Wheeled excavators.

[alco]

We've been trying to convince management at our mine that we could really use a rubber tired machine, but they just won't go for it. We spend forever and a day waiting and waiting to get one of our excavators floated for a 20 minute job. We may have guys ready to do the work, but unless it's an emergency, we get bumped in favour of the production crew's needs. Sometimes we have to wait up to two days to get a move done. If we had a rubber tired excavator, we could drive it to where we need it, do the job in a fairly short time, and them move on to the next. I'm not talking about serious excavation, but a lot of times we need a section of short, shallow trench, or a ditch opened.

I've even been pushing for a large backhoe to run around with. At least that way we would have the use of a loader too.

Brian

 

[bobcat ron]

You need to equip a wheeled excavator properly to get its full potential. Rototilt (With a grapple) is a must and a dumptrailer is useful/needed.

How come you people "across the pond" have the blades in the rear and the steering wheels in the front, all the North american machines have blades and steering wheels in the front! :beatsme

Oh and a Variable Angle Boom (VA Boom) is a MUST HAVE!

 

[Per Eriksson]

We put the hitch for the trailer on the blade so we can hook and unhook with out stepping out.

 

[bobcat ron]

But then which end has the steering axle/wheels?

 

[AtlasRob]

blades

How come you people "across the pond" have the blades in the rear and the steering wheels in the front, all the North american machines have blades and steering wheels in the front! :beatsme

Oh and a Variable Angle Boom (VA Boom) is a MUST HAVE!

Its strange the different ways that ducks get set up. I always reckon the blades on the front for the guys who cant steer in reverse :duh

Many ducks in the UK have the blade on the front and legs at the back, but I put that down to buyers who aren't operators.
In Germany and a few other countries the blade is always on the back, ( as is mine, though the machine had 4 legs when it came, just like a table!) I had the choice front or back and it went on the back.
The main reason I have it on the back is it is then over the rigid axle and the machine operates like a tracked dozer when you are grading :cool2

While were on about blades and legs can any of the Swedish members confirm that blades are not used on wheeled exc in thier country?:beatsme
I understand my machine had 4 legs, short dipper arm, night heater for engine, cab and fuel tank, road tyres as it was destined for Sweden. I assume the short arm was to allow fitment of a rotating head without compromising stability.

 

[Tegian]

*Shrugs* Without having any hard numbers I would say most wheeled excavators got blades here. See the picture of the Caterpillar I posted Which does come without forward legs though.

Åkerman did have legs forward (Over the steering wheels) and dozerblade backwards and every (true) swedish operator does know Åkerman is the holy grail of excavators!

 

[stevinmonteur]

wheeled excavator

wheeled excavator with tracks


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqF7RdCd47A


marco

 

[DirtMan]

Cool job

Here's a unique job for a duck...

 

[RoadDoc]

:exactly

 

[mikef87]

How come you people "across the pond" have the blades in the rear and the steering wheels in the front, all the North american machines have blades and steering wheels in the front! :beatsme

Oh and a Variable Angle Boom (VA Boom) is a MUST HAVE!

My Volvo mini EW55B wheeled machine has the blade in the back, but the John Deere 180CW has a blade in the front. Volvo mini came from Sweden. That may be a European thing.

 

[RoadDoc]

Most of the literature I've seen indicates that blade location is up to whoever is ordering the machine. My experience has been that having the blade at the fixed/rear axle makes grading easier. Blade follows grade easier and you have more power through turns with a load on the blade.

The 595 I used to run had a work steering mode on it. Do the new models have anything like that?

 

[AtlasRob]

The 595 I used to run had a work steering mode on it. Do the new models have anything like that?

Sorry, I dont understand ! Can you explain a little more.

This duck locks the transmission into a fixed low travel when the blade selector is activated, nearly put me through the windscreen the first time I used it :ban Do you mean the steering alters when the blade is active ?

 

[mikef87]

Most of the literature I've seen indicates that blade location is up to whoever is ordering the machine. My experience has been that having the blade at the fixed/rear axle makes grading easier. Blade follows grade easier and you have more power through turns with a load on the blade.

The 595 I used to run had a work steering mode on it. Do the new models have anything like that?

The new Cat D series has a switch so you can steer from the joystick, like an auxilary switch. Pretty swift once you get used to it.

 

[RoadDoc]

That 595 had an electric switch on the steering column that you could put in "drive" or "work" mode. All it did was reverse the steering when working over the rear. You get to the point where you don't even bother with it.... It was nice if you had to reverse for a long way.

AtlasRob:

Are you saying that whenever you touch the blade control, the trans. dumps into low range? Pretty sure I'd need a 5 point racing harness to run it! :Banghead

 

[RoadDoc]

I've seen that Cat steering on the lever option. I think Volvo has it too. Sexy.....

 

[Eddiebackblade]

Blade End

Just like to add my experiences to the 'great Blade debate'!

I once collected a brand new JCB js130w from the dealer, and drove it straight to a water main job we were starting.
It had the blade in front of the steering wheels, and no stabilisers on the rear.

It was a nightmare!!! to drive, and was straight back in to have the blade switched to the rear.
The main problem comes from a 'Duck' having a long and a short end.
The steering end is longer from the centre, and placing the blade out in front exagerates this. It also makes the rear wheels impossible to see from the front window as they are tucked under the cab.
In my humble experience, any 'Duck' under around 17tonnes does not require stabilisers unless for a specific application, and the blade should be on the rear.
I would be interested to hear which 'end' other drivers use to dig over on a Street trenching job, but most I know dig over the blade with it just hovering above the tarmac for vision and stability.
Another reason is that this axle is fixed to the chassis, and by utilising a suitable timber or lump of ashphalt to drive one set of wheels up onto a useful amount of tilt can be added to the bucket.
I would dearly love to try the Steering on the sticks, as this is very much the way forward. However I feel CAT should spend more time on the balance issues their machines suffer badly from, along with the ridiculous electric slew brake which is worthy of it's own thread!!

 

[Bellboy]

*Shrugs* Without having any hard numbers I would say most wheeled excavators got blades here. See the picture of the Caterpillar I posted Which does come without forward legs though.

Åkerman did have legs forward (Over the steering wheels) and dozerblade backwards and every (true) swedish operator does know Åkerman is the holy grail of excavators!

Isn't Akerman now part of Volvo? I saw an Akerman EC360 and I thought:" that prefix looks familiar" so i investigated (a nightmare) and it turns out that Volvo also took over Samsung excavators at the same time.

Back to the thread (sort of...) what is the use of a dozer blade on an excavata?

 

[AtlasRob]

All it did was reverse the steering when working over the rear.
Oh! cant say as I would use it, and I think most regular duck ops would find it a pain, as you state,
You get to the point where you don't even bother with it....

AtlasRob:

Are you saying that whenever you touch the blade control, the trans. dumps into low range? Pretty sure I'd need a 5 point racing harness to run it!

Too near the truth :Banghead. As there are both a blade and legs that have a common operating lever, there is an additional rocker switch on the side panel below right arm rest.
Push/rock it twice forward activates legs ( front ) push/rock it forward twice more it activates blade ( rear )
If you push/rock the switch backwards twice it activates blade, twice more activates legs. The only reason I can see for having to rock the switch twice is for safety.
Once the blade is activated and travel speed is down to about 2mph it dumps the transmission into an almost crawler mode :ban ( note the blade is inactive until the transmission dumps ) 1st time it happened I was aiming to skim a few rocks off some hard ground in high travel, as I slowed with no response from the lever the trans dumped, I nearly needed a new windscreen
On a colleages machine that only has the blade and no legs you can blade away in high travel :beatsme

Just like to add my experiences to the 'great Blade debate'!

I once collected a brand new JCB js130w from the dealer, and drove it straight to a water main job we were starting.
It had the blade in front of the steering wheels, and no stabilisers on the rear.

It was a nightmare!!! to drive, and was straight back in to have the blade switched to the rear.
!!

I hear you Eddie, and agree 100%. I dont do any serious work over the front end for all the reasons you state.
It was a bit embarrassing when the table (4 legs) arrived as I got regular reminders of what I said in the past about ducks with legs

I would not order legs but I have them and I must admit at times the extra weight has been quite handy, but dont ever tell anybody I said that

 

[AtlasRob]

Isn't Akerman now part of Volvo? I saw an Akerman EC360 and I thought:" that prefix looks familiar" so i investigated (a nightmare) and it turns out that Volvo also took over Samsung excavators at the same time.

Back to the thread (sort of...) what is the use of a dozer blade on an excavata?

Ouch ! you sure know how to upset the natives When a Swede says Akerman ............... just smile politely, nod and move on

As for a dozer blade on excavators, used by many as a stabiliser, used by some as a brake, used by operators for dozing as an operator of a piece of plant you are governed by two things. 1 your imagination and 2 your experience. :thumbsup :drinkup

 

[Eddiebackblade]

Holy What

If someone sent me to do a shift on one of them huge boxes with Akerman written on it I would probably say 'Holy S**t!!
Only joking, they certainly earned their reputation as the toughest old girls around, unfortunately I never got to try a wheeled version but have witnessed one dispatching tippers for fun on a muckshift at a rate most tracked 20 tonner drivers would only dream of.
As for blade uses, Rob is right that only the imagination of the operator sets the limit.
The obvious ones are cleaning up without virtually a trace, moving steel plates, steadying pipes or other long objects or moving roll on skips at an alarming pace!!
Of course anyone who has ever laid ductile water main will confirm that the blade is actually a vice attachment to hold bends whilst you push pipe in with the bucket.
The other item no 'Duck' should be without is the TAB or Two Piece Boom, this item can really make the difference in skilled hands.
I have used them on several Ducks and can say with all honesty I would pay the extra to have one.
They make lifting far simpler and safer, aid when working close in on verges and make you look a real pro when digging deep square holes.
There is one other point about Ducks that others may confirm, the fact that they will out lift their tracked counterpart by significant amounts.
I obviously don't want to advocate lifting items in excess of legal limits, but when called upon I have lifted and placed some weights with Ducks that other tracked counterparts could not loook at.
A komatsu pw130es I used for around 18 months used to run Cat315 buckets on a Miller hitch to be compatible with the tracked machines.
These were a large bucket for the machine, but it handled it with ease.
However on one sewer job I had to unload steel frames from a lorry and the weight on the ticket was 5300kg. The Komatsu lifted and carried these much to my amazement even without a two piece boom, try that with a pc130 and I think they would still be on the truck.