Extra Counter Weight on Zero Turn?

Instead of sticking extra weight out the back, had you considered buying a bit of thick plate and bolting it underneath the back. Most machines have bolts underneath that could be extended. You then wouldn't destroy your zero tail swing or have to get it specially fabbed up to fit the shape of the existing counterweight.
Also I've heard the jumpiness is often down to poorly set up check valves. Does your machine have them fitted? If so you may be able to bypass them to check if that is the problem.
Graham

Graham1 said:

Instead of sticking extra weight out the back, had you considered buying a bit of thick plate and bolting it underneath the back. Most machines have bolts underneath that could be extended. You then wouldn't destroy your zero tail swing or have to get it specially fabbed up to fit the shape of the existing counterweight.
Also I've heard the jumpiness is often down to poorly set up check valves. Does your machine have them fitted? If so you may be able to bypass them to check if that is the problem.
Graham

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I think that this is a great idea. I'm not sure how much it weighs per square foot but some one inch plate might make a difference. One could maybe go a little thicker but even 1" plate will reduce the already small clearance between the bottom of the house and the tracks. One will really have to be careful about letting anything get on the tracks as they go under the house.

I do like the Taki mini ex. However Taki is no longer making the TB153 a 13K mini ex that I have been buying since '03. I love what I can do in that mini ex. It has a near zero tail and near zero swing, boom can come up along side the cab like a typical excavator. I cant seem to warm up to the Taki 260 which is set up like a conventional mini ex. So if I am going back to a conventional mini ex in the 13-14K weight class, I am looking at all of them. So far I really like the WN ET65, but we will see. I am rebushing my Taki right now to extend its life, but next year I will likely replace it. I was curious what the feedback was on these Hyundai machines. The 57 looks like it specs better or as good than does the 60 in a lot of areas which I thought was interesting.

@KSS :I saw the same thing spec-wise for the 57 but the boss wanted the reduced swing 60. Ran one of those 135/153??? taki's a few years ago and really liked it

The only thing with putting the extra counterweight underneath is you lose some leverage so you'll need even more weight... and right now we can comfortably haul it on a goosekneck

Ronsii said:

The only thing with putting the extra counterweight underneath is you lose some leverage so you'll need even more weight... and right now we can comfortably haul it on a goosekneck

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I'm not sure if keeping the weight low will give you reduced leverage. I would think that the distance away from the center of the machine, or even more specifically, the distance away from the weight that you are trying to counter (the bucket) will make the biggest difference. If that's the case then the farther back you go the better.

Sorry, guess I didn't word that right Basically I meant it would not be back as far as something where ALL the weight is at the current counterweight distance from center.

Lots of good thoughts. Right on.!! Thank you. My dealer got couple in last week. Hoping the to go check it out next couple of days. Holy price that though...... I usually wait a couple of years to see if a machine is a "keeper" or a dud. Depreciation is expensive. We'll see

Posted this over in the excavator forum a while back.
My thought in adding the additional counter weight was to make uo for the quick coupler and thumb, as well as the weight of a larger digging bucket.
I really did not add enough to offset the weight of a loaded 36 in (.55 cu yd) bucket, but it handles it well at full extension over the side of the tracks. This is 340 lbs additional.
Swings about an inch past the tracks now.

Nice

Yeah, I'd like to do something similar to our new CX60C... but the boss probably wouldn't like me doing that to his new baby...

Ours definitely needs some extra weight back there for using the cleanout bucket unless you make sure and only fill it halfway, I think an extra 500 pounds on the tail would balance ours out nicely.

And now some more thoughts on how the CX60C handles after using it on a few more jobs recently is it is probably the most jerky machine for finish grading I have used in the past 10 years.... but as a general dirt moving/digging machine it does work fairly quick and nimble, when I'm working the grade rod it seems louder than comparable sized machines but could be the tone of the exhaust or something... Also I don't remember if I mentioned it before but I don't really care for the fuel filler location or design... don't the designers know what rain is....

I'm pretty sure that the case 60 is made by Hyundai for case, it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong though ....

Ronsii
I was looking at the spec on your machine n they offer a 400 lb and something extra cweight for that model.
Might go over a little better with the boss man!

Yeah, when I was looking through the parts diagrams I saw they showed different counterweights, the next time I get some extra time to research it I need to find out exactly which weight is installed on it... I would think since we got it with the hydraulic q/c and larger bucket they would have speced it out with a heavy weight... but what do I know

Thought I'd revisit/rehijack this thread...

So the CX60 has ~500 hours on it and has been creekin and sqeeekin something awful for the last 100 or so hours... anyways finally dropped it off at the dealer and they say it has some bad rollers under it and one of the upper rollers... shoot!!! it's only got 500 hours on it!!! guess they don't build em' like they used too eh...

The dealer also says now they have some sort of 'fix' for the jerkyness/jitteriness issue

Few other things I noticed about it that annoy me... just trying to refuel it is bad enough how they have the fuel cap arranged and where it is located but heaven forbid if you are running it on a warm day and want to fuel it up 5 minutes after shutdown!!! so you can keep on working... Holy-Sheet it'll burn the carp out of you hands just trying to hold the filler nozzle open!!! and then.... if you don't have an auto shutoff nozzle there is no easy way to tell how full it is without taking the nozzle completely out and look down into it... I mean would it bankrupt them to put the little floating popup indicator in there like other machines have???

And... just in case anyone wonders if we put any extra weight on it yet... nope, been too busy work is just hammered right now.

Running a 30 ton National rider boom truck (with an operators cab and a seat, that rotates with the boom, I'd call it a crane but I know better....) is my day job. I saw a used one just like mine that had a counterweight on the ass end, that really caught my attention, that is rare, super rare, with boom trucks. Needing to keep it all certified and everything, I called a National dealer, and the explanation was it was for when the carrier/truck was lighter then normal, some needed it and some didn't. After some thought I got one, 1400 lbs, $3400.00 (but certified, gotta keep it legal, and it did bolt right on) and I have never looked back. Poor choice of words, I have to keep it in mind I have a little junk in the trunk now, but rarely work that close to something. The increase in stability was and is great, same load chart, no greater capacity, just increased operator comfort as now it doesn't make my spincter tighten up even at 100% and a bit beyond the chart. I have yet to re program my load computer, so mostly just run it like before, but man does it feel better. Still doesn't dig though. My U25 does pretty good stock, as is, I don't plan to mess with it even after my favorable experience with more counterweight on the boom truck, I sure like, and use, as in working in tight places, the zero swing.