This is a job I was working on earlier this year, every piece of equipment and all our material had to be moved in on an ice road over the swamp we were working in. The site is inaccessible during the summer. Unfortunately, when we were first pioneering our way in there, we lost some equipment to the ice. First was the 320C at the beginning of the job, took the D6M, a 324DL and a rental D7 w/winch to pull it out. First time I've ever seen swamp mats in use.
Next, the D6M fell through, on the main road. The 345DL wasn't on site yet so we used a 324DL and 320BL to pull it out, first we tried with just the 324DL but the cable snapped (it was a pretty hefty cable too, i think it was 1.25" cable)
We dragged that 320C onto a low bed and hauled it to the shop, but the D6M we tarped in that night, set up a herman nelson (diesel heater) and tried to thaw it out overnight. unfortunately the generator powering the herman nelson threw a breaker about an hour after we left (11:00PM lol) so it froze over night. Well, we came to work the next day (sunday) and turned the herman nelson back on, thawed it out and fired it up the next day (after changing just the engine oil, i drained about 8 gallons of swamp water from that engine before oil started to come out.) later on we changed the tranny oil twice, it had a bit of swamp water in there too. The D6M is still running fine, it did blow a turbo a couple weeks later though. The operator had a soggy ass for a few days.
You probably checked the dozer finals, the pivot shaft compartment, the recoil spring housings, and the fuel and hydraulic tanks as well for water. Some of these compartments are open to atmosphere, which means that water seeps in through any vents, breathers or any other opening. Water, being heavier than oil, will force any and all oil (or fuel) out of any open compartment overnight. You will probably notice quite a bit of oily condensation in the dipstick tubes for the engine and tranny for sometime to come as they both are very difficult to get water out of after being flooded. You should have checked these compartments on the excavator too. You might check with your oil supplier to see if they have some chemical to help with reducing the water. I used to know what it's called, but I never used much and the name escapes me at the moment. But your supplier should know, or your local Cat house. I used to use some stuff called Butyl-solu-solv, or something like that, but that was mainly to break down the glycol in engines or tranny's that had been contaminated with coolant. The Cat house would know about that too. I don't recall that it's all that effective on plain water. You may notice some electrical problems soon, particularly in the excavator. Electrical components don't take well to being flooded, particularly wire harnesses and connectors. They corrode like crazy. Alternators and starters are prone to rapid failure after being flooded. Good Luck!
I would like to see if that 6 would turn into a 7 by this fall if you wouldn't have pulled it out! Nice pics..
I'm not even sure where the 320C ended up... it might have went straight to the cat house (toromont) I did hear that the electronics in the cab were basically toast now. Surfer Joe, thanks for the info: I'll pass it along to the guys. I think they just checked the motor and tranny, the finals were assumed to be sealed units. The hydraulics must definitely be 100% sealed? :beatsme Pretty sure the guys didn't drain the diesel, but they do use diesel-aid religiously and they changed every filter after the swim... The motor hasn't blown up yet which is a tell tale sign that the diesel was okay I guess. the cat skinner on the D6M at the time is an old skidder operator, hes got experience with this stuff, he sank a skidder or two into the muskeg before and he showed us how to build a corduroy road over the patch of water that the D6 fell through. He figures the engine and tranny were the only two fluid compartments that took on any water. So far it seems he's right. The dozer has been running good for over a month now aside from the turbo and the fact that it needs some undercarriage work... I guess some cats can swim.
hey 928, your company hiring anyone?
928G Boy did you guys make any money on this job? What was the original job you guys got, I was wondering did you just need the equipment for clearing?
been there and done that with our excavator my dad dropped it in the lake on Jan. 2, 2002 and it completely submerged, it's a link belt 3400 with a 60ft. long reach arm. took a dive team of 12 guys to hook it up two 100,000lbs. wrecker trucks and a D8 to drag it out. need and new engine computer and a good hydraulic system drain.
what area of winnipeg is this?
Not that I know of, I'm probably going to Alberta in a month or two anyway. I think they actually made pretty good money on the job. It was kind of like a pipe job with some regrading/ditching (RCP pipe, tying into some old existing stuff) and some concrete work. We worked long days, seven day weeks and worked really fast and got things done way ahead of schedule. The owners were pleased. It's out by Hadashville, Manitoba.
Man...thems is good pictures i have never seen a dozer in that deep....i bet the boss freaked when they went in