Check this guy out! I wish i had his confadince. YouTube - Cat 319D LN climbing onto rail car oops, its a 319
Without being rude,it looks like he has more confidence than ability.Looks a bit uncoordinated
My hat is off to him whatever he has to accomplish that.Your knees rattle when doing a stunt like that and you need supreme confidance in your equipment to pull it off.It appears to me that he made all the right moves and planned ahead properly,I don't see him lacking in confidance or ability.Ron G
why? i have seen that done before (backhoes do it faster by the way), but what can't understand is... why?? if they are goin to go thru all the trouble to build that scaffolding to climb up... why not just make a frickin ramp? if they are goin to spend all that money on scaffolding and an excavator to unload railcars... why not put in a belt conveyor? dont make sence to me imo.
Tommy - thanks for posting, but that really is nothing special for an excavator. In fact, I wouldn't be afraid to do that blindfolded. No joke. He's climbing up on to nice, solid benches - I do this every day as a foundation contractor - sometimes on softer, more unstable materials.........like dirt. He's even got them level, so sliding won't be a big issue either. I guess its just what you know....i've seen some guys on here do things on tractors (loader/dozer) that I could never do either.
any one with a 360 ticket should be able to do that.i could.if you couldent you shouldent be running them nick.............. dont wish to sound big headed
Thats good operating, but I would like to know something? When the train is going down the tracks, what keeps the trackhoe from hitting low powerlines, signals, or getting under bridges? Around here he wouldn't make it a mile down the tracks without hitting something.
A 360 ticket? not sure what you mean, But if your talking down to me because i dont have that kind of experience yet, Then I dont really appreciate it. Im just starting out on a excavator and I DONT have the confadience to do that yet. Why do you say I shouldent be running one when im still learning how? Would you have done it when you only had 8 or 10 hours on one?
That is somthing,thankyou for the post.Most of the time he is steel on steel,not pretty!I dont think those little pipes welded on his planks,would have done mutch with a wrong move.I once got a ticket that cost me about 360!
A very intresting video and due credit to the operator. :cool2 Many will have taken machines up and down bigger drops on site but steel on steel with the resulting drop if you get it wrong on that framework does not warrant a newbie in the seat. I would not be suprised to find that was his first time up that frame, he hesitated/considered the best place for his bucket to make the second step, on the frame or in the railcar. If he had done it before he would have known instinctively to go straight in the railcar. For all those that think they have the experience / bottle / nerve, to do it. Set an excavator up and climb over something, be it a log, rail track, girder, concrete kerb, whatever, but make sure your bucket does not slide or your tracks spin, now go and do it on some steel plate and achieve the same As for why? could be several reasons. For 1) the frames are movable with that size machine so can be cleared from the tracks, even transported to another location 2) how many trucks/cars a day, week, year do they need to unload ? On edit, the comment about backhoe loaders doing it quicker! quite possibly but the only backhoe loaders I have seen do it have a lot of extras including a winch, this exc looks box standard to me.
The actual task here is not that remarkable, what I find rather disturbing is that it would appear throughout this manouver the operator was not wearing his or her seat belt and the cab door open ???
Here is what was referred to by eianewb talking about the rubber tire backhoe. You can see htey are modified a bit to do the job. YouTube - Herzog "Cartopper" I like the excavator and "stairs", as they can be hauled to the site easily, and used in many different locations. Also, the excavator has not been modified, so it can do normal work as well. I must say I too find it disturbing that the operator has not been trained well enough to wear his seat belt. Bad enough to not wear it on flat ground, but when there is a clear danger of a machine slipping, it is even more important. You can't control the machine while you are trying to keep yourself from falling out.
Thats what i was thinking too Bruce! i would like some sort of rubber between the tracks and frame! That said hats off to him, to me it looks like one of, if not his first time doing it that way, that steel frame looks fairly new to me, not had many 319D's going up and down it! Another thing that just struck me is hows he going to get out when he digs out all those stones?? :beatsme
That was kind of what I was getting at in my other post.Steel on steel is entirely different than tracking on soil.I don't know if I could do it blindfolded but having traction makes it a whole nother game.Ron G
The hoe appears to set inside the railcar, this may not be something that is transported down the rails. But it is used to off load the material at that site onto waiting trucks. He would have to track all the way down to the last car to start, working his way back so he could set on the yellow frame to clean the last car. I agree that a ramp may be easier... for all I know this could be something they bought at surplus, already built for an entirely different purpose... cheap but works I would say it's way cheaper to order 10 railcar loads of material then off load. Than sending end dumps several hundred miles for 100 loads.
the framework looks to have cleats welded on it for the grouser's to bite on. there is a company called Hertzog(sp?) not too far from me that specializes in rail toppers, the main reason they do it is for track repair,.....they'll load the hoe on the car and travel down the track placing rock along the way where needed. And yeah it wouldnt surprise me if it was the operators first time, but no belt and door open. that's just stupid! Pj
If he went up idler first he wouldn't have to listen to the damn backup alarm...
Rob Its a travel alarm, it works in both directions. If you get tired of hearing it, you can push the cancel button. After you stop then start traveling again, it will start over.
I'd take my hat off for that operator. Please someone enlighten me, at what point in the video can you see that he has not got his seatbelt on?:beatsme I can't see if he has or hasn't.
He gets up to look before he climbs the 2nd stand
You're right, I had a brain fart.
I'd give the operator almost full marks for that manouvre (points would be deducted for the open door though!) and I am fimly of the opinion that that is not as easy as it looks and many would walk away. Personally I would rather take a Rubber Duck up them steps, and it would make it look easy without that squeaking and scratching! However in my humble opinion I do not consider this to be a safe method of work and other much safer alternatives could be utilised. I am not in any position to confirm, but I am certain if you were to even propose doing this on the UK Rail Network they would bring you a book of regulations big enough to just track straight up and on!! I see the application, and the fact you can move the steps around etc, but if the machine was to topple off the steps there is every chance of a squashed operator!
Thanks heavy. I still take my hat off . Another observation, How far away would the power lines be? Looks like they would be in his swing arc.
Similar to hagus, rubber ducks are an acquired taste. :tong I'd stick with the belt machine for this maneuver. There appears to be a set of guides that line up with the insides of the tracks to keep the machine from sliding from side to side.
http://www.sudenga.com/Undercar_Belt.html http://www.universalindustries.com/home.htm just typed in portable belt conveyors into google, just for examples. they look pretty portable to me, dont even need the hoe to move them. i also bet they are waaaay cheaper than the excavaor, so again... i ask why. for the fella that said that they need it on there to sprinkle the rock by the tracks, i have seen the UP around here doing that with conveyors built onto the cars. so why? i dont wanna sound so critical, but it dont make sense. why risk your machine, and possibly the operator. call me a dumb farmer if you will, but i think that is the dumbest way i have seen to unload a railcar.
Those conveyor may be cheaper than the excavator, but the excavator can be used for other jobs when it's not unloading rail cars. Are you better off buying the best machine for every job or is it better to buy a machine that can do the greatest variety of jobs?
In a perfect fantasy world, we would always have the right equipment for every job we do. In the real world I live in, we do the most amount of work we can with what we have, and if figuring out how to make a machine do something it may not be the best at gets a job done, then it is a good thing. An excavator is about the most versatile machine ever made, and this video shows just one more reason why. If you had to unload railcars every day, for a great long time, then you would build a proper unloader, but to unload a few at a time, and in different locations, this is great. While you are not unloading rail cars, you can dig ditch, do demo work, or anything else you can come up with to keep your investment making money.
I agree 100%!! But remember - farmers don't need to worry about versitility..... UH-OH - I need a specialized machine to GET THE CORN READY for the corn-husker.:lmao As a matter of fact, as I write this, I am working on my latest invention..... wait for it...... I will call it "the mechanized goat" This fantastik, unfathomable machine will actually maintain the relative height of your ground cover. Here is an early spy photo (please keep top secret)
Hey guys there is alot of discussion here as to how and why. in Louisiana there is no rock. all of our rock comes in on rail car. pretty much every contractor around has a set of ramps or blocks. Blocks are safer than the ramps because you can level yourself up before each move. the worst move is breaking over into the car! Hook style ramps are easier to move with the machine but are hairy climbing up on, then having to break over. think about climbing a 2 to 1 steel slope and dropping over 3 feet on the other side. everyone round here uses a 15 tn machine with 1.5 yd cleanout buckets very efficient. Ill try to get pics next time i go up!
cat 315 climbing steel scafaling: :thumbsup :thumbsup No truer words can be said about excavators... their versatility, or limitations, seems only to be a factor of operational skills and imagination. My opinion, any way.... OCR
I think that the TLB must have the title of "most versatile" construction machine.If I could have only one machine that is what I would choose.Ron G
You certainly wouldn't want a newbie trying that. Oh there is one thing missing though.. the porta-jon. They would need one on the railcar for me :lmao
it was told to me s long time ago, "if a guy had every machine it took to do the job he wouldnt need the work!" Pj
I guess it all depends on the kind of work you do. I used to use a TLB a lot, but I sold the last one several years ago, and only on a rare occasion do I miss it. Now just try to get my excavator away from me. Not going to happen.
I can remember when it was written into contracts that only wheel trenchers where allowed to dig... glad to see the days of boards and jacks over.. It took several years to prove the backhoe was capable of doing the job... But then there only a handful of wheel trenchers here... and probably a lot of money under the table to keep the wheels a diggin..
cat 315 climbing steel scafaling: That is a fantastic, unfathomable machine, special tool... :thumbsup And, I think I know where there's an unlimited power source for it.... It can be yours for the taking, to use as you see fit, forever... if you could some how, un-attach from it... any reference to me.. And by any and all means.... OCR...
I knew somebody would have the answers, thanks for the info and any pictures will be greatly appreciated. Those steel ramps sound quite an education, do you generally climb them free or do you require assistance such as a winch. a 2 in 1 steel on steel sounds like an accident waiting to happen, but if you have cleats to grip on or timbers spaced out up the length that would be quite different. Any further info will be great.
The ramps we use consist of 4 20ft heavy I beams connected crossways by 4 8inch heavy wall pipe with grip bars crossing the I beams. Its about like climbing up a steep set of ramps on a hi-boy style trailor only its a longer climb. there is something to grab onto also (reach over the rail car!) Ive never really thought of it as being dangerous until I read all these post! lol Its just something that has always been done round here. to me going from car to car is just as bad, especially if the cars are not the same height.
LOL ! I hear you, but i expect a few of the armchair police will have a comment or two!!! A few pics would be great, even an entry for yu tub ? maybe, please. That ladder sounds quite a ride.
video of cat 315 climbing steel scafaling: I realize, this a far cry from the fellow in the video, but this how I always load, and unload our excavator. I'm sure a lot of you guys do the same.... I had forgotten that I had my camera with me, so there's no picture of me putting the tracks on, to start with, but most know how it's done. I also had to get out and climb down, to get my camera, to take these. And... it was about 4:30, this afternoon, just starting to get dark, so I had to "lighten" a couple with Picasa 3. I'm not a very good editor, and don't really savvy the program, so a few are kinda "grainy"... lol, it was in a wheat field, however... OCR
video of cat 315 climbing steel scafaling: As soon as I feel the weight come off my bucket, I back on just a little more, then, swing around so I can see the spaces in the boards on my lowboy. This gives me a good "line" to follow, so I usually get it centered and straight, without a bunch of turning, and chewing up the deck. I probably should have left this picture out... it was almost totally dark by this time... but Picasa did lighten it up enough to see. Unloading is a little harder, because I can't tell for sure how much track I have left on the lowboy, so I do... lock every thing, unhook my seat belt, and look over the side. If there's somebody with me, I tell them how much track I want left on.... As in, "stop me when I got about this much track (hold hands apart) left on"... but they're usually a bit conservitave...lol... so I do a double check. If you don't run pretty close to the end... about a foot, or less... you're kinda steep, when you let down, to swing around and put the bucket on the lowboy... to let the other end down. I'm sure of one thing, though... I would not want to track off the end of that lowboy, stuck up in the air like that... be a big bang ... :cool2 I load and unload my dozer the same way... just a slightly different technique. OCR...
OCR Nice and simple Do you have a 360ticket?
video of cat 315 climbing steel scafaling: Must not... I'm not sure what that is. Certificate of some kind? OCR
I dont know eather.It was posted before in this thread.Must be some union local yocal thing.thought it sounded funny
I saw a train go by once with an excavator on top of it, first time I ever saw it before this video, I thought I was seeing things.
OCR, Great pic's. I would also like to pic's of doing that with your dozer if you have a camera handy next time you load/unload. Pj
interesting OCR!
Nice shots OCR. A little more interesting than doing it over our Murray with 17.5 rubber. Of course on a bigger machine, with less than half the track on each side actually touching, and the rest sticking out over the side means you better be straight. I know some oil field hands in CO and WY who do the same as you, but they have a rolling tailboard to make it interesting.
In the UK we have tickets for each catagory of plant. If you have the right contacts you can have as many different catagories as your wallet will stretch to. It dont mean you can operate any better or worse than anybody else but it does allow you to actually get on site. Nice sequence of pics OCR and will no doubt be very useful for quite a few visitors to the forum. Many will have looked and said yep! do it like that all the time but I bet just as many thought WOW. :drinkup
Guys I ben running excavators since 1986 I have learned a lot over the years and one thing u don't know is when a hose will break or leak don't take chances hoses will break even on new equipment I had it happen didn't get hurt but made me more careful. I own 6 excavators now and its not from doing stupid stuff. Steel on steel is dangerous.