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Doing the long walk

Saltuarius

Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Messages
8
Location
Mt Carbine, Qld, Australia
Occupation
Retired
Greetings Brainstrust. I live a tad isolated and need to get a 3 ton excavator home. I can't find anyone that will deliver it for me. So I plan on walking it 17km up a mountain track. Is it possible and what do I need to take into consideration along the way. My plan is to move the excavator a kilometre up the track, walk back and drive my ute up to the excavator. And repeat 17 times. Any advice will be greatfully accepted. Cheers.
 

Tags

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2012
Messages
1,618
Location
Connecticut
Welcome to the forum! Make sure you have a comfy pair of hiking boots or running shoes is about all I can offer. :D
 

DMiller

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Feb 21, 2010
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16,575
Location
Hermann, Missouri
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Cheap "old" Geezer
Played the leapfrog game more than once, enjoy as there is not much else can do in the conditions noted.
 

Nige

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Jun 22, 2011
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29,372
Location
G..G..G..Granville.........!! Fetch your cloth.
It might pay you to get hold of an infra-red temp gun and keep a check on the final drive & undercarriage (roller, idler, etc) temperatures. If they get much above 60 DegC/145 DegF you might consider taking a longer stop until they cool down a hair.
 
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Saltuarius

Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Messages
8
Location
Mt Carbine, Qld, Australia
Occupation
Retired
Good point Nige, I have no access to a temp gun but I will keep an eye on temps by using my hand. I'll have coffee making facilities with me and plan on stopping as often as needed. As a side point, my mate used to drive a 300 ton excavator at a mine and he wasn't allowed to walk it very far at all without a water truck accompanying him :)
 

kshansen

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Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
11,165
Location
Central New York, USA
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Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
Good point Nige, I have no access to a temp gun but I will keep an eye on temps by using my hand. I'll have coffee making facilities with me and plan on stopping as often as needed. As a side point, my mate used to drive a 300 ton excavator at a mine and he wasn't allowed to walk it very far at all without a water truck accompanying him :)
I'd suggest case of Fosters in place of the coffee, but by the time you got it to where you need to be you would be in no shape to be moving it or the ute!
 

Bls repair

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2017
Messages
1,612
Location
S E Pa
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Equipment operator,mechanic
Can you hook the Ute to the machine and tow it with you?
 

Bls repair

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2017
Messages
1,612
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S E Pa
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Equipment operator,mechanic
Carry a bicycle with you ride back to Ute drive up to machine repeat
 

kshansen

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
11,165
Location
Central New York, USA
Occupation
Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
Y'all know Aussies don't drink Fosters right. Fosters is a joke we are playing on the world :) The track is too steep for a bicycle and I think the cool down time is important if I walk back.
Well damn! You had me fooled, did one search and it was not even in the top 15! Where Great North Brewing and Carlton are tied for first at 12% each for 2019!
 

Queenslander

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
1,248
Location
Australia
Yes, we just export Fosters ‘cause no one here will drink the stuff.
In Qld, XXXX was THE most popular beer for about 100 years.
Within 10 years Great Northern has firmly replaced it as the number one brew.
If I was a little closer I would run that digger up the hill for you for a coupla cartons of GN.:D
 

Queenslander

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
1,248
Location
Australia
Assuming that you are near Mt. Carbine, north of Mareeba, Google Maps says that Iam 1500km away.
We’re north of Chinchilla, east of Taroom.
FEA7BB5E-C63E-42C7-8FED-92122F2B1358.jpeg
 

Willie B

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2016
Messages
4,062
Location
Mount Tabor VT
Occupation
Electrician
I don't own a mini excavator, so I'm not the one to advise. I'd be concerned about heating my torque converter if it was a backhoe. Though you are likely talking steep rough road, so not a high gear event.
Are these things built for long climbs? I think of excavators designed to move around an excavation site, not long climbs.
 

Saltuarius

Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Messages
8
Location
Mt Carbine, Qld, Australia
Occupation
Retired
Well, I'm back home but the machine isn't :) It turned out not to be in quite the same condition as the seller said it was. When I said I was looking for a 3 to 5 ton reliable excavator for farm use, he must have heard 3 to 5 ton Shite Box of an excavator :) I did attempt to drive her home but after three hours of driving (ever so slowly), stopping, walking back for the ute and driving it up, I had managed to travel less than 1.5 kilometres (less than a mile). I did a quick calculation and worked out that at that rate it would be over thirty hours more of driving time, not including rest periods (of perhaps an hour every three hours of driving and walking back). At that point I was still below the first of the steep sections and seriously doubted whether it could manage to climb much further. I camped the night and the next morning turned around and headed back down the hill. I simply didn't have enough food or water with me.
 

Saltuarius

Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Messages
8
Location
Mt Carbine, Qld, Australia
Occupation
Retired
Hey Queenslander I'll be down your way soon. I'm heading to Wondai (to help a mate build a verandah) and I've never been up the Boyne Valley before, so going that way. I'll wave as I go past :)
 

Welder Dave

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Oct 11, 2014
Messages
12,538
Location
Canada
Well, I'm back home but the machine isn't :) It turned out not to be in quite the same condition as the seller said it was. When I said I was looking for a 3 to 5 ton reliable excavator for farm use, he must have heard 3 to 5 ton Shite Box of an excavator :) I did attempt to drive her home but after three hours of driving (ever so slowly), stopping, walking back for the ute and driving it up, I had managed to travel less than 1.5 kilometres (less than a mile). I did a quick calculation and worked out that at that rate it would be over thirty hours more of driving time, not including rest periods (of perhaps an hour every three hours of driving and walking back). At that point I was still below the first of the steep sections and seriously doubted whether it could manage to climb much further. I camped the night and the next morning turned around and headed back down the hill. I simply didn't have enough food or water with me.


So you returned it and got your money back? Don't leave us hanging.
 
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