Breaker window?

[tylermckee]

What do you guys use for a window on machines with breakers? We had a sheet of lexan but it was expensive and got trashed so quick that you could hardly see through it. Now i've just got a sheet of 1/4" plexiglass bolted on to protect the glass window. Will stop anything the breaker throws at me and isnt as expensive to replace once it gets trashed. I guess actual mesh gaurding would be the best thing but thats not happening

[Eric]

We use plexiglass on all ours too. Replace them about every 2 years. Here's another thing too, use pledge furniture polish to clean the plexi, it helps fill in the scratches and does a nice job of cleaning ,too.:drinkup

[surfer-joe]

Fabricating a grate to go over the window is probably your best bet to partially protect the glass. I've seen them made out of stainless, pipe, rebar, and mild steel, even strips of 1" plate about 3" wide and welded in sideways to a frame that bolts over the window. Have also seen some made of screening plant wire. Leave enough room between the grate and the window so you can clean the glass. Vision will be somewhat obscured from the grating.

A company I worked for years ago tried some bullet proof glass about two inches thick on a Manitowoc crane using a 16 ton ball to break clumps of slag. But the splinters and shrapnel of steel ruined the glass fast to the point the operator couldn't see out. So it was replaced with regular tempered glass and a grate of the 1" steel bars.

I know of several people that have been hurt while running a breaker, particularly on very old concrete. The concrete splinters off explosively and usually has a razor sharp edge or two. The slag outfit had people hurt all the time from stuff coming in the cab through the windshield, even with the grates. When running the shop at Bethlehem Steels Gary Works, we repaired holes in the various cranes sheet metal daily, besides removing chunks of slag and steel from inside or on top of the house weighing 50 to 150 pounds. These had razor sharp edges too.

Dozer and loader operators would not go near the slag pits while the cranes were busting up slag balls and clumps of mixed slag and steel.

Good Luck!

[Dozerboy]

We have 1/8" thick steel screen with 3/4" diamond shaped holes over them on hinges so we can swing them out to clean the glass. I used a lot of other setups like mentioned about and this is by far the best one yet. IIR I'll get pics tomorrow, but you can kind of see it the my pics Here (http://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=4478).

[Dozerboy]

Here works nice I also like them painted white instead of black like others I've ran.

[tylermckee]

I like how its hinged. You havent broke the bottom glass yet? I broke the top and bottom on ours before we got the lexan. cut my forehead when the top broke.

[Demoguy324]

We have over-built Logging style cab guards on all of our machines, that protect against most flying debris but since the bars are spread further apart than a traditional demolition cage we still get a few concrete chips that hit the window... right now we have a cracked bottom window on our volvo 460B due to this fact, I'm going to try to convince them to install some of the diamond mesh as Dozerboy's excavator has

Tyler, as i recall you were asking about NW Demo a while ago, and if we were hiring, well as it turns out we have a TON of work coming up, and have been using some pretty lousy "labor ready" workers lately to fill the gaps, so it might be in your best interest to put in a resume!

Eric

[tylermckee]

plexiglass http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i168/tylermckee/P1000402.jpg

I ran weather stripping around it so i can keep my inside glass closed in the rain.

[joedirt]

We have one real similar to Dozer Boy's. Ours is definitely more primitive.

Sort of a funny story related to window screens. We were working at the Grand Canyon with some of the toughest rock I've ever seen. Long story short we did not have the screen in place when we began hammering. First we blew out the bottom window, then the top window and then finally toward the end of the day a rock was flying at the operator so he ducked down and blew out the back window. I thought that's what hard hats were for, rock deflection. :beatsme Not the most profitable day.

[Dozerboy]

You havent broke the bottom glass yet?


That's plexiglass the glass was long gone before I got here. I don't know why they didn't run the screen to the bottom of the glass.