daves thread

StumpyWally said:

Dave, durallymax & JCBiron...any input on my question of why do Cat & Bobcat doors open to the right, while everyone else opens to the left?? Or thoughts on doors that slide up rather than hinge?? Of course, Dave & JCBiron you have a better solution in the side entry door.

Click to expand...

Actually CNH seems to be the Minority on their doors opening that direction. Cat, Bobcat, ASV/Terex, Komatsu, Newer Deere's, Newer Gehls, Non-JCB Volvo's, and wheeled Tak's all open to the right.

I don't know if there is a reason for it or not, my guess is possibly due to more people being right handed and having the door open that way being a more natural feel. Hydraulic hoses could have something to do with it but having the door open the other direction lets you unhook them without having to completely exit the machine and close the door which could I guess be a safety issue and the reason thy put the doors that way. For all I know they just threw darts at a board though.

dave esterns said:

side lights would be handy. also more light down right in front of the machine just in front of the tires so one can see more whats going on while back dragging at night.

Click to expand...

Those were some things I mentioned to the Cat engineers when they were here. IIRC I saw one brand (CNH?) offers side lighting off the rear of the cab now.

StumpyWally said:

Digdeep:


And Dave, I think the way you would use a front roll up door is that if you're getting in & out a lot, you would just run with the door up. You would only put it down when you were going to be seated for a while. For me, when I'm working in the woods & the mud, sometimes I need to get in/out on the left, sometimes on the right, so a roll up door would work. But, I would still consider it a less good alternative than the JCB side entry.

As for sealing a roll up door, the front glass/frame in my excavator rolls up & uses a cam-latch system, which seals the frame in when you close the two latches. So it can be done.

Click to expand...

We get in and out of ours every couple minutes as well, but the couple minutes were in them we want the door closed and sealed so a roll up would be much slower and a hassle. I think thats the reason Deere did away with it as well. People moving dirt all day have different requirements and the roll up door works for them.

StumpyWally said:

JCBiron...so it seems that you should let at least Dave & I know when JCB/Volvo improves their current SSLs with the following (not in any prioritized order):

1. E-H controls that are adjustable for sensitivity.
2. Joysticks & split lap bar that slides with the seat & are both independently adjustable.
3. Ride control/smooth ride that is toggled on/off with a button on the right joystick when the boom is in any position. It shouldn't have to be speed dependent, or if it is, allow the speed dependency to be turned off (set speed to zero).
4. Return-to-dig hydraulic functionality.
5. Seat back & seat that independently adjust for tilt.
6. Hydraulic load leveling that works both down & up.
7. Wide track option on the small frame CTL, to allow it to achieve the lowest ground pressure of the line.
8. A cab light that is bright enough to allow reading in the cab, & can be switched on even when the machine is off. The switch should be big enough to operate with gloved hands, & should be on the dash near the door, so it can be turned on when the door is opened before getting in (think getting in in the dark in the winter).
9. A rear drawbar/receiver hitch option, with an additional option for a rear electric winch outlet.
10. A side light option.
11. A master battery disconnect switch, preferably activated from the cab.

These "little" improvements would make an already unique machine really outstanding in my opinion, & without equal in the market.

Any other ideas, Dave...

Click to expand...

1. All new T4 JCB Skids have adjustable sensitivity for the drive controls as standard equipment. I would like to see additional adjustment for the loader/bucket as well, but not sure if that's on the radar yet.
2. Agreed that the joysticks should be mounted to the seat frame/suspension so that they travel with the movement of the seat.
3. I think the way JCB does their smoothride (button on upper left, only engage-able with bucket down) is for safety purposes.....not saying that it is necessary (obviously other manufacturers do it differently and get by with it), but JCB is very safety-conscious with their skids already, so they may just be "over thinking" it....not sure, but I would also like to see an engagement option from the joysticks. I also think the speed activation is a good idea.
4. Agreed
5. I am surprised JCB doesn't offer this, as many of their other products do have this level of adjustment with the seat. May be a space/travel issue???
6. Agreed....although self-level up/return-to-dig down would go a long way towards making self-leveling in the down direction a non-critical function....but either way, it would be nice
7. Agreed! I have already hounded JCB about offering a 15" track option on the small platform CTL's....they claim that they don't have the clearance on the boom side, but I don't buy it...
8. I think if they had side lights (#10) with an egress lighting option that was programmable for 10 sec, 30 sec, etc....that would be helpful. Almost all Ag machines have this feature anymore. JCB's light is on the right hand side of the cab, and is easily used with gloves....You just push on one end of the light or the other, it pivots in the middle.
9. Not sure this is on their radar at this point
10. See #8
11. Standard equipment, but located behind the engine door cover on the bottom left.

JCBiron said:

1. All new T4 JCB Skids have adjustable sensitivity for the drive controls as standard equipment. I would like to see additional adjustment for the loader/bucket as well, but not sure if that's on the radar yet.
2. Agreed that the joysticks should be mounted to the seat frame/suspension so that they travel with the movement of the seat.
3. I think the way JCB does their smoothride (button on upper left, only engage-able with bucket down) is for safety purposes.....not saying that it is necessary (obviously other manufacturers do it differently and get by with it), but JCB is very safety-conscious with their skids already, so they may just be "over thinking" it....not sure, but I would also like to see an engagement option from the joysticks. I also think the speed activation is a good idea.
4. Agreed
5. I am surprised JCB doesn't offer this, as many of their other products do have this level of adjustment with the seat. May be a space/travel issue???
6. Agreed....although self-level up/return-to-dig down would go a long way towards making self-leveling in the down direction a non-critical function....but either way, it would be nice
7. Agreed! I have already hounded JCB about offering a 15" track option on the small platform CTL's....they claim that they don't have the clearance on the boom side, but I don't buy it...
8. I think if they had side lights (#10) with an egress lighting option that was programmable for 10 sec, 30 sec, etc....that would be helpful. Almost all Ag machines have this feature anymore. JCB's light is on the right hand side of the cab, and is easily used with gloves....You just push on one end of the light or the other, it pivots in the middle.
9. Not sure this is on their radar at this point
10. See #8
11. Standard equipment, but located behind the engine door cover on the bottom left.

Click to expand...

JCBiron:
I appreciate your feedback...

1. Agreed...I would like E-H sensitivity adjustment for the bucket lift/tilt as well as drive. My NH already has all of that.

2. We both agree that joysticks should move with the seat...hope the JCB engineers add this soon.

3. If the current smoothride engagement (button on upper left, only engage-able with bucket down) is due to "safety concerns", then I definitely feel the "lawyers" are out of control. Let the engineers restore some much needed functionality with an any-bucket-position engage button on the joystick. My NH already has this, although you have to hold the button down. It should just be a toggle. And an adjustable speed activation option would be a plus.

4. Sounds like we all could use return-to-dig...hope the JCB engineers add this soon.

5. With JCB having the most spacious cab by far, I can't believe there is a space issue preventing independent tilt adjustment on the seat & seat back!!

6. Agreed, return-to-dig going down with self-level on the way up would be a great step.

7. Please keep hounding them to add a wide track option on the small machines. I agree that the excuse of boom clearance is feeble. And why stop at 15" wide tracks?? Go all the way to the 17.7" inch wide tracks that the large machines use. By my calculations, 15" wide tracks on a 190T would reduce its ground pressure from 6.2 psi to about 5.2 psi, while the 17.7" wide tracks would reduce it to about 4.4 psi. Particularly if any frame changes need to be made, go with the 17.7" wide tracks & get it over with!!

8. A programmable delay on lights off would help with egress, but does nothing for ingress. So, a simple door-operated switch would be useful. That together with the cab light that can already be turned on/off with a gloved hand by pushing on a rocking lens would be OK. The programmable delay on lights off would be "icing on the cake".

9. If they can't offer a rear drawbar/receiver hitch/winch option, at LEAST provide easy bolt-on attachment points for user-fabricated designs. That may already be so...I haven't looked at the rear of a JCB enough to determine that.

10. A side light option should be easy. My NH already had that, & the sister Case line has the side lights built in as std. equipment.

11. Glad to hear the master battery disconnect is std. equipment. Cab activation would be a plus. The battery disconnect is an option with NH, but std. with Case. And I'm in the process of thinking thru how I could add the cab activation feature to my NH (or any SSL) using a solenoid operated switch.

12. Don't forget this...A hinged skylight that is easily latched shut, al la excavator style. Tinted glass in the skylight, or even all around, would be nice, too. If JCB says they can't do the hinged skylight because of "safety concerns", then we really do need to shoot all the lawyers!!

If you haven't already deduced it, I'm a retired engineer, albeit a Civil. I'm ever hopeful that companies will build the best machine they can...JCB is almost there...

i should probably specify that all the controls on tier 3 machines including boom and bucket are adjustable via dealer laptop. to me the boom bucket works perfectly.

Bit blurry but this is an image of what SSL's on a dairy farm go through. We've been waiting on our new pressure washer to be built and installed so washing is a bit behind but this is the type of crap that builds up under the cab. I took it apart to clean the cores and under the heater box.

I'm glad i don't have anything to do with dairys and hogs.

Mice and leaving equipment out in the fields is bad enough.Good luck

durallymax said:

Bit blurry but this is an image of what SSL's on a dairy farm go through. We've been waiting on our new pressure washer to be built and installed so washing is a bit behind but this is the type of crap that builds up under the cab. I took it apart to clean the cores and under the heater box.

View attachment 110830

Click to expand...

I guess you may be a good example of why CAT made their cab and A/C completely integrated in the new D series. Not having an airbox to remove will make that job much easier.

Boy, that is some repugnant mess!!! I can only hope that you're pressure washer is working soon.

BTW, what brand/model SSL is that?? It looks like the cab is tilted toward the rear??

Construct'O said:

I'm glad i don't have anything to do with dairys and hogs.

Mice and leaving equipment out in the fields is bad enough.Good luck

Click to expand...

Not many mice around here, our equipment gets run all the time. Aside from a couple grain trucks or something I really don't ever have to deal with mouse damage that often. We have an exterminator though that spends a lot of time keeping the mice and rats at bay. They are more attracted to the calf feed and such which keeps them away from the equipment for the most part. We fill our cabs with dryer sheets in the off season and that has actually worked out very well.

Not much gets left in the fields really, just when we are moving bales. And even then its not left there for long as we are usually out there from for 16hrs or so trying to get everything done.

Digdeep said:

I guess you may be a good example of why CAT made their cab and A/C completely integrated in the new D series. Not having an airbox to remove will make that job much easier.

Click to expand...

Yes it is, I am looking forward to the D series not only for that reason but more so for the revised engine compartment that is sealed off and draws air in through the rear grille, that will help keep a lot of the debris out of the chassis. Many other things I like about them too. This machine will be ready to trade this spring with our 242B3 being ready next spring/summer also. That 242B3 is the one we feed with, I'll have to get a picture of that thing because it's life is worse. It sits in a confined shed with nothing but fine dusts and feed products. For awhile we were feeding cottonseed hulls and the fuzz would cake into the radiator and be impossible to clean out. The cottonseed we normally feed isn't too bad, but those hulls were terrible.

I am still waiting for the day they install a central washing system though where I can just hook up the pressure washer hose, drop a couple panels and let it go haha.

StumpyWally said:

Boy, that is some repugnant mess!!! I can only hope that you're pressure washer is working soon.

BTW, what brand/model SSL is that?? It looks like the cab is tilted toward the rear??

Click to expand...

That is our 262C2 Cat. I much prefer the rear tilting cabs as you can still work on things with the boom down if needed. Plus its really nice with the boom in the air being able to reach in from the front versus having to do everything from the sides.

New washer is in, however this is a normal mess for any of our SSL's. Only takes a month for the majority of the stuff to get in there. Our NH L220 was smoldering within no time, one of the things that really worried me with it especially given the number of fires they had in the area with that series.