Gillette Stadium---2 D8L's+ excavator at snow dump= HUGE PLOWING BILL http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c108/john1066/?action=view¤t=MVI_0093.mp4
Cool Vid, looks like they could use a larger bucket on the excavator. lol
That whole setup looks extremely inefficient to me. You don't need D8s to push snow, they're much too heavy and slow for such work. They are meant to push dirt, not snow. The excavator messing around with that tiny bucket that is small even for digging is stupid. If the excavator were to handle snow, it should be wielding a bucket 4 times that size. Put one 988 loader with a snow bucket on the site and it'll effortlessly far outwork those 3 machines for a fraction of the cost and time. Even a smaller loader like a 966 or 980 with a snow bucket would beat that setup's productivity - and be 1/4 the cost of running those 3 earthmovers.
I couldn't post some other pics of the entire operation.For your info,D8's and other large dozers are used all the time in snow dumps in the Northeast,probably many more areas as well.They had many large loaders there also plus a very large road snowblower and some other iron.For the amount of snow that they had dumped on them,the only thing that looked inefficient was that small bucket on the hoe.But then again,we weren't there to see it all-maybe that's all they needed.And you would think that some insight went into putting tracked rigs on pavement because you just know some paver is going to have a nice job there come April.
I wasn't at the scene, so I can't say anything with certainty. They must have had some real reason to use D8s on pavement, because as you say they would wreck the pavement. Perhaps all the loaders were busy, and they needed to clear more ASAP. Or maybe there was excessive ice causing wheel slippage. I've never seen steel track dozers like D8s used for production snow pushing, even in snow dumps here in Ontario. It's almost always big wheel loaders for big snow dumps here. CAT 980s and Volvo 220s are the most common big snow loaders here, and they can push through very deep snow without much fuss. They can push through 4 feet of snow without much fuss. Even my 10 tonne CAT IT18F has pushed through 4 foot drifts and piles with a little bit of momentum, without tire chains. What I can say with near certainty is that a 988H with a 20yd snow bucket would easily outwork the 2 D8s and the undersized bucket excavator by far for the snow collecting and piling I see in the video in normal conditions for here. Maybe they were in a hurry, had excessive ice, or had to make do with what they had, so I'll give them the benefit of doubt.
Thats my video. The reason for the D8's is because of the volume of snow. there were 67 trucks hauling on site. we did also have a 988F on site and 2 988A's with the ammount of time we had to get ready this was the best option.
I will post the pictures when i get to my other computer
TomG; Man i don't know how you live in that white stuff, Leroy
Aussie Lerory, It is a way of life. Oh ya, I bet that this turns into one of those things when it is T & M for a government organization you throw everything at you have for as much as you can as long as you can.
Saw your video on the other site John,hope you don't mind me posting it here.I thought it was pretty neat watching D8's clearing snow partially on pavement and with all that snow you guys got hammered with.If I remember right,weren't you and your cousin 2 of the operators there? y
I wonder why the two dozers didn't push side by side as long as there are two. considerable increase in production in dirt, should work in snow too. Don't mean to criticize, looked like great fun.
City has a snow dump on top of a hill, dump the truck there then push it out level with a dozer.
we have our snow here in town pushed up 80 ft high with 2 d8s we have so much snow were running out of room its piled higher than any gravel pile i have seen now just waiting for the flood when it melts wow wee watch out
IMO the dozers will work better than loaders because they can climb the snow where the loaders have too high of ground pressure to allow this. By climbing up the pile they can push the snow up the pile. This will allow the pile to be stacked much higher than the loader can get it. I've seen those piles as high as 5 stories tall (by dozers). I would be a little leary of dozing side by side on snow. The unstable nature of the snow (sometimes the snow under one side will compress more than the other) might make the dozers get tangled up a bit.
yeah, the city of aspen has a snow dump. on big snow years it probably gets up there 50+ feet. it is the same as building an import ramp. they just push it back with a snow cat and it freezes and the tandems pack it down. it is huge... not right now though. i agree on the bucket on the hoe. not to nit pick though. we use a 54" on a 210