i was wondering why crane and excavators always had a cab for the operator,yet dozers ,scrapers,loaders,graders,and the like were all open? the guys that ran that stuff in the 50s,60s,70s, didnt deserve a little protection? i remember dad comin home in the winter up here in ohio being frozen after 8 hours in the wind and snow! and comming home in the summer bein burnt all day!
It wasnt just the elements ...it was also flying debris ...cranes didnt always have cab's on them ..and the one's that did ..the operators had to suffer the cold in the winter and suffocating heat in the summer .. thats all i got .
Yea buddy, trapped in a hot tin can alll day sounds fun. In all reality, the big reason for cabs with heat and ac now is due to computers. It helps keep the machines computers out of the dust and such.
There was talk of new machines being required by OSHA to be sealed to protect operaters from inhailation of dust on construction sites I guess a comfortable operater is a happy and productive operator. I see new telehandlers with shock absorbing seats. Like everything else we are now more spoiled. Years ago they were happy to be working and suckig up the dust, heat, and cold. I guess just like cars and trucks we all expect more and more comfort.
I really don't see a reason for an open cab anymore in earthmoving machines, did my time and took in alot of dirt, froze and got totally wet. Cabs are better now and who wants to do things the hard way. Everybody is happier in a clean and comfortable environment and probably get more done.
Seeing how some of the older operators limp around with leg and back problems acquired by sitting on machines where operator comfort wasn´t really a consideration back then , I don´t think today´s operators are spoiled. They certainly have it better than they used to. The cabs that were on machines 50 years ago had a lot less glass in them -less visibility.
I thought when machines started being equipped with overhead canopys,I don't think that they were real ROPSs yet,that it was a big improvement to keep me out of the sun and it provided a platform to wrap polyethlene around in the winter so that the reversed fan could actually have some effect on the ambient temperature at the operators station. Now,you talk about a guilt trip.............running a dozer with an enclosed cab AND....sacre bleu......Heat??AND A/C?. I confess to working with the door open and that is rediculous but I could not handle the wussy environment and still face the paymaster on payday. I was wondering if they knew what they were doing,seems like I was not getting any more work done but they didn't cut my pay while I was running the temperature controlled beauty that they provided for me to "play" in. I will never forget the first time,spreading topsoil in the hot dry summer on a JD450 with the A/C going.........you just don't forget events like that.............can this be real? Do they know?LOL. I felt a little guilty telling the company mechanic that happened to be onsite one day that the belt was squealing on the A/C compressor on the D8N I was running..........I expected him to say,what the he** do you care............honest,I was ready for it.....I would have said it might go through the radiator if it breaks!! That 450 had a CD player in it too but I never listen to anything but the machine when I am working,if the machine makes an unusual noise I want to know about it.If someone needs to get my attention I don't want any distractions. My employer deserves 100% of me while on his payroll and I can't dance while finish grading a new road...........or loading a truck for that matter.Ron G
i love a new tractor, and cabs are great. but gimme a d-8h open rops, and i'm a happy camper.
I think the cab on cranes and excavators was added to keep the clutches and brakes dry, (the early ones were all cable remember). Apparently protection for the operator was not a concern yet.
Until you gotta push into a 35mph wind
Been there done that Not fun!!!!!!:usa
Come on, its loads of fun. Its even better when your stripping topsoil. Love going home 10 shades darker then when i got to work. Its like being on the farm with the old 4020
cab or no cab: Yup... and then, when you blow your nose... ... LOL OCR...
yeah, go push some old burn piles. you'll dissapear in the ashes very quick. This is what my dozer looked like after pushing ashes for 20 minutes.
nothing like looking down when you get in the shower and watch yourself get lighter and the floor get darker!
cab or no cab: Yup... and then, you blow your nose... ... LOL... :lmao OCR...
Aint that the truth. Remember once when my son was 3, I came outta the shower and he said "daddy your tan is gone". Hey Dirtman, Hows the job market down in raleigh?
Yep, we don't burn here any more but I've done my share nothing like plowing into a burn pile to change your mind about cabs. If you did'nt have a resperator on you got good at holding your breath. Then the fan gets it and blows against the dozer and you get another chance at taking it in Glad we don't do it anymore!
The early cranes that I remember had the cab as part of the machinery cover- and the operator had to able to reach in back to engage the travel clutches Early dozers the cab had poor to limited visibility, ventilation was poor in summer Ac if equipped only worked for about the first year Also way back when -times were different- construction co around here usually shut down in the winter and repaired ,maintained their equipment Starting equipment in the cold was a challenge,frost breakage was high
I should add that I am a fan of the new cabs, And we did want some type of canopy ,that by late fall had some type of wind protection-
When I was growing up, my step dad always had old junk all the time. Now, Older equipment has its place when it is properly maintained, but this crap was not. I just thought thats how it was. Then I got in the real world and worked for contractors who bought, maintained, and took pride in their toys. Now, I cant stand being around my step dads junk. He never learned to do preventative maint or keeps things up. Not even change oil. And when the license plate expired, well dont go buy new ones just cover the plates up with the overload sign and keep trucking. So where was I at? Oh yeah cabs. Man, I started out on the bald junk. Now, I really feal fortunate to operate nice stuff. Work smarter, not harder. I tell my wife that if I have to run junk all day in my business, I'll just give it up. Life to short to be messin with the junk. :Banghead
Over here in the emerald isle a machine with out a cab is for in door work ,as we get so much rain there would be no comfort in operating without one. Stock
I have to believe the cabs on cranes, Excavators and maybee backhoes are a safety issue. There are usually, well almost always I should say other workers grabbing cables, slings, chains exc... on the other end of what you are lowering or raising. The fact is that other people's life depends on you as an operator being comfortable and somewhat out of the elements whatever move you make. Also I believe you cannot purchase an excavator without air conditioning anymore. It could be OSHA wanting people in these cabs to be comfortable and carefull, as to cut down on operator errors in less than perfect weather. I'm not trying to say that when we run scrapers and dozers and the like that we are not as important. It's just something I have noticed (right or wrong) in the past few years.
I ran an Akerman that was built during the transition to VME that was designed to have A/C installed but it did not come through with A/C. The side glass was solid and there was no rear ventilation as the back window was one piece glass as well. There were days that it was so hot in there you didn't think you were going to survive.Laying pipe and spreading dry stone in the trench for bedding was murder,the dust would just hang there.I got the bosses son who was my truck driver that day to snap a couple of polaroids of me loading the truck.Usually I did both loading and driving.Ron G
I think a cab is nice to have and I saw a pic on here earlier that a hoe had hit an oil pipeline and the entire machine was covered in oil. what would you think will happend to that operator if they do not make cabs at all. I just think that an cab is to protect the operator and the machine compontents.
cabs i just love all the input! BUNCH OF SMART GUYS OUT THERE!
dad was doin demolition in the mid 80's ,with a cat 977 loader with orops! abig piece of steel fell at him and ripped his upper lip open! thank god !!!!!!! it healed perfect!!!
If I am going to operate a machine all day long, I prefer to have a cab. But here on my ranch, I have a few John Deere tractors and a John Deere 450 dozer that are open. It works for me, because I don't have to manitain the A/C. Back when I was operating in AZ the cabs and A/C were really nice in the summer when the temp was 115. If we got caught running a blade or dozer with the door open the boss would threaten to take the door off since we didn't feel we needed a cab. The door always stayed closed after that. But some of the older scrapers where like sitting in an oven cuz the A/C sucked.
Never appreciated a cab and in fact felt somewhat closed in by them when I first ran machines with them. Then our cat hoe with cab,heat and 4wd broke during a raging snowstorm. Had to chain up the old 310 JD with open cab and push back drifts. Let me tell you that is the coldest I have ever been in my life! Layered up with so many clothes you could barely move and covered like an ice man. When I finally took a break I needed help to get the coveralls off they were froze so stiff. I have liked cabs ever since! when I am sweating in one during the summer I just remember how cold I was without it.