terex ts18's are they any good or ts14's

[fiat41b]

Hey im looking at a job with alot of topsoil to strip are the terex ts18's any good
this job is big but its not big enough to buy or rent newer 637 or 627
i need to move around 8000 to 10000 yds per day with a haul distance average of 1/4 mile and some of it even more

would they be the cheapest to use i know they dont use much fuel
compared to the others

if you have opinions ers are open

[Turbo21835]

How many scrapers are you looking to run? One crew I was on that was dollar for dollar, the most productive crew, used two TS14s. Our push Cat was a D7H, grading and haul road maintenance was performed by a D5N. We also had an 815 for compaction, and a smooth drum for sealing clay off when rain was called for.

Production was 1500 to 1800 cubic yards a day if we were hauling one way. If you have any cut to fill on the project, you can seriously up your daily production. A lot of time we would double haul. We had one job that was a wetland project that was optimum for double hauling. We would self load topsoil, haul it to stock pile, cut clay for fill, spit it out in a stripped area, grabbed topsoil, rinse and repeat. We were easily running 2,800-3,000 yards a day. Billing all of our machines except for the smooth drum, we were moving topsoil for 89 cents a cubic yard, and cut to fill for 1.14 a yard. This was 5 years ago.

The old Terex scrapers are good reliable machines. Solidly put together, easy to repair. We had a 14 drop a rear engine at 8am. Shop had a mechanic on our job at 9. One of our runners went and got a replacement engine from the shop. By 3 in the afternoon, that scraper was moving dirt again. Ive heard rumors that Ryan Inc mechanics can do this operation in a few hours.

[fiat41b]

well i need however many it would take to get around 8000 to 10000 yds per 10 hr day

[Panhandler Bob]

14's would be my choice, easier to come by[in this part of the country] easy on fuel,more sure footed,parts availability[again this part of country],easier to transport,cheaper to maintain,faster,nimbler. Add some side borads & push load you'll gain some yardage per load. 14D seris II would be agood choice. Good operaters a must. Push/Pull a possability.Just a few things to consider. My .02 When I was a yougin Pappy said Son ther be 3 levers up there on that machine lever A lever B and lever C If your smart you'll lever B, I wasn't. Got a bad back to prove it.

[ronnie]

i don't know about faster than a cat but they don't burn as much fuel and are'nt as heavy and will move alot of earth with some good operators(the hard thing to find these days) alot want to stop and b/s when it's time to haul dirt no need in stopin unles you gotta go or it's time to go home take a small water cooler wit hyou and give a man an honest days work for the money oh yeah make sure the yare open cabs to that way if a/cgo out they can't complain it's to hot lmsao

[fiat41b]

would terex scrapers be the way to go for lowest cost per cubic yd at stripping topsoil compared to others and considering that they are a well maintained unit and not a hunk of junk i have understanding that they do not burn much fuel that has to be a plus i have to move around 200,000 per mth make that a mile round trip

[ronnie]

i my opinion they would i'm a cat my when it comes to scrapers but have been on the terex and they are'nt that bad of a machine and are dependable if they are kept mantained hook and pull are even better with 2 guys who can do so but this is just my opinion we use cat scrapers

[DonZX14]

Just my 2cents but the money you would save on fuel with a terex as compared to a cat scraper wouldnt be worth it..the big cats will run down the leapin lizards any day and the faster you get the dirt moving the more money you will make . Like I said..my 2 cents

[DonZX14]

I think on average a 627 would move around 1500 -1800 per shift...rough guess

[surfer-joe]

For the yardage and haul distance, the TS18's would be my choice. They usually rent cheaper than the Cats, and they have more power than the 14's, and I believe most have been built with the load-runner axle system that makes for a better operator ride.

Right now, rents on all equipment ought to be reduced quite a bit. But I see fuel costs are headed up.

[Panhandler Bob]

If you go terex make sure your operaters understand the correct way to release the parkin brakes, saves alot of headaches & money!!

[fiat41b]

any idea on what to do to make them at least a little more quiet these have no cabs just open rops do they make a good muffler to tame the sound?

[Turbo21835]

Dont waste the time making em quiet. Get a couple boxes of earplugs, Let em roll. Now you could get all your operators a set of those hearing proctection with tunes built in

[Panhandler Bob]

Do not know bout a good one but do know bout a BAD one, cherry bomb glass pack. Bout 25 yrs. back runnin 14bs in gravel pit. Rear muffler on one rusted off, so they went 3 miles up the road to NAPA and got cherry bomb and fabbed up a temp setup Talk about finger nails on a chalk borad, loud ones to boot!! The kid runnin it thought it was great to get off the rear and let the jake kick on when passin anyone. He soon got told where that cherry bomb was goin get stuck if he did not mend his ways! P.S. That temp fix was still on it 18 months later when it left.

[Buckethead]

Do not know bout a good one but do know bout a BAD one, cherry bomb glass pack. Bout 25 yrs. back runnin 14bs in gravel pit. Rear muffler on one rusted off, so they went 3 miles up the road to NAPA and got cherry bomb and fabbed up a temp setup Talk about finger nails on a chalk borad, loud ones to boot!! The kid runnin it thought it was great to get off the rear and let the jake kick on when passin anyone. He soon got told where that cherry bomb was goin get stuck if he did not mend his ways! P.S. That temp fix was still on it 18 months later when it left.

They had jakes on them? I don't think I have seen a scraper with one.