For your viewing pleasure, these are the soon to be released -in the US- compact versions of the A914 and A918 Litronic Wheeled Excavators. Finally a manufacturer thought it wise to combine a wheeled undercarriage with a compact superstructure.
More of the same only different...
That second picture makes it look like they are taking those Liebherrs camping.
I kinda think they are. Hey, I guess if you're going to go camping why not go in a Liebherr, certainly makes for a fine latrine shovel.
Seamac, Can you elaborate on what you meant by "Finally a manufacturer thought it wise to combine a wheeled undercarriage with a compact superstructure."?
Sure Huntoon, As far as I am aware Liebherr is the first excavator to put a compact meaning reduced swing radius upper carriage on a wheeled undercarriage. Whereas there are numerous tracked excavators with reduced or tight swings there were none with wheels. Other's can correct me if I'm wrong and I rest confident they will but Liebherr seems to be the first.
Thats not true, takeuchi and bobcat have done it before
Okay, some clarification is in order. I am talking about full-size equipment not "compact" equipment. The A914 and A918 are compact only relating to the upper carriage and only with regard to swing radius. Takeuchi and Bobcat do not technically make full-size equipment. That's my story anyway and I'm stickin' to it...
Okay, I did research the Bobcat and Takeuchi and yes they do make a "compact" wheeled excavator however I'm not so sure you could say either has a true tight-swing or reduced-swing upper carriage or that either machine is as large in general as the Liebherrs pictured in this thread. You are right though, Bobcat and Takeuchi make a wheeled excavator although I have never seen one in Florida.
I am in Western Iceland right now on vacation. I spotted this piece of old iron on the side of a very cool old road.
Interesting old piece of equipment, looks like an Atlas. But, it is not tight-swing or reduced radius it has a full counterweight and is full swing in configuration. In full size equipment, tight-swing, reduced radius is fairly new. They are becoming far more common and for good reason, you can work on a road and only shut down one lane to do it, you can get up close and personal with structures without having to worry about swinging into one and knocking it down. Now it would appear Liebherr has made it easier to transport such a machine by taking the tracks off and putting tires on and good for them too. It should be noted I will be purchasing one of these new excavators, the A 918, as soon as they are available in the States, have been told late in the year they will be here.
This is a photo of a Liebherr R 924 Compact, yes it sits on a tracked undercarriage but notice the upper carriage. It is very compact and has a rounded counterweight, it is not a piece of "compact equipment" it is a full-size machine. There are numerous manufacturers - CAT, Deere/Hitachi, Volvo and Komatsu - who make similar excavators but to my knowledge Liebherr is the first to put a "compact" upper carriage on a wheeled undercarriage.
ahhh..I get your drift now Seamac. thanks.
You're welcome, enjoy your vacation...
Liebherr A 918 Compact Litronic video... I figured this might offer some insight into the this fine machine, 10:24m. Liebherr A918 Compact Litronic
Komatsu already has one shortradius wheel excavator since 2010! http://www.komatsu.eu/displayPressRelease.ashx?id=71613 http://www.komatsu.eu/displayBrochure.ashx?id=75290
Okay, With all due respect, if you look at the photos and specs of the Komatsu machines they are "reduced swing" not compact or tight swing. There is a significant difference between the two types, a tight tail swing machine has a very rounded counterweight not square as the Komatsu, Hitachi/Deere, Volvo, CAT and so on. Liebherr is the only manufacturer at present who makes a "tight tail swing" excavator with a wheeled undercarriage whereas there are many on tracks. Sorry, but these are the facts.
That Komatsu has the exact same tail swing radius as the 914 compact. 1.85 meters. so I guess that would qualify it as a compact machine.
Not that I am denying the specs although I have yet to confirm them myself, it does seem rather odd that the Komatsu's superstructre will swing outside the stabilizers whereas the Liebherr will not. Having once operated a Komatsu PC228USLC in close quarters it was the fact that the superstructure did not swing outside the undercarriage footprint by much if at all that made it a "true" compact machine.
I think the biggest problem here SeaMac, is that you are confusing commonly used terminology for different machines, with terminology different manufacturers use as trademark and equipment names to differentiate themselves from other manufacturers. Liebherr referring to a machine as a compact machine, is simply a name they use to describe the machines you are referring to. In general, the term compact, is used to describe a machine that is under 8.5 tonnes operating weight. The generally accepted terminology for the short tail swing machines is usually reduced tail swing, or zero tail swing, depending on how they are set up. Reduced tail swing generally describes a machine that has a counterweight swing radius that is reduced from standard, but exceeds the width of the undercarriage, be it tracks, or wheeled, with the outriggers extended. Zero tail swing refers to a machine where the counterweight tail swing does not exceed the undercarriage width. Going by generally accepted terminology, Liebherr is a zero tail swing machine, where the Komatsu is a reduced tail swing machine. The thing is, the Komatsu actually has a narrower operating width, as it has a shorter outrigger spread. In fact, there are other manufacturers who have reduced tail swing machines on wheels, and at least one who also has a zero tail swing wheeled machine. Check out Mecalac and Gallmac. Both make reduced tail swing and Mecalac makes a Zero tail swing machine.
Hi alco, I am aware of the symantics with different manufacturers and their marketing strategies with machine nomenclature, my point exactly. The Liebherr A 914 a 17t - 19t machine and A 918 a 19t - 21t are in a heavier class than say the Mecalac and Gallmac that you reference. I should have stated in my original post the tonnage class and the fact that they are available in the US, I don't work outside the US so any machine available outside is somewhat irrelevant. But I admit there are other machines with a reduced swing, tight swing and even zero swing but as far as I am aware they are a much smaller class in tonnage what I would consider a "toy". It was never my intent to engage in an argument but more informing those who may need such a machine - like myself - that they now exist and with the A 914 currently available in the US with the A 918 coming soon. Having said all of this I hope the matter now has clarity and we can move on.
Perhaps you should have said that Liebherr is the first manufacturer to offer reduced or zero tail swing Liebherr machines on a wheeled chassis. It seems you insist on changing th parameters of what is being discussed every time someone makes a post that disproves your original statement. I also wonder why, if you are aware of the symantics of different manufacturers and their use of certain terminology in their marketing strategies, do you continue to employ the same tactics they do? Incidentally, if the machines I mentioned (which are of the same size class as the Liebherrs, not smaller as you claim) are not available in North America, then why does a contractor in our capital have several of them?
Hmm, I just checked again the manufacturers that you mentioned and still don't see where either offers an excavator in the weight class as Liebherr. I did find that Volvo CE divested Mecalac some time back. Again, the machines you mention seem more to be multi-purpose and not true excavators although they seem to be fine machines. I don't see where anyone has disproved my OP and I'm not sure if parameters where changed more like clarification. Perhaps I should spell things out in minutiae in all subsequent posts and threads.