awsome looking machine cool idea i like the undercarraige on the 325D as well link 1 link 2
Questions I guess using a front shovel with pilot controls is a bit the opposite of digging with a normal excavator??...does that take some getting used to??..or are the ISO/SAE (Cat/Deere) controls not the same for front shovels?..Is the pattern different or just the opposite for the dipper?????
Admittedly, my experience around shovels is limited. I have only been on an old UH501, several RH400s and an RH200. That being said, the controls are all the same except the clam control is on the floor and the bucket curl is backwards. I am sure there are variations with certain manufacturers and machines. Brian
Bucket control is basically backwards. You guys never put buckets on backwards? I've had to do it a couple times with our cleanup bucket on our 303CR, had to scrape pefectly up against something, can't remember what. Anyway, since we have a pin grabber coupler, I just put the bucket on backwards. Works great for backfilling behind retaining walls, too.
isnt it just a stout looking machine. i love the look of the black clyinders
That 328 shovel is a bad axx. Doesn't appear to have too much boom, but I guess no shovel does.
I've mounted the excavator bucket backwards more than a few times, and it only takes a minute to get used to the change. (Granted, that was for handling stone while backfilling. I'm not sure I'd want to try and dig around a live gas line right away.)
This machine is used for the tunnel application.Here is the link to download the brochure. http://www.zeppelin.com/pdfdnld/E1-3629-328D-LCR-Tunnel.pdf
Doing sewer I use the buckets backwards all the time to save time and labor. It's pretty easy once you do it once.
On the face shovel, they need to turn the bucket cylinder around so the chrome is at the top. This is so it wont get rock damaged. Also the bucket clam hoses need to be routed at the back of the stick, to protect them from rock damage Looking at the boom length on that, the cab is getting way to close to the face. Not sure if I would want to be operating it ! Duff
reversing the bucket is a HUGE time saver in tunneling under a building foundation, etc.
Welcome to HEF ROV Tech! :drinkup
The problem is that if they turn the cylinder around, it exposes the barrel to the same damage. If you ding up the rod, the rod can be changed as well as the seals a lot easier than the barrel can be honed, the piston replaced , etc. When you dent a cylinder, you usually have a fairly big job to repair the cylinder, so we usually just replaced it then fixed the damaged one for a spare. Damn lowbed drivers! I had one guy who used to routinely grab my cleanup bucket and curl it into the thumb cylinder on my hoe when he would move it. I tried to set it up the way I wanted so he couldn't do it, but he would always reposition the bucket if I wasn't around. He spent a bunch of money repairing it over the years. Brian
Thanks Countryboy for the welcome :drinkup Hi Brian We found by reversing the cylinder, that the barrel can take allot more punishment, than the chrome on the rod. Just small rocks can chip the chrome, however on the barrel it can take abit of the paint away, or at the worse but a big scratch down it Now Im not sure with the small stuff, but Im talking 550T shovels here. I have never seen a barrel damaged to the point where it dented the inside and stopped the pistion, and I have seen some have very big hits by large rocks. But I have seen many rods bent, and two snapped. The only real problem that we had was the hose going to the bottom of the cylinder. But we had a guard around the hose, which did a fairly good job, but once in a while a very big rock would take it out, and the hose. Duff
Hi Duff. Thanks for your view on this. I was thinking along the lines of impacts more than chipping. I can see what you are saying though. I have never seen a dent that would stop a piston either, but have seen many where the piston only has to make one trip past the dent and it's game over. I don't know why, but they never seem to heal themselves...lol. I know we don't have a problem with dents on larger cylinders like on our shovels. I was just thinking of past problems with smaller stuff. I know this machine wouldn't be used like we are used to, since it is for underground tunnel work. Brian