I am working on a rock retaining wall project in the hills between Jackson Hole, Wy and Idaho Falls. This morning my help checks out the 9020B, notices signs of rodent on the excavator. He checks it ove, no sign of rodent, fires it up and shuts it down after its warmed up. We work on other portions of the project, he comes back to grab the CASE about 4 hours later. He starts the machine, hears a thud. Shuts the machine off. Looks over the machine and sees it leaking antifreeze. Opens the hood on the machine and sees blood and guts everywhere. A rock chuck (much like a ground hog I guess) committed suicide by radiator fan. The rodent ran into the plastic blades of death, and in the same event taking out my radiator. Guess I should buy a lotto ticket.:Banghead
OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Close as I came to that was starting up D7 one morning and having hell of noice under the hood. Shut it down right away. Found racoon who got killed when the fan hit her in the head. She had moved four babies into the belly pan of the machine for a nice safe home. We fished the four little ones out, took them home any my two daughters raised them. Lucie, the little girl of the three lived in the wooks next to our house for eleven years after that, and raised several litters there herself. She remained friendly and tame to us her whole life.
I have heard of this happening with house cats also , climbing into the cars engine compartment and getting warmed up during the winter. Not a good sight , then have to tell the rest of the faimily the cat isnt going to be around anymore. out on a job site clean up without runing water I am sure wasnt a good time!
Damn, it would have been bad enough if it would have just taken the plastic fan but the radiator too!:Banghead
had a house cat crawl into the fan shroud of the kenworth one morning. Hit the key and it was kitty puree. Had the radiator steam cleaned atleast 5 times. It still smelled bad. Ended up selling the truck a couple months later anyway and it would still smell every now and again.
Yea I am concerned about that. We got as much of the goo out as possible but its in the middle of BFE and wont be seeing a pressure washer for sometime. Its going to get nasty, no doubt.
After you remove as much as you can i would buy some nature's miracle and spray down the radiator ect. I kills the proteins in blood vomit urine ect. that makes it stink. I used it in situations like this andit made a huge difference. You can get it at a pet supply store a litle pricey like $35 for a gallon but better than the smell.
well its been a couple of days, how bad is it?
That is very common in our are in the fall when the farmers are harvesting and park the combines for the night. The warm motor must sound real appealing for the coons. Then before you know it they are taking a spin the next morning !! I usually hear of 3 or 4 a year.
Give me blood & guts any day - I have a real problem with rats in Thailand The have eaten through my wiring looms on two occasions (different hard to get places) not just the insulation but straight through the wire(s) as well. I use rat bait now when ever I have to park the machine up - Its always a bonus when she starts up after a down time period!
Give me blood & guts any day - I have a real problem with rats in Thailand The have eaten through my wiring looms on two occasions (different hard to get places) not just the insulation but straight through the wire(s) as well. I use rat bait now when ever I have to park the machine up - Its always a bonus when she starts up after a down time period!
Radiator and hydraulic cooler come out as a unit. Need a service truck with a crane, add to the fact that its in the middle of BFE its expensive. Found a used radiator for 750, fan is 100 shipping 250, labor 800.00 Pretty expensive rock chuck.
Ok wiring looms parted by rats doesn't sound so bad after all