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Cat m wreck
- Thread starter Motor Grader
- Start date
Motor Grader
Well-Known Member
digger242j
Administrator
The bridge doesn't look too wide. Maybe the blade caught something hard, and pushed it to the left, and over the edge?
Grader4me
Senior Member
Anyone hurt? Hopefully not. As far as the grader goes.. maybe it will buff out...:beatsme
AtlasRob
Senior Member
I tend to agree, there is a lot of blade sticking out its right hand side and at the right angle to do exactly as you suggest :IMO
I cant say I am impressed with ROPS
or maybe that is part of its impact crumple zone :beatsmeben46a
Senior Member
Id be willing to bet he tried to steer to the right with the wrong joystick in a moment of brain fade or panic and side shifted the blade right instead which didnt help his situation any and the blade caught the far side and pushed him over the edge. As for the rops, could be a bit tougher than that couldnt it. Thats not a long drop but i suppose with momentum it would be quite a jolt nonetheless.
Buckethead
Senior Member
When I started in construction in the 80s I actually met a few old timers who didn't like joysticks in excavators. Some of the old men missed the old cable machines with clutches and brakes.
ROPS = "Roll Over Protection Structure", not "Falling Ten Feet From A Bridge Protection Structure". I thing it did a pretty good job and if the poor guy was wearing his seatbelt, he hopefully walked away in not too bad shape. (Apart from his pants)
digger242j
Administrator
"FTFFABPS"?
It just doesn't roll off your tongue like "ROPS" does either...
It just doesn't roll off your tongue like "ROPS" does either...
From what I have heard the accident was caused from what cat calls "cross talk" in the joysticks....where you are performing one function but another in the same joystick reacts...(not sure if it was the blade or the steering in this case) I was ripping with a 140M across a large field and my blade dropped and I didn't even ask it to. The operator was OK no injuries, other than what he did to the seat from what I have heard. Have heard of some other counties parking the M's for snow clearing due to the operators inability to maintain control....also county in AZ supposedly is attempting to send back their 4 M's for similar reasons....
too bad
too bad
And it might just as easily not be related to joysticks. Until someone comes forward with facts of this accident, I don't think it's fair to anyone for us to speculate on the cause. My hope is the operator is OK and whatever the cause of the accident it is easily resolved not to happen again.
Motor Grader
Well-Known Member
I agree. I would like to see a documented report myself. Of all places for something to happen though...a darn bridge! From the looks of the back ground I would assume it wasn't a short trip. If it was a failure, why did it have to happen on the bridge. Makes me wonder if it may have been just operator error.
Haul-Pak
Well-Known Member
Well .. Hope the OP was ok ...
I agree that there could have been Multi reason's why the grader ended up there.
Could have been Human Error .. Could have been a mechanical/Electrical Fault.
I think it's highly unlikley a Steering Callibration trip fault caused this. There is only one kind of event that would throw the wheel's hard left but in the pic's the steering is straight'ish, After this Event the wheels would be locked left.
Again .. I dont want to Add to the What if and Maybe debate .. Hope the Guy walked away .. just my 2c
EDIT: Never heard of Joy-Stick cross talk ..
I agree that there could have been Multi reason's why the grader ended up there.
Could have been Human Error .. Could have been a mechanical/Electrical Fault.
I think it's highly unlikley a Steering Callibration trip fault caused this. There is only one kind of event that would throw the wheel's hard left but in the pic's the steering is straight'ish, After this Event the wheels would be locked left.
Again .. I dont want to Add to the What if and Maybe debate .. Hope the Guy walked away .. just my 2c
EDIT: Never heard of Joy-Stick cross talk ..
digger242j
Administrator
Upon looking at it some more...I wonder if the operator wasn't just concentrating on not hitting the right guard rail with the blade, and took his eyes off the left edge of the bridge?
sdPete
Well-Known Member
The marker post on the left side of the bridge as the operator approached the bridge is still in place
The edge of the bridge on the side where the grader went off shows a severe blade scrape which runs over 1/2 the length of the bridge.
The grader has a blade extension on the right side.
Powdery snow built up on the back side of the moldboard means the machine had been moving at high speed.
Probability of operator error more likely than machine malfunction.
If steering wheels are so great why did CAT put supplemental steering systems on the H graders?
The edge of the bridge on the side where the grader went off shows a severe blade scrape which runs over 1/2 the length of the bridge.
The grader has a blade extension on the right side.
Powdery snow built up on the back side of the moldboard means the machine had been moving at high speed.
Probability of operator error more likely than machine malfunction.
If steering wheels are so great why did CAT put supplemental steering systems on the H graders?