Some pics, just for Wolf

[tylermckee]

We cant burn in town here, only out of city limits, even then you can only burn land clearing debris, not construction debris.

 

[Ford LT-9000]

Good god how can you guys have a excavator with no thumb on it

If you had a thumb you could have piled up that debris in a big pile and had one heck of a fire going. Rubber tired backhoes and old demolition debris don't go together too well.

Usually old demo debris like old plywood and 2x4s are so frigging dry once they start burning the stuff burns so hot you don't get any smoke. Especially if its a older house you can darn near put a match to it and the wood goes up in flames.

 

[Cat420]

It' s a rental machine and I tried to get one with a thumb, but they told me that there were three people ahead of me waiting for one. We didn't use the backhoe for too long before deciding that it was better to risk the rental machine near the fire and debris than our's. Unfortunately between the house and trees, there wasn't enough open space to get a raging fire going. As it was we had to spray the house down because it got too hot.

 

[cat320]

so the 120 was a rental? tell them it was nice but you don't read japanise to get it to work at the optium output.

 

[Wolf]

Nice demo clips. House came down fast and nice. How old was that?

 

[Cat420]

The japanese is annoying, but my biggest complaint was that the teeth are very worn on the 120 (they are going to hear from me about that). The bucket slid all over the wood while moving it.

Most of this house was built in the 1800's. The foundation is 20" at the top and gets wider near the bottom. The beams are all logs and mostly handcut. It was taking water though, so it's time for it to go.

 

[Electra_Glide]

Hey Cat,

How long did that take you, including the clean-up?

I went to look at a job last week with a 15' x 18' "shed" attached to the end of the house. It's going to be turned into living space. The GC is still trying to figure out if he wants to try and work with what's there by bracing up the building and having me trench a foundation under it, or just tear it down and start over.

I'm just trying to get a sense of how feasible it would be to demo it with a mini, and how long it would take.

Thanks in advance...

Joe

 

[cat320]

I know you want the other cat but if it was pretty striaght forward and you could put a demo dumpster right next to you for loading i would think one guy with a small machine could do it in about 1 1/2 - 2 days .

Say a day to get it down and mashed up and another 1/2 or full day to load hopfully you got a grapel?

 

[tylermckee]

I would say an 8K plus mini with a hyd. thumb could have that thing knocked down and loaded out in a day, with some spare time for a long lunch :thumbsup

 

[Electra_Glide]

I would say an 8K plus mini with a hyd. thumb could have that thing knocked down and loaded out in a day, with some spare time for a long lunch :thumbsup

Tyler,

That's what I was thinkin' (and since it's just around the corner from the house, maybe a long lunch would be in order...I'm sure the wife would like that...:naughty), but lately I seem to be the master of underestimation...

Joe

 

[johnkenney_lll]

earth moving

the earth is movin!!!!!

 

[Cat420]

I would say an 8K plus mini with a hyd. thumb could have that thing knocked down and loaded out in a day, with some spare time for a long lunch :thumbsup

That sounds about right to me as well. We knocked it down and piled it all up without a thumb in one day. We didn't even come close to using the full potential of the 120 doing the demo, so a smaller machine with a thumb or grapple would have eaten this house alive. Today I was digging the foundation and the 120 is much appreciated for that, but it could still be done with a smaller machine.

 

[CascadeScaper]

Sometimes you think you won't need a bigger machine to handle a job, then when you get into it you realize that you've made the right choice. I've been working on installing sewer and water lines the last couple days. I dug underneath a tree, about 30 feet with the 303 and figured I could do the last 120 feet with the 303, figured there was no reason to bring the 312 in. Boy was I wrong, I'm glad I had 312, hit some clay and heavy rock about 3 feet down. The 303 would have been eaten alive. 120 feet, 4 feet deep in less than an hour with the 312, gotta love full size excavators.

 

[MVFD]

Tyler,

That's what I was thinkin' (and since it's just around the corner from the house, maybe a long lunch would be in order...I'm sure the wife would like that...:naughty), but lately I seem to be the master of underestimation...

Joe

Actuly you over estimated it. We did a house a few days ago about the same size, but with a 160 and hyd thumb, it only took minutes to knock down then crunch it all up, loaded it all in to drop bins, and it was gone by lunch.
I dont have pictures but we are doing a smaller house real soon, and I will be sure to take pictures.

I can certainly see how not having a thumb would be big disadvantage. infact Ive never even seen a machine on the south end of the island with out a thumb, well theres this one... its an beast, one of those old Rubber wheeled Drotts, lol.

 

[Ford LT-9000]

Alot of the older machines like the old UH Hitachi's have mechanical thumbs which is better than nothing but you can't beat a hydraulic thumb.

I guess when you used to doing without you don't really know any different if your used to having a thumb you can't do without.

 

[Wolf]

Did you knock that house down yet?

 

[digger242j]

Did you knock that house down yet?

I think you were asking that question to Electra glide, but this Saturday, I'm knocking one down. :thumbsup

 

[Wulf]

Does anyone know what the buttons on the screens and the two switches in the last three pictures control on a PC 120? Everything is in Japanese, so I can't tell.

Hey Cat420... I can help you with the monitor:
Series of buttons at the top are working modes - when you start the machine it will probably default to General Operation (second LED on right) however selecting the LED on the left (Heavy Operation) give higher power output, hyd speed (and fuel consumption)
Middle left button is power max (power up for 8 seconds) when the left LED is selected, right LED is swift slow down (for economy). Button on the middle right is auto-decel (engine will idle when machine is not working)
Lower LH button is travel speed L,M,H (you figured that out no doubt)
RH lower button 'A' is active mode - select this and you will have max power, speed and performance.
Based on the pics your machine is in General Mode no Active mode function - good for fuel consumption, bad for productivity
The crane panel is for Japanese use when the machine is used as a crane - I would leave that alone.
The toggle switches in the picture are for use in the event of controller or system failure (it's a Komatsu... they aren't ever needed :yup ) they will enable the machine to work in default mode with no electronic control and enable you to release the swing brake. Default is down position.

 

[Cat420]

We already sent it back, but I'll have to keep that in mind if I ever have to use one again. I had figured out a few of the buttons, but the screen for the crane would beep if you pushed the right button and wouldn't stop unless you shut the machine off. That's interesting about the toggle switches though. Thanks

 

[Electra_Glide]

Did you knock that house down yet?

No, the GC changed his plans and is now going to keep the roof in place, so all I have to do is trench underneath it for the new footers...bummer.

Joe