i see alot of pics of cat excavators with a decal on the door that says SmartBoom what does this mean????
9420, that's a good question... to be honest, I'm not sure whether my reply is entirely accurate, but I do know that SmartBoom is found on European excavators (Cat excavators sold in the Europe-Africa-Middle East regions, anyhow) and "thinks" for the operator. For instance, when you are grading, you want to be focusing on the stick and bucket angles -- not the boom itself (much as in a loader, you want to have a "float" position). SmartBoom accomodates this. In addition, when you are loading trucks, it's acceptable for swing and stick to get priority flow as you return to the trench -- the boom can just go down by gravity (that is, without much aid from the pump circuit). SmartBoom does this, also. I have a .pdf file of the 330D sourced in the European regions if you'd like a Caterpillar description. Edit: here's a file of the 320 family that has a description of the SmartBoom: http://www.huntraco.hu/uzletagak/caterpillar/320c.pdf
Can someone explain to me what a float option helps with? I notice that loaders, dozers, and even excavators with blades have float. even our bobcat. what is float and what does it help with. thanks
Float MVFD The Float option on dozers etc. is a detent in the control and lets the blade or bucket, or other attachment "float" along with the contours of the ground, I believe there is a spool in the hydraulic controls that just lets the hyd. fluid flow in and out of the cylinders. When you back blade with a dozer or loader in float it will just smooth out and follow the general shape of the ground. On some attachments like a rockhound I believe, you are suppose to set it to float so if there is a hump in the ground the attachment can glide over it. I hope this makes sense, I feel like I'm missing some specific words the help explain the process. I'd imagine someone else can explain it better if I haven't cleared it up for you.
I,m looking into getting a 324DL soon which might have this smart boom? Does anyone know anything more about it yet? Is it just a float position. I asked the salesman and he didnt know.
If you asked the salesman and he didn't know, there's something wrong... he's paid to keep track of this stuff! I know European machines have it, but I'm not sure about Australia and Asia, however.
I spent 8 years working for the Cat dealer and the last 10 years on Cat machines ,but I dont know it. Maybe its not on the Australian ones either so neither of us know about it. It might be a good option to look into though ,I might inquire further.
smartboom hi all the way i understand it works is if say loading from a shelf where no downwards force is needed smartboom allows you to let gravity lower the boom down so all power can then go to slew dipper and bucket ,the same for scraping up on a quarry floor the boom will raise and lower with the ground contours,also on hammer work it can allow the full weight of the boom to "weight" the hammer down without over doing it ,cat also says that it improves cycle times uses less fuel and is better for the operator:bouncegri i have not had the chance to operate one yet but could see the benifits in certain applications, thanks graham
im operateing smartboom right now, 330DL.. Smartboom means that boom itself is smart, u can simply put in float position (let the gravity do the work)
I've never worked with one personally. Not all machines have it, that much is fairly obvious. Not sure if it's an optional attachment, but sounds like one. Here is the description from the O&M Manual for a Cat Wheeled Excavator in the M315-M322 range. Hope that helps. "Smart Boom Function (If Equipped) The smart boom function can be activated in two modes, Down float or Up/Down float. For more information refer to Operation and Maintenance Manual, "Operator Controls - Smart Boom Control". Function To activate the smart boom, first select the needed smart boom mode that is found on the soft switch panel. Press the right joystick slowly to the maximum forward position in order to lower the tool to the ground and activate the smart boom function. Note: To activate the smart boom function, it is necessary to lift the tool once from the ground. Down Float While Down Float is active, the head end of the boom cylinders is open to the hydraulic tank. That allows the weight of the boom to lower the boom. Boom lifting due to external force is NOT possible Typical application: working with a hammer. Up/Down Float While Up/Down float is active, the head and rod end of the boom cylinders are open to the hydraulic tank. That allows the boom to lower by its own weight. Boom lifting due to external force is possible. Typical application: leveling with ditch cleaning bucket."
Would it be reasonable to consider these features need to be added on say excavator that has the closed center variable displacement pump system, whereas the TLBs with open center systems already had this characteristic?