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Electric backhoe?

Swetz

Swetz

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Well, my company (the one I work for, not mine) has many electric powered vehicles (cars and hybrid hydraulic boom trucks). They have been awesome. Few breakdowns and lasting well over 200k miles. Electric motors are a real good fit for a high torque situation. All of the above stated, they will run out of juice. They state that they can work an 8 hour day, ok, that is brand new. The capacity of the battery does diminish over time. Also, what about that emergency gas main break that happens right at the end of the 8 hour shift...sorry, we will just have to let it blow gas all night while our machine recharges...or better yet, lets just bring out the spare that has been sitting in the yard just in case there is an emergency (another ~$175 Grand just sitting there). I do believe that in my lifetime they will have plenty of these running around, however, I do not think the technology is there yet. Also, dont believe the zero emission stuff...the electric that charged the batteries came from somewhere, and depending on where, it could have been a real dirty generation process.
 
aighead

aighead

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Apr 25, 2019
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Dayton, OH
That seems like a pretty legit question to me... It also brings up an interesting other question, if you are stationary, using the hoe side, could you plug it into a generator, in the field, and have it run forever?

I kind of laughed at the "zero emmissions" statement too, @Swetz. It may be great, but you bring up good questions also.

Also I think I'm just not a fan of the battery powered stuff. In the correct application? Sure, but it doesn't have to be everywhere and where it doesn't make sense.
 
M

melben

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Williamsport, Pa
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Retired 50 Yrs with Case dealership
I know for a fact that Case has been looking in that direction for many years, They had consulted with the engineers from the big diesel locomotive industry, not battery at that point but as I said my experience goes back many years ago when we discussed it in a skid steer training session in New Holland Pa, a Case training center at that time. Electric power is great as the motors have maximum torque at low RPMs. I agree that I do not think it will be ideal for the same reasons in other posts, battery life, charging times and as the others have said there is no such thing as zero emissions. That being said, I worked for a Case dealer all my career and as far as I am concerned I watched them consistently perform well in market share over many years,so I will be watching this development. I feel that Case would not have invested in this project if it had no future, Time will tell.
 
Swetz

Swetz

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Well, as far as them investing in this project...the government (local, state, and federal) will no doubt buy them by the thousands!! Also, electric utilities that need clean air credits so they can run some of their dirty plants will undoubtedly suck them up whether they work or not, just for the credits (the value of the credits outweigh the ability of the unit to perform...not saying it wont, saying that is not important in the decision making process). Bottom line, they will sell, just like the Volt. I am not sure if that is enough to keep them going (i.e. the volt is gone), but perhaps so.
 
W

Welder Dave

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Oct 11, 2014
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Not for everyone when you need 3 phase power to charge them. What if they go dead on the jobsite and why the different tires? 5 years just to pay off the extra initial cost for electric. How long is battery life and what's a replacement battery worth?
 
A

AzIron

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Az
At today's tech I think it's a bit premature but 5 years from now if the tech continues at the current rate it will be better
 
R

Ronsii

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Western Washington
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s/e Heavy equipment operator
That sounds efficient... not ;)

I have seen the little hoes like robots for demo they use indoors and run a tether to it.... look cool :)
 
colson04

colson04

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Apr 11, 2016
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Delton, Michigan
I think it is an interesting concept, and in the right situation, could be a very useful machine. I won't have one on the farm or wellsite, but, on a long term construction project, I think some electric machines make sense. Somewhere where the machine would be parked in the same yard for extended periods, and limited use on a per day basis.
 
Steve Frazier

Steve Frazier

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Oct 30, 2003
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That video was a waste of time in my opinion, all they did was say "We have an electric backhoe, come buy it". From what I can see the hydraulics are extremely slow and I have no idea of the machine speed. They didn't even show how quiet the machine is. A big fail as a marketing tool!!
 
W

Welder Dave

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Even on a jobsite there isn't likely to be 3 phase power to charge it. The tires look more like road tires than for any serious loader work. They need to do a side by side comparison with a diesel machine to see if it can keep up for an entire 8 hour day. Does the cab use electric heat and does it draw the battery down?
 
mitch504

mitch504

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Feb 27, 2010
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Andrews SC
One of the things they kept going back to, was an assertion that backhoes only work 4hrs or so per day, and idle the rest of the time. I wonder how this would do if you tried to bail dirt all day? Also, how many of you guys only work 8 hr days?
 
R

Ronsii

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Pretty easy to figure out what it will/can do... once they release the Kw specs on the batt.... case 580M ST = 60 Kw powerplant... even figuring 60 percent of that for usage is 288Kw for the day. But the way I run em' would probably be a bit higher ;)
 
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