The most entertaining "school me"thread... My 1st piece of H.E. Two 80ton Hoes

[JDOFMEMI]

Douglasco

I wish you luck in your venture. I have had several of these type machines. They are nothing but expensive to move, but worth it when they arrive for the work they will do.
Just for reference, I had an EX 700 shipped from Huston TX to SoCal 10 years ago, and it cost $8,000 then, and came on 2 loads, counterweight and bucket on one, rest of the machine on the other. The seller had already slid the tracks in, so that was not in the cost. I would expect the same move to be over 10K now.
If you are doing the work yourself, and have your own truck to haul the pieces, you may save some $$ taking it apart like you said, but if you are hiring the trucks anyway, just move it in the biggest pieces you can.

In your area, Energy Transportation in WY has usually had the best pricing for stuff that size.

Hope that this works out for you.

 

[douglasco]

Well, I wasn't going to post any followup because I was a little disappointed by the naysayers. But my other recent thread(in skidsteers>bobcat/how to overide safetybar) has helped me realize that people around here need to be a little less scared.

Recap, I bought two 80 ton excavators(actually shovels) as my first pieces of equipment. I have very very little equipment experience, but alot of common sense. However over the past 1.5 years, I also opened up a full machine shop(no machining experience) and have stocked about $500,000(msrp) in surplus hydraulics because I have realized the value of hydraulics and being able to repair and build your own ****. That is simply to say, I have recently acquired a small amount of knowledge about hydraulics and other not so gay/more useful things. But i've also been doing my real full time job in the meantime, so i still haven't had the time to get very smart. The PC650 and Ex700 were to move boulders and do minor excavating on my 3 acre property that already has a house on it, and its really only about a 1/4 acre project. But the boulders range in size up to about 100 tons. The machines weren't too hard to move. I hauled the buckets and counterweights myself and found a great heavy haul service to help me move the rest of the machines whole on 10 axles. Probably the biggest lesson was when I showed up with them and my HOA(home owners association) threw a temper tantrum. Just another lesson in stupid people. But i should have expected it, thats why i'm building a boulder wall between my property and the road. Once the big machines were here, i also bought a t300 and mounted a case 580b extend a hoe on it for the smaller work. I'm also about half way done building a smaller machine for the finish work which will be a cross between a spider crane and the mini excavator/loader units like you see more overseas. I'm currently looking for a telescopic boom to mount on the top of one of the shovels to make it into more of a Gradall/crane type machine. Something about 40ft long collapsed, hopefully 4 or 5 stages. It doesn't look like i'll find anything robust enough to handle digging forces(on a 100ton machine) so I'll probably end up building it from scratch when i run across the right material at surplus. Everyone gave me a hard time about the shovels because they have no reach, but for multipurpose work i think a standard excavator boom is also a joke, at least mine came with a (4in1 bucket). Plus they always end up getting broken. The shovel boom maybe half the length but its usually still a little heavier- you do the math. I would like to articulate the the telescopic boom off the tip of the factory boom, so I have a very good range of motion and can reach over trees/buildings etc, and probably leave the factory arm and shovel bucket on for dozing work and as an outrigger. Before I decided to go all the way and get the shovels, I was working on plans to build a telescopic swing wheel loader out of a big farm tractor. I think I might pick that project back up. If the PC650 wasn't so heavy, i'd cut up the house a little and put some big planetaries and tires under it. But i don't think i could get away with roading it. The bobcat is great, but I think a little teleswing would be the best all around machine to have. If you don't know what i'm talking about google: ahlman tele90. Geez, there is so much bad@ss stuff in the rest of the world, that we just don't get here(USA). Genie, of all people, just came out with a new machine that would be nice to have, but i don't know if they are selling it here. I don't have the money or patience for a new machine anyways. Thanks to everyone who replied to my thread. I'll try to get some pics next time I move the big rocks. For now this will have to do.

Oh, i'm also looking for a 70-120" tree spade I can put on one of the shovels if anyone knows where i can get one for closer to scrap price and rebuild. Or a good design of how to just mount spades on the arm and just push them into the ground. And some forks would be nice.

 

[douglasco]

Thats the driver in the first pic back there, i'm in the White tshirt. Someone asked how old i was in a pm, i'm 29, hoping to make it to 30.

 

[ziggy]

A wee bit of overkill for a 3 acre property IMO.

 

[JDOFMEMI]

Great follow up post. I for one am glad you posted it. I had been wondering how it turned out.

You sound like the kind of person with a "get it done" attitude, and I am sure you can make it work.

Your telescoping boom idea sounds interesting, kind of a gradall on steroids.

I hope you share that with us as you get it done.

Sounds like some of the neighbors have no sense of humor. Good luck with that.

 

[ziggy]

I would get a personalized licence plate for your vehicle that reads"go big or go home"
The nieghbours give you a real hard time then park one of these in the driveway.Tell them your going to tram some gravel to your driveway.

 

[sultan]

!

Holy ****, two 70+ tonners on a 3 acre lot! Hope you're having fun. You must have some massive boulders to move. I'm curious what your 100 ton boulders look like. People round where I am think my 20 tonner is huge, and I have 150 acres.

<property rights rant>
I believe that as a property owner, you ought to have the right to do whatever you want with your land provided you are not actually harming anyone else. As long as you use common sense (e.g. don't crank your excavators to full throttle and activate the travel alarm at night), no homeowners association have any right to stop you from doing what you want with it. Usually people don't interfere with rock moving, but I think that most grade-changing bylaws and permits are stupid red tape to give the government more money. If its your land, than you ought to be able to dig a hole or fill a puddle in it without having to lobby the government to give you a permit for an excessive fee.

Where I am in Canada, we have these "Conservation Authorities" who regulate what you can do with "wetlands". I'm all for protecting and preserving nature, and think its a good idea to protect genuine wetlands and endangered species. The problem is that these authorities tend to mark almost everything as wetland, even when it really isn't. More than half the land in my region is classified as wetland or near wetland, but only a small fraction of it is real wetland. For example, they tend to classify any forest that isn't 100% deciduous as "Provincially Significant Wetland", and they demarcate any land within 120 meters (400 feet) of it as regulated near wetland. Thus, 80% of my mostly dry, sandy farm is marked as "wetland" or near wetland, while less than 5% of it actually has standing water and wetland plants. To do any significant digging or clearing, you must get multiple permits from multiple authorities, and some of these permits can cost up to over $10,000. Yes, $10,000!!! They do allow some very minor work to be done without a permit, but it is quite restrictive. I do what I have to to abide by these unjust regulations, but I could be much more productive and profitable if these laws weren't restricting what I can do with MY OWN land.
</rant>

 

[ziggy]

I dont know,think someones just nuts,thats mining equipment,or big inch pipelining mainline equipment,not meant for any residential setting anywhere.
The pic of the loader I posted was a leternou,the worlds largest at the time and it would load a 100 tonne boulder but not without the back wheels coming off the ground,I spent a few years running it(me in the bucket) and most of the boulders posted in the pics arent half that weight.A 100 tonne boulder would be as wide and long as a 200 tonne cat truck in the box when loaded.The reason we used a loader was because the big ph 2800 xp electric shovels couldnt get them through their bucket.

I had an onboard scale and after a few months was very good at loading 250 tonne cat trucks within 3 tonnes of their payload so I will say none of those donikers where close to 100 tonnes.

 

[motrack]

You claim to be 29 going on 30 yrs old........... your age and writing style reminds me of a fellow from Canada who once posted here and in other forums.


:ban

 

[ziggy]

You claim to be 29 going on 30 yrs old........... your age and writing style reminds me of a fellow from Canada who once posted here and in other forums.


:ban

What part of Canada?

The pics dont lie,he has huge mining equipment on his homestead or is posting pics from someone with way too much money.
A front shovel like he posted is useless for anything but production loading big haulers.
A smaller hoe would be way more productive and efficient.

I wouldnt want to be his neighbour.

 

[ziggy]

Every thing I have seen in those pics...I could do for 1/50th of the cost with a smaller machine.

Or even less.

 

[cps]

I followed this thread from the start and think fair play to you:drinkup:drinkup

Over kill none the less, but as some one else said you have the "get it done" attitude! and you backed up what you said

I would also like to see some pictures of your machine shop that you set up if you get time!

 

[Aliate]

I am in absolute disbelief that this guy was actually telling the truth.

 

[sultan]

Every thing I have seen in those pics...I could do for 1/50th of the cost with a smaller machine.

Or even less.

True, I didn't see anything being done in the photos that necessitates any machine near that size. Tying rocks to the bucket teeth is err... unconventional :beatsme. My $3000 old massey 165 tractor with a loader would do fine for hauling around the little rocks in the photos and with far less fuel and maintenance cost (cant complain much about 4 litres or 1 gallon) per hour. Regular excavator setups are IMHO much more versatile and useful than front shovels like these for the kind of work I see. Excavator booms aren't weak - they do fine as long as you don't stupid things like swinging into trees. My 20 tonner can move stones as big as a smaller SUV (by rolling them).

If douglasco indeed has 100 tonne stones that need to be moved, then he has reason to use such beasts. I guess front shovels would push better too. But for most of the work I see, a 8-12 tonne normal excavator would be far more practical. The standard backhoe/excavator setup gives a lot more reach and makes it easier to grab and pick up stuff. It would eliminate the need for a crane/boom. Having a fleet of huge oddball mining equipment in a house lot is indeed unique.

P.S. Why two machines btw? Isn't one giant mining shovel enough for a small residential lot?

Good luck doing whatever you're doing douglasco, and you seem to have a great git-r-done attitude using whatever you have. I'm just sharing my thoughts on your setup, I don't want you to waste all your money on the wrong equipment. :drinkup

 

[ziggy]

Most of those rocks arent even close to 30 tonne,even if they were Canadian shield rose granite(hardest in the world) they wouldnt even be close to anything a 350 Cat hoe could'nt handle with ease.
With over 35 years running the big iron in the industry I can only shake my head at what I have seen here in these pics.
This isnt a get er done attitude,it's a mines bigger then yours attitude.
I have worked all over western Canada and the arctic,ran and am competant on the worlds largest hauler,loader,dozer and grader and the only place we used machinery that size was when the situation called for it.
This is definately not even close to that and a pure waste of iron and money.
Useing a tree for a boom would get you pee tested on the spot in most places in Canada.

If these pics werent so original I would think someones playing the forum here,do they really let folks do that in the States?

I can post pics of what a 100 tonne rock or frost chunk looks like and trust me,they are ten times bigger then anything posted here and a shovel front that size would be dwarfed by one in the bucket if it could get it in the bucket that is.

 

[oldtanker]

I for one think it's pretty cool. If I could afford a D8 I'd have one just to play with!

Rick

 

[sultan]

Most of those rocks arent even close to 30 tonne,even if they were Canadian shield rose granite(hardest in the world) they wouldnt even be close to anything a 350 Cat hoe could'nt handle with ease.
With over 35 years running the big iron in the industry I can only shake my head at what I have seen here in these pics.
This isnt a get er done attitude,it's a mines bigger then yours attitude.
I have worked all over western Canada and the arctic,ran and am competant on the worlds largest hauler,loader,dozer and grader and the only place we used machinery that size was when the situation called for it.
This is definately not even close to that and a pure waste of iron and money.
Useing a tree for a boom would get you pee tested on the spot in most places in Canada.

If these pics werent so original I would think someones playing the forum here,do they really let folks do that in the States?

I can post pics of what a 100 tonne rock or frost chunk looks like and trust me,they are ten times bigger then anything posted here and a shovel front that size would be dwarfed by one in the bucket if it could get it in the bucket that is.

Yes, this is an odd and overkill situation here, but smaller guys buying big hoes isn't as crazy as you make out. For the same price I paid for my excavator, I could have bought a fully operational EX700BE. The EX700 would pull stumps faster, dig faster, move bigger stones more easily, and pull much bigger trees than my 200. The reason I chose my 200 instead was because it is much newer, would fit in my barn, would do less damage when handling smaller stones, and had enough power to get the jobs done. So, a farmer using a big hough isn't completely crazy.

As for using a tree as a boom extension on a 70 tonne mining shovel to swing a 1 tonne rock 10 feet in the air under powerlines... that is crazy... or at least entertaining.

 

[ziggy]

Yes, this is an odd and overkill situation here, but smaller guys buying big hoes isn't as crazy as you make out. For the same price I paid for my excavator, I could have bought a fully operational EX700BE. The EX700 would pull stumps faster, dig faster, move bigger stones more easily, and pull much bigger trees than my 200. The reason I chose my 200 instead was because it is much newer, would fit in my barn, would do less damage when handling smaller stones, and had enough power to get the jobs done. So, a farmer using a big hough isn't completely crazy.

As for using a tree as a boom extension on a 70 tonne mining shovel to swing a 1 tonne rock 10 feet in the air under powerlines... that is crazy... or at least entertaining.

It is entertaining to say the least.But gives some of us a bad name.
Nothing wrong with a 200 hitach,a good operator can do anything with it.

 

[sultan]

It is entertaining to say the least.But gives some of us a bad name.
Nothing wrong with a 200 hitach,a good operator can do anything with it.

Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with my JD200LC. Very smooth, fast and powerful, ready to tackle any job I throw at it.

P.S. I just noticed that he's running the Komatsu PC650 without the counterweight... .

 

[ziggy]

Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with my JD200LC. Very smooth, fast and powerful, ready to tackle any job I throw at it.

P.S. I just noticed that he's running the Komatsu PC650 without the counterweight... .

Thats probably the reason it's sitting at the angle it is!

Maybe he couldnt get enough leverage on the johnson bar right to get it back on.



I wonder if his arm hair stands on end when going under those power lines?
Pretty close to arcing there.
Those are digging machines,meant to do nothing else.