Why dont you use a Rototilt?

[BSAA65LB]

Don't try this at home......unless you have a tilting boom and rotator....

http://youtu.be/hheHmsfuq8E

 

[Ronsii]

@ PAfarmer, take a look at the chinese clones for gopro alternatives... they run about 100 USD and you can use pretty much all the gopro mounts and whatnot to position it just where you want it.

the great thing about the clone cameras is you don't feel so bad when it falls off and you happen to run over it for the most part the picture quality is almost the same for a fraction of the cost! I have both of the ones listed below and they work great!!


Here is the sj5000 clone on ebay, this is one of the cheaper models... they range all over the place for price depending on what you get in the package... mounts, extra batteries,wifi,sdcard,cables... http://www.ebay.com/itm/White-1080P-SJ5000-Sport-DV-Car-DVR-Cam-Action-Waterproof-wide-angle-HDMI-Wifi-/291368756871?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43d6ee6687

as for gopro clones there is also a 'Xiaomi yi' camera that just came out with pretty much same picture quality as the gopro hero 3 silver from what my eyes can tell it runs about 90-100 USD also.

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . .

As I have said, folks do things different in different places. In the link posted by BSAA65LB the machine is travelling and grading with the bucket way out on the stick . . . which I was told to never do on an excavator.

I was told in no uncertain terms that the drive was only to move and position the machine all bucket functions were performed by the hydraulics.

On this link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flbkoPmqX9A

Much of the work is being done with the swing motor which I got bawled out for doing back in about 1972.

What gives? Why are these actions apparently within the operating parameters of a Gradall but (I assume) discouraged on conventional excavators?

Incidentally I havn't seen a Gradall here for years but judging by the Youtube clips they are common in Europe.

Cheers

 

[Ropinghorns]

On the smaller minis under 10k, I do not think they would have enough side swing power to make the bucket pick up unmoved dirt or big rocks as good as the curl towards the cab would do. At least my 121-3 doesn't. Just my thought.

 

[td25c]

Yair . . .

As I have said, folks do things different in different places. In the link posted by BSAA65LB the machine is travelling and grading with the bucket way out on the stick . . . which I was told to never do on an excavator.

I was told in no uncertain terms that the drive was only to move and position the machine all bucket functions were performed by the hydraulics.

On this link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flbkoPmqX9A

Much of the work is being done with the swing motor which I got bawled out for doing back in about 1972.

What gives? Why are these actions apparently within the operating parameters of a Gradall but (I assume) discouraged on conventional excavators?

Incidentally I havn't seen a Gradall here for years but judging by the Youtube clips they are common in Europe.

Cheers

Gradall's are common in my area . County highway departments like them for road maintenance . The low profile boom works great when ditching under overhead utilities hung on poles .

Pretty cool machines . Would like to have one in the future .

Back to the video you linked ..... Now this is just my opinion .... That tracked Gradall with rotating bucket feature is pretty cool !

However ......It's not what I call efficient spreading that top dirt a few inches thick . They have to much machine for the job . I would use a small farm tractor with front loader to spread that dirt & send that big Gradall down the line on a ditching job where it belongs hogging dirt every scoop .

But ... That's just me .

 

[245dlc]

Yair . . .

As I have said, folks do things different in different places. In the link posted by BSAA65LB the machine is travelling and grading with the bucket way out on the stick . . . which I was told to never do on an excavator.

I was told in no uncertain terms that the drive was only to move and position the machine all bucket functions were performed by the hydraulics.

On this link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flbkoPmqX9A

Much of the work is being done with the swing motor which I got bawled out for doing back in about 1972.

What gives? Why are these actions apparently within the operating parameters of a Gradall but (I assume) discouraged on conventional excavators?

Incidentally I havn't seen a Gradall here for years but judging by the Youtube clips they are common in Europe.

Cheers

My understanding is that those Gradall's are in only Finland they aren't really popular in the rest of Europe likely because of the cost of importing them and meeting whatever bullsh!t safety standards.
A friend of mine owns a 1986 Case/Poclain 125B excavator and while he said it's a powerful machine the boom and stick don't hold up as well as his has had some welding and fishplating likely from somebody trying to move dirt from side to side. But with that being said his Kobelco Blade Runner was built much stronger with a wider boom and stronger stick so maybe the newer machines hold up better with that side to side movement...

 

[lantraxco]

Scrub,

As far as excavators go, operators ignored the manufacturers/dealers instructions to the contrary and kept breaking drives and swing gears, and sticks, and booms and... well you know. So over time the manufacturers, without changing their admonishments to the contrary, built everything stonger and harder to break because the customers kind of demanded it. Things still break, but today's machines are a lot tougher than they were in the eighties, I know I spent a lot of time repairing them and boxes of 7018 and sheets of high strength plate.

Kinda like the logging industry, an old engineer I once talked with said there's no such thing as a safety margin when designing logging gear because loggers will always push any piece of equipment to the breaking point and then bitch it wasn't built properly. CAT somewhere around the 90's found a way to make a D5 live for a while in the woods, they took a D6, derated the engine about 5%, and put D5 decals on it. It was actually fairly popular for a time.

 

[alco]

I for one would love to try out a tilt rotator. The biggest issues I see against them over here, are price, dealer support as has been mentioned, and the fact that it's one more item to lug along with you when you're out in the middle nowhere. I can definitely see a lot of uses for them, and can only imagine they would be very beneficial to anyone who was willing to try one out.

Now, as for durability, where I am now, we have guys who could break an anvil with a rubber mallet, so...............

 

[Hitachi225]

I would say that at least 50 percent of the work we do is land clearing and grinding and my rototilt has not failed me . Incredible for grabbing , and sorting brush and trees and feeding them into the horizontal grinder. I normally use another machine with a stump shear for breaking out and pulling stumps but when i have used the rototilt machine i notice no difference in breakout force. Mabee i sound like i am drinking the rototilt cool aid but it has no doubt made me money,completed jobs way faster then a typical machine, and gotten me jobs i never would of gotten before . If i only owned one machine i would go with a typical bucket and thumb combo , but i would not go without at least a few rototilt equipped machines in my fleet.

 

[245dlc]

I think tilt-rotator's are really more for owner/operator outfits where the guy operating it is also the guy paying for it and therefore taking care of it. I do like them and I think one will be in my future.

 

[movindirt]

Don't try this at home......unless you have a tilting boom and rotator....

http://youtu.be/hheHmsfuq8E

Could have done that just as fast or faster with a dozer or a large frame ctl. Maybe its just because I have the majority of my operating in a track loader, but when I see something like that video it screams inefficient to me haha

 

[CM1995]

Regarding the video of the gradall spreading topsoil, first of all that's one hell of an operator and is doing a fine job with that piece of iron.

However, in the real world of bottom dollars and budgets, that could've been done quicker and cheaper using a CTL or small dozer like movindirt said.

Now with that being said, my tagline is "Take what you win and run what you brung". That might have been the only piece of equipment available to do that job and they ran what they "brung".

 

[ddigger]

I am dating myself, I ran 880 and G1000 gradalls as well as hoptoes, both tired and tracked for quite a few years, before the advent of joy sticks ( 3 levers and 4 pedals ) The guy in the video does seem a bit skilled, but its pretty easy to grade when running on a smooth paved surface. I don't see why one would need a rototilt on a machine that invented the concept in the first place. A chore like that around here would normally be done by someone on a grading tractor.

 

[Dualie]

seems like a skip loader would have had that knocked out before the gradeall would have even got the first side of the pole done. It blows my mind that skip loaders are a west coast thing. around here you dont pave a parking lot or set a curb grade without one.

 

[ddigger]

That was my point.

 

[Tones]

Don't try this at home......unless you have a tilting boom and rotator....

http://youtu.be/hheHmsfuq8E

A good bloke on CTL would have that job done just as well in half the time and most likely half the hourly rate. However there are places for excavators with tiltrotators, digging and cleaning open drains, working in confined areas etc . A bloke I know has a Menzi Muck excavator with a tiltrotator hitch fitted as standard and that machine goes to work every day even when other machines on the same site are parked for one reason or another. Thinking outside the square and getting the jump on your opposition is never a bad thing and can make you some good coin

 

[lantraxco]

I really think it's funny how America/Americans are so slow to embrace technology that can make us more productive.

Sometimes. In the early eighties I worked for the first West coast importer of Japanese mini-excavators, as far as I know one of if not the first in the US. You couldn't pay contractors to try one. They laughed at how ridiculous these "toys!" were... and this was a five ton machine, though we brought in several smaller units also. He carried on believing in them only to lose the line when the factory decided to go with a "Trading company" (Anybody remember those?). He was of course vindicated as years passed and now you can't go around a block without running into one, usually small enough to "put on" not get in. What it takes here is a small number of individuals smart enough and open minded enough to see the value and possibilities in something new that will take the gamble and make it pay. Pretty soon the closeminded group are losing work constantly, so they smarten up pretty quick. Doesn't hurt if one or two of the major brand dealerships get behind something innovative also.

 

[Snowcraft97]

Also on most jobs generally have excavator teamed up with a dozer or tracked skid loader . On a drainage project now in farmed river bottoms doing some erosion control & ditch cleaning . Took tracked skid loader & backhoe /combo , dump truck , and excavator . Each one has it's place . [/url]

Thats explains quite alot... most americans complain that the rototilt is too expensive but then needs to have the exavator teamed up with a dozer or skidloader to do the same work as a wheel-exavator with a rototilt+5-10 buckets and it can move between worksites without the need of transport.

 

[movindirt]

Thats explains quite alot... most americans complain that the rototilt is too expensive but then needs to have the exavator teamed up with a dozer or skidloader to do the same work as a wheel-exavator with a rototilt+5-10 buckets and it can move between worksites without the need of transport.

Or a backhoe... but there is also a reason why guys say backhoe's are the worst of 2 machines. haha For the price of a rototilt and all the buckets I could have a pretty nice CTL that will grade fast or faster than a wheeled excavator, what do you do when you need to get in a wet area?

 

[td25c]

Thats explains quite alot... most americans complain that the rototilt is too expensive but then needs to have the exavator teamed up with a dozer or skidloader to do the same work as a wheel-exavator with a rototilt+5-10 buckets and it can move between worksites without the need of transport.

Could also be due to the operator knowing how to operate a given machine in different environments .

Trucking / Transport is part of the job . No big deal .