it takes some getting used to.

[sdPete]

Cam ..... I hear you on the wrist rest and arm rest, getting them in the proper configuration is important. My next approach would be to lower or raise the whole left side console unit, wondering if having the arm closer to straight would be an improvement. Maybe this afternoon.....

Keeping the thing going straight down the road at 13-14 mph while tending the wing is the challenge here. There are some roads where that would not be too difficult, but here there are too many variations in road crown and shoulder profile to be able to set it and forget it. Adverse conditions often require slower speed, then I don't think about steering contol so much.

[DirtHauler]

Hows things going Eric with the M? I imagine you are about tired of the heater and ready to fire up that air conditioner in a few months. Is it still using tranny filters?

[Eric]

Still loving the M. It's been air conditioning weather for about a month now. It works really well. The machine is holding up well. This week it has gone through air filters rather fast. However the material we've been working in is incredibly dusty. Like baking powder. Anyway, I find this machine easier and easier everytime I run it. Had it in 8th gear going down a narrow dirt road the other day and it did just fine. I don't have any trouble handeling it at high speeds. As for a steering wheel attatchment I've been reading about... bad idea I think. It isn't that hard to control. Keep in mind I don't have a wing on it like the afore mentioned posts. I just blade dirt. Thanks for asking, have a good one.