Operating Big Excavator?

[40Kchicks]

A couple of years ago I needed to put a road into my place which required a lot of excavation. Due to my poor planning I couldn’t get anyone in to do the job when I need it done so I called up Hertz and had a JD 120C delivered. The driver showed me the controls and off I went. It didn’t take very long before I was moving lots of dirt fast and the project went great.

This year I did a huge expansion of my poultry farm and we had a JD 160 and Kobelco 128 on the project. The excavation contractor was strapped for help so I ran the excavators a lot. I trenched thousands of feet for water, gas and electrical. I must have done alright because boss offered me a job running equipment for him but I already have two jobs.

The work requires a lot of concentration and precise control which tires my back after a day or so. Working on the flat is easy but often that’s not were I needed to go so that can get a little scary. Excavators tip over all the time, just ask your rental yard.

In summary a rental yard will deliver an excavator out to you. It will take some time to get good at the controls so you won’t really save any money on a small project but you will learn a new skill and have fun doing it. Most of all be careful.

Eric

 

[PBinWA]

He would open the bucket & thumb and then swing this slowly against the tree about 1/2 way up. This would cause the tree to lean over and ultimately it would lean far enough so that closing the bucket & thumb would grasp the tree. By this time there were enough roots torn free that he could just lift the tree & roots out of the ground & put it down wherever he wanted.

If they're really good they shake all the dirt off back in the hole and press it down nice and flat (an extra 2 minutes for them).

Agreed that getting rid of the trees is a hassle. I've worked through half my 55 trees (no wood fireplace so I'm just giving it away) in two years. I had him stack them up in an out-of-sight (well for me - maybe not my neighbors) corner and I hack away at them whenever I have free time (not that often).

If anyone in SW Washington State wants some well aged fire wood let me know.

 

[AndyMA]

I have always loved excavators so about 3 years ago I bought a well used 44,000 lb Hitachi (120 hp Isuzu-runs great) I've got about 20 years on backhoes and the change over took quite a while. Now I much prefer the excavator controls. BTW, I have never found a place that would rent a large excavator to you without your having both liability and physical damage insurance and having a certificate of insurance sent to the rental company. It may be very difficult to get this type of insuranceif you don't have the experience and perhaps the license (in Mass it's' called a hydraulics license) to operate the class of machine you are renting. As others have said, rental yards are reluctant to rent a $150,000 plus piece of equipment to an inexperienced individual. One wrong swing of it's 27 foot arm and a house comes down.... flipping an excavator is also not hard to do. I can pick up a 12,000 lb rock with mine.

Andy

 

[BTDT]

I used to belong to the local Operating Engineers union here in Dallas. Most large construction jobs required union operators, union iron workers, etc. This was 20 yrs ago. With all the cheap labor now and folks needing jobs, I don't know how it works now. But as has been said, you can learn, but at whose expense. Call around and see about prices and requirements. Good luck and happy tractoring.

 

[GEB]

If it's about the money as it was for me...
I rented a 11000 lb machine which can be towed with a 3/4 ton truck.
I was very impressed with the power of this machine 50hp..?
Drop the trees, drag them off, then a smaller excavator will take the
stumps out like magic.
I might add it was very easy to operate...fun! $225 aday was also a steal of a deal.
I had mainly got it to clean up the edge of my pond.
I've also had 2 very big excavators and dozers on my property to clear
75+ tall trees and clear a creek.
Droping complete trees stump and all is by far a job for a pro!
And for the most part they actually used the dozers to push the trees over!
He would use his bucket to cut the roots, build a ramp with dirt, it was a site to see.
Never spent 1/2 hour on a single tree, no tree less than 75ft tall,
and yes I'm still cuttin those trees up

 

[Dargo]

I've had the fortunate/unfortunate (you choose) opportunity to operate a huge variety of equipment in my life. One of the more difficult to master; I mean get really precise and quick with, was a 100k plus excavator. I'd had a couple hundred hours on a 50k machine and figured that it would be exactly the same, only it would work faster and move bigger things. It's hard to explain, but it was just different. I'd say that the average guy who can run a tractor with an FEL without thinking about what he is doing can learn to be relatively capable on an excavator in a couple of days worth of work. The problem is that, in the original poster's case, an experienced operator would be in and out, having done a better job, in far less time than that.

There is also the example of when you think you can operate a piece of equipment properly and when you really can. Take for instance a Cat D11 dozer. With all the new electronics and everything, they are actually quite easy to do basic things with one. The problem is that you can make a huge mess rather quickly, and keep making things worse even faster trying to clean up your mess. I was shown how to make a couple of passes by huge oak trees with the rear ripper down to rip the roots loose. Now, these trees were so big that a 36" bar on a chain saw would not have been nearly enough to cut them in half. Then, after the roots are ripped, simply put the blade into the tree a few feet off the ground, pour the power to the tracks, and lift on the blade. Pop, and over goes the huge tree away from the dozer and all is well. As people seem to do, I got a bit lazy and found that I could do the same thing without ripping the roots much. Hey, big powerful dozer, and it was fun. That was until I pushed over an absolutely huge oak and the root ball came up between the front blade and the dozer.

I'm talking 6 hours later with almost 10 acres destroyed and I'm still backing in circles across ditches, smashing other trees etc. trying to turn loose of that darn tree!! Rather than waste even more time I had to get my chain saw and spend a couple of hours hacking away at roots to get it loose. So, I thought I knew how to properly operate that piece of equipment, but I really didn't.

 

[PBinWA]

Trust Dargo to have a good story about messing things up!

I resampled and posted a video of the 55,000 lb Kobelco Excavator pulling out an approximately 18"-24" Douglas Fir. Even with shaking the dirt out the whole process takes less than 2 minutes. The tree looks pretty small next to the Excavator but it was pretty big. Not big enough to be marketable timber but big enough to be a hassle to do by saw and stump grinder.

treeremovalMay2005.mpg - Google Video

Let me know if there are problems with the video. It's my first time posting video to google.

 

[PBinWA]

I have always loved excavators so about 3 years ago I bought a well used 44,000 lb Hitachi (120 hp Isuzu-runs great) I've got about 20 years on backhoes and the change over took quite a while. Now I much prefer the excavator controls. BTW, I have never found a place that would rent a large excavator to you without your having both liability and physical damage insurance and having a certificate of insurance sent to the rental company. It may be very difficult to get this type of insuranceif you don't have the experience and perhaps the license (in Mass it's' called a hydraulics license) to operate the class of machine you are renting. As others have said, rental yards are reluctant to rent a $150,000 plus piece of equipment to an inexperienced individual. One wrong swing of it's 27 foot arm and a house comes down.... flipping an excavator is also not hard to do. I can pick up a 12,000 lb rock with mine.

Andy

I suspect the place that rented a big Excavator to 40Kchicks was pretty rural and used to renting big equipment to farmers. Closer in to the city they start asking more questions. I thought about doing it myself too but no one would rent me a big excavator. I can rent a little Bobcat mini-excavator easily but most places are hesitant to rent the big stuff unless you are a business with insurance or perhaps a long time customer with demonstrated ability.

 

[Glowplug]

I resampled and posted a video of the 55,000 lb Kobelco Excavator pulling out an approximately 18"-24" Douglas Fir. Even with shaking the dirt out the whole process takes less than 2 minutes.

That is really quite impressive and entertaining! It actually took him almost no time to bring the tree down. Most of the time is spent shaking almost all the dirt off the root ball! Okay, I now know it would be best to have a professional do this job. I believe I will call one of the large heavy equipment rental dealers and ask if they know of any contractors they could recommend. I want someone who could do the job like that in the video with a big excavator and thumb. Of course, then I'll probably have to have a couple of dump trucks of topsoil brought in to fill in and level the holes.

 

[PBinWA]

I want someone who could do the job like that in the video with a big excavator and thumb. Of course, then I'll probably have to have a couple of dump trucks of topsoil brought in to fill in and level the holes.

I just kept pestering local Excavation companies. You have to get them during some down time when the equipment is sitting idle (and not making them or their employees any money). It took me about three months to get someone as one company strung me along for a while so when the next guys I called said they could come the following Monday I jumped at it.

The neat thing about getting all the dirt off the root ball is that you don't really end up with a big hole. There is usually enough dirt to fill it all back in.

I just had to dig out a few remaining roots that broke off and then I middle busted (just find hidden treasures), tilled, graded, and seeded the area. The only extra dirt I brought in was along the driveway where the old dirt was too rocky for nice lawn.

Now it's all nice flat lawn.