I havent had much to do with hammers before ,but as I can get more work and charge a higher rate with a hammer ,I am looking into getting one for a Cat 324DL. Since I didnt want to beat the daylights out of the new machine ,are there any hammer brands which are known to be softer on the machine. Do some have cushioned mounts or a design which doesnt hammer the machine as bad? The only ones I have had a look at are the Cat ones ,but are there any better ones to suit a 25 tonne excavator?
Any hammer is hard on a machine. I can't see putting a hammer on a brand new 324, but that is just me. As far as Cat hammers go, they are pricey. I prefer NPK hammers over all. They have a good reputation and rebuild kits are fair and easy to do.
NPK hammers are defintely the best, and make sure you get an autolube for the hammer. If i were you I'd look around for a Car 320 or a Hitachi 200 with like 3.000 hours on it to put a hammer on. Hammers beat the machine thats why I have 2 machines dedicated to hammers only.
I dont realy like the idea of using a hammer too much on the new machine. I will more likely hire a hamer when needed. I will be getting a ripper attachment which will hopefully help a bit with rocky ground ,then use the hamer when I absolutley have to. I will have to look into which other brands can be hired ,I know I can get a H140s Cat hammer on short term hire ,but will have to look for NPK hammers. If I,m hiring ,it is not the purchase price which will worry me ,more the hire price. I would pay a bit more for hire if I knew the hammer was easier on the machine. Are any hammers known for being not as hard on machines.( I cant realy say easy on machines)
Chances are, you won't have enough work to justify the beating on the machine and the cost of the hammer. Just rent a machine with a hammer when you need it. Everyone forgets that when you're running a hammer you need 2 machines (in most situations); one machine with a breaker, one machine with a bucket to clean out. Unless you have another excavator, you'll end up renting a machine anyway, might as well rent an excavator with a breaker and save your pins and bushings.
If you are using a hammer long term buying is the only way to go. Look at what a excavator rents for with a hammer. You will easlly pay for the hammer in no time. With a quick couple you can go back and fourth from bucket t ohammer in no time. I do not have a quick coupler on my machine yet but we swith manually from ucket to hammer about 44 times a day. As for hammer brands stick with on that uses a box style no side plates. I think the gold standars is Atlas Copco (Krupp) hammer but you pay for it. I just bought a Socomec (Italian) hammer great warnty and got a good price but the inporter is 15 mins from me and is trying to promote the brand. I have a couple hundred hours on it and it works great, from my experinace it hits better and harder than a Okada and a Indeco.
Dont mind my spelling it sucks (when are we going to get spell check option?) not 44 times 4 times a day.
No way would I put a hammer on a new machine its going to beat the h*ll out of it. The most common breaker around here is Stanley the largest one belongs to a familly friend it cost 140,000 just for the breaker. He is busting boulders the size of Ford Econoline Vans that breaker on the 50 ton excavator has shaken the machine loose. They are constantly tightening bolts on the machine. Nothing beats dynamite its quick and doesn't beat the snot out of machines.
if you will be using the hammer on a regular basis, have an auto-lube system installed on your machine. get a good one and have it run to every grease zirk you can. you will find that it will increase the pin life about 30 to 40%. even without the hammer the auto-lube system is one of the single best add-ons you can put on any machine. i know you will hear the "don't need no stinkin auto lube, i grease my machine twice a day if it needs it or not". we installed an auto lube on our 320L when new it now has 6700 hrs (about 35% breaker time) and is still has no laterial movement in any of the pins (mech QC is looser than a goose, but the rest of the machine is super tight). it is a very worth while invesment!!:thumbsup
Big Iron, just curious, what brand auto luber did you go with and what was the cost? Thanks.
thats a good question, its been so long since it was installed i have forgotten (1999) it seems to me that we spent about $1,100 on our system. it lubes everthing from the circle to the dipper stick pins. here is a good link with names of some of the manufactures for additional info http://www.constructionequipment.com/article/CA6316604.html?industryid=42375
Coming from an excavator repair/ maintenance back ground ,I will certainly want to fit an autolube system. In realy hard digging or hammer operation ,it is easy to hit the grease button more often. I know that if I have some other operators in the machine, they wont do the hard to get to grease fittings if they can get away with it. AS for the hammer ,I didnt want to buy one outright ,I only want to rent one when needed. I,m hoping I wont need the hammer much ,but I have to be versatile and offer as many attachments as possible. I will have a rock bucket and ripper ,but when I occaisionaly hire a hammer ,I want to use one which is not as hard on the machine. I see that NPK hammers have rubber mounts. Are any hammers known to be easy on machines by design or are they pretty much the same?
As a demolition contractor the most important Thing I have to say about breakers that I haven’t seen mentioned yet is that if you do buy one make sure there is local support for parts and pieces. I have two Allied (Both pre-rammer hammer) and one Teledyne which is now BTI. I bought the 770 CS Allied which is a 3000lb for our 200 3 years ago for $6,000, sent it to the dealer for a $9,000 complete rebuild and its worked hard ever since. That same hammer new is going to cost you about $45k. There are also two different schools of thought in breaker design-High pressure nitrogen breakers and Low pressure nitrogen. I have always preferred the High pressure designs. This is a great time of year to get warm and fuzzy with your major rental company rep as they always blow out old inventory this time of year and if it craps out they usually make it right. I bought a 500lb Allied for a skid steer 3 years ago for $500.00 from Hertz and sold it the same day to a fella for $2500 and he’s been happy with it ever since.
I have to rebuild my tramac hammer, anything you guys suggest I look for that may make trhe rebuild not worth it or any tips at all I am totally new at all this machine operating and repair. No a good place to buy parts, ect.
we have a npk hammer on rent from cat right now if that says anything. it is a nice hammer