I was wondering if anyone has operated the new Kobelco 195 bladerunner. Last year I was going to buy a ed150. It was a nice machine and the blade was great but it was a slow dozer and hard to make grade going downhill. I dug with a 190 but never had a chance to doze with it. I imagine the 195 not being zero swing would doze better.
Heres a good pic.
I have although it was a New Holland Kobelco but its the same machine right
Here's another thread discussing the blade runners -
Would like to see the " BladeRunner" setup put in place on a machine the size of the Kobelco 50sr. I think it could eliminate the need to bring along a skid steer on alot of the jobs.
50SR to small to replace a skids Steer. Any mulitool excavator is going to take 2-3 times as long as a dozer or a skidsteer, but if you just have a bit of work, does it matter? I've used a 4 ton BobCAT with a blade and my PC75UU2. Let me tell you, the weight makes a big difference as to how much you can move, and if you are not fast like a skidsteer, you better be able to push a bit of dirt, albit slowly, if you ever want to get any work done. It is a shame the largest machine Kubota makes with a 4 way blade is the KX121. Regarding grading, especially downhill, an excavator is top heavy and will pitch back and forth. Try back dragging for what it's worth.
The 150 was top heavy and the zero turn did not help. I was told by the dealer that I could buy counter weights for it. That was why I never bought it. I rented it for six months and it worked really well for us. It will push as much as a D3 and was awesome for roughing in roads. No one has a 195 around here so I just wanted to see if anyone has used one or owns one. It was nice to backfilling foundations and trenches. Cost was at that time and I ended up buying a cat 312 with a stright blade. It is nice just to take one machine to a job.
Komatsu sells a 6 way blade on the PC 40, 50 and 75. I've used the 50 w/ a 6 way and it was a nice final grading machine. Lifted the boom all the way up to give it a better balance and extra weight on the rear is important to offset the blade's wanting to dig and dive. A pitch control would be nice. I've considered torching off my Hanix SB550 blade and welding a skid steer mount system so I can remount a 6 way skid steer blade and forks for carrying pipe.
In Europe, the New Holland-branded Bladerunners are just about to get an upgrade; basically the new Mitsubishi engine and all its electronic trickery from the Kobelco/New Holalnd E135B conventional excavator.
Do you still have the Hanix ?