The title says it all. I was wondering where the term "Duck" came from for wheeled excavators. AtlasRob, this one is for you.
me too
Hint:
\0 What he said tires>rubber>rubber>duck
See, my daddy always told me to be just like a duck. Stay smooth on the surface and paddle like the devil underneath!........lol
You quack me up! :lmao (Sorry. Couldn't resist the temptation...)
You ever seen a duck that couldn't swim? Quack, quack!
Don't try it AtlasRob...your duck can't swim!
JDOFMEMI, I'm glad you asked this question, I've been wondering it too. Can someone go into further detail? The answers posted so far aren't clicking with me.
Steve, re-read hvy1ton's post, and then see if you can find a clue in this video.
digger...your in rare form today! Then again, maybe more Normal form. :lmao
OK, are you saying that the fact that it has rubber tires is the only connection to being called a duck? Strange correlation.
I was told a while ago that they are called rubber ducks due to the fact they can be very rocky when doing certain tasks especially with duel pnuematic ties on! a bit like a rubber duck on water! they rock around too!
Thats my understanding also. Nobody I have encountered has provided a 100% rock solid answer. It appears to be one of those silly terms that somebody uses once and it gets picked up by others, next thing is everybody is using the term. Maybe not big state side but in the UK it is a very common term.
Rubber duck The Wheeled excavator is often referred to as a rubber duck' in the UK, due to the appearance and the tendency to "bob about" whilst working and travelling. A Wheeled excavator is a 360 deg excavator mounted on rubber tyres as opposed to the normal tracked undercarriage normally used. They are used for street works were the tyres eliminate the damage problem from steel tracks. The tyre also mean they can travel to and from jobs like a Backhoe under there own power and do not need a low loader and tractor unit to transport them. They are not as versatile in soft site conditions due to the higher ground pressure of the wheels. A Common usage is as Materials Handlers in waste transfer stations, often with High level cabs and longer booms fitted with grabs. Contents [show] editManufacturers Atlas (Now a Terex company) Fuchs (now a Terex company) Hymac JCB O&K (now a Terex company) Poclain Built early machine now part of Case IH/CNH Global Terex Volvo
Oh. Are the tires rubber? I thought it was cause they were yellow. That makes even more sense now. To be perfectly serious, I agree with Rob's assesment. How many of you are familiar with portable hand-held radio equipment that has a "rubber duckie" antenna? The origin is the same--it uses rubber, and is just a silly reference that became easily recognizable. (For those who are unfamiliar with them--Wikipedia article.) I can't think of any other connection between radio antennas and ducks. :beatsme And while they've been around for a good long time, it appears that modern mass communication had a lot to do with injecting the term so prominently into our collective psyche. The Muppets video I posted above is cited in this Wikipedia article.
The bobbing about kinda makes sense. I think, at points in our lives, we've all seen a rubber duck bobbing on water. It's not hard to imagine that at some point, someone asked an operator of a duck what it's like to operate one, and they would get a response similar to "it's like riding on a rubber duck", and it spread from there. Makes perfect sense.
Well, I learn something new every day. Sometimes it is even something usefull.
Quack, quack..........