"Hoe pack"?

I was heading home from work one day when I stopped by a jobsite closed for the night by the bus stop I was waiting at. I noticed an assortment of excavator attachments sitting neatly at the bottom of a slope which are several different buckets and a breaker. But one of them grabbed my attention more than the rest.

The first thought that came to me was it was a hoe pack designed to pack asphalt and soil. But as I got my eyes closer to the fence hole for a closer look, I realized that doesn't really look like a hoe pack if I ever see one.

The first thing that was off about this attachment is the shape; hoe packs that I see don't really use a sound suppressor shroud box. ............Or do they? Can hoe packs' decibel levels be as high as a breaker's in confined areas like tunnels?
The other anomaly here is that hoe packs don't have BUCKET TEETH! - Which this device clearly shows!

So I snapped as many pics of this attachment as I could each day I was heading home to get as many angled shots as possible. After that, I got to work theorizing this device's usage. But in the end, I'm stumped. The only theory on why I would weld bucket teeth to a hoe pack is to create grooves in the road afterwards when the soil/asphalt is compacted. That way, cars and trucks won't jackknife or slide when the road is slippery when there's snow, ice, or rain.

What is your opinion on this attachment?

Maybe they want it to be similar to a pad foot packer? Looks like the bars might go all away across the bottom. They aren't bucket teeth.

Thread title misled me........

.........need more coffee

Crusher bucket? don’t give up your day job for photography

Vetech63 said:

Thread title misled me........
View attachment 227116
.........need more coffee

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I was awaiting a Party bus of Hoe's in photos, DANGIT!!

Maybe I should've titled this thread "Mystery Attachment 2"......... -_- And no, it's not a crusher bucket. It doesn't have a visible opening in the front where loose bulk goes in.

"Bateman" is your clue... I'm going to say it's a hydraulically driven scrap magnet. Buehler?

lantraxco said:

"Bateman" is your clue... I'm going to say it's a hydraulically driven scrap magnet. Buehler?

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"Bateman"? "Scrap magnet"? Hold on, let me check............ That's funny, I don't see any magnets that look like what I photographed. But other than that, magnets that I see are typically shaped like manhole covers (for material handlers and excavators). I don't recall magnets looking like......... that.

I'll hazard a guess here. Ho-Pac unit with extra guarding to prevent debris from entering the mechanical parts. Used to break extraneous concrete pieces off of rebar for a cleaner recycle program and rubble-ize small pieces of concrete. I could see where something like this may be faster than a jaw-crusher attachment for finish work.

Unless those outer teeth move like a sickle bar cutter and are used to cut the rebar and wire - doubt this. Likely just teeth for sorting. separating and sizing product.

All this is just a guess on my part. I would like to know exactly what it is.

I checked the Bateman site and they do make a bunch of different types of magnets and they custom build to specs. Most magnets I've been around were donut shaped but their site shows a couple of square ones for material handling. I like the concept in that the teeth can be used to drag through loose material looking for tramp steel. I have been asked a couple of times about the cost of adding a magnet to excavators. I have also seen a couple used for demolition. That attachment does have quick coupler lugs. All the mags that I've seen were mounted with chains.

Cartoondude135 said:

"Bateman"? "Scrap magnet"? Hold on, let me check............ That's funny, I don't see any magnets that look like what I photographed. But other than that, magnets that I see are typically shaped like manhole covers (for material handlers and excavators). I don't recall magnets looking like......... that.

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Agreed, it's just a guess... usually magnets are wired, but this looks like the hydraulic motor and generator are in that ventilated housing. Reason I'm thinking it's not some sort of hoe-pack or vibratory driver, there's no rubber suspension anywhere... would literally shake an excavator boom to scrap, they're bad enough with the rubber biscuits. I like their bucket magnets!