L39 Electrical fire, bad, but could have been total loss.

[Ductape]

I didn't realize we were neighbors....

 

[Carl_NH]

Mike,

Glad it all worked out for you so far and the insurance Co is cooperating - did they want pics or do they want to send an adjuster?

I would try to leave it somewhat open ended with the insurance co until MB can get it all torn apart as you dont know what else might have been damaged (electronically) as these types of incidents can cause other funny things to happen down the road - I am sure you are aware of this.

So Ductape, as a good neighbor maybe you should lend him your hoe..

Carl

 

[Ductape]

So Ductape, as a good neighbor maybe you should lend him your hoe..

Carl

I'm guessing he may be able to get by with his mini-ex....

 

[BeezFun]

Is the battery brain weather tight?

They make a range of products, some targeting anti-theft, some marine use, some commercial use. Not sure of guarantee of weather tightness, but I've had the "gold" one under the hood of the car for years with no problems. It's a british company but products are sold in this country.

 

[mike69440]

I'm guessing he may be able to get by with his mini-ex....

Don't call my PC75 a mini-ex as that will hurt her feelings. She weights over 18,000 lbs making it a classed very small excavator.

Generally a Mini excavator is up to 6 tons and can be moved with a good 1 ton truck.

A small excavator is 8 to +20 tons and is generally moved with a tag trailer behind a dump truck.

AA class is about 7 to 11 tons moved by a F550 and such.

A class 12- +20 tons can be hauled with a real dump truck.

B Class Medium excavators are +20 to fewer than 40 tons and can be moved in one piece with a minimum of permits.

C class Heavy excavators are big hi-way or demolition/ construction machines that are a pain to move and to some degree must be disassembled to move. A Cat 345 may just have the bucket removed for transport; a Cat 385 may have the boom removed. Heavy excavators essentially can stay mostly assembled to transport. Wide loads, lots of restrictions and permits to move.

D. Class machines are the stuff at open pit mines and such. Big ones are 800 metric tons, may be electric powered or dual diesels. They get brought in pieces and generally live the long or short lives at the pits. They are also used on special construction projects.

 

[lhansman]

Sorry to hear about your fire Mike. I have to increase the height of the garage door on my old shed before the L45 will spend the night inside. With so much to do this time of year, I have scheduled the garage modifications for fall so she is out in the weather. Fortunately my Laurin cab has arrived and I hope to be able to have it installed in the next few weeks and that should keep all of that expensive wiring and instrumentation out of the weather until I get the garage door modifications completed.

Best of luck with your repairs.

Regards,

Lauren

 

[Carl_NH]

HI Mike,

On the class of excavators - neighbor has a LinkBelt 4300 - weighs 76K Lbs - considered a 40 ton machine I think. He did some stumping work (65-70 big ones) and clean up - man that thing could pop a 3' stump like my B21 does a 3" stump - one swipe.

At the same time he graded using the bucket making it look really good - until it rained then all the 8-10" nuggets of stone surfaced once the dirt settled. Leaving me with lots of rocks roots and cleanup - but thats NH.

Hope you get your machine back on line soon and let us know how you make out.

Carl

 

[radrock]

I don't suppose lightening would be out of the question. Was it still raining?

 

[mike69440]

HI Mike,


On the class of excavators - neighbor has a LinkBelt 4300 - weighs 76K Lbs - considered a 40 ton machine I think. He did some stumping work (65-70 big ones) and clean up - man that thing could pop a 3' stump like my B21 does a 3" stump - one swipe.

At the same time he graded using the bucket making it look really good - until it rained then all the 8-10" nuggets of stone surfaced once the dirt settled. Leaving me with lots of rocks roots and cleanup - but thats NH.

Hope you get your machine back on line soon and let us know how you make out.

Carl

Rough cleared land is still quite a mess. I Know! It makes sense to hire out if you have much acreage to clear.

You need a 20 -30 ton machine to clear land as it can pluck them out with minimum digging.
A link bet 4300 is classed at 30 metric tons. The 300 in the Model 4300 is the metric tons of the machine.

Without my added accessories like a thumb, my PC75 machine is nameplated 8150 KG or 17,962 Lbs. I figure another +500 Lbs for the thumb. Steel tracks and the articulated boom add weight to the 7.5 metric ton designation.

CAT had to change their model 330 to 336 because through the years their (30 ton) machine gained a few pounds, (Like us) Truth in advertising for the guys who didn稚 want to overload their transport. I think CAT came out with a 329.

On my L39, I've added inner and outer rear wheel weights, filled the loader tubes with 4" dia. slugs of steel, added front end weight, a thumb, plus lots of bucket I boom reinforcements bring the weight of the machine to just over 8,000lbs.

My stepson was disappointed that his RTV 900 just dug a hole in the driveway as he tried to pull it up the hill. I was trying to avoid damaging the drive using my excavator, but he did a good job anyway.

Together with the B7200 (loaded tires and about 300 Lbs of steel bolted to the loader frame, managed to pull my L39 up to my equipment building.

I'll try to get it towed to the dealer tomorrow.

 

[mike69440]

Just a quick update.

We noticed around the house other electrical issues. The TV lost its HDMI board, the Garage door opener circuit board failed. And some florescent lights on sensors burnt out. I've left the tractor outdoors many a night without a problem.

We had a near miss lightening strike that may have caused an electrical pulse resulting in all these items failing and the tractor circuit board catching on fire. The fire sure seemed centered around the control panel.

The computer in the excavator is in a heavy metal shielded box behind the seat. The Kubota control boards are in a plastic enclosure. The garage door opener that failed has plastic end covers where the board mounts, my equipment building has an all metal opener that was not affected. Back of TV is plastic. Maybe plastic vs. metal enclosures had something to do with which boards were damaged and the other electrical issues.

I have $2,500 homeowner deductible, so this is going to hurt. About $6K in damages. Supposedly, dealer was to order the parts.
I want my tractor back.