We've probably all heard that it's never worth it to hit the pile a 2nd time to get that FEL bucket all the way full. As I was using it a lot recently, my mind turned to that old saw.
Hmmmm.
Here's an excel data set that I created. I set the assumption that the bucket was 10 cuft, the time to strike the pile and fill that bucket 5 seconds, and the time to dump 3 seconds. So, in the table, the first column is the time to hit the pile the first time and fill the bucket. The next column is the time spent on a second attempt to get it really full. Next the time to traverse to the dump location AND 3 seconds to dump out the bucket. Then time to return. Then the filled bucket capacity. For the calculation, I chose to show a single strike on the pile would give 80% fill and a 2nd strike on the pile would get it up to 95% full. The last 2 columns are calculation of how many round trips can be made per hour and how many cubic feet of material get moved. I ran it from a 10 second time from pile to dump out to 60 seconds thinking that only at the longer times would it show a positive. Well.... at 10 seconds, it is indeed more productive to just keep moving, even if you only have an 80% full bucket. But at 15 seconds, it pulls about equal with the 2nd strike actually slightly in the lead!
So if you are ever wondering if you should spend more time to really fill the bucket or if you should just take what you have and scoot, it depends on your travel time ! If you are spending more than 12-15 seconds traveling, it's probably better to get it topped off.
By the way. My times to fill in the table are conservative. It's closer to 3 seconds by my watch using a HST machine. But it's very close to the 5 seconds using a manual trans machine.
Yeah, this stuff ^ isn't earth shattering, but my mind wanders when I spend 16-20 hours moving dirt...:laughing:
Hmmmm.
Here's an excel data set that I created. I set the assumption that the bucket was 10 cuft, the time to strike the pile and fill that bucket 5 seconds, and the time to dump 3 seconds. So, in the table, the first column is the time to hit the pile the first time and fill the bucket. The next column is the time spent on a second attempt to get it really full. Next the time to traverse to the dump location AND 3 seconds to dump out the bucket. Then time to return. Then the filled bucket capacity. For the calculation, I chose to show a single strike on the pile would give 80% fill and a 2nd strike on the pile would get it up to 95% full. The last 2 columns are calculation of how many round trips can be made per hour and how many cubic feet of material get moved. I ran it from a 10 second time from pile to dump out to 60 seconds thinking that only at the longer times would it show a positive. Well.... at 10 seconds, it is indeed more productive to just keep moving, even if you only have an 80% full bucket. But at 15 seconds, it pulls about equal with the 2nd strike actually slightly in the lead!
So if you are ever wondering if you should spend more time to really fill the bucket or if you should just take what you have and scoot, it depends on your travel time ! If you are spending more than 12-15 seconds traveling, it's probably better to get it topped off.
time to strike pile | 2nd strike | time to dump | time to return | Bucket capacity cuft | Trips per hour | Material moved |
5 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 164 | 1309 |
5 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 9.5 | 133 | 1267 |
5 | 0 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 113 | 900 |
5 | 5 | 15 | 12 | 9.5 | 97 | 924 |
5 | 0 | 20 | 17 | 8 | 86 | 686 |
5 | 5 | 20 | 17 | 9.5 | 77 | 728 |
5 | 0 | 25 | 22 | 8 | 69 | 554 |
5 | 5 | 25 | 22 | 9.5 | 63 | 600 |
5 | 0 | 30 | 27 | 8 | 58 | 465 |
5 | 5 | 30 | 27 | 9.5 | 54 | 510 |
5 | 0 | 35 | 32 | 8 | 50 | 400 |
5 | 5 | 35 | 32 | 9.5 | 47 | 444 |
5 | 0 | 40 | 37 | 8 | 44 | 351 |
5 | 5 | 40 | 37 | 9.5 | 41 | 393 |
5 | 0 | 45 | 42 | 8 | 39 | 313 |
5 | 5 | 45 | 42 | 9.5 | 37 | 353 |
5 | 0 | 50 | 47 | 8 | 35 | 282 |
5 | 5 | 50 | 47 | 9.5 | 34 | 320 |
5 | 0 | 55 | 52 | 8 | 32 | 257 |
5 | 5 | 55 | 52 | 9.5 | 31 | 292 |
5 | 0 | 60 | 57 | 8 | 30 | 236 |
5 | 5 | 60 | 57 | 9.5 | 28 | 269 |
By the way. My times to fill in the table are conservative. It's closer to 3 seconds by my watch using a HST machine. But it's very close to the 5 seconds using a manual trans machine.
Yeah, this stuff ^ isn't earth shattering, but my mind wanders when I spend 16-20 hours moving dirt...:laughing: