Show us your Arb Diggers please.

[Ferguson system]

26 minutes ago, dan blocker said:

What’s the point 🤔as opposed to tracks?

The legs can be adjusted to operate on steep slopes. It can also walk over fences and obstacles. Each leg can be adjusted separatly. Hydraulicly up and down. Manually side to side in 3 positions. The front legs can also be extended. It's a very strong machine for it's size. It weights somewhere around 6-7 tonns, but feels stronger than a tracked machine in the same weight class.

[dan blocker]

Thanks Ferguson. Makes sense now👍

[monkeybusiness]

10 hours ago, dan blocker said:

What’s the point 🤔as opposed to tracks?

This is an evolution of the design, and shows what this style of machine is capable of - 

 

[dig-dug-dan]

3 hours ago, monkeybusiness said:

This is an evolution of the design, and shows what this style of machine is capable of - 

 

That at least has four wheels. The other one has to be dragged along surely?

[Deafhead]

Reminds me of the Smalley of the sixties. A guy on our site was using one to grub out some apple trees, pushing out the stump with the back of the bucket, the stump rolled back and pinned him there. I had to rescue him with the Drott.

[monkeybusiness]

16 minutes ago, dig-dug-dan said:

That at least has four wheels. The other one has to be dragged along surely?

Where these are designed to be used the wheels are a bit ‘secondary’ tbh - most positioning needs to be assisted with the bucket/whatever is hanging off the front. Obviously 4 wheels massively increases ease of mobility, but isn’t really that much of a necessity ‘in-work’.

A firm mounted a couple of big Teupen mewps onto Menzi base units instead of the digging equipment - they were displayed at the APF. Mega looking (and no doubt costing!) bits of kit but I couldn’t help but think in the real world they probably weren’t anywhere near as versatile as hoped as they didn’t have the digging arm to aid mobility/climb over obstacles etc. 
I’ve no personal experience of the machines in action and hope that my thoughts were wrong as they would be incredibly expensive white elephants otherwise! 

[LGP Eddie]

29 minutes ago, monkeybusiness said:

Where these are designed to be used the wheels are a bit ‘secondary’ tbh - most positioning needs to be assisted with the bucket/whatever is hanging off the front. Obviously 4 wheels massively increases ease of mobility, but isn’t really that much of a necessity ‘in-work’.

A firm mounted a couple of big Teupen mewps onto Menzi base units instead of the digging equipment - they were displayed at the APF. Mega looking (and no doubt costing!) bits of kit but I couldn’t help but think in the real world they probably weren’t anywhere near as versatile as hoped as they didn’t have the digging arm to aid mobility/climb over obstacles etc. 
I’ve no personal experience of the machines in action and hope that my thoughts were wrong as they would be incredibly expensive white elephants otherwise! 

I think your thoughts were probably spot on, the problem with walking excavators is quite simply ground pressure and the fact that no matter what, you can’t get away from the fact that it only has limited contact patch on 4 tyres and if you happen to end up on 2 or 3 at times then everything gets magnified.

 

They don’t have huge power in the actual drive, it’s the massive power of that arm that gets them about in challenging places, but it’s incredible just how quickly the wrong conditions can get them into or making a real mess.

 

The diameter of the tyres is critical, as if the rolling radius can’t overcome even what can be a small amount of material in front of it, then they just plough through or slide a huge piece of clod with them as they go.

 

Incredible the difference if the winch is connected and the machine is able to use this for assistance, virtually eliminated the wheels cutting in on a site where we’d had issues and turned things around.

 

Like everything they have their place and properly planned they can save huge amounts of money on projects.

 

 

[Ferguson system]

1 hour ago, dig-dug-dan said:

That at least has four wheels. The other one has to be dragged along surely?

Many of the new versions have four wheels. Some have wheel drive on all four, but very often it's only two wheels that are powered. The other two are just there for support when moving over longer distances. Some of them have front wheel that can be detached/raised or claws that can be lowered to take the pressure of the wheels. In a work scenario you only need two wheels and especially on slopes. The Schaeff I have doesn't have wheel drive (Hydraulic brakes. Pins that is pushed into slots in the rim). The arm is used to drag it forward and backwards. It feels weird and is slow to begin with, but once you get used to it, it's not that bad. it's not that much slower than a tracked machine. At the narrowest setting it will fit on a lorry or on a tractor trailer. I haven't measured it at the medium or widest position. If I had to guess, I'd say that each step widenes it with about a meter.

[AHPP]

Many of the new versions have four wheels. Some have wheel drive on all four, but very often it's only two wheels that are powered. The other two are just there for support when moving over longer distances. Some of them have front wheel that can be detached/raised or claws that can be lowered to take the pressure of the wheels. In a work scenario you only need two wheels and especially on slopes. The Schaeff I have doesn't have wheel drive (Hydraulic brakes. Pins that is pushed into slots in the rim). The arm is used to drag it forward and backwards. It feels weird and is slow to begin with, but once you get used to it, it's not that bad. it's not that much slower than a tracked machine. At the narrowest setting it will fit on a lorry or on a tractor trailer. I haven't measured it at the medium or widest position. If I had to guess, I'd say that each step widenes it with about a meter.

What do you use it for and why did you choose it over a more conventional machine?

[Ferguson system]

2 hours ago, AHPP said:

What do you use it for and why did you choose it over a more conventional machine?

I have a property that is far from flat, so I use it there for various things. I came across the machine by chance and got a good price on it. I'm interested in machines in general and especially machines that are a bit "special".
I'm thinking about using it for arbwork and forestry in the future. A timbergrab, mulcher and treeshear is on the wishlist.
The machine came with a spare boom with telescopic extension. It replaces the outer section on it and adds two meters to the reach. I haven't decided if I'm going to install it or not, but it might be nice to have coupled with a treeshear or grab.

They cost more to buy than a regular machine, but I think it's worth it for the possibilities it offers.