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Why do vintage excavators have the boom on the left?

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Welder Dave

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Last edited:
skyking1

skyking1

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JD955SC said:
The first excavator I ever got up close and personal with was my uncle’s big old American 35. Flat crane pads, cab on right, Detroit power.
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I ran a 45 briefly on a landfill closure job for tri-state. It had a huge hoe pack on it. I remember it had some buttons on the largish control knobs/handles that did questionable functions, and you had to counterswing it pretty hard. It also had a very weak travel motor and you played hell climbing it up out of the cut.
 
skyking1

skyking1

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John C. said:
Did you ever get to run their Koehring 1466. Twin Detroits to scream at you all day long.
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No, that American was the only old iron I ran for them. Most of my time there was on a 988B with spade bucket. I loaded out 90,000 yards of topsoil from a nearby farm for final cover.
 
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cuttin edge

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John C. said:
Ever hear of the Lima Locomotive company. How about Lima shovels. Maybe Marion and Bucyrus Erie came before Massey Ferguson in making shovels?
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I believe he was saying Massey excavator. An excavator is not a shovel. Stop trying to pick a fight! Not sure what your problem with Welder Dave is, but I am tired of it. You're treading dangerously close to becoming an online troll, and if it keeps up, I'm going to request the big bull with the ring in his nose do something!
 
Truck Shop

Truck Shop

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Shimmy1 said:
This is easy to make, most likely a mirror image. The absence of any decals usually proves it.
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Yeah your right about that, but something about the shape of the main body doesn't look right or the boom. Don't know.
 
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Bluox

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cuttin edge said:
I believe he was saying Massey excavator. An excavator is not a shovel. Stop trying to pick a fight! Not sure what your problem with Welder Dave is, but I am tired of it. You're treading dangerously close to becoming an online troll, and if it keeps up, I'm going to request the big bull with the ring in his nose do something!
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Actually a hydraulic excavator can be a shovel .just depends on what front is on it .
The trouble with people on here is a lot of them are not familiar with what they are talking about .
Bob
 
skyking1

skyking1

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Bluox said:
When I worked for them if you mean Tri state from Seattle they had 2 1266 machines ,one DD one Cummins .
The last one they had sold for 7500 USD at their clean up sale a few years back.
Bob
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yes that was the outfit. It was the Chehalis landfill closure job. The exact year evades me :D
Mid-late 90's?
 
C

cuttin edge

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Bluox said:
Actually a hydraulic excavator can be a shovel .just depends on what front is on it .
The trouble with people on here is a lot of them are not familiar with what they are talking about .
Bob
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Both men have a lot to contribute to this forum, and I read and respect comments from both, but whatever the dirt is between them can be aired through private messaging, hense the post about this being a great place to hang out and get info. time to move on, and not keep the issue going. I get upset with people on here as well, weather through a direct comment, or something that I might have misread, but I am 48 years old, and I get over it and move on.
 
John C.

John C.

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Mother Deuce said:
Tommy still driving the train there? Or has he retired?
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Tri-State closed up some years ago now. The liquidated all the assets as I recall in a Ritchie auction.

Bluox said:
When I worked for them if you mean Tri state from Seattle they had 2 1266 machines ,one DD one Cummins .
The last one they had sold for 7500 USD at their clean up sale a few years back.
Bob
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My memory keeps getting darker all the time. It was a 1266 and I had to appraise it twice. There was a 1466 on that Queen City Farms job that was brought in from out of state. This is the first time I've heard a price on that machine. They were upset when only $10K was offered on a trade.

The shovel on the machine in my avatar was removed and a sixty foot crane boom was installed. Does that mean it is no longer a shovel? At that time it used a clamshell bucket. Years later when I came across it again, it had a dragline bucket installed. Is it still no longer a shovel? All the "excavators" made in Japan have an extra hydraulic circuit installed so that a shovel front can be installed and a clam style shovel bucket used. It seems the job that they accomplish is how something is named. So why is a backhoe that digs the same way as an excavator not called an excavator? By the inverse reasoning why isn't an excavator just called a backhoe?
 
Mother Deuce

Mother Deuce

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John C. said:
Tri-State closed up some years ago now. The liquidated all the assets as I recall in a Ritchie auction.



My memory keeps getting darker all the time. It was a 1266 and I had to appraise it twice. There was a 1466 on that Queen City Farms job that was brought in from out of state. This is the first time I've heard a price on that machine. They were upset when only $10K was offered on a trade.

The shovel on the machine in my avatar was removed and a sixty foot crane boom was installed. Does that mean it is no longer a shovel? At that time it used a clamshell bucket. Years later when I came across it again, it had a dragline bucket installed. Is it still no longer a shovel? All the "excavators" made in Japan have an extra hydraulic circuit installed so that a shovel front can be installed and a clam style shovel bucket used. It seems the job that they accomplish is how something is named. So why is a backhoe that digs the same way as an excavator not called an excavator? By the inverse reasoning why isn't an excavator just called a backhoe?
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Thanks John... had no idea they packed it in. Really liked Tommy.
 
E

excavator

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cuttin edge said:
I believe he was saying Massey excavator. An excavator is not a shovel. Stop trying to pick a fight! Not sure what your problem with Welder Dave is, but I am tired of it. You're treading dangerously close to becoming an online troll, and if it keeps up, I'm going to request the big bull with the ring in his nose do something!
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I think you're being a little overly dramatic, I didn't really see a fight being picked until your comment. Simply two guys with a minor disagreement. If you see something you don't like, shrug your shoulders, be an adult and move on. We have an awesome site here and we don't need it to become FaceBook.
 
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