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A few projects I have done recently

willie59

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Copy that. As for the hydraulic couplers, if the ones that you are using are a slightly larger version of standard flat face couplers, in my experience with hammers, you need to get rid of them. The pulses of a hammer will brinell the balls and grooves in the couplers, and they will also cause the couplers to come apart inside from the pules and shock of a hammer sending metal, not just fragments, but full size pieces of metal back to your machine. I've had this happen on smaller excavators with hammers, like Bobcat machine size excavators. I started using Stucchi VEP series couplers, never had another issue with hammer damage to couplers after making that change, and they will make and break with residual pressure. Only problem that I never came up with a good solution with using VEP couplers is, since they screw together, the vibrations of a hammer will cause them to un-screw. Simple fix is wrap Gorilla duct tape around the coupler once fitted to keep it from unscrewing, but I always wanted to come up with a better fix. But even with that quirk, the VEPHD couplers are far better than typical flat face couplers when using a breaker. > https://www.stucchiusa.com/products/threaded-flat-face-couplers/vephd-series/
 
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DGODGR

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Thanks Willie! It's been a long term plan on buying one.

We have a 4x8 piece of plexiglass at the yard for a wind screen (used that term just for our friends across the pond :D), haven't had the time to fit it up and didn't need it until today. Hammering at a distance for the moment - kinda like social distancing just more than 6 FT.:p

The hoses have larger versions of the quick connects found on compact equipment. Swapped the hammer for the bucket today on a trial run. Had to tap both QC's with a hammer slightly to disconnect them and they disconnected easily.
If the hoe can reach it with the hammer, it's still close enough to send shrapnel at the front window. At least with hard rock but not so much so if breaking concrete. It won't be so bad (dollar wise) if you lose a window on the CAT because they use straight glass. I use a 5,500# breaker on my Deere 245G and that curved glass is expensive, and not readily available in town. The (2) times I've had to order the glass it had to come out of Washington. It costs over $1,000 bucks to get both front windows (plus installation of the top glass). I've gone through many different window guards but have now settled on a Lexan type material. I ended up building a frame for both the upper and lower pieces. The plastic that I got also has a scratch resistant coating molded into it. It also cost me a $1,000 (cut, drilled, and shipped) but at least I'm now protecting the glass behind it. My Striker (the name that Toku hammers marketed in the US as) TNB 190 specs out a bit bigger than the Cat H130 shown in your pics. It's pretty cool to watch the 5.5" diameter tool ram it's way through rock!! I'm anxious to hear how the H130 works out for you. It sure looks sexy!
 

DGODGR

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Copy that. As for the hydraulic couplers, if the ones that you are using are a slightly larger version of standard flat face couplers, in my experience with hammers, you need to get rid of them. The pulses of a hammer will brinell the balls and grooves in the couplers, and they will also cause the couplers to come apart inside from the pules and shock of a hammer sending metal, not just fragments, but full size pieces of metal back to your machine. I've had this happen on smaller excavators with hammers, like Bobcat machine size excavators. I started using Stucchi VEP series couplers, never had another issue with hammer damage to couplers after making that change, and they will make and break with residual pressure. Only problem that I never came up with a good solution with using VEP couplers is, since they screw together, the vibrations of a hammer will cause them to un-screw. Simple fix is wrap Gorilla duct tape around the coupler once fitted to keep it from unscrewing, but I always wanted to come up with a better fix. But even with that quirk, the VEPHD couplers are far better than typical flat face couplers when using a breaker. > https://www.stucchiusa.com/products/threaded-flat-face-couplers/vephd-series/
I started out with direct connection of hoses (no quick couplers) with my hammer and ho-pac. I am currently also running Stucchis and they tend to come loose on me as well. Unfortunately if you don't catch them soon enough it will ruin the internal o-rings (non repairable) which allows them to leak when not connected. I have also had them tighten on me as well (which creates other issues). I like your idea of the tape so I will give that a try. If I keep having issues I'll end up going back to not having quick couplers for the hydraulic hoses. Theoretically they are better due to reduced restriction (particularly on return) anyway. I also have a hammer for my little (12k#) Bobcat mini. While I have destroyed a couple hydro quick couplers (as you described) I've never had any metal cause contamination problems in the hydraulic system and I've got about 6k hours on that little 435 too. The Stucchis are definitely spendy (especially in the larger sizes) but they are the only ones that reportedly don't cause heat issues. I have a buddy who runs big hammers (7,500#- 12,000#) in CA and he says that even the Stucchis generate heat due to flow restriction. I wanted to try them despite his claims. I have not had any heating issues but I do experience the issues that I've mentioned above.
 

Ronsii

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A few times when I was worried about shrapnel rock hitting nearby windowfronts in buildings I wrapped a thick rug around the hammer extending a couple inches below the moil.. just wrapped it around, put a cargo strap around the upper end of the rug an ratcheted it tight :) The only downside I noticed was I couldn't be too precise for tip placement... but it was a lot easier than putting plywood against all the storefronts and doors we had to leave access to... cut down on the dust too :)
 

CM1995

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Willie I'll see what brand fittings the Cat house put on there. Thanks for the info, I'm going to look into those Stucchi couplers. Can you buy them locally or mail order only?

AZ we're hammering mostly concrete. There are two large retainer walls (20' tall, 80' long and 18" thick) and some smaller structures. The retainer walls are on drilled piers with a 2x3 pier cap footing. All we have to do is remove the pier cap and cut any exposed rebar. We'll be renting a concrete processor from The Rental Store for the bulk of the retainer wall.

DGODR before we started opening businesses back up here my better 1/2 had the epiphany that plexiglass was soon to be a premium with all the cashier shields going up. Went to Costco and they had plexiglass between the urinals and sinks in the men's room for instance. Anyway we bought the last 4x8 sheet (I think 3/8") available at any of the 5 HD's in town. Just took delivery yesterday, the guys are fitting it up today for a temp guard.

Where did you get the lexan with anti-scratch coating? The piece I have is regular plexiglass and I know it will eventually get scratched up enough to really **** me off trying to see through it.:confused:

Ronsii I filed your rug on the hammer technique in the mental rolodex when I saw it in your thread.:D
 

jmac

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Congratulations on the hammer, very nice. We have one on our 320B and we had to do away with the hydro couplers because of what the others have said. We thread the hoses on directly. We also pin the hammer to the stick no quick couplers because I was told that you can break the quick couplers. I think we have even bent one of the mounting pins a little over time. It is a pain and takes time to swap out bucket to hammer without a quick coupler though. Concrete is what we use it for, large footings mostly. Amazing how fast it works.
Our front window is already plexi glass, lol
IMG-0277.jpg
 
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CM1995

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Thanks Jmac! What type of hammer is that?

95% of the time the machine will have a bucket and 5% hammering, so it's a cost I'm willing to accept, time is money. If I had another hoe to dedicate as a hammer machine that would be the best option but we don't. Our 321DL doesn't have aux. hydro's as that would be the machine to permanently hang a hammer on as it's coming up on "production retirement" and would make a great dedicated hammer hoe. Might have to look into what it would cost to add the lines.

What I really like about the 325FL is the roller switch on the right hand joystick that operates the hammer circuit. If it's a thin piece of concrete you can just bump it and the hammer will hit it slightly a couple of times, helps keep from dry firing through the break.
 

CM1995

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Nige back to the terracotta pipe. The terracotta was in great shape and no buildup on the inside of the pipe - it looked like there was a never a turd floated down it.

Now the ductile/cast iron laterals coming out of the building are a totally different story. All but one DI lateral coming out of the building was rusted, deteriorated and broke at the building. It's amazing there was any flow in the lines. I guess head pressure kept the turds pushed through.:rolleyes:

Couple of broken laterals -

IMG_0595.jpeg IMG_0653.jpeg IMG_0590 (1).jpeg

The only lateral that wasn't broken - we broke this one.:D

IMG_0584.jpeg
 

willie59

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Willie I'll see what brand fittings the Cat house put on there. Thanks for the info, I'm going to look into those Stucchi couplers. Can you buy them locally or mail order only?

Stucchi sells through distributor network, you can probably contact them and find there's a distributor in your area, I'd be willing to bet there is. Myself, when I worked at ATCO, Blue Diamond Attachments was a Stucchi Distributor so I was able to order direct from Stucchi.

One thing I'm seeing here is excavators with a thumb fitted while using a breaker. That's fine, but one thing I learned from experience (the hard way) was that you need to make certain that no part of the breaker mounting plate comes in contact with the weldment of that thumb bottom pivot. If it does you'll break pins and even snap the mounting flanges for the breaker. Just make sure no part of that hammer contacts that thumb mount before bucket cylinder has reached full extension.
 

Ronsii

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Ronsii I filed your rug on the hammer technique in the mental rolodex when I saw it in your thread.:D

Yeah, I remember talking about it in a thread once before and I think I even put up some pics.... but couldn't remember what thread it was in??? otherwise I would have linked it in the previous post. :)
 

DGODGR

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CM1995 said:
DGODR before we started opening businesses back up here my better 1/2 had the epiphany that plexiglass was soon to be a premium with all the cashier shields going up. Went to Costco and they had plexiglass between the urinals and sinks in the men's room for instance. Anyway we bought the last 4x8 sheet (I think 3/8") available at any of the 5 HD's in town. Just took delivery yesterday, the guys are fitting it up today for a temp guard.

Where did you get the lexan with anti-scratch coating? The piece I have is regular plexiglass and I know it will eventually get scratched up enough to really **** me off trying to see through it.:confused:
I found the outfit on line. I'll look at receipts and get back to you. I think it will all scratch at some point. I paid the extra bit to see if it will last longer. Unfortunately dust will be your enemy. When making mounts be sure to push the guard far enough from the cab so that you can clean BOTH sides of it (and the OEM window too). The next worry is how to keep the Lexan from getting scratched while being stored and/or transported. Cardboard boxes is what I've found to be best so far.
 

willie59

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SAR acrylic has been out there for some time, won't find it at box stores, have to source a distributor who deals in plastics. Any acrylic sheet, even Lexan, will work to shield a cab from breaker fragments, although Lexan is far better than straight acrylic because it's more shatter resistant. But any straight acrylic sheet will scratch, just in routine cleaning, wiping it with a cloth, which will obscure vision. That's where SAR sheets come in to play, the surface coating on SAR sheets give a hard (like glass) surface that resists scratching and marring when wiping them for cleaning. As for breakers, SAR changes little. The chips from a breaker will still produce damage, nothing gained there, impact from breaker chips will damage any vision screen including glass. Advantage for SAR sheets is reduced scratching from cleaning enviro dust, much better clear choice than ordinary acrylic sheet.
 

DGODGR

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We thread the hoses on directly. We also pin the hammer to the stick no quick couplers because I was told that you can break the quick couplers. I think we have even bent one of the mounting pins a little over time. It is a pain and takes time to swap out bucket to hammer without a quick coupler though.
I've heard similar statements in the past. In my opinion the right couplers hold up well with breakers. I had no problems with my CAT pin-grabber (on CAT 315 with TNB 110 3,000# breaker). My 245G has a JRB pin-grabber and it's showing no signs of issues from hammer use. In a previous post mentioned my buddy in CA. As I said he runs 336, a 330 and a 345. They all have CAT pin-grabbers. He runs hammers, has a bucket crusher, a screening bucket, and even a grinder head, and he says the couplers hold up well to the abuse that even those larger machines dish out. The one thing to note is that all the coupler I have mentioned are wedge style pin-grabbers. They are always keeping positive tension so no slop is present. On the plus side...CM1995's coupler is a CAT wedge-lock style pin-grabber!
 

CM1995

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Yeah, I remember talking about it in a thread once before and I think I even put up some pics.... but couldn't remember what thread it was in??? otherwise I would have linked it in the previous post. :)

Ronsii I think it was in thread where you posted the concrete tear out and re-pour pics. It was in front of a store or other commercial building.

I found the outfit on line. I'll look at receipts and get back to you. I think it will all scratch at some point. I paid the extra bit to see if it will last longer. Unfortunately dust will be your enemy. When making mounts be sure to push the guard far enough from the cab so that you can clean BOTH sides of it (and the OEM window too). The next worry is how to keep the Lexan from getting scratched while being stored and/or transported. Cardboard boxes is what I've found to be best so far.

We're trying to find the part numbers for the double threaded studs that attach to the excavator cab and the vandal guards attach to for mounting our piece of lexan. I saved a home A/C filter box that's wide enough for it to slide into just need another one for the top for storage.

On this job we brought an extra mini-conex box for storage in addition to the job box. We'll keep the plexiglass in there.

Stucchi sells through distributor network, you can probably contact them and find there's a distributor in your area, I'd be willing to bet there is. Myself, when I worked at ATCO, Blue Diamond Attachments was a Stucchi Distributor so I was able to order direct from Stucchi.

One thing I'm seeing here is excavators with a thumb fitted while using a breaker. That's fine, but one thing I learned from experience (the hard way) was that you need to make certain that no part of the breaker mounting plate comes in contact with the weldment of that thumb bottom pivot. If it does you'll break pins and even snap the mounting flanges for the breaker. Just make sure no part of that hammer contacts that thumb mount before bucket cylinder has reached full extension.

Cat was going to arc gouge the original thumb plate and move it down so it would work with the QC and bucket but no configuration would work so they are ordering a new set of longer times designed to work with a QC. New tines is a much better solution as I was not thrilled to put that much heat on the stick. No difference in price for me and we get new tines - it's all about the dealer ya'll.;)

Willie I don't think the hammer or mounting bracket can hit our thumb with the QC, it might if it was direct pinned to the stick.

I've heard similar statements in the past. In my opinion the right couplers hold up well with breakers. I had no problems with my CAT pin-grabber (on CAT 315 with TNB 110 3,000# breaker). My 245G has a JRB pin-grabber and it's showing no signs of issues from hammer use. In a previous post mentioned my buddy in CA. As I said he runs 336, a 330 and a 345. They all have CAT pin-grabbers. He runs hammers, has a bucket crusher, a screening bucket, and even a grinder head, and he says the couplers hold up well to the abuse that even those larger machines dish out. The one thing to note is that all the coupler I have mentioned are wedge style pin-grabbers. They are always keeping positive tension so no slop is present. On the plus side...CM1995's coupler is a CAT wedge-lock style pin-grabber!

The Cat mechanic had the same concern when I talked to him at their shop. This is not the first QC we've had but it is the first hammer we've owned. The only issue we've had with QC's in the past is the small hydro lines that go to the coupler, just need to keep a spare set of those on the truck as rocks destroy them.

That's good to hear that your friend is running the same setup and not having problems. I figured worse case scenario we have to replace some of the wedges or cylinders from time to time which is a cost I'm willing to absorb for the convenience.

Question - Does anyone know if you can track attachment hours on the monitor on a 325FL? We need to keep track of the hammer hour usage for service.
 

Ronsii

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Ronsii I think it was in thread where you posted the concrete tear out and re-pour pics. It was in front of a store or other commercial building.
I found a pic on my computer :) we were breaking the main entrance slab to the offices on a warehouse 6' X 30' or so.... 6inch slab whith rebar and a thickened edge near the curb for the last foot and a half that I had to hand break to get depth for the repour.

This was just a pretty thick floppy rug that weighed about 20 pounds... size is about 2-3 feet by 3-4 feet and I just used a ratchet strap around the top of the rug to hold it in place... worked like a treat :)
abm-levee-breakerwrap.jpg
 

DGODGR

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IMG_1549.jpg I hope that I'm not hijacking the thread CM but I was inspired to share. Here is a pic from a demo job last October. The structure was downtown and was an old brick building reported to me as originally built in the late 1800s. I was also told that it served as railroad shop building, brothel, restaurant, and lastly shop/storage for a hotel (seen in background and also built in the 1800s). I demoed all the wood roof and interior walls for export to the dump, then recycled the exterior brick, slab, and foundation into gravel and spread it out over the parking lot. The pick shows the 245G with the hammer and the 315CL with the crusher.
 

DGODGR

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This was just a pretty thick floppy rug that weighed about 20 pounds... size is about 2-3 feet by 3-4 feet and I just used a ratchet strap around the top of the rug to hold it in place... worked like a treat :)
View attachment 217700
I like that idea Ronsil. I agree with you regarding the lack of precise placement of the tip but I hope you don't mind if I steal that idea and try that in the future.
 

Ronsii

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I like that idea Ronsil. I agree with you regarding the lack of precise placement of the tip but I hope you don't mind if I steal that idea and try that in the future.

Well..... I might be able to license the idea to you.... ;)

I remember the first time I had the idea...tried using cardboard - that lasted all of 10 minutes before it was ripped, falling off and worthless. Any kind of semi-flexible tough material should work as long as rebar doesn't hook into it an yank it off:eek:
 

petepilot

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Well..... I might be able to license the idea to you.... ;)

I remember the first time I had the idea...tried using cardboard - that lasted all of 10 minutes before it was ripped, falling off and worthless. Any kind of semi-flexible tough material should work as long as rebar doesn't hook into it an yank it off:eek:
a double wrap of rubber roofing works wonders
 
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