Scrapers in Non Western Countries

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . I have often wondered about those set Artic setups, do they self load in that sandy material?

What advantage are they over the large Agricultural tractors?

If they still need a bunt up the arse it seems a complicated prime mover set-up compared to a conventional two wheel scraper tractor.

Without seeing the the job I would imagine a lot of material in that part of the the world would look a lot like egg-beater dirt.

Cheers.

 

[Oxbow]

Nice pictures Shane K! I can see where this type of set up would be more cost effective than conventional scrapers where rock is not an issue. I have not run one of these outfits, but I suspect that gps or laser grade control is highly desireable with them as visibility to the cutting edge, and "feel" would be quite different than conventional scrapers.

 

[ShaneK]

Yair . . . I have often wondered about those set Artic setups, do they self load in that sandy material?
What advantage are they over the large Agricultural tractors?
If they still need a bunt up the arse it seems a complicated prime mover set-up compared to a conventional two wheel scraper tractor.
Without seeing the the job I would imagine a lot of material in that part of the the world would look a lot like egg-beater dirt.
Cheers.

I'd say the main advantages of Artics over Tractors would be the increased horsepower and the increased speeds on longer haul roads. You can rip down 3 times as fast to improve cylce time/productivity if comparing against an ag tractor.
Here's a you-tube video of this same Saudi Arabia contractor self-loading:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNZwSYVjLtA
They had some existing pushers in their fleet to, so for the majority of the time they were pushing to further improve productivity.

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . Without going too far O/T I would like to say I agree with poster Greg's comments completely. He has always been a great advocate of drawbar pulled scoops (scrapers) and crawler tractors.

It always comes down to horses for courses though, you wouldn't want to be hauling more than a quarter mile and walking gear is an an issue when you work in sand.

Over here the distances between jobs can be so large that even though it would be cheaper (by the yard) to do the job with a scraper behind (say) a D7 the job is done with blade because it is such a pain in the azz to get the scoop on site. . .and that remains true to this day.

Cheers

 

[Gavin84w]

That's funny, cuz I have yet to meet someone who runs a buggy that would qualify as a rocket scientist.

And that would hold true for just about any item of plant Brian when you think about it.
Plant operating wages could never attract a rocket scientist!!

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . As other folks have rightly said on other threads conclusions shouldn't be drawn from a few minutes of You Tube vids but the cut and dump cycle shown in ShaneK's link above . . . and the mention of "shrimp ponds" would seem to negate any high haul speed advantages of the system.

I venture the opinion that crawler tractors and scoops ( think McAninch) would have been worth a look on a project such as this.

Others may disagree but I believe one of the big advantages of crawlers (provided the scoop is not oversized) is that you proceed from the end of the loading to the start of dumping by the most direct route i.e. up the three in ones where ever you hit them and straight up onto the bank . . . anything blows me away its watching a crawler/scoop combo going the long way on a "haul-road".

Same thing coming back, where the tractor can go the scoop is going to follow. If the material where that ADT is working was ripped a D8 going in hard with three or four pumps would have it falling off the low side in the length of the machine . . . but of course I've been told its not done to pump load anymore.

Cheers.

 

[terexkerry]

are you an operator,puller,sorry scrub puller

 

[terexkerry]

Can I ask why you guys feel the younger generation is the dismise of scraper use? I am 26 and would love to run a scraper. I have been a few ts 14s mainly just a couple hours on them, nothing major. Its not my fault all the companies in my area have switched to adts and hoes. Only one local company I know that has a few, barely ever uses them. Mainly just see the elevating ones working with graders. Just do not think all young people are soft, I operate what I am given to run. It is not my fault my owner keeps a newer fleet and everything has radios, a/c, heat and it all works. Guess he might feel he gets more out of us by being a little more comfortable.

i am not in usa 390eric and cannot comment,over here in nz if you are keen companies will give you a go,set your mind to it,dont give up it will happen,best of luck,kerry

 

[61BG]

I think that the western world has the history/pasted down knowledge to see what can be done with scrapers including the tractor drawn units which date back to the 30s. The newer younger generations have only been exposed to the ADT/Hoe method of moving dirt. Here in Ontario there are still LOTs of dirt projects using scrapers not anywhere near the size of the massive projects of the 50/60s. As for maintenance issues with scrapers???? All the scrapers around here are anywhere from 30-40 years old with god only knows how many hours on them. There is one guy around here who still runs a few old three axle euclids from the late 50s early 60s! I have not seen too many hoes around still working of that vintage. I will say that there is a contractor that has a well looked after link-belt 7400 still working here. As the age creeps up on hoes they ARE/WILL be a maintenance nightmare... They almost seem to me to be a disposable/consumable unit compared to a dozer/scraper/grader/truck etc, you just dont see the old Koehrings,Warner & swaseys,Insleys still paying their way & making their owners money....

 

[blademan150]

I don't know about the rest of the world but the outfit I worked for for over 25 years had a mixed spread of Cat and scoops, Farm type FWD tractors pulling 1-3 pans, Cat 627's, TS 14's(phased out) and truck and hoe combos. They each had their place and it all depended on length of haul and what the dirt was like as to which got used, most of the bigger jobs had a fleet of each. The most cost effective most of the time it seemed was the 627's push pulling.

 

[Greg]

When I put my D7's and D8's with pull type pans up against hoes and ADT's on short haul jobs, meaning up to 2,600 to 3,000 feet haul I alwyas beat them for unit cost per yard. Less equipment and less labor on the job. Like I said before on here. A hoe can't put 20 yards in an ADT in 30 seconds like I did into a Cat No. 80 pan with a D7 pushing it. Most of time no pusher needed either.