Deere Excavator

[MRM99]

I got these pictures from a friend of mine that works for a survey company,
the contractor is widening the highway between Jasper TX and Kirbyville TX.
He didn't remember the model of the Deere, but he said the operator was was walking next to the ditch and the bank slid out from under him.

 

[Copenhagen]

Oops!

I wonder if he had his bucket that high off the ground while he was walking.

Change the oil, replace some glass. Should be good to go.

 

[nedly05]

thats why you don't buy a rental!

 

[equipment fan]

does the guy is correct?

 

[equipment fan]

sorry guys,i have seen my answer

 

[CM1995]

Did anyone get hurt?

 

[MRM99]

CM1995 No, nobody got hurt. The operator said it was a "slow" fall, he just held on for the ride! I'm hearing all of this 2'nd hand and after a couple of :drinkup :drinkup so I called him back today to comfirm. Personaly I think that the opperator (driver) may be new to this country and very creative, maybe he was trying to impress the boss by cleaning out the culvert:beatsme :usa
equipment fan, what was your question?

 

[dayexco]

he shouldn't have been tracking that close parallel to an excavation. looks like an experience, training situation to me.

 

[digger242j]

I wonder if he had his bucket that high off the ground while he was walking.

I don't imagine he was able to move it once it was on it's side. You have to wonder whether it would have gone over if he'd kept it tucked in and down lower?

 

[dayexco]

i don't think it would have made any dif what position his bucket was in, looking at the first picture, you can see he was very close, parallel to that excavation, on a sideslope...........and the bank just gave way.

 

[digger242j]

I'm sure we'll never know the answer for sure, but with the bucket way up like that it's got to have a much higher center of gravity than if it were down low. I'm just wondering if it were lower, whether it would have been more of a sideways slide, rather than a roll.

The other question I had was, if it did happen slowly (which, it may have just seemed to be happening in slow motion, as these things sometimes do), whether he could have saved it by a timely swing--either downhill, to catch it before it rolled, or uphill, to put more weight on the uphill side, again, keeping it from going over? Or would that have just made it worse?

 

[dayexco]

if he could have "caught" himself, 90 degreed his upperstructure into the excavation from the undercarriage...yeah, he wouldn't have rolled over. but common sense would have told an experienced, trained operator to never have put himself into that situation. loose soil, sideslope, parallel to the hole. it's a recipe for a disaster. he was fortunate that hole it tipped into wasn't another 20' deeper, and full of water.