Had a trip around the parking lot at Whistler BC to see what was about (the wife loved it ) and came across this really well specced up 320clu. I honestly thought it was a 315, due to the shorter tail and very narrow track pads. It looks built for the job, but yet again that Thumb/quick hitch had me scratching my head coming from the UK. I am going to start a thread for you all to post a pic of the ultimate 'Thumb/Pin Grabber hitch' combination that could actually tempt a few UK users to give them a go. The set up here looks very strong but just too bulky and agricultural with no ability to turn the bucket around to be accepted by UK users. I bet this will girl will climb on them grousers though!
You took her to BC and still you are taking pics of machines? How much was she rolling her eyes at you?:drinkup
I had to give in to some retail therapy to get them pics, It would have been cheaper to hire it for a day! There is a Kobelco Blade runner working on the slopes and I have been determined to get some pics (preferably a couple of minutes in the seat!) However everytime I mention it I get a response like this Eddie
you he for the olympics welcome to BC. you might have seen my 350 when you where coming in to land
Just finishing off our second week, back home friday but would have loved to see the Olympics. I am sorry I missed your immaculate 350 only I'm a nervously flyer and it's strictly eyes closes and cheeks clenched for take off and landings! You make sure you park her with the boom well down friday! Eddie.
no problem last year i was between the run ways where that big load of concrete is crushing . and before that i was doing a job just out side the airport and the mound i was siting on was high enough that they could see us on the landing radar , that was kinda funny them pulling up and telling us to not boom up on the front of the mound . but dont worry your in good hands . next time you vist give us the heads up and i will show you some of our gear .
You like 320CLU's here's mine with 36" tripples and the hydraulic Q/A
we have a 320 like that where i work, its a sweet machine, its got almost 7000 hrs on it and still looks brand new, i like zero tail swing machines like that
Don't you mean reduced tail swing?
Expatracer that is the second kind offer this week to view a machine in BC. I'll be starting Heavy Equipment Vacation Tours next! I am uncertain if we get the 320 in LU version in the UK, but they are certainly a handy bit of kit by the way CRAFT seems to be putting his to good use. I would imagine it would make a really good base for an LGP conversion, and on 4ft pads would be virtually zero tail swing. Does anyone know if there is a 'D' version out?
Yes, there is a 'D' version, but they changed the name to 320D LRR. http://www.cat.com/cda/layout?m=308573&x=7 I'd love to have one if only I could afford it
Hello England ! ...ya I try to use it as much as I can but with way our economy has been going this past year and a half we don't see many hours .....but as previously posted it is a really sweet machine .... this one with the 36" pads only has an 8" overhang past the tracks ..... my first reduced tail swing was a 430 Bobcat mini excavator and never again will buy one that is not ZTS/ZHS ...... for a 200 class machine this ex is a heavy puppy at 53,000 #'s and has more Hp than a 200 as well the specs are impressive ...... had a really bad experience a few years ago with my Cat 312 and after that I swore never again .....the 320 is at 8" and the 312 is at 24" of tail .... I'll see if I can find a pic that shows what I meant by bad ....if you're looking at the pic closely you'll figure it out what happened ...... I'll give you a clue it's a lot steeper than you think !
tracking parallel to close to excavation, and sidewall gave away?
I can't figure out how you got those tracks in that position??
CRAFT you simlply cannot get away with throwing in a picture like that and a half explaination! We want a full confession and All the pictures! They obviously haven't sold many of the 'D' versions because a picture usually turns up here really quick. I am homeward bound from beautiful BC tomorrow, and still scratching my head over the 'Thumb/Quick hitch ' set ups over here. The 'Thumbs' look great, but the hitches are nothing short of ugly. Anyone got a really neat one that integrates with a 'Pin Grabber'?
did it somehow slide down that mound?
sorry, same thing you know what i mean :beatsme
this makes sense, but still whats that got to do with its tail swing?
how did that happen? I'm very curious Was the machine alright after that tip?
"K"......... Here we go ! ..... The Red thing is a Hydrant top of the hill, 10' behind that is a 4" sewer clean-out ..... down from that on the left is bruised trees from trying to swing ...... we were digging a 6' deep sewer line backwards down the hill ....... there was a guy in the trench laying the pipe and was told NOT to get to close to me .... it was starting to get dark, the guy started to rush ..... I had to back-up some more, there was a 4' drop behind me, I tried to swing and couldn't (trees) ..... straightened out a bit and moved back a bit and away we went skidding/sliding over ice compact snow ..... over the bank ..... sommersaulted ...... couldn't drop the boom, would have killed the guy in the trench, couldn't swing around and stop myself so I hung on. Thanx to the strict Forestry cab guarding regs, the only damage was the stick cyl and rod were bent bad, a couple of the Lexan windows popped out, and cause the machine was on its side over night the engine hydraulic'd ...... sent the cly out to Finnings shop for a re/re of the tube and rod, it was gone for three days, and in that time we put the windows back in, cracked the injectors rolled the engine over by hand bar, pushed the oil out ...... hit the key and it ran .... cyl came back connected it up and went back to finish off the system ....BUT not before the flunky in the trench got big crap for pushing instead of watching .......AND NOW YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY .....as Paul Harvey used to say ....lol
Hey Eddiebackblade ....why do you think our Q/C (quick couplers) not pin grabbers, are so ugly??? ...over here the pin grabbers don't cut it with the different things we do and Q/C's are way less maintainance ....the lugging is attached to pin boss's .... not so sensative to dirt and debris and are tougher ...... according to Cat dealers and others alike .... different places different strokes
i was kinda close
how come you didnt just take out some of the trees andmake he right-of-way wider??
Well its like this .... a couple of reasons, one being the thing when you are dealing with ahome owner contractor that has a tree hugger for a wife ..... and two the system I was going and did build was a sewage Lagoon they did not want (as they thought) look out their living room window a see the green pond ...LOL .... so a person has to comprimise, especially when they write the cheque ..... BUT after that experience 2 things if there is any damage to my equipment they pay up front or we don't do the work unless the ROW is clear enough ..... although sometimes it would nice to be able to sneak thru without leaving a foot print ...... thats why I will never buy a machine that is not a ZHS, ZTS, or RR .... the way the newer ex's are built (geometry) today you'll never miss having all the extra baggage out the rear
well that makes enough sense i guess, i rarely ever do work for home owners, when we need room we just commence to pushing over trees...and there are no such things as tree huggers here, unless they are protesting at a strip mine
Hey Eddie hope you had a good holiday and a safey return, its well for some is all i can say:tong:drinkup Anyway seen you mention about thumbs, and thumbs for pin grab hitches in this thread( i think) i was on the geith website and seen that they make thumbs of all types inculding pin grab hitches such as there "claw" hitch! Like yourself i havent seen many if any hyd thumbs in the UK or Ireland, but would love one for our Hitachi EX60, we dont do much with it just our own work but it would be handy to have ( maybe i'm just lazy ) for moving things about! as my father owns a fabracion/engineering company maybe we ll knock one up sometime! Anyway the snow has gone, and you have gone from the snow its time that Kubota is back at work! Heres a picture of the geith hitch/thumb
Tree huggers are such a nuisance, If they love them so much then plant seeds once the work is done. They can't get over the fact that some trees just have to go.. Ps. thats a nice thumb, but then again most things look nice when there brand new.
Thats a nice looking ROPS. One of my goals this next year is to fab one up just like it for my Komatsu 120.
Cps, the trip to Canada was for research purposes only, just happened to be at a Ski Resort! :drinkup That is Geith is exactly what my idea of an acceptable 'Thumb/Pin Grabber' set up for the UK would look like. I don't want to completely knock the system I witnessed in Canada, but it does appear to be a huge lump on the back of the bucket and would be a complete pain in a trench with services crossing etc. Not having the capability to turn the bucket around is also a big minus point also However I doubt it was built with this in mind and is probably an extremely strong set up for use in land clearance etc and well proven. For the UK, I would ponder that complete 'Dipper arm/Hydraulic Thumb/Pin Grabber Hitch' assemblies could be marketed as an actual attachment in itself, just like hiring a Hydraulic Breaker etc. I could see myself knocking the pins out of a machine and replacing the whole dipper with a 'Hydraulic Thumb' equipped one for a reasonable sized clearance job etc. This would possibly more suited to UK use where a 'Thumb' continually fitted may be considered too cumbersome for permanent fitting. Obviously the hirer would need a few units for popular models, but there would be very little to go wrong and could generate a reasonable hire rate. I would pay good money to hire such a set up ready to put on a CAT 312 or CAT 307 that I can hire at very reasonanble rates as base machines. I have hired Grapples and Selector Grabs before, both quite expensive and each have their drawbacks (Grapple needs pad welding to dipper and Selector grab Two hydraulic services) which are problems for hired machines. However to switch the dipper and plug into a two way auxiliary service would be simple, and a 'Thumb' much more versatile than Grapple or Selector Grab? Expatracer, I had a good look at the airport and there appeared to be a whole load of equipment parked on a long thin tree lined strip of ground almost surrounded by water. There were several Volvo dumptrucks and maybe your 350? It all looked tidy kit from a distance. Hopefully back to BC next year and hope to find a little time to view some kit and maybe catch up with some HEF guys?:drinkup
Hows the form.... We had a small demolition job awhile back which involved knocking old two story stone building but all the joist and roof timbers had to be sorted out off the rubble. Ended up making a thumb for our old fh130 which worked a treat. Folds away up for normal use but you would never realise how handy one could be. Best of all wev had two other clearing jobs on the strenght of it
Eddie its too bad you didn't get a chance to try one out, I would guarantee you would be sold in mere minutes especially when it comes to handling rocks and brush or demo waste. They can easily be adapted to the pin grabber type hitches as well.
Well put Digger ! ...never new that a Q/C would have to make a fashion statement ...I guess that we would never get hired if we showed up with an UGLY Q/C .....LOL ... quess that means that practical and efficient is out the window .....JMO
tough looking case
Hey ! ...I thought this thread was for 320CLU's .....lol..... should start a thread on Case 9030B's ..... you know we don't want to upset our friend in England .... he'll start posting about about our ugly pin grabbers again ...lol .... or maybe your Helac .....which BTW I really LIKE ..... and that is a nice guarding package you have there
Eddie next time you come back give us a shout we have alot of equipment including a EX600 with a thumb on it i'm sure i can arrange a some test runs on the gear
Cant beat an offer like that Eddie, seems like some real nice folk over there!:drinkup
Expatracer I have been over to BC every year for the past 12 years and certainly don't want to end my run anytime soon. If the Kubota makes me a bit of return this year I'll be happy to take you up on your offer. That is provided the 'Thumb' on that Ex600 is not Too Ugly! :drinkup
That 320clu looks like a sweet setup for ski hill work wish the 330 i ran had the bottom rock guards and dbl grouser set up, yep I bent a few pads
a few more
that looks like a pipeline excavator
right on
yeah, usually the narrow pads with dozer grousers and a clevis on the bucket and fusing machines in the background give it away...see alot of those around here...lol
HELLO ! ...Fast- eddiebackblade here's the pics I promised you, to show the thumbs fully open and closed ( NON-PRogressive Link type ) 2 brands, 1st set is the 320CLU with Daequip thumb and Cat/Weldco bucket ..... 2nd set is the 312 with FAS Thumb and bucket ..... keep in mind that you can still pick-up small debris with both of these thumbs easily, both thumbs are straight down from the stick, its just that the bucket will travel out further
2nd set of pics