using and uses for a gradall 660 excavator

[coopers]

Oh okay, those machines...I just looked one up, odd looking guys. I know what they're used for though, I don't know if they would do you a whole lot of good. Can't dig stumps out, can't clear brush, can't really excavate except deal with banks like mentioned. It's up to you, I personally would have absolutely no use for such a machine in my life. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif But I would this machine, see attached pic.

Blake
WA

 

[Egon]

Ohh I think it would dig out a stump.

Egon

 

[Taylortractornut]

Chris my neighbors have 3 of them they used to have a big irtmoving outfit in the 50's to the mid eighties. THey still use one with thumb to load logs and a few other jobs. They had an 8 foot grader blad factory option with one and made another one from pipe. Ive seen them grade the road with it on man driving and one running the hoe in back. They can dig stumps although not as fast as a newer hoe. They trenched alot with theres. one had an attach ment that had a stiffleg and a few pivots to make it a long rech knuckle boom type hoe it was a factory attachment to. They also had a ripper,to lay cable, ditch bucket,a cut down asphault roller drum tpo comcatct trenches, concrete buckets and one had a home converted auger on the end of it. Ive seen a picture of one of the big oler homes in the old part of town needed to have the yard graded and there wasnt an small dozers around this part to fit in the yard.it had about a 20 foot by30 yard all on a bank about 8 feet higher than the road. They said that Mr. Drennen took the Gradall and sat in the road with the graderblade on the boom and graded the yard. You can also get boom extension segments to go on it to. Also look on the side of the carriers transmissin to see if it has a pto on alot of Gradalls they had a hydraulic motor on the pto. You shut the truck off and the clutch locks in i think. Then put the pto in gear and go to the excavator cab there will be a spare set of levers one for steering and one for running the pto attached motor. that way one man can drive it from the upperstructure and dig at the same time when cleaning out ditches. some models of gradalls can dig perfect vertical holes to. Ive never gotten to operate one but the next cheap one i find will be settin in the lot.

 

[gone]

The older gradealls were a bit fun,a guy with little time in an excavator would have trobule in a gradeall. the controls on the older ones were) 3 levers between your legsand 4 pedels on the floor all for control of boom and swing.if i can remember exactly left lever boom,center bucket angle,right stick in-out,left 2 pedels swing,right 2 pedels bucket curl and dump. then most had remotes for front truck frame,the older remotes always screwed up. the machine would take off or not steer all kinds of crap thats why most just left a guy in truck. the newer ones are much better and easyer to run and the remote problems are gone they went hyd. on remote opperration.

 

[Taylortractornut]

Tim thats the fun part of it I love to run all the funky controls and obsolete machines of yesterday lol. I spent last week running a big Warner Swasey hoe with the 4 foot pedals and the 2 sticks one for swing and one for the boom the the bucket and stick were the pedals. I missed out an all that stuff dad got his fair share of it lol. It makes me greatful to have SAE pilot controls of today lol. Im looking into an old Warner Swasey Hopto truckmounted excavator. A fella gave me a large red sand bank about 5,000 yards of material Id like the bigger machine to leave there to load 3 dump trucks while im out with the other 2 machines. I guess one reason i like the old stuff is to relive some of the history of dirt moving Im trying to talk my neighbor out of his old Unit dragline Im deast to learn to run it Ive spent several days on a friction crane just never digging.

 

[gone]

I ran an Insley 1000 about the same controls swing left lever,boom right, dipper left foot bucket right foot,and the travel pedels between. it was funny treavel 20' to get stone scoop stone go to travel back to trench and forget to move feet to other pedels dump the stone all over lol /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif