Learning the Hard Way

[TheDarkLordChinChin]

To operate a digger (excavator to you Americans)
Ancient machine, 17 tonnes of clunky metal. Accidently pulled a small fir tree onto the cab today. Knocked a light off the boom but I dont plan on using it at night anyways. Good loud "BONK!" though. At least I know the cab is strong. It's the second cab on this machine that I know of, dont know what happened to the original.
Pictures tomorrow.

 

[ErnieG]

To operate a digger (excavator to you Americans)
Ancient machine, 17 tonnes of clunky metal. Accidently pulled a small fir tree onto the cab today. Knocked a light off the boom but I dont plan on using it at night anyways. Good loud "BONK!" though. At least I know the cab is strong. It's the second cab on this machine that I know of, dont know what happened to the original.
Pictures tomorrow.

I'm an equipment operator and I pushed trees all day today with an excavator .. luckily none ended up on my cab.
They were very brittle big dead ash tree ..I had to really watch the big high branches...they wanted to snap very easily .
Ernie

 

[TheDarkLordChinChin]

Today I learned to push not pull.

 

[ErnieG]

Today I learned to push not pull.

That's a good lesson !
Ernie

 

[lone wolf]

That's a good lesson !
Ernie

As long as hes ?OK.

 

[lone wolf]

Just heard Dr Suess is can celled!

 

[ErnieG]

As long as hes ?OK.

Absolutely....
I occasionally pull trees but not with a small machine ..if it's a large excavator it has the ass behind it to pull and push the tree where you want it to go with the authority .
It can be very dangerous.. especially with large dead trees like I was pushing today .
Ernie

 

[lone wolf]

Absolutely....
I occasionally pull trees but not with a small machine ..if it's a large excavator it has the ass behind it to pull and push the tree where you want it to go with the authority .
It can be very dangerous.. especially with large dead trees like I was pushing today .
Ernie

I know it im a tree Service 46 years.

 

[sean donato]

Like using a dozer better then a hoe.

 

[ErnieG]

Like using a dozer better then a hoe.

I would rather an excavator...
Much less of a chance of the tree coming back on top of you with the higher reach of the excavator .
Ernie

 

[sean donato]

Personal preference, but yes better reach with the hoe.

 

[northmanlogging]

Today I learned to push not pull.

to preface I dropped an alder on mine a few weeks ago, wasn't even using the hoe, had the skidder winching it over and it broke off went sideways...

Anyway, You can pull safely, using the heel of the bucket, you just have to position yourself so the tree is on the other side of the boom, never pull or swing from the same side as the cab.

Theres a Hitachi 200? sized machine here in town missing the cab, its parked next to a whole fleet of equipment, story is the owner pulled one over on himself and lost both legs in the process, its all been gathering moss ever since.

 

[catbuster]

You can push and pull with the hoe, like Matt said don’t pull towards the cab side, use the far side of the bucket, no teeth engaged, and I usually start swinging away as I pull.

I’ve had the tops of trees come out and land on the cab, and learned exactly much the skylights in a Komatsu PC290-10, Cat 330D and a Cat 345D cost. That poor Komatsu was brand new and on rent. **** happens, learn from it and move on.

Dozer vs hoe... Eh, I’ve been alone with both in the woods. The excavator is the way to go for pushing trees over. The dozer can do a lot of things faster if you’re not working with big trees or logs.

Also- Us Yanks or other north American folk will call an excavator a trackhoe in certain geographic regions, “hoe” in more northern ones, and you’ll often hear ones on tires called rubber ducks. I’m also pretty sure most manufacturers call them excavators... So your slang term is just as wrong as mine.

 

[TheDarkLordChinChin]

In Ireland anything on tracks with a boom is a digger. If it has a grab it is still a digger. If it has a harvester head it is a digger. Or a breaker, circular saw, tree shears or anything else. It's still a digger.

Here are the pictures I promised.

 

[slowp]

Not an excavator. A loader or "shovel" being used as a wedge.
View attachment 893052

 

[northmanlogging]

There was an out fit logging out by me a couple years ago, had a couple of big shovels, they was logging next to the paved road and power lines,

they kept trying to swing the trees off the road, using the heel rack.

Moral of the story after the first power outage, they then had flagger crews, so that traffic could be stopped while they attempted to direct timber

Lost power 2 more times before they where done, annnd there is quite the whopty in the pavement in at least one spot, the Dumb truck just about catches air on it on my way into town.

 

[TheDarkLordChinChin]

Sound like real pros

 

[slowp]

There was an out fit logging out by me a couple years ago, had a couple of big shovels, they was logging next to the paved road and power lines,

they kept trying to swing the trees off the road, using the heel rack.

Moral of the story after the first power outage, they then had flagger crews, so that traffic could be stopped while they attempted to direct timber

Lost power 2 more times before they where done, annnd there is quite the whopty in the pavement in at least one spot, the Dumb truck just about catches air on it on my way into town.

Hah! I understood immediately what a whoopty is. There was and probably still is a big one a road south of Randle. It's called the whoopty do spot.

 

[northmanlogging]

Sound like real pros

They are actually one of the bigger and more respected outfits around.

They also generally work up in the hills away from pavement and powerlines, and are more acustomed to steep ground and tower logging...

The flagger crew they had looked an awful lot like young choker setters that weren't used to dealing with angry drivers... sorta like they would rather punch someone in the nose then have to stand there with a stupid sign while not talking back to the assholes in the cars.

 

[sean donato]

Doesnt take long to get pissed at the people in the cars, or have them get pissed at you.