LGP Eddie

Fair play, that is absolutely brilliant and has just put £500 on the value of every used TCP Dumper!! I'd have little shame in having a go at one of them for myself. Eddie.

I'd give Clements Plant a call, they seem to have a regular supply of tidy Backhoes in various specs, and they would probably know of a 4cx. The Vovo is very good for drive due to it's excellent torque converter setup, and fitted with oversize Michelin tyres would be as good as it gets for a conventional machine. I'd personally have thought one of the TM handlers with it's telescopic section and pivot steer that can slew the post knocker sideways without moving the machine would be a handy mount, with pickup hitch on the rear for trailer. Probably much better at road work too, with more power and I assume 40k? Pivot steer kit is always good at debogging itself by walking, which can just give you enough momentum to get going again. Serious tyres are available for these and no reason why duals couldn't be utilised either. Eddie.

Just go for a 4cx as the base unit and really no need for that to be more expensive, as they don't really command much premium used. This will give you a well balanced base, with 3 steering modes that could come in very handy, and the equal wheels will travel the ground much better. Nothing to stop you taking a pair of duals with you, and having the ability to lift yourself with loader or jacks would see them fitted in minutes. You could use just one pair wisely to huge advantage on wet or sloping sites as all the wheels are same size, so on front/rear or downhill side of slope. I have regularly roaded with a Bomag 120 roller on the forks of a 3cx back in the day and I suspect a 4 cx wouldn't know the knocker is there. If you can get an ex pole planter machine you may get your front hitch and bigger tyres in one go anyway. Eddie.

A little like the shear situation, people really need to know what they are hiring and is it like for like pricing? A big 360 could be a description used for a standard 16 tonne machine running a fairly ordinary mulching head, or a 20 tonne plus machine running a top spec head, with tweaked hydraulics, power pack, guarding etc which can add up to a serious chunk of money. In the shear example for up to 18" material stacked ready for the chipper, you could get away with a 13/16 tonne class running something like a large Tiger Shear and someone happy to do it for £450 per day, up to someone with deep pockets and a Westtech Woodcracker on a fully guarded setup with operator who does this work on a regular basis for something like £650/700 per day. Both will get them on the floor, the second choice just does it more safely and efficiently, but as with everything some never get past the bottom line. 8 tonne standard machines, no guarding and run by the usual suspects who would be wearing the boilersuit and wellies to undercut your chainsaw work whilst they're at it, have rates for these with shear sub £300 per day now. How much even a complete novice can do with a Shear for under £300 in a day compared to manual methods would be an eye opener. As ever in the UK we take progress and manage to turn it into a race to the bottom against each other instead of offering good service and efficiency at a sustainable fair price. Eddie.

I think you're going to have to narrow it down a bit more than that as the variables out there with base excavator carriers plus shears is growing daily. There will be a fair regional variation I'd expect also. Your application will obviously decide what you're looking for, be it cut and hold or can you get away with cut and kill as I call them. Are you looking to section down or simply whole tree shearing, with cut capacity requirements governing what you require. Actual rates will vary tremendously as you have guys out there running specialist kit for this work and others just looking to add a few extra days work to their usual portfolio. Eddie.

These guys sell them LED Work Lights [2] Some I believe you can simply have spot or flood lenses and swap as you choose. Eddie.

I have yet to find LED's better than Nordic lights, not the cheapest, but a great range and top quality. No issues working at night on an excavator equipped with these. Eddie.

No problem. Just send me a message if you struggle to get anything sorted and I'll do my best to point you in the right direction. Do yourself a big favour and fit a basic front screen guard on when the grab is utilised, things can come at you real fast! Eddie.

I think you pretty much answered your own question, as the easiest way for a free swinging grab is to simply put taps in the bucket ram lines and divert the flow to power the rotator on the grab. You are correct that this would give you good control via the machines own servo lever, but my own personal preference would be to have the grab function running off this circuit, as it is more intuitive to use that way. If you use it for the grab function you need to fit flow reducers into the rotate lines to allow you to get this to a nice controllable level, and these are readily available plus not too expensive. Depending on your offset boom control arrangements, and whether this is a comfortable alternative, you can simply divert this and pipe it up the boom/dipper giving you a cheap extra auxiliary circuit with good control and the ability to make a nicer mounting for the grab in the form of a short extension. Eddie.

An awful lot of Flail heads and Mulchers getting fitted these days to all sizes of excavators. I'm running one. Eddie.

You do right to get some guarding sorted and the reality is finding someone who is willing to do it will be extremely difficult. Several schools of thought exist on guarding, but the facts as I see it are you can't touch the existing Cab structure in any way, and any guarding must be accepted as not being approved in any way apart from the fact you are taking all sensible precautions to minimise the risk. However, having it designed/constructed by an industry recognised specialist with the correct fabrication knowledge and qualified welders etc clearly demonstrates you have taken all reasonable precautions. Sometimes factory guarding is available, and in limited instances approved third party guards, but these are mainly for Demolition and not necessarily suitable for the task. Changing windows out for Marguard especially where Mulchers or Harvesting Heads are concerned is a must, and in reality can be a lot easier than some would make out, and can be done skilfully so you really wouldn't know it's fitted. Your comments on nothing stopping anything from above lead me why my current Kubota is guarded as it is. It may not be the limb you're shearing that gets you, it's most likely that bit of dead top that you've just dislodged that's hurtling down towards the roof without you knowing! I had this happen whilst felling with the grab of my old Kubota, and it's not something I'd want to repeat. I was inches from a top window unwanted visitor! The top of my machine will now keep me a lot safer than before, and the times the whole structure rings like a bell, lets you know that it's money well spent. The front window is obviously maximum risk, and for those daft enough to shear without a guard, at least take the levers off your track pedals. Why? If it all goes wrong and that limb comes in, depending on which way around you are, you may have the machine back away from it, or worse keep tracking that limb into the cab with you unable to do very little about it! Personally I'd like to sit down with the HSE and take a look at sensible precautions for a minimum standard of guarding for Excavators in Tree Work, before we read of a tragedy with the inevitable knee jerk reaction that would follow with either bans on certain attachments or machines looking like tanks with a periscope to look out of! There are some great companies that will do the guarding, Forest machine Services, Wilsons, Caledonian Forestry, JCC Engcon are the ones I can think of but it would be great to hear of more. Cab Care and Jayscreen do a range of guards for machines that are approved for demolition. My final point really has to be, how does anyone use a Shear on an Excavator without additional Front/Top guarding and get it past the most basic Risk Assesment, and the same would apply to a screen guard with a free swinging log grab? Eddie.

Caledonian Forestry fixed me up straight away with bars and chains when I had mine, I received fantastic service from them. I went to Clarke's for my current grapple saw and I'm certain they can fix you up too, again brilliant service here. Prices are pretty reasonable compared to standard chainsaw too. Eddie.

Running a special EC226 with different swivel to get more flow for the attachments. Not needed the grapple saw in any real anger, but working fantastic now and heading north for a couple more mods as soon as it comes in. How old is your Ec209 unit? I looked at a 718 in action, but it simply can't handle the weight required when you throw the Engcon in, they have a very neat setup to give the manipulation but you can't have the flexibility the Engcon brings to the Liebherr especially with the EC-Oil to change attachments. Eddie.

Thanks. Chopped my way in until I could reach no more, simple job then to fell the rest within the Liebherr's grasp, once it has hold then it's heading into that Bandit real quick! Eddie.

Just a couple more images, that raised cab really does give the best seat in the house. The Bandit ate everything you see whole, its ability to pull material in really has to be witnessed. Eddie.

The calls I have had about it, as it's pretty hard to hide, and the name on the back makes it unmistakable. Hopefully home tomorrow night. Eddie.

Yes that's the one, Greg has a really good video on his phone I'm trying to get off him of the Liebherr really making it work! Eddie.

Can you simply weld a lug on the outer box and use a Hi Lift jack on those legs like you would a portacabin? Eddie.

Yes, that's where it's currently parked, and it should have been home but for a bit of issue with Traffic Management for getting it off which scuppered the plan which is currently being reworked. It is turning out in many aspects even better than I could have hoped, and more than came into it's own working in front of a big Bandit many may have seen at the APF. The Bandit must come in for considerable praise, and the piece in the Liebherr grab here, simply got posted in whole and gone! Early days, but I have my eye on another attachment for the Liebherr now I've seen what it can really do. Eddie.

Just a bit of a heads up for anyone wanting to try some of the Wacker Neuson Mini's at a 'Dig In' event. New Haden plant sales are laying it all on, and should be just a great informal way to get some actual seat time and by the look of it the mini Telehandlers will be there. Just down the road for me. https://www.facebook.com/events/1109355029153594/ Eddie

Rough budget please Stephen, as the solutions have huge price and spec range. Eddie.

Thanks, been a long road to get them where they are now, but extremely happy with the setups. I'll be at APF probably a couple of days and always happy to meet like minded guys. John runs a great kit and the unit you bought was a particularly good setup. Sadly no Liebherr at APF as John Craig isn't doing the show for Engcon, unless someone wants to fly their banner a bit higher than anyone else! Eddie.

Not a route I'll be going down. Probably do some demos, just hard to get the right site as it means a Client getting messed about for a couple of days but they will get rewarded with a very cheap job obviously! Eddie.

Finally had the Liebherr next to the Kubota over the weekend so couldn't resist a few pictures. You will see the Kubota is no ordinary 8 tonner in stance, and the Liebherr doesn't seem to totally dwarf it. However jump in the Liebherr, get the cab up and things look totally different, with the Kubota looking like a 3 tonner sat alongside! The Liebherr is now complete, shaken down and ready to go with Shear, Grapple Saw and Selector Grab all running through the Engcon with full Ec-Oil hydraulic connection, so anyone with a lot to get down in a short time this can bring some serious capacity. Rubber Blocks are available for highway and for the right application it can go onto 1300mm Super Lgp pads for minimal impact. Eddie.