We poured the first part of the wall today at a channelized river. There are 2 wetlands "engineers" , a structural and a hired waterway engineer involved in this little project. God knows we can't let any silt get in here and harm the turtles downstream. You can see why this wall had problems - the last "mason" used hollow block, durowall and filled the block with pebbles.....need I say more about this craftsman? Anyway, this is my 225, it has the 10 foot stick on it - its a creampuff, like new. The side of the wall that the machine sits on also has a failing retaing wall, so I cannot get too close. You can also see that the "brigde" sits on this same rubble-fill mess of a masonry wall, so I am not bringing anything heavy over it.
Looks pretty good there Mr. "special" tool. It was not that long ago that those 225 and 235's were cutting edge.
Nice job boss. Wow, I haven't been in a 225 since the mid 80's, clean looking rig ya got there. Did the old wall just fall into the water?
man good to see a 225 other than mine working. I love seeing those machines at work
Nice to see intricate work going on , not to mention the many uses of the excavators!!
Hey thanks, guys. That bridge needs to go. I have calculated the weight at 16,000 pounds (12.5' x 10.5' x 10"). Every day, I pass by someones gravel yard on I95 in Bridgeport on the way home and see the 245 that he uses - it makes me think....I don't think I'll be able to pick that slab even with the bucket off of the 225. I guess we'll see - weight chart is too close for comfort.
what do you got against a pumper truck jk jk lol
Yeah - no room for it. Plus, we are forced to do it in phases - that would have meant FOUR times with the pump - that's at least $3,000.00 This way, I get the pump money at about half the cost to the customer because the machine is already on site.
200 series Cats are not that much different than the newer machines. They have the same control configuration. In fact, I think they were the first machine to have the modern excavator pattern. The only difference was the travel pedals. 215s, through 245s have one pedal for forward, one for reverse, and a steering lever. I find it's easier to stay on line that way. If I remember correctly, (been a while since I ran one) they don't seem any slower than the new ones either. And no computer to break down!
That all is 100% correct. The only real drawback to the 200 series Cats is the SLOW (fine) work. You just can't do it. You actually have to raise the rpm's to work smoothly at fine work. That's because they have 2 channels....slow and fast - no in-between like the newer Cats/Komatsus. You will find yourself running 2000 rpm just to raise the speed of the "fine" action of the machine - like I was yesterday. You waste lots of fuel because of this. And the emmisions are high from a 3208 or a 3304. There is no question that newer is better.....but I might have a second look at reliability though
Here is one side wall finished and temporary bridge block splice. Some pics of O&G's 245 pulverizer at the concrete recycle yard I dumped at. The pistons on this Stanley are the same size as the boom pistons on my 225.
Where was this job Mr. Special Tool, if you don't mind me asking?? You busy these days around CT??
Stratford. You can see this machine from I95 through Bridgeport.
Have you moved the bridge yet?
Thanks for the info on your job location. As for O&G's 245, I have been to there yard on Seaview and seen that shovel working many times. Mark IV Construction has tons of big equipment right next door also.
If the pistons on that Stanley LaBounty Universal Processor are the same size as the boom cylinders on your 225, then either someone must have modified your 225 previous to you buying it, or your 225 has been taking growth stimulating hormones when you're not looking. The diameter of those cylinders is nearly, if not fully twice that of a 225 boom cylinder. That Processor looks to be a UP-50, maybe even an old UP-70. We had two go thru our shop last year for full reconditioning. A bear to handle when they are not hanging on the end of a machine. Regards, Tony
Special Tool, that 225 looks like a nice machine, when things pick up down here again that is one of the machines I'm looking at buying. Do you have any idea the rpm's it puts out at full throttle? Also, does it have good lifting power?
i learned to run a hoe on my buddy wormkillers deuce anna quarter. great old hoes. reliable as hell and easy to fix when they did puke.
I am sure you are right - I didn't measure them, its difficult to scale machines/parts when they are not side by side. I doubt they are twice - that would make them 6 inch pistons, maybe 5???
Don't know about the RPM's, they don't have tachs. Here is a picture of a heavy duty 12,000 pound tank - I had to reach this way out about 45 degrees away from the tracks - the outside track hardly lifted at all. The stick piston relief on mine is the first to open because it has the "long" stick (10'), so that tells me. Below grade at 10 feet or so, it can lift 20,000, maybe a little more, I can't remember. The chart is still perfectly intact behind my left ear in the cab, but I only usually worry about stuff above grade heights. Qball - that is the main reason I bought it.
The waterway "engineer" is whining that he wants to wait for spring (when the water level will be much higher ) but I will definitely have pictures of that.
Special Tool, Thanks for the pic it gives me a real good idea of what it can do. I have just been looking around on machinery trader and I was thinking about the 225 or possibly an older 270 Kobelko. Like I said I'm just starting to look around, not in a big hurry right now but you never know. I would like to find something with a coupler as well.
The new wall turned out nice special tool.Were you guys able to pour the wall on the existing footing?
Yes - the existing was sound, so I suggested to the engineer (the real engineer) that we epoxy dowell a deeper (modern style) footing on top of it. The new footing goes back 3 feet so that the weight of the backfill applies leverage against forward tilt. There is a lot of steel in that wall. Of course, now I have to wait until the wetlands sign off untill I can install drainage, because we all know I can't allow ground water to enter a river channel where all the local storm sewers already empty into.
That sounds like a good idea on the footing special tool,sometimes we pour "deadman" footings & walls behind the main retaining wall to keep it from moving.225 looks good!
Special Tool, nice looking job, the walls look good keep the pics coming.