So our 385C operator gave his notice, so there going to try me out on it. Its primary job is loading out shotrock from the face. Ive never Ran a production machine to this effect. I understand that about a 10-12 ft bench will be the best for loading off, but with a 50 ft face, hows the best way to go about this? I already geared up and built a bench. But should i just load out of the face behind the machoine and form a new bench, then dig out the one im on, or what. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Do you have any pics of the area you're workign in???
Here are some pics of what im dealing with, you can see the 8-10 ft bench i have in place already in some of the pictures.
I would level the top, sit up there and cut a new bench in front of me and spin 90 degrees to the left to load off the side into a truck. When it's time to move over, you can have the haul truck drive up onto the bench that you previously cut. Keep doing this until you have the pile cut in half (height wise) and then move back to the first bench that you had cut, and move the truck back down to original grade. Sounds more complicated than it is. If you are going to be loading trucks for an extended period of time, always try to set up so you only have to make a 1/4 turn to dump into the truck. Going a full 1/2 turn really eats up time at the end of the day. How did the other guy do it??
ya that would be the most effective but aslo keep in mind that if your gunna do that you oughta put a berm up on the side of your bench where your truck will be running MSHA sates that it should be half the height of the biggest tire on a machine on that particular job, ( correct me if im wrong, it doenst hurt to if you get a little bit higher though too , make sure your haul road/ bench is wide enough to accomdate your trucks to! and biggerjim is right only 1/4 turn i f possible its more productive and try to keep your trucks running in a circle , its less productive when you have your trucks backing up to you , sometimes you have no other choice though. good luck and most of all be safe!
That would be correct. :thumbsup You have loaded trucks before, from a bench like this, correct? I assume you will be on the bench above the truck and be working your way either to the left or right. By starting at one end and working to the other, you will be creating a notch in the bench you're on. Keep your truck in this notch. It will keep the truck closer to you and keep you down to a 1/4 turn like the guys said.
thanks countryboy every now and then i need a little assurance that i still have an idea what im talking about:beatsme
No problem. :drinkup I had better know, because I'm a member of the Site Safety Committee for the South-East division of my company. I pretty much have the MSHA book memorised.
Jim is right. Level the top so you'd essentially have 2 benches above existing grade. Sit at the top and work left to right or vice versa doing 1/4 turn only. If the width of the top bench exceeds 1/4 rule, then you'll need to passes on the top to complete. Once the top bench is done, drop down to the first and the truck will be running on original grade. As mentioned, keep the trucks running in circles.
I have loaded truck from a bench yes, only from a ten foot cut, so i basically just stayed up on the grade and the trucks were in the cut. About cutting a second bench and running the trucks up on the lower one, You cant really see it in the pics, but the face comes out to a point halfway down the bench and it is solid behind the bench i have there now for about 100 feet. Its really just a poor setup from the get go, and a hard spot to start a new guy. I never really saw much of the last guy who ran it, as i was always somewhere else ripping out on the D8 or screening with the 320, or running the breaker. But from what i understand, hed dig out the bank behind him down to the same height as the bench, then load out the bench he was on.
I would personally do it like this, but someone correct me if I'm wrong..... (You would need to cut into the side with a dozer a little) Red = where you will sit Blue = truck route BTW I would spin right instead of left; or left of you want the trucks coming in from the left........
Jazak brings up a good point. Don't want to swing over the cabs of the trucks, so the direction the trucks are coming from dictates whether you work left to right or right to left.
Oh yeah i know the trucks have to be pointing at the dump when being loaded and never load over cabs, ive loaded trucks and ran excavators before, just not in such a heavy production operatioin. Also Jazak, Where you have it blocked of as me sitting, is a solid 40 feet above that bench, hard to grasp that in those pictures, and requires moving many thousands of yards to set a usuable bench in there. But ive gotten great advice so far and have a fair idea on what to do.
Didn't look nearly like 40' to me........
Yeah the pics are deceiving, shouldve put the machine up on the bench.
Is there any way you can raise it like this???
The only other way I could see doing it, would be to bench it here & load from there, having the trucks drive here ......... But then you would have all that materail behind you and would take much more time because you'd have to swing another 80 degrees easy.....
Yeah thats pretty much what i was thinking of doing, casting material down onto that bench and running the trucks on it, and making a new bench to run the machine on.
Did you see my second post right after it??
Just from the sheer size and layout, i dont think there really is an easy way, theres about 250,000 ton of material to dig out of there. First few days ill bulk some stuff out of the way then start really benching into it. I think its the only way.
Defaintly post some pics, I'd like to see how exactly you do it..... Plus once we see the excavator & trucks we fully realize how large it really is
I would keep the trucks on the road. I would cut a second bench while I sat on the bench you made and loaded it the first pass. I would cut the second bench as high as possible and still be able to sit on it to load the trucks on the road and reach the floor. On the second pass I would cut the third bench to sit on, again cutting it as high as possible and be able to sit on it to load the trucks on the road and reach the floor. While some efficiency will be lost by turning further to cut the benches it will be more than made up for by being able to keep loading steadily, as opposed to having to stop loading to cut another bench. Make sure your bench is wide enough that when you swing the counter weight doesn't rub. One last thing, on the passes I probably wouldn't take more than 2/3 the width of the bench. This should save swinging around so far to cut the 2nd bench. Also cutting a vertical straight down is easier when you cut straight out from the machine pulling to the center of the machine.