LGP Eddie

Digger Man Blog on Facebook for the actual post mentioning the deal. Here is the TDL news article with the machines pictured and a bit more detail. SANY SY16C CAB EDITION AVAILABLE NOW! - TDL Read it again myself and they are extending tracks also. Eddie.

That's interesting, the mini's pictured certainly look tidy, and from what I'm hearing they are here to stay and progressing very quickly. A good friend was out in Bauma China, and speaks very highly of the kit, with willingness to listen to market requirements then act on it quickly being key factors. I'm certain manufacturer support on pricing and great backup will be key factors to get them out of the door, but Doosan and Hyundai have shown it can be done in a very short space of time to be right up there now. Loved the little promo stunt at Bauma Eddie.

Just spotted these on Facebook from TDL Equipment, caused a bit of a stir? Apparently can be had at £50 per week with no Deposit??? Don't know anything about them, machine or dealer, but as the advert says it's paid for by breakfast Monday! The reality is with a bit of careful buying on the main manufacturers that have set in stone residual you could perhaps even better the above figure? Fair play though, that's got to get them a few calls, and I think they even have air con as standard, plus Yanmar engine. Sany, is Hyundai or the like only a few years ago, and certainly mean business. Eddie.

Looking good, really pleased it worked out for you. Eddie.

Karcher gets my vote, had a smallish upright type one for years now and still perfect. A lot don't know a Karcher will suck water from a drum, it's amazing, you can literally wash a machine with a few 25ltr drums of water and a small genny anywhere Makes a huge difference if you've had a mess of a hydraulic burst or the like to get it all cleaned up in a few minutes. Eddie.

That's a real nice handy setup, I like the Doosan kit, should go well for you. Be interesting to see how she handles the shear once in action. So pleased to see guarding on the machine, it's simply a must when shearing. Eddie.

You can get two stage hydraulic bottle jacks with better lift height which is obviously preferable to single stage versions. I've been meaning for an age to treat Greg to one of the Hi Lift Rescue Jacks to mount on the tracked dumper. They are more expensive than the standard versions, but really are packed with handy features, and are designed to work with chains, already having the slots for links, and will winch, spread etc etc besides just lifting. One thing I will say to anyone going to use a Hi Lift Jack, make certain you have someone show you the correct operation, as they really can bite if you don't know what you're doing. However used correctly, extremely powerful and versatile, I've even seen a box section slipped over the rack with a serrated tongue welded on the end to form an extremely effective tree jack. Cheapest I found them so far was here? https://www.firstfour.co.uk/hi-lift-first-responder-jack-48.html Eddie.

Nice two piece Boom on the Volvo we don't see over here, and anything Herder should be real quality. Not wishing to sound negative, but the pipework for the shear could use a bit of a rethink for this environment, and no excuse for not having the top and front of the cab guarded. Eddie.

I take it you don't have front PTO on the Valtra? if you DM me I'll point you in the right direction. Eddie.

It will almost certainly be what's called an Integrated Grab or Gripper as they're sometime called, from any of the Major Tiltrotator Manufacturers, Steelwrist, Engcon or Rototilt are the main players. Great if expensive bits of kit, I have one on my 8 tonner. [ame] [/ame] Eddie.

I can't get a video of the much faster Trydent Winch, but this gives a great idea of what such a compact setup is capable of even with their more basic slower Warrior winch. The Defender is doing nothing much more than ticking over here, and a 5 tonne machine with the larger faster setup would be doing just the same. [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETKGdGWGahs[/ame] Eddie.

For the 5 tonner I'd be speaking to Red Winches for one of their very impressive spec Twin Motor Trydent winches with the extra long drum. This winch has a really decent line speed in the high gear, with still a reasonable pull. Dropping down when required to full power. This change in speed I'm certain can be achieved from the cab by running electrics down the dipper, and you'll get 100m of 12mm rope on this which is a handy amount especially if using a snatch block to double up. This type of company would almost certainly be able to tweak it further for you, depending on requirements. You will be able to fit a radio remote like a basic Lodar to this, as power 12v power is easily achieved to a convenient point on the dipper. It's really just a case of having a mounting with suitable, blade/spades made up to fit your hitch, and have some way of latching the auxiliary circuit. I know who I would have build the mount, but there are several companies out there who would turn out something tidy and it really depends where you're based. My advice if you are using such a setup is to ensure the operator remains in the machine to ensure in the event of anything beginning to move the base machine, he can immediately cut off the operation. If you run the 12v to the Lodar, you will be able to kill either the electrics or unlock the latched hydraulic circuit to stop all operations immediately from the cab irrespective of the external operative who would be using the radio remote. Obviously the machine operator can do the whole job if he likes by having the Lodar remote in the cab with him. If you know you're making a pull that's heading towards full power, then fit a hawser back from your winch mount to the undercarriage frame of the machine, and ensure you keep everything inline. Many people underestimate the power of winches, and they will twist booms and dippers for fun if not used correctly. You should be able to run one of the numerous plasma ropes on the Trydent and get a great light setup that will save some serious work. RED Winches Trydent XL The larger machine brings more options, let me know what machine, hitch and pipework you have on it. Eddie

Can you describe your thoughts on how you want the winch setup to ideally be? For example a powerful winch with spade type anchor and controls from the winch frame. Or full fast skidding winch with radio remote etc? Approximate ideal cable length and acceptable line speed in metres per second really help to build a picture. What carrier machines? Eddie.

I'm working on it! Eddie.

Need that behind my Liebherr!!:thumbup1:

I wouldn't discount the Ecr Version and the Kubota U27 either as both these machines really have been built to rid operators off the dreadful cabs early reduced tail machines suffered from. These machines are counterweighted to rival standard versions, and in this class having that short tail can help considerably. The Volvo really does look a lot bigger machine than its badge may sound, and the Kubota now with the extra proportional auxiliary lines is the full package. The Kubota will hold its money guaranteed and come with 3 years warranty. The Bobcat will be cheaper to purchase and almost certainly have less residual, but not a bad machine and don't forget you can get the same in Orange from a Doosan dealer for possibly less money. A lot are saying just how good the Hyundai mini's are getting, and some stunning deals to be had on these. Interestingly in another class altogether I have been instructed to go and get myself a go in the latest JCB 6 tonner, apparently it really is the one to beat, and that was from some of my most reliable sources. Good to hear, as I think their 8 tonner too has much potential after trying it. Eddie.

I worked for a great guy early in my plant career who would take on small groundwork jobs, mainly drive dig outs, bits of demolition, levelling ground etc. Most of these jobs were done at weekend utilising the kit that was standing and had a regular routine of tales from the weekend disasters being told in the yard Monday morning and the guy seemingly never doing any good on them. I had a sit down with him and said I'll do them for you, but it's going to be on different terms? Basically you tell me what you have in for the job in terms of type of plant and the hours you expect each item to work and then I'll choose the guys and do the job. The bonus comes in every hour we shave off your agreed rate for each item of plant then we get to have half the current rate for it? Basically simple weekend job would be Tractor and Trailer 16 hours and JCB 3cx 20hrs. By planning the job, taking the right guys and working together we could usually get the job down to something like 10 hrs on the Tractor and Trailer and say 14 hours on the JCB 3cx. That left us with 6hrs @ half the full rate of the Tractor and Trailer plus 6 hrs @half the full rate of the JCB 3cx on top of the hours we had worked. You have to remember that half the full rate was far in excess of our flat self employed rate, especially the Tractor drivers and we all appreciated getting a bit of weekend time at home paid. The understanding was that the client was happy, no damage done apart from the usual punctures and no services damaged. Did it work? He ended up flat out with groundwork, customers waiting to get us back and a great reputation for a tidy efficient job. The kit was earning big time by not sitting idle on jobs, completing them far under his estimates, and being utilised to maximum efficiency when it was on site. I'm a firm believer you're better with a carrot than a stick, and the times I've had bosses stunned when I call to say add more to an invoice to cover bonus for a good operator. However the difference when you open the cab door and say we've got to get this wrapped up today, they just roll their sleeves up and crack on. Work out a scheme that gives them ownership and at least a fair chance of some extra for working safely and effectively, and a full understanding that piece of pie is straight in the bin for cutting corners or damage. Eddie.

I've asked on my Twitter account and replies are coming back that Bobcat seem to have the float blade, along with certain Volvo models. Nobody has come up with any others as yet, but I'll post them up if they do. The Ec27 always looks a tidy bit of kit and is a full fat version. Yes there's going to be a bit of export back on at present, and if you've not bought by 1st of Jan, expect a price increase on the new 17 plated machines. Eddie.

I wouldn't worry about the Volvo build, best backup in the business and in the extremely unlikely event you broke it, of all manufacturers I'd put my money on them most likely to stand by it even out of warranty. Kubota always great fit/finish and paint you literally need to use a grinder to mark it permanently. Eddie.

It's clinging on there as a full fat 2.6, but try the U27 or the Volvo and you will see they have cracked the cabs now. The track pedals and flat floor of the Volvo give true full size machine operating experience and despite being a Kubota fan, if they would have been close on price I'd have the Volvo being tall and fat! Volvo paint would at best pass as a primer finish, and I'd of had it clear gloss wrapped from new to give it a shine and hope of keeping tidy long term. Sad I know!. Eddie.

Float on blades is brilliant and CAT have had it for years. To be honest I've not used another machine with it apart from CAT, so would be interesting to see what others are about. In the 2.6 tonne class, the Volvo Ecr26 and Kubota U27 are now both available with twin dual action proportional circuits via rockers on the joysticks and having had demo's of both recently I would recommend you take a look at both. I'd have happily purchased either, it really was that close, and like everything it was tiny details either way that you would love to combine into my perfect machine. The Yanmar has great ground clearance and is well worth a look, the U27 Kubota will be money in the bank in terms of resale. Eddie.

It's just that having a slip on hydraulic pump you really don't want to extend the shaft or give it any chance of a wiggle! Eddie.

This is the PTO shaft I was trying to describe for those who don't know how the older fords worked. Basically to convert from 540 to 1000 pto you would park the tractor on a slope to prevent oil running out the back, remove a circlip and pull out the pto shaft. Fit the 1000 shaft with the different spline and good to go. This simply replicates the 1000 speed shaft but still with 540 splines ford tractor 540 eco pto shaft - SAVE FUEL - | eBay If it inspires anyone to have second look at their setup it's all good. Certainly tidied up my mates setup and hopefully will be much safer and productive. I'll try for some pictures and Andy at Kilworth was brilliant in assisting with this. A little laugh was he actually scrapped a perfectly good 6 cylinder Ford Cargo Concrete Mini Mix truck the week before, which if you think about is is about the biggest cheapest hydraulic power pack you could lay your hands on! Eddie.

No, didn't want any electrics as pretty maxed out already and awaiting 3 phase upgrade from electricity company, just run 12v LED's to light it all up off the tractor. Eddie.

I just wanted to share thoughts on a solution I came up with for a good friend who runs a Tajfun processor, having been asked my thoughts on how to improve his setup? Basically a not unfamiliar scene with a processor mounted behind a fordson major up on a few blocks to get the pto shaft better in line, out in an open yard surrounded by the usual sawdust bark and offcuts, impossible to clean up properly on the hardcore surface. I'd just sold him my Ford 5610 with loader to replace the Major, and I said such a shame to tie it up there for the rest of it's days, as it was a real handy tractor. He asked how it could be down differently, and with a bit of thought I came up with a solution that really has transformed things for him. Basically taking a 40ft container on a level hardstanding as the starting point, a 6" thick concrete pad was poured along the side approx 4 metres wide, and a lean to constructed falling back onto the container roof with rsj frame, timber purling and box profile sheets. Nothing fancy and all reclaimed stuff that came out tidy. The container is utilised for other storage anyway so basically a nice back wall for free to build against and affords much shelter. Then for the trick bit, to bring the Tajfun processor inside the lean to, and virtually up to the container wall we needed rid of the tractor? The solution came in the form of a hydraulic motor from Kilworth themselves that slips over the pto splines of then processor, and a suitable mount was made that simply fits onto the existing 3 point linkage mounts of the processor, keeping the motor supported and everything in line. You've probably guessed the rest if you've followed this so far, but yes a large hydraulic tank, return filter, spool block etc was the mounted to the steel side of the container at one end, and a pto driven slip on pump again from Kilworth fitted to the tractor. With everything piped up, and steel pipe used for the long runs along the container side to again dissipate heat, the Tajfun is now fully hydraulic powered with extra spools to run the hydraulic sawdust fan etc. I haven't been involved in the actual build, just chipping in here and there with ideas, and a couple of local hydraulic experts have done the business, with off the shelf components for the main bits. As for the outcome, it's totally transformed the job! A tidy workplace, he even installed an airline setup now having been inspired by how clean the job can be. The Tractor can be utilised for other applications, then simply driven up and the pump attached. There is loads of hydraulic power for the sawdust fan now, without heating the tractor oil, and the tractor is running the pto pump at approx 1900 revs for now, whilst the cheat pto shaft arrives to trick the Ford in 1000 speed to run at around 1100 engine revs to give 540 at the shaft. Going forward he is talking about a big splitter project, and the thought is for a 3 point linkage mounted hydraulic tank and pto pump setup, that can remain on the tractor and drive between the two setups before being coupled via some large quick release couplings. I see no reason why it wouldn't work, ending up with what is just a very mobile hydraulic power pack when he wants it. I'll try and get some pictures, but it's not my yard and setup, however if anyone has anything specific then just DM me and I'll do my best to answer it. Eddie.