the largest crawler loaders in comparison caterpillar 983, komatsu D155S strengths defects character

[DMiller]

I really enjoy the 963s we use to load clay with here, company also has rubber tire Deeres where they handle the more loose materials better/faster but hard to beat a old track machine for breaking out compacted piles.

 

[trombeur]

from my parts of crawler trucks, only old models are used for large earthworks, excavators are used, wheel loaders are used in quarries and in aggregate plants in concrete mixing plants to feed plants for packing asphalt or concrete.

I wanted to ask if I'm not too boring, what other brand produces crawler loaders, I think john deere and Liebherr, right, what can you tell me about these brands which are the bigger models and what performance they would have, I still believe that caterpillar is unsurpassed. volvo i don't think ever built tracked cars nor hitachi i think, am I right? unfortunately I know little and nothing about other brands. fiat allis the biggest was fl 20 and fiat hitachi I think fl 175, but I don't remember well the numerical series, benati I don't remember honestly.

755 k

fiat fl 20

fiat hitachi fl 175

BENATI BEN 7.16 ELECTRONIC CONTROL

this crawler loader with rear engine is the legendary Benati Ben 7.16 electronic control, motor
135 hp diesel, hydrostatic transmission with electronic control of the power regulation, single lever for speed control, steering control with independent pedals, automatic parking brake, rops safety cabin, in production towards the end of the 80s , modern lines and avant-garde solutions for those times,

 

[JimInOz]

I didn't realise that BENATI made larger machines. They made smaller Crawler & Wheel Loaders in the 80s-90s.Also Backhoes,I think.
I operated a Fiat Allis FL14E....a smooth machine which got lots of power to the ground. Liebherr 631 were good to operate too...big hydraulic power.
The 955K&L were great machines.
Crawler Loaders are a fantastic,versatlie machine if armed with ripper & 4in1.A decent sized Wheel Loader can do a lot of varied work too.A 966 is a very handy Loader.

 

[trombeur]

I repeat to you in my part you do not see more tracked, only in the countryside and in the mountains to draw roads and plow up the ground, unfortunately with the crisis the sector is in crisis bulldozzer I have not seen any for years. unfortunately the crisis has stopped the sector. john deere i don't think they matter in europe, only some old small crawler models i had seen in the countryside.

 

[DMiller]

Deere and Liebherr partnered a long time ago, I am not certain it still draws a successful following. Company I am working for has a 755K, nice machine when working, been to the dealer several times for issues and has had numerous service calls for same issues.

 

[trombeur]

Liebherr never seen in my area, I think it is German I suppose for the German tradition it must be a good earthmoving machine, I repeat never seen in my part I cannot give a judgment, John Deere some old machinery from the 60s small crawler, in my part 955, 541, 953, caterpillar 950 wheeled excavators, then the dealer fiat allis was like crawler trucks, therefore he had a monopoly on the earth moving machinery market.

fiat allis fl14E turbo

 

[Willis Hodgkinson]

Surprised there isn't fire nozzles all over it. Curious if the track pads are rubber and if a machine like that would have special high temp. hoses and such? Imagine a hyd. leak.

those trackpads are for steel mill application, there would also be a full fire extinguisher system and possibly a different hydraulic fluid, there was a water based hydraulic fluid used in a steel rolling mill I used to work at it looked like milk, that was in the late 1970's. I used to drive a Komatsu D41S track shovel, which was lifted into a 30' deep pit beneath an 150 tonne capacity electric arc furnace, once the top was taken off the slag pile, the slag would stick on to the tracks. That was a beautiful machine with an 80hp 6 cylinder engine, there was a lot of powdered lime in the bottom of the pit and I suppose it got sucked into the engine because after 4 hours running it needed one gallon of oil in the engine, but it always started first try hot or cold and ran very smoothly.

 

[Welder Dave]

Still has to be a very dangerous application. Have seem pics. of large wheel loaders like Clark 475's burnt up removing slag.

 

[skyking1]

My first machine was a 350 crawler loader, and I ran an International 175 a bit 40 years ago, and a 977. Since then I very rarely see them anymore. One look in the trade papers and I see why.
The 175 I stumped an orchard and built a rock wall with huge boulders, and loaded topsoil in solo trucks.

 

[Willis Hodgkinson]

Still has to be a very dangerous application. Have seem pics. of large wheel loaders like Clark 475's burnt up removing slag.

Yes Dave, the machine I operated got on fire a few times, although not while I was driving it, and not seriously, there would be another operative "fire watching" with a 2" water hose, the regular driver, who had been doing the job for 30 years, only used to wear a paper dust mask, I used to wear a siebe gorman mask with double filters and keep the cab door closed and blower on full blast. The overhead crane would lower a skip down on to the top of the slag pile, which would be 18' to 20' high, through a hole with a steel plate over it on the shop floor level. Before they removed the plate, I would backblade the slag pile to reduce its height, this would expose the red hot slag who's consistency would stick to the tracks, I would then try and dig a small hole for the skip to sit in, this would reduce the steep angle required to drive up the pile to load the skip, which made driving the machine more comfortable. When the red hot slag was backbladed I was careful to not sit the machine over the hot material while waiting for skip to be tipped, ( I always checked the machine for oil leaks before it was lifted down the pit). the only light was a 500 watt halogen light hung down above the skip, once a bucket full was tipped it was like being in outer space, everything went black and all you could see was the windscreen wipers. If you moved the machine with such low visibility and ran over any obstruction,( there was scrap down there which had missed the furnace during charging), you were so disorientated that it felt like the machine would tip over, so I learned to wait a few seconds until dust cleared and the light showed through, happy days!!

 

[trombeur]

beautiful machines you mentioned, they look like fossil finds, dinosaurs from the museum of science and industrial technology, were the forerunners of our current modern machines. what leap has technology made in recent years.

 

[Cat977]

Skyking are you talking about the high prices people are asking for some of these old machines.

 

[Welder Dave]

Yes Dave, the machine I operated got on fire a few times, although not while I was driving it, and not seriously, there would be another operative "fire watching" with a 2" water hose, the regular driver, who had been doing the job for 30 years, only used to wear a paper dust mask, I used to wear a siebe gorman mask with double filters and keep the cab door closed and blower on full blast. The overhead crane would lower a skip down on to the top of the slag pile, which would be 18' to 20' high, through a hole with a steel plate over it on the shop floor level. Before they removed the plate, I would backblade the slag pile to reduce its height, this would expose the red hot slag who's consistency would stick to the tracks, I would then try and dig a small hole for the skip to sit in, this would reduce the steep angle required to drive up the pile to load the skip, which made driving the machine more comfortable. When the red hot slag was backbladed I was careful to not sit the machine over the hot material while waiting for skip to be tipped, ( I always checked the machine for oil leaks before it was lifted down the pit). the only light was a 500 watt halogen light hung down above the skip, once a bucket full was tipped it was like being in outer space, everything went black and all you could see was the windscreen wipers. If you moved the machine with such low visibility and ran over any obstruction,( there was scrap down there which had missed the furnace during charging), you were so disorientated that it felt like the machine would tip over, so I learned to wait a few seconds until dust cleared and the light showed through, happy days!!

Sounds like a job you absolutely have to do right. Do you know if most most steel mills have someone at the ready with a fire hose?

 

[Welder Dave]

beautiful machines you mentioned, they look like fossil finds, dinosaurs from the museum of science and industrial technology, were the forerunners of our current modern machines. what leap has technology made in recent years.

View attachment 240220

A good track loader can do a lot of work. The newer hydrostats are pretty quick to maneuver.

 

[skyking1]

Skyking are you talking about the high prices people are asking for some of these old machines.

No, talking about 4 total machines for sale in my state. They are very few out here. They seem to be about 6% of available loaders on the market.

 

[CM1995]

Yes Dave, the machine I operated got on fire a few times, although not while I was driving it, and not seriously, there would be another operative "fire watching" with a 2" water hose, the regular driver, who had been doing the job for 30 years, only used to wear a paper dust mask, I used to wear a siebe gorman mask with double filters and keep the cab door closed and blower on full blast. The overhead crane would lower a skip down on to the top of the slag pile, which would be 18' to 20' high, through a hole with a steel plate over it on the shop floor level. Before they removed the plate, I would backblade the slag pile to reduce its height, this would expose the red hot slag who's consistency would stick to the tracks, I would then try and dig a small hole for the skip to sit in, this would reduce the steep angle required to drive up the pile to load the skip, which made driving the machine more comfortable. When the red hot slag was backbladed I was careful to not sit the machine over the hot material while waiting for skip to be tipped, ( I always checked the machine for oil leaks before it was lifted down the pit). the only light was a 500 watt halogen light hung down above the skip, once a bucket full was tipped it was like being in outer space, everything went black and all you could see was the windscreen wipers. If you moved the machine with such low visibility and ran over any obstruction,( there was scrap down there which had missed the furnace during charging), you were so disorientated that it felt like the machine would tip over, so I learned to wait a few seconds until dust cleared and the light showed through, happy days!!

Thanks for sharing that Willis. Running a track loader in a steel mill application is someone you don't run into every day. Fascinating and terrifying all at the same time.

As far as track loader manufacturer's go:

Komatsu - made a front and rear engine Cat copy
JCB - made a rear engine machine
Hanomag - front engine machine
Massey Ferguson - front engine machine
Dresser - front engine
International - front engine

Now most of the above list is the same engineering/design when each company was bought or absorbed through merger.

Probably one of the rarest track loaders. JCB rear engine. The machine was really ahead of it's time with a 1971 release date.

 

[trombeur]

thanks for your news, crawler loaders are now a rarity, due to the crisis and the more versatile crawler excavator. if you have photos I invite you to insert them in the discussion, in my part the most recent crawler loader would be a fiat allis fl14 E turbo, a prehistoric find. Thanks again

Hanomag - D 600 C Laderaupe

 

[Willis Hodgkinson]

Sounds like a job you absolutely have to do right. Do you know if most most steel mills have someone at the ready with a fire hose?

Dave, the melting shop I worked at was one of the first in the UK to have electric arc furnaces installed, and had a system of pits and tunnels beneath it, most other melting shops slagged out onto shop floor level, so the furnace was in an elevated position, IE on first floor level, the track loader slagging out would have access to drive to the outside where any fire could be dealt with in comparative safety. The only way to extract the loader I drove was by overhead electric crane, so early intervention with a fire hose was very important. We had hours of waiting to go down the pit because we had to have an atmosphere test to check the oxygen levels, as they teemed the molten metal from the ladles through a shield supplied with argon gas to prevent hydrogen embrittlement in the steel ( you will know about that being a welder - low hydrogen welding rods) and argon is an asphixiant and heavier than air, so it was important to check if argon had settled in the pit. The company I was working for was a small company and the boss did'nt like spending money so no automatic fire surpression system on their machine! The modern machines used on slagging duties, as in the pictures Trombeur has kindly posted would have automatic
fire systems and heat resistant cab glass. Most steel mill track loaders have a wire towing rope for recovery should they break down, some brave soul would have to connect the rope to the recovery vehicle! Sadly the melting facility closed in 2003, sadly partly because it always made money, and it made engineering steels which were supplied to aircraft, oil, nuclear and automotive industries.

 

[Willis Hodgkinson]

Thanks for sharing that Willis. Running a track loader in a steel mill application is someone you don't run into every day. Fascinating and terrifying all at the same time.

As far as track loader manufacturer's go:

Komatsu - made a front and rear engine Cat copy
JCB - made a rear engine machine
Hanomag - front engine machine
Massey Ferguson - front engine machine
Dresser - front engine
International - front engine

Now most of the above list is the same engineering/design when each company was bought or absorbed through merger.

Probably one of the rarest track loaders. JCB rear engine. The machine was really ahead of it's time with a 1971 release date.

View attachment 240231

 

[Welder Dave]

Dave, the melting shop I worked at was one of the first in the UK to have electric arc furnaces installed, and had a system of pits and tunnels beneath it, most other melting shops slagged out onto shop floor level, so the furnace was in an elevated position, IE on first floor level, the track loader slagging out would have access to drive to the outside where any fire could be dealt with in comparative safety. The only way to extract the loader I drove was by overhead electric crane, so early intervention with a fire hose was very important. We had hours of waiting to go down the pit because we had to have an atmosphere test to check the oxygen levels, as they teemed the molten metal from the ladles through a shield supplied with argon gas to prevent hydrogen embrittlement in the steel ( you will know about that being a welder - low hydrogen welding rods) and argon is an asphixiant and heavier than air, so it was important to check if argon had settled in the pit. The company I was working for was a small company and the boss did'nt like spending money so no automatic fire surpression system on their machine! The modern machines used on slagging duties, as in the pictures Trombeur has kindly posted would have automatic
fire systems and heat resistant cab glass. Most steel mill track loaders have a wire towing rope for recovery should they break down, some brave soul would have to connect the rope to the recovery vehicle! Sadly the melting facility closed in 2003, sadly partly because it always made money, and it made engineering steels which were supplied to aircraft, oil, nuclear and automotive industries.

Very interesting indeed. Have heard of Tig welders in confined spaces having to stand on their head to let the argon flow out of them. Your boss must not have put much emphasis on employee safety. I would think a lot of operators would refuse to do the the job without automatic fire suppression on the machine. If the company made money, what caused it to close down?