Zero house swing question

[Boondox]

My local dealer has a demo Bobcat 430 mini excavator with thumb at a pretty good price. It's one of their zero house swing models. Not just zero tail swing, but for 320 degrees of rotation the entire house rotates within the width of the tracks. In looking at the unit it looks like they did that by simply making the tracks wider and longer. In theory that should also make the excavator more stable, right?

I tried one of the zero tail swing Kubotas and didn't like it because when lowering boulders into below grade positions the unit was pretty tippy. Do you get the same problem with the ZHS Bobcats, or does that additional length and width overcome it?

TIA, Pete

 

[jgl1962]

Boondox,
The zts/zhs machines from all mfrs are generally going to be wider AND taller than their conventional machines in the same weight class.

The zts/zhs machines need to be wider and taller to keep inside the track and to keep from tipping over when digging over the side. The longer track footprint on the zhs comps for the lack of tail to counterbalance.

For all practical purposes similar weight (at least bobcat machines) whether conventional or zhs they should pretty much perform the same.

You give up 4 things with a zhs machine:

Ability to pass through narrower openings (gates/doors)

Overhead clearance( most conventional mini exs will fit through an 8ft high doorway...many zhs/zts will not.

Reach at ground level is less with a zhs than a conventional due to the extra length of the undercarriage.

Machine weight for transport (at least with Bobcat). A 331 conv weighs a bit under 4tons while a 430 weighs very little more than 4 tons. So even before collecting mud your 430 is heavy on a 4 ton trailer.

In exchange for these 4 things you get the ability to not bang into things with the tail.

Prices are similar with zhs and zts being only slightly more than conventionals.

So it depends on what you want.

FWIW,its been our experience that people new to mini excavators lean to the ZHS ZTS and the majority of big iron people that add a mini seem to end up with conventional machines.

 

[Boondox]

Thanks for the info. I was leaning toward a conventional tail swing and after reading your response I still am. The width is an issue for me since much of my work will be dodging trees in my woods...and I just plain like the idea of the counterweight hanging way out there!

 

[Haoleguy]

Boondox - In a earlier post I gave a comparison for a few excavators I tested on my property. The first unit was a Bobcat 331 (7K lb) which was tippy for digging rocks and rebuilding old farm stone walls. For that reason and breakout force I moved up to the 12K lb excavators. The heavier weight, track length, and track width made a big improvement in safety when performing the same jobs.