Cool Demolition Jobs!

[Turbo21835]

A lot has to do with application. House demo, yes a grapple will work. You will need a bucket to finish up though. So you dont have to switch to that with a thumb. If you have to switch to a hammer, you still have to take the thumb off, so there is no difference between a grapple and bucket/thumb there.

The kind of demo Demoguy324 is doing is heavy industrial. I know, We worked for the same outfit for a while, he got laid off and went out west. Few months later i got laid off and im still sitting at the house. Thats a whole nother story. A lot of the applictaions for a grapple cannot be done with a bucket/thumb. A lot of times you use the grapple to grab a hold of a beam, push, pull, twist and drag that iron off the building. You really cant do that with a bucket.

A lot of the time you are on a concrete slab. A big part of the job is using an I beam as a bulldozer blade. Rather that pick things up and throw them around, You push them into a pile. My job was sorting non ferrous metals and preping them for shipment. I would sit in front of the pile i was going through. Pick the various metals out and put them in a different place in my swing radius. Then with that beam, I would push that material to a bigger pile of that corrosponding metal. You could do it with a bucket/thumb. It would be a lot slower. You also have a hard time pushing a beam with a thumb, it doesnt hold stiff like a grapple does.

I can do anything with a grapple that you can do with a bucket/thumb. As long as i have a lot of material I can load debris out just the same, until I get down to the last 10 yards of material. Someone said something about concrete block. We would track over it with the hoe, them pile it up with a beam. Leaves us good crushed concrete for fill.

As I have said, the both have a place in demo, but a bucket/thumb doesnt have a place in heavy industrial demo.

 

[Demoguy324]

the loading principal with a grapple is more comprable to a front shovel, than a traditional excavator, you scoop with the back side, then clamp down with the top side (this is also why the back side of the grapple is larger, a lot of people question this from a visibility standpoint.) but with a thumb you can't push on the thumb, otherwise it will fold back under.

but The major difference i've seen between grapples and thumbs is cycle time. with a stiff arm grapple, it almost becomes subconscious you swing around, to pick the next load and you always know exactly where the back side of the grapple is.

with buckets, the operator has to constantly think about where the bucket is in relation to the thumb. in picking operations he then has to stop, compensate the thumb, then the bucket, then the thumb. and still miss what he's aiming for on a regular basis.

I'd say on average the cycle time with a grapple is at most 1/4 the time of a bucket/thumb combo.

buckets/thumbs are for excavating contractors, who once in a while do a house demo, and not for production demo.

 

[mxsledder]

I disagree we do alot of demo big and small and a progressive link thumb with a big bucket is the way to go. The thing about demo is there is usually more cement to be hauled away than anything else. With our 360b I can load cement way faster with a big bucket "3yards" and a thumb than I ever could with a grapple. I can load our 45yard end dumps in under ten minutes with garbage. I cant do it any faster with a grapple. Just my opinion

 

[Dozerboy]

Ok I can see what ya'll are saying, but you don't have to only use a bucket with a hyd. thumb we have a grapple for ours. I do agree 100% that a hyd. thumb isn't the best choice for heavy industrial demo of steel structures. For the rest a hyd. is probably just as good and a lot better in some instances. I use the thumb alone a bit and being able change the angle helps a ton for tedious work. We did a lot of "production demo" of wood/concrete industrial buildings and I don't see any advantage to a fixed thumb other then durability pulse there is no need to remove it for other attachments. I have no problem thinking about the attachments' relation to a hyd. thumb without stopping, but most of the time I try to move it as little as possible. However I have also been able to walk, talk, and chew gum my whole life...J/K

This thread the first post is the only pics off hand I have of some of the demo we did with hyd. thumbs. There where 140 buildings IIRC, so it was far from the occasional house demo. We always had some demo projects going.

MXsledder beat me to it
Normally we never loaded trucks with our hoes we had 7yd and bigger wheel loaders for that as far as concrete goes and sometimes wood and such too.

 

[Demoguy324]

one other issue with our thumbs is that they are built and plumbed by Jewell...the controls are on the triggers, and do not operate smoothly, Jewell are pretty good fabricators, but they really need to hire a few more hydraulic engineers. (not to mention translators, so the shop labor can understand what they're being asked to do...)

Eric

 

[Chrispy]

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but I was wondering if anyone knows of a uhd hoe out here in western Canada? We have a unique demo job this spring/summer that has some big machine location challenges and I would like to get some ideas as to the capabilities and limitations of these machines.

 

[CM1995]

Welcome to the Forums Chrispy!

 

[Turbo21835]

Chrispy, first of welcome. Second, what kind of building are you looking at. Height, concrete, or iron, time frame, what kind of space limitations do you have? Pictures would be helpful

 

[Chrispy]

Thanks for the greetings guys. I'm fairly new to this kind of work but I'm looking ofrward to having some experienced guys to bounce ideas off of. I don't believe in reinventing the wheel if necessary. Unfortunately because of the nature of our work/tender process I can't give out any pic's. What I can tell you though is the item to be demo'd sits approx 20' below and 60-70' away from anywhere we could get a larger piece of machinery to. The concrete piece is reinforced(cicra 1960's) and anywhere from 2.5' to 17' in thickness. I am trying to think "outside the box" as to means to demo it without using explosives.

 

[Wolf]

Hello Chrispy and welcome to the forum.

I'm glad you got this thread going again, because it's great to hear about all the cool demoliton jobs that are going on around the world. Keep the good stories and pictures coming.

Tell us about the cool demolition jobs you are working on.

 

[mowzall]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post but...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGfymFqtscY
no special permits are needed but perhaps the big hat worn by the guy at the end is required?

 

[Turbo21835]

Well Chrispy, without seeing it, i cant help with a plan of attack. The biggest factor is going to be height. With the reach of 60-70 feet, its not close enough for a HRD machine to reach eficently, even when at MCM with a 385 HRD machine 130 feet was about the max reach. Top that off, most HRD machines cant work below its grade. The hydraulic systems will not allow it. In fact I have heard stories of a 345HRD machine. The company had a basement they were finishing cleaning out. They couldnt reach a few pieces of iron with a regular machine so they tried with the HRD. Well the operator was able to get ahold of the iron, but could no longer boom back up, even without the iron. It took a mechanic and a assist machine to raise the boom again.

With that kind of concrete, I see only a few options. 1 is to haul material in, build a ramp to your lower level. After that you should be able to get a conventional machine to the building. 2 Is to use a crane with a ball to wreck your concrete section. This means you would not have to haul material in. 3 Use a crane to lift mini excavators and skid steers to the top floor and work floor by floor down. A HRD does good with concrete, but when it comes to heavy steel, they just cant heft a tool that is strong enough to effectively cut that heavy steel.

Surely sounds like you guys have an interesting job coming up. Sounds like its on the challenging side. Not saying im the greatest demo guy, but im always looking for a good company to go to work for, maybe you guys would be interested in bringing someone on to give you a hand?

 

[MAC-EX]

Well, I am dirt dog but I still have demo in my heart. I just love the destruction. My step dad is a house mover and demo contractor. I can remember some of his awesome jobs he had when I was a cub. He had a crane with wrecking ball, 977 track loader and some trucks. I mostly worked on the house moving side, but jumped at the chance to demo. I got some cool pics I would love to share, but I guess dont get to post em. Well, when I graduate I'll post em...

Biggest house I moved was 3 story 150 ton.

Later!

 

[Wolf]

Well, I am dirt dog but I still have demo in my heart. I just love the destruction. My step dad is a house mover and demo contractor. I can remember some of his awesome jobs he had when I was a cub. He had a crane with wrecking ball, 977 track loader and some trucks. I mostly worked on the house moving side, but jumped at the chance to demo. I got some cool pics I would love to share, but I guess FNG"S dont get to post em. Well, when I graduate I'll post em...

Biggest house I moved was 3 story 150 ton.

Later!

Now that sounds like some serious demo. Wrecking with a ball and crane. Wow, what kind of buildings did you guys tackle. Any really cool old ones.

And the 977L that is the killer demolition machine. Just rips everything up and crushes it. Love those old track loaders. So darn cool. Did you ever run the machines to tear down the buildings with your uncle. What kind of buildings did you tackle?

Keep submitting posts and you will be able to post those pictures. We'd all love to see your demo shots man.

Later bro.

 

[MAC-EX]

Hey Wolf,

I have seen many posts from you, you seem real passionate about demo. It is habit forming isn't it. lol. I think I could get addicted to it as well. The demo game around here is VERY competitive. I believe I would do more demo if I could get my foot in the door. The insurance in insane and the liability these days are crazy. That being said, given the chance I'll do more.

Yes, we have done some cool old buildings. My step dad tore down an old cell house at the prison here. Thought it would be easy, boy did he get an awakening. Tore down fire station, school house, flower mill, motels, and lots of army barracks here at Ft. Carson. He was the busiest in the 70's and early 80's.

Yes, I did get to use the 977 on a couple houses and part of the old motel building. Some of the structures I have moved are: Many houses, historical caboose, airplane, bridges. Also have done Raise and Holds. Which means we raise the house a bit and then dig underneath with bobcat for new foundations. That is a trip. Also have raised houses as high as 12 ft in the air for new foundations.

By the way, I was informed that I broke the rules and used hidden profanity. I aplogize and hope I did not offend anybody.

Aight then, be cool.

 

[digger242j]

Also have done Raise and Holds. Which means we raise the house a bit and then dig underneath with bobcat for new foundations. That is a trip. Also have raised houses as high as 12 ft in the air for new foundations.

I've dabbled in a couple such projects, mainly with an old friend who has since passed away. Never an entire house though. I'd be interested in seeing/discussing anything having to do with that stuff.

And, welcome to the forums. :drinkup

 

[MAC-EX]

Demo/House moving pics

OK, here are some pics. First, cell house six Old Max Canon City Colorado early 70's. Next, a cabin was built 5' over property line. Had to move it in proper spot, then 2 story house to make way for parking lot Co Springs Co. My pride and joy, biggest house movedfor hospital expansion ENJOY

 

[ddigger]

Heres a job I was involved in. I ran one of the hammers during the demo, and then ran my own machine for some of the clean up, near the end of the vidieo you can see my cat excavator loading trucks.
http://mtc.ca.gov/news/info/movies/bay_bridge_video_9-07.htm

 

[DigDug]

cool time lapse video:drinkup

 

[Wolf]

Heres a job I was involved in. I ran one of the hammers during the demo, and then ran my own machine for some of the clean up, near the end of the vidieo you can see my cat excavator loading trucks.
http://mtc.ca.gov/news/info/movies/bay_bridge_video_9-07.htm

That is a very cool time lapse video. I remember well when they closed the Bay Bridge over Labor Day. That was a big deal. I went sailing out of Treasure Island that day, so was very close to where the demo work was going on Could actually see it from the water. Which outfit are you with, running the hammer and CAT, and what other kinds of demo are you doing in the BAy Area. Best.