whole house knockdowns

[JPCobra105]

just a few pics of what i do all day. whole house knockdowns in NY.

[stumpjumper83]

that looks like a fun thing to do all day.... how long have you been at it?

[JPCobra105]

about 3 years now. still growing the buisness

[cat320]

houses must be relativly easy compared to commercial with steel cement and roof all probably have to be seperated to dispose of and maxamize your waste and recicaling feeing back to you.

[Iron Horse]

You won't see that happening in Australia . People pay big money to buy them and have them cut into sections and trucked to their land . Have you seen the Slashbuster video on house demolition ? Give it a Google , it's awsome .

[nitrox2595]

cobra, im from rockland county.. Hows your market doing in LI? I looked at one job in LI, its too far of a drive to do every day. I could send you some work if i get any calls.

[JPCobra105]

the market here is ok, nothing special. its tough trying to stay competetive it seems like every landscaper with a bobcat thinks they can tear down a house. but i keep pretty busy, just not at the prices id like to see. id appreciate anything you can offer.

[skyhightree1]

the market here is ok, nothing special. its tough trying to stay competetive it seems like every landscaper with a bobcat thinks they can tear down a house. but i keep pretty busy, just not at the prices id like to see. id appreciate anything you can offer.

I own a Tree Service & Landscaping business but I don't use a bobcat to do that.. Im not that crazy I use a dozer or a backhoe I am looking at getting a trackhoe with a Thumb or grapple on it like you have. Could you send me a PM and let me know how much the grapple runs up where you are ?

[skyhightree1]

JPCobra105 do you ever haul the debris away or do you always use cans ?

[JPCobra105]

i haul all the debris in my cans. 30's for the debris and 20's for the concrete

[Dozerboy]

Do you not bust everything up real good? When I'm done with a wood structure there ain't a board longer then 3' before it gets loaded out. What is your hoe a 315?

[JPCobra105]

i get the whole thing down to the ground first. (too dangerous leaving a roof hanging) then i i use the grapple and churn and crunch when i fill a box the debris flow in like water. not worth it to haul a can with gaps and spaces unfilled.
thats a 312 i run 2 of them.

[Dozerboy]

Don't you find them 312s a little small? I used a 312 for a few weeks and man I had to really get with it to bust stuff up. It wasn't to bad once I got the teeth sharpened (bucket no grapple) up a little, but still if the wood was kind of green and plywood where still a PITA. We traded that in on a 320 no more wailing on stuff and I didn't feel so worn out at the end of the day. I would load trucks as I went so I didn't get the whole house on the ground normally.

[JPCobra105]

i have no problem with the 312. i havent come across anything that the grapple couldt turn to splinters yet. i like the 312 because alot of houses are on real tight properties (last one i did was 30 foot between the neighbors.) and there is a ton of traffic on long island its alot easier to get around. i had the first 312 and decided to stick with the same thing. it makes ordering parts and maintnace alot easier. in my opinion.
my next machine will probalby be in the 320 class. i've been doing some bigger stuff that the 312 is a little small for (reach and grab height)

[special tool]

i have no problem with the 312. i havent come across anything that the grapple couldt turn to splinters yet. i like the 312 because alot of houses are on real tight properties (last one i did was 30 foot between the neighbors.) and there is a ton of traffic on long island its alot easier to get around. i had the first 312 and decided to stick with the same thing. it makes ordering parts and maintnace alot easier. in my opinion.
my next machine will probalby be in the 320 class. i've been doing some bigger stuff that the 312 is a little small for (reach and grab height)


I knew you were going to say that about the tight lots on LI., I know exactly what you mean.

Would you consider a zero-turn on the next one?

[JPCobra105]

yeah, i like the zero-turn. never got a chance to run one... does anyone know how much weight it can lift compared to a machine without zero-turn in the same class?
the only issue id see having is lifting out some of the big trech footing i come across. id hate to have to use a hammer to make one break in a footing or wall.

[Dozerboy]

Maybe the lack of a grapple part of it... Ya I was nervous doing 2 story brick houses with gable ends with the 312. They didn't have any guarding on the hoe and it was defiantly short on reach.

[special tool]

yeah, i like the zero-turn. never got a chance to run one... does anyone know how much weight it can lift compared to a machine without zero-turn in the same class?
the only issue id see having is lifting out some of the big trech footing i come across. id hate to have to use a hammer to make one break in a footing or wall.

No problem there.
About the only REAL problem wth the moden zero-turns is that there is no operator space. Its pretty bad.
They are very space efficient (you would think a 120 size machine weighs only 20,000 LBS....until you look more closely) and the operator pays the price too.

[wilddanz71]

I am about to do my first house tear down with my ex 120
I do not have a thumb or grapple yet. I want to get a manual thumb. I am a house builder, so i dont use the excavator every day. will the thumb do all I need? and is it imposible to load debri into cans with just a digging bucket?
thanks DAN

[312King]

I am about to do my first house tear down with my ex 120
I do not have a thumb or grapple yet. I want to get a manual thumb. I am a house builder, so i dont use the excavator every day. will the thumb do all I need? and is it imposible to load debri into cans with just a digging bucket?
thanks DAN

Me and my dad have never used thumbs we just use 48' digging buckets and we load dumpsters . You might have a harder time since you dont have as much time and as us. But Im sure you will be fine.

[JPCobra105]

i did my first few knock downs with just a 24'' bucket and a thumb. it works just fine. most guys i;ve seen use a thumb. (probably because the grapple cost so much) and i've also seen guys use just a bucket. a thumb will make it alot easier.

[mikef87]

I know your on a budget, but I would suggest a hydraulic grapple, its more versatile than a stationary thumb. I've got 4 machines with grapples, and 2 with thumbs. The grapples are nice, but for my PC300 it cost $19,500. The PC600 cost around $25,000. But they do hold up better in industrial demolition than a thumb would.

[Countryboy]

Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums wilddanz71! :drinkup

[wilddanz71]

thanks for the advise guys. I think I will strugle through this job with just the bucket. then this winter I will pick up a manual thumb. Like I said I do not use the excavator every day, just when I need a celar hole or septic system on one of the houses I build. Anyone know of a place I can buy a manual thumb for my 120. I have found them for around $1500, are there less expensive ones available?

thanks again DAN

[wilddanz71]

Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums wilddanz71! :drinkup

thanks COUNTRYBOY:drinkup

[Turbo21835]

As for capacity on no tails. Not a big deal at all. In fact im currently splitting time between a Komatsu Pc 200, and a Komatsu 128, depending on space available. The other night I set a 6ft diameter manhole with 6inch sides, 7 feet tall and a 12 inch bottom. I would say at 75% reach, no problem. The guys thought I was going to have o use the 200.

As for the grapple/thumb argument. Ive run both. I should say ive run both in the industrial demolition business. Ive said it before, bucket/thumbs are for home wreckers. Another one i like to hear is you cant move material or grade with a grapple. I get to differ. All you need is an I beam. Viola, you have a dozer.

Not looking down at anyones methods. Ive used em all. From using a grapple as a concrete processor, to using a bucket. The thing you have to learn with the bucket is how to pickup objects. Remember, tracks are your friend for this. Either pin a large object between the tracks and what ever your trying to pickup. Or in a pinch you can even use your tracks. Which is easier sometimes, because you can spin your tracks to "scoot" something into your bucket.

[JPCobra105]

1500$ for a manual thumb for that size machine is about as low as it gets. remember, if you dont weld yourself, that could cost you a few hundred bucks. i dont know about prices around you, but here there is about a 250$ field charge just to get someone into the field to weld for you. plus the price to do the weld.

[wilddanz71]

1500$ for a manual thumb for that size machine is about as low as it gets. remember, if you dont weld yourself, that could cost you a few hundred bucks. i dont know about prices around you, but here there is about a 250$ field charge just to get someone into the field to weld for you. plus the price to do the weld.

yea $1500 is about the cheapest I have found. And about the welding, lucky for me, one of my best friends is a pro welder with a truck that is all setup. So I will just have to return the favor to him.

[special tool]

You guys are right on the button.
I just paid $1500 for Fleco for a 120.

[wilddanz71]

You guys are right on the button.
I just paid $1500 for Fleco for a 120.

DID THAT PRICE INCLUDE SHIPPING, IF SO IT SOUNDS LIKE WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR, OH YEA DID YOU BUY THE ONE THAT IS 3/4" THICK OR 1" THICK. I THINK ALL I NEED IS THE 3/4" THICK MODEL
THANKS DAN

[Sparffo]

Don't you find them 312s a little small?

?? you can demo a wooden house with a 8 ton machine pretty easily, the only problem is lack of reach...
don't you guys sort out the demolition rubble at all? when you smash down houses then you have a pile of **** that is impossible to sort out.
here in Finland you have to pay 220€ (270$)/ ton if you don't sort it out, if you sort it out the cost will come down over 10 times! then the 312 will beat the bigger machines when sorting at the same time as tearing down the walls.
sometimes we do sorting with our 30 ton, but thats quite overkill... but with the demo grapple you can do almost anything, even cut reinforcement bar by turning it round and round.

The Komatsu PC 75 high demolition machine wouldd be great for this type of jobbs!

[JPCobra105]

we sort out wood masonary products, glass and metals. 312 with the grapple makes it real easy.

[Dozerboy]

Same here, but not glass. Can and what is most efficient are 2 different things I could take down a house with my bare hands if I wanted to. Most of the houses I did I was in and out in one day.

[Taylortractornu]

I do a good bit of demo with my little PC55 grey market. I made my thumb in the shop with my table burner. I get alot of trailers around the lake and mostly tight jobs. limitied access. I tore down a trailer no too long ago it was a small office trailer that had been placed with a wrecker and then over time the banks behind it were filled in and such. had a narrow landscaped drive and no tracks were allowed in it. I got the job as I was on rubber but I barl could get my 1 ton dump into the place. This little trailer was added onto over time and was a pita. I had a rolloff rented from work but nowhere to get ino it. I just set the can off and hauled to it with the 1 ton every hour I hadto load a can and move it to the community dump. I did have some big walls that I drug out with my skid steer to the container. This whole compound was 16 by 80 made of rock, brick, concrete,steele and wood. I had to put on my ripper shank and pull up some inground anchor rods. I like the little odball jobs with a challenge. Lots of trailers were put in the areal years ago with the most peculiar set ups Ive ever seen. Im going next week when I get my winch done on the skid steer to pull in 2 walkways and a boat house to remove from the same job.

[digger242j]

As posted in the "extreme home makeover" thread, here's raw video footage of the demo, taken from the Channel 4 news chopper. (http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/video/17756932/index.html)

(Posted here, since you may not have read that thread.)