Just thought I should post some pictures before it gets to dirty. So here it is, My new toy to play with, well the one they bought for me. I do believe Im one lucky kid to be running a machine like this at my age. Most of the operators around here wont get an oppurtunity like I did. Now Im just waiting for my pick up to arrive. As Promised. 2004 Volvo EC160LC 1537 hrs Hyd/ Thumb Hyd/ Quick EX Rock Gaurds Quad Cage A/C Radio and lots more I just spent the day screwing around on it at the our soil screening yard, decided to take a few pictures before she goes to work fulltime on tuesday. http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/MVFD_2006/P7011103.jpg http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/MVFD_2006/P7011104.jpg http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/MVFD_2006/P7011105.jpg http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/MVFD_2006/P7011119.jpg http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/MVFD_2006/P7011121.jpg
That machine sure looks like its got a short stick on it and looks smaller than a 160 machine I guess its just the way the pictures are. I did quite abit of topsoil screening last year it was 8-9 hours a day 5 days a week for almost 2 months. The contractor I worked for and the other contractors I worked for all said the same thing a new operator should learn on a old high hour machine that has seen some wear. The reason why is you learn how to run the worn out machine smoothly its how I learned and tell you the truth I liked the machines that were a little worn and sloppy. Guys that have only run brandnew machines don't have the fine touch because they have never learned how to compensate for the looseness of a old machine. Usually a operator that is only used to running new tight machines have a heck of a time trying to run a worn machine. Anyhow good luck with the machine just watch out when working on loose topsoil piles all it takes is one side to sluff off and over you go :nono
Ive spent my time on an old machine, 1000hrs. a 1997 Cat 312 that had over 6000 hrs on it and that was a very loose machine, the owner that had it before my last employer never greased the machine. when he bought it the whole machine creeked and screamed while they moved it around for greasing. the bushings gone, pins wore down, it had about 6 inchs of stick movment. I very glad to be off of it. as for edges of piles, Certainly will stay away. I knew that before I touched a machine, grown up around them since I was born. second nature I guess. As for the stick it is the long stick, and smaller then a 160 it sure seems bigger then the deere 160 close by. and a 60 inch bucket. I however will not be using it for soil work. It will be moved tomorrow morning to the town house suite we are doing. the soil is a side thing they do.. if they have time they screen a bit on the weekends. its more of a hobbie for them I guess.
Any kind of topsoil is is worth good money its hard to find they prolly make good money off of it. The machine I ran the most was a EX-150 with 13,000 hours or more it was well worn but I liked the machine. I noticed the machine has a Quad Mfg thumb but who makes the quick connect on that machine. I prefer the CWS manual wedge bar it works the best and the most durable. You know the first dent in the side panels hurts the rest add character The next thing you should ask the boss to install will be Sirrus satalite radio then you have a selection of music to listen too a person can't do without tunes while running excavator :yup
Haha yeah no doubt. I dont think the satelite radio will be on him... maybe outta my check. as for dints... I dred the day. They have more topsoil around there then they no what to do with. lol and we have another 2000 loads of peat coming in right now :Banghead The quick Ex is a volvo option. the thumb and cage is quad, and buckets are from marcels. I had the manual wedge on the 312, also glad to get rid of that. I personaly think the quick ex is worth the money, the operator wont be using the clean up bucket intill he absolutly has to use the digging bucket. it will be switched when hard surface is reached, etc. saves wear and tear on buckets I think. I took pride in my old machine dont get me wrong. when I started on it, it needed lots of work, I slowly bought the machine to almost mint condtion and even painted the machine for my ex employer. then I swung around by some blasting mats and marked the ass end all up again :Banghead :Banghead I could have cryed that day. my nice shiny paint job messed up! ohwell, he just laughed at me and told I cresend it. lol I ran an EX200 for a few weeks to that had 10,000 plus, the meter had apparently turned over once before and the swing brake didnt hold anymore, and you had to move your arms to the floor or pull back past you to get it to work. that was fun.. got pretty good with it tho.
try a Cat 235 with 25,000 hours...you really learn to appreciate new equipment
New buckets should be hard surfaced with hard surfacing rod because you will wear out a digging bucket in no time if your digging blast rock. Our digging conditions on the West Coast of B.C. is so severe you can snap teeth off buckets or tear the lugging off the top of the bucket. A bucket with no hard surfacing would be worn out in a year.
That would already be done :yup
I saw that machine on usediron.com, pretty sure it was the same one. I really like Volvo, but very little support out here. Nice machine for sure, I'd run a Volvo any day! Only problem I see is the non link thumb, I wouldn't have any thing other than a link thumb on a fullsize machine, but it'll teach you to be creative when trying to grab stuff that's really close to the machine.
Well if it was located in vernon BC then you probley did see it. the machines been a bc'er all its life. Yeah with 2 full days on it Im certainly inlove with it(hopefully that doesnt change with time). unfortunetly with the site im at right now there is a thick layer of dust on it. on our road (dirt road) there is 6 inchs of light fluffy powder. just walking the machine along the road creates so much dust you literly have to stop the machine and wait for the dust to clear. its horrible. very glad the A/C works. that cab is locked up tight on this job. but its going to need a wash soon. there is I would say 1/4 inch of dust on it. ive never cleaned windows so much in one day Eric had cleared 3/4's of the land before I got there and now we have started on the other 1/4 but the last stuff to be done has dryed out and its turned to that powder. That 160 sure has alot of power. I picked up a 4 ft diameter 25 ft long cotton wood section today. grabbed it no problem. had to watch going over the side tho. had to keep it close. other wise handled it great.
Well if it was located in vernon BC then you probley did see it. the machines been a bc'er all its life. Yeah with 2 full days on it Im certainly inlove with it(hopefully that doesnt change with time). unfortunetly with the site im at right now there is a thick layer of dust on it. on our road (dirt road) there is 6 inchs of light fluffy powder. just walking the machine along the road creates so much dust you literly have to stop the machine and wait for the dust to clear. its horrible. very glad the A/C works. that cab is locked up tight on this job. but its going to need a wash soon. there is I would say 1/4 inch of dust on it. ive never cleaned windows so much in one day Eric had cleared 3/4's of the land before I got there and now we have started on the other 1/4 but the last stuff to be done has dryed out and its turned to that powder. That 160 sure has alot of power. I picked up a 4 ft diameter 25 ft long cotton wood section today. grabbed it no problem. had to watch going over the side tho. had to keep it close. other wise handled it great. Volvo is certainly my favourite machine. Ive tryed them all out except for link belt and volvo is by far my favourite. if anyone is looking for a good machine start thinking volvo.
Yep, Vernon it was. Saw it about 2 weeks ago, but I know you've been talking about getting that machine for some time, they must have just pulled the ad. Don't worry about the dust, soon it'll rain and you'll save yourself the hassle. I was working on a site where I was walking the machine pretty much all day and the machine was coated. The wind came up or it rained so I didn't have to clean. Keep an eye on your air filter, I changed the primary after 100 hours of swirling dust although your site sounds alot worse. Change it at 50-60 just to be sure. $50 or $10K, I'll let you decide.:thumbsup
I always take it out on my pre-trips in the morning and knock out the loose dirt. but it will be sure to have a new filter at 50 hours. Eric gives me a paid 30 mins every morning regaurdless of priorities to go over my pre-trip, warm the machine up grease etc. so normaly tap the filter out, and then check the fluids, then warm it up and start greasing. and do a few short move ments to get the hyd oil flowing. by that time its usualy the 30 mins. I also found out today they have started us on full coverage benefits now.. medical and dental, and some life insurence thing... all very good... im gonna stay with this guy till I retire hopefully.
Not good to tap those filters out, it can damage the pleats. It's hard to say how hard of a tap will actually do any damage, but you might let your boss know. My dad was really stubborn about it at first until I explained what a new engine would cost. Air filters are cheap, motors are not. In normal conditions, you should easily get 200 hours out of an air filter as far as I can tell, but I'd check your manual to see what it says about air filter maintenance. Only one thing to remember, I was told by my grandfather who grew up during the depression in Arkansas and eventually settled in Washington state in the mid 40's after working in FDR's "New Deal" plan in the CC Camps and later jumped into the tree fruit business, he always said "I'm not going to spend my days making someone else a millionaire." Wise advice. But, at your age (I recall you're around 20 or so?), full benefits are hard to come by so stick with this guy, but if opportunity knocks sometime down the road, answer the damn door!
Nice machine, I would like to try out a Volvo some time. X2 The filter will filter a little better after it loads up with some dirt.
It really isn't neccessary to pull the air filter daily you only need to look at the filter monthly. As meantioned avoid tapping the filter on its edge it isn't good for it you will ruin it. The best way to quickly clean a filter if you don't have another one is use compressed air and blow the filter pleats out on the outside. Never blow from the inside out its not good for the filter and it wrecks the media. You really should do greasing and fueling at the end of the day then all you have to do the next morn is check the oil and water and the way you go. If you do the fueling and greasing in the morning your getting dirty then it gets in the machine. You slop a drop of diesel on you you stink for the rest of the day or if your greasing and you get a big glob of grease on your clothes then it gets on anything you touch. When you start in the morning you want to start being clean it keeps the inside of the machine clean.
My bad, forgot to mention to stay out of the filter box as much as possible. On our machine, it'll pop up on the LCD in the cab if the filter is clogged, there isn't an "old school" restrictor guage in the engine compartment. If that Volvo has a guage, just wait until it tells you to change those filters, but don't tap them out. If you must blow out a filter, Cat says use no more than 30 PSI, but I'd check Volvo's manual before doing so. You really can learn a ton of information about your machine by just flipping through the pages.
Once you get used to the machine you will beable to tell when its starting to lag and the fuel consumption is going up it usually means the air filter is clogging up. The most important thing to do is keep track of the oil changes you should have a record book in the machine or back at the shop to show when the last oil change was done at what hours. It should also show when the fuel filter was changed and when the air filter was done. With a new machine the dealer will prolly want to do the first oil change themselves or specify when the engine oil needs to be changed for the first time. The warrenty work is something you don't want to mess with or you may void it.
Well the oil change is easy to keep track of. the dealer did a full service before they sent it over so the we started on 1500, so at 2000 the next service will be done. and yes its every 500 hours not 250 like it use to be. as for the filters go, they need to be cleaned everyday atleast the primary. at this job forsure maybe not at others but they are clogged within 4 hours in the day. there are times you can not see 1 ft in front of you the dust is so bad. I have to disagree to run a a filter in till its clogged. running a clogged filter starts to make the engine heat up by working harder to suck the air in. Ive noticed this the temperture will raise fairly high for a new machine after a few hour, tap the filter and the temp goes down. if u smash the filter against something that will damage it. Im barly "tapping" it the dust is powder so the slightest movements cause it to come out. Can somebody please explain the scientific facts about changing or cleaning an air filter before you should and why that would cause harm to an engine? I believe the time frame is set there to make sure you dont run the machine past and hurt the motor further with either dirty oil or a dirty filter. the air in the motor is ment to be clean. and the motor is set up to run with the air volume its sucking through a clean filter. a half clogged filter is clearly restricting air flow which in turn disrupts air volume, there for causing the engine to run more fuel equaling more fuel consumption as you guy already know. so I have to disagree with waiting for a light of gauge to come on to tell you to change it. that to me is a warning telling you its reached an unsafe point. As for blowing the filter you should use less then 30 and blow from the inside out. blowing the outside only forces the particles in to the filter and WRECKING the media. I can see using to much PSI which would wreck the media but a low air pressure such as 15PSI does not hurt the media. greasing and feuling the machine in the morning. well I dont know what you do to get grease on you, and spill diesel on you. I seem to not have that problem, I wear gloves for greasing and gloves for fueling, and have terry towels around at all times. I armorall my machine. no joke. thats how I run. windex and armorall are both in my machine at all times. and is done everyday. Everybody will have different ways of doing things. youve been taught your ways and Ive been taught my ways. altho I like the advice, I havnt asked for it, I thank you guys for being friendly and trying to help. when there is something im unsure of and cant get the answer from around here I will ask on here. I may be new to operating but it doesnt mean Im in the dark, you have to remember I was born around machines. there isnt one person except the ladies in my family thats not part of construction. I come from a pretty solid backing and have all the help in the world.
I think the idea behind not cleaning the filter more than required is too keep the intake system from being opened up. A chance for contamination exsists whenever the intake system is opened up, even while changing the filter. Also, I've read that a filter actually allows less/smaller particles through it's media when it is patially dirty(not plugged). The dirt will plug up the larger "holes" first, forcing the air to enter through the smaller openings in the media. So, although it will allow less air to enter the engine, it actually will be cleaner air. The point at which it is restricting the air enough too effect the engines performance, I don't know?? I'd follow what the owners manual recommends. If you want to clean it more, it probobly won't hurt, as long as you're careful while removing, cleaning, installing the filter, and don't damage it in the process of cleaning it.:thumbsup
The excavation contractors here want the operator to do the fuel and grease after the day is done so its ready for the next day. The home owner doesn't want to see the operator spending 30 mins in the morning getting the machine ready. Once your on the site you have to get on with the job or the contractor is going to hear about it from the home owner. Some of the homeowners write down the time you started in the morning and the time you stopped and compare it to what time they are getting billed. Myself I rather fuel up and grease the machine after the day is done its out of the way I don't have to deal with it in the morn which is usually hectic. You got to remember I have been around excavation and heavy equipment since I was 16 so been around it for 14 years. Learned from guys that have been in the business for 30 years or more. You have alot to learn yet you also have to work for guys that scream and yell when things are not getting done quick enough. Some days there are no such thing as a coffee or lunch break you work a full 9-10 hour day no stops you eat your lunch while you work. Some days I didn't eat anything just had water or can of pop there was no time to stop. As for air filters you run the primary filter till its loaded and at the end of the day clean it if your working in really dusty conditions. The primary filter is just to catch the big particals the secondary filter is to catch the stuff that gets through the primary filter. As for tapping the filter its not recommended what so ever the one contractor I worked for freaked out at one of the guys tapping the filter. I learned not to from diesel mechanics years ago. You can send dirty filters in to get cleaned they are just as good as new. If your working in such dusty conditions that the filter is loaded up in 4 hours you should be watering down the site. That dust is getting into the filter but it is also clogging up the rad.
for the allowed 30 mins to grease and fuel up is not billed to the customer. the time starts the minute the machine starts working. My morning arent hectic. I arrive at 10 to 7 and start greasing etc. at 7:30 the trucks show up they know and have been told the machine doesnt start intill 7:30. by setting a time up you dont have such a hectic morning because there is nothing on site. and if they do come at 7 they sit there intill 7:30 and they dont start their time intill 7:30. The contractor or my boss works on the same site with me. both machines are together. so he knows how I do stuff and I know how he does stuff. of corse I have alot to learn in this job I dont think u will fully learn it all between now and the time u retire. everyday is a learning curve in this business. I dont normaly take lunch and I hardly work less then 10 hours a day. today I worked 11, yesterday I worked 12, I want the hours because its a bigger check at the end of the 2 weeks. most times with no breaks what so ever. I dont mind. Ive been screamed at, yelled at. Eric has told me that the speed im running at is right where he wants me. if someone has a problem with it, they can call him and he will explain why. if we watered it down we would have mud and that would only make things worse as we have trucks coming in and out. we are bringing in rock but intill then its going to stay dusty. When you say tapping will wreck the filter I think you mean hitting, tapping lightly does not harm the filter. if u disagree with that please explain why. and what it is doing to the filter. Im very interested to know. I havnt noticed any damage to any part of the filter. The rad screens are checked regularly. But I do think we need to end our heated debate. we have learnt a few different things from different contractors and have some different styles of things. Mine may not be right, but they may not be wrong either, same for you.we follow what we know.
I think that you will find that everyone on this forum only trys to help out the other guy. I been in the operating business for 33 years and I have learned things from the guys here. Advice that you receive is free and it comes from very experienced people. This is not a heated debate...it is just friendly opinions from a great bunch. Having said that here is a link with some information about air filters https://www.amsoil.com/dealer/techservicesbulletin/Endurance_Air_Filter_Change_Recommendations.pdf#search='air%20filter%20servicing%20on%20heavy%20equipment' If you are satisfied with the way that you service your filter then that is all that matters.
Man, if it's that dusty, I'd be watering the site. It won't make mud, you can stop the water whenever you want, but I know I wouldn't take my machine into dusty conditions like that.
Watering a site to kep dust down wont make mud, rain makes mud. It doesnt take much water to keep the dust down. Having so much dust that you cant even see infront of you isnt just hard on your machines, its unsafe, unproductive, and unhealthy.
A ordinary garden sprinkler will keep the dust down and your not going to make mud. The mist from the water grabs the dust and pulls it down. That light dust gets into the machine and causes havoc with wiring it gets into every crack and crevis its like sand paper chaffing at everything. I really have a feeling the contractor you are working for is new to the business or doesn't have that many years of experience. Its common knowlege to water down a real dusty site either with a water truck and spreader bar or a ordinary garden hose. When you exposing workers to excessive dust it can and will cause sillicosis and will make you very sick.
Around by me they will have the job shut down for to much dust !! everytime you open that filter your letting in more dirt !!!! I take every break & lunch because I've learned at the end of the day the contractor doesn't care you didn't take if your getting paid the same!!
I was thinking the same thing kamerad47! I'm not sure who the governing agency is, whether it be OSHA or the EPA or both, but conditions that bad would require that some type of dust control be in place. One thing we can gather from this thread is that there is no set rule about greasing machines, what works for one may not work for the other. Neither case is wrong or more right than the other, it is what works for the individual. Personally, I grease my machine in the morning, I check the oil, start the machine and let it warm up while I'm greasing. In the mean time, my laborers are setting up their tools. I do a thorough job site clean up every night, tools and debris are put away so the customers site is as neat as possible. This makes for some set up time each morning that I use for greasing. My jobs are bid, not hourly so the customer pays the same regardless of how long we take. I'm not sure what difference it makes if the customer watches the machine sit for service during the morning or afternoon, the amount of time is the same. If start time is an issue for the G/C, then one could show up 1/2 hour early to grease his machine.
Boy this is one long winded thread.:sleeping ointhead
Thanks steve. Thats the best way to put all of this.