LGP Eddie

This is for a big Wheeled Excavator (Rubber Duck) and it has plenty of capacity in terms of weight and hydraulic flow available. The bonus is, he has a much larger Engcon unit that incorporates a Hi Flow centre swivel. This basically allows a decent flow of oil through the centre joint and also via a slip ring setup 12 way electrical circuits to rotate continuously. Combine a good hydraulic flow with electrics and a whole new world of possibilities open up below that Tiltrotator! The simple fact for him is he will spend time shaping and grading soil to look all pretty, and then the landscape gang will plough all over it with a compact and rotovator anyway ready for seeding. If he can have a machine place soil ahead of him but loose with teeth, then he can do the final passes with a rotovator working in any direction he likes as it will rotate freely 360 degrees whilst working! I am certain a great finnish should be achievable with the right setup and he could literally put a fert spinner on and seed the lot from the cab! Sadly at this time my Engcon is too small to have the Hi Flow swivel, but I'm making the most of what's available and have another project coming together for it that should be very useful. Eddie.

Sorry I should have pointed out that the implement first has to be mounted in the conventional manner, but we utilised 3 hook ends to make this easy. Then as described the Engcon Ec-Oil will allow me to fit and remove the whole unit in around 30 seconds from the cab, connecting both hydraulics and electrics. If I can find a Timberwolf PTO Chipper for it, then it should only take a few minutes to switch from Winch to Chipper with the hook ends helping. It's a very handy setup, and the Engcon system gets the best from it. The Tajfun is the model with 540 shaft for Rear tractor mounting and 1000 shaft reversed for Front Tractor mounting which makes it very versatile. I have a good friend on Motorway work, and I am planning a bigger unit of this type for him to run a rotavator on the end of his machine for finishing the topsoil on verges and batters. This should enable him to place the soil slightly more roughly with the bucket teeth, and then having a rotavator under his Tiltrotator, bring the soil up to a suitable finnish for seeding. He could even switch to a fertiliser spinner to place the seed if he wished? It really opens up quite a few options? Eddie.

It'll power other PTO kit and I'm searching for a mint Timberwolf 150H PTO for it, as it should power it easily. It was basically all my idea and legwork for the motor, then John Craig at JCC Engcon did his magic on it. It will run the winch on tickover easily and no heat issues. Peoples faces when you drop off the Engcon, Mulcher or whatever and pick that up without getting out of the cab! Eddie.

Yes but that 70 tonner isn't going to shear many trees in a tight site! I spotted a few of the mods they have and looked into who did them, the company is in my memory bank for future projects as they certainly do a decent job of fabricating one offs. Eddie.

Yes I do but slightly more advanced than that setup, as I actually have a complete 3 point linkage and pto setup, not just a winch modified to a hydraulic motor. I also don't need to get out of the cab to fit it due to the Engcon Ec-oil System that will connect all the pipes/electrics when hitching up. Fantastic in use with full radio remote. Eddie.

Took a bit of finding Adrian but here's a bit of their work off their Facebook page:thumbup1:

The Kubota is pretty bombproof in the guarding department and also has a Marguard screen for the Mulcher, but it has already saved several replacements in general use. Jcc Engcon did all my mods and guarding and are A1 but perhaps a bit far in this instance. I'd seek out a company that I've seen examples of their work and it's extremely neat and innovative. They do work for Volvo on their demolition excavators and that would have to be top notch to get past Volvo. They are called Fabrication by design and are in Redditch. Eddie.

Nice setup there Adrian, you don't see many Mec's about let alone equipped with a decent shear setup and some nice tyres. I hope it works out well for you, as you've clearly put a lot of thought into it. Eddie.

That doesn't sound too good? Such a shame if kit gets abused. I've never seen it but it must be a monster with the pads on! Eddie.

Such a huge variation in rates both geographically and in terms of what you actually get for your money it's incredible, and that's before anyone even starts on the whole Self Drive debate? It's incredibly hard as someone doing it professionally with newish kit, some attachments perhaps, fully insured and plenty of experience is going to be miles away from someone taking out the Farm machine between Milking times? I don't have to tell anyone here, it's always the same when someone asks the rate for a Gang with Chipper? I always give full credit to Drew Graham for sticking up a full menu of his prices, I assume they will have a bit of negotiation for longer hires etc, but it's always worth a look? Some serious kit available too! http://www.drewgraham.co.uk/images/plantlist.pdf Eddie.

Looking good Stephen, must have transformed your business that CAT machine. Just one for you, this arrived today and will be mated to the Tracked Dumper which we have now rigged up with swivel hitch and tipping pipe. Should go places with the Dumper pulling it?:thumb up: Eddie.

I've literally been flat out of late so this has dropped off the radar a little, but it's getting around to that time of year again so pleased you prompted me to do something about it. I'll get in touch and discuss the faster winch as speed is literally the main factor to retrieve the main winch cable which in reality can be a struggle for 3 men at times. Thanks. Eddie.

To be honest I try and take the whole tree where possible if the root has to go. It's always easiest to push it over and sort it out on the floor. I dig as much soil off the underside of the root ball as I can with the full weight of the tree still attached, before the root gets cut off. All very easy to say when you have larger machines to hand, but my KX57-4 Kubota would surprise many as to just what it was capable of. I still haven't bought the 'Stump Raptor' I keep promising myself from Northerntrack, they make a great job of them and not crazy money I think too. There's a great little feature on them here Northerntrack?s ?Stump Raptor? does the business | EARTHMOVERS MAGAZINE Eddie.

If Greg had cut them off like that for me to remove there would be some serious long faces all around I can tell you! Why didn't you leave around 8ft on each one to lever them out with, so much easier and kinder to the machine. Eddie.

The Tiger Grip are great bits of kit and may end up with one myself yet as a suitable alternative is not forthcoming. Just something to consider if you're going over a 5 tonne base machine is that these grabs don't have a full excavator type top and rely on a fairly narrow bolt hole pattern for mounting. This can be improved by some simple webs being added around the grab at the join, but obviously this makes it a more permanent solution that can't then have tops swapped for different machines. Not much to touch the Tiger Grip on terms of opening to closing ratio figures too, but hopefully more alternatives will be available soon with a full excavator type top. Eddie.

It's actually possible now to go a bit more mainstream for a solution to this. Bateson Trailers do a high capacity plant trailer with ramps you can easily remove and stow in the pickup bed to really squeeze things to the max if required. This trailer comes in at 535kg with the ramps removed which is some going, and after using a Bateson plant trailer recently, it really was a delight to tow in comparison to my Ifor. It may just provide the solution some are looking for. 35PM Plant Trailer High Carrying Capacity | Bateson Trailers Eddie.

Just PM me anytime Mick if you are ever thinking of going with a grab again and I'll do my best to see what could be setup for you. Obviously it's not going to set the world alight on a 1.5 tonner, but you'd not want to try and match it all day long!:thumb up: Eddie.

A Rotator and Grab is a perfectly reasonable prospect on a 1.5 tonner and depending on which manufacturer the base machine is, some of the work may already have been done. Basically you need a two way auxiliary circuit which most machines will usually have and then tap into the bucket ram circuit via simple diverter valves to utilise this as the second two way circuit. There are two schools of thought as to which way to pipe it, and I actually see no wrong in either way around? Some want to pipe the Bucket Ram into the Grab open/close as it sort of replicates opening/closing a bucket, and then pipe the Rotate into the auxiliary. This is my preferred route, but the bit that puts many off is the auxiliary pipe may have a lot of flow for a small rotator, often utilising a pedal that makes it really fast (even unsafe?) to operate. This can be resolved with a simple flow reducer, but if you have many attachments then it becomes a pain. The other way is obviously use the extra control available via the Bucket circuit to rotate the grab, and use the less controllable auxiliary circuit to simply open/close the grab. Some lucky people may have a machine with two dual acting proportional circuits as standard, and it's simply a case of plugging the grab in. Not likely on a 1.5 tonner, but manufacturers are catching on really fast in the 2.6 tonne range and up. Plenty of Grab and Rotators available, I'd go with something like a Farma setup which will be cheap enough and we have great success with them on the Tracked Dumper. Guys on here will recommend more makes and dealers, and ideally give an idea where you're based, as sometimes it's best to find a good local supplier and they will help you through the fitting. 1k should see even the worst case scenario sorted I'd expect? Eddie.

I'd just treat it as a mobile tree? Place blade in direction of pull and drive reasonably into the ground without flicking the turf over. Place a suitable strop around the base of the slew ring turret which is round/flat/and smooth to prevent any damage, and a better place for loading than anywhere on the arm/linkage. A chain can also be utilised, and thread it through some layflat pump delivery hose to provide a protective sleeve against chain rash on the machine. If you want to provide a bit more bite without any real issues, then slew the excavator around 180 and bury the bucket in. Any pull will be going through the arm as it normally would digging then. Reverse out and the turf should drop back with only a small line left as evidence. A reliable anchor I'd say, but as everything just don't go crazy! Eddie.

The eagle eyed may have just spotted my Kubota in one of the images from Sean, as he's just completed a project for me. I just wanted to say I've used Sean a couple of times now for Specialist applications, and the simple fact is when you need a Menzi nothing else comes close. They really aren't for every application but for those who are prepared to try different solutions it really can pay significant dividends. The Shear combo he currently has is extremely safe in holding material, but the bonus of having the Menzi to power and handle it is significant. You'd be looking at Tracked excavators in the 20 to 30 tonne class to replicate it, and it wouldn't go half the places a Menzi would. The Tracked machine would have a Menzi beat on a wet site, but that's about it? Tricks the Menzi has like folding in incredibly narrow for access or simply lifting up for more reach really have to be witnessed to appreciate fully. If it adds any weight at all to anyone considering giving Sean a call to see what solutions are on offer. He comes highly recommended from me, as a very Safe and Professional Operator and just fits straight in as one of the team. Eddie.

Real head scratcher that Stephen? Most have great success with the fixed post version and a decent Engcon Setup? Did it look like this? [ame] [/ame] Eddie.

What sort of year machine are we talking here Stephen? Was it a fixed Boom Machine or a Kingpost Boom? Any pictures of the setup? 13 tonners especially in 3 metre dipper and quick hitch form, are always generally quick machines and great all rounders. Yes I'd say there are obviously extra stresses, but again it's something you Operate around. These systems really are so adopted in certain countries now I doubt you'd be able to get on general site work without one. My recent trip to Sweden showed virtually everything to have one fitted. Just a random comment on my Sweden Trip, I had a go on a machine called a Eurocomach in both 3 tonne and 8 tonne form. All I can say is if these get themselves a decent Dealer somewhere to take them on, there will be a new entrant coming in extremely high in the charts! The machines were absolutely top quality and superbly finished off, even the 3 tonner was really impressive. Eddie.

Spoken like a true 2 week user Stephen with the greatest respect! I don't know the setup because you'd have to send me a picture, but there are some total horrors out there, caused by people who simply want to dumb the system down to a cost by utilising existing quick hitches buckets etc. This can result in huge build heights/weights which can obviously have negative impacts like you experienced. Simple fact is you would need 300 plus hours even as a reasonably experienced Operator to get towards the best out of the system, and even then almost every operation can be done differently usually to great increases in productivity. The Hitachi is not overly powerful, except on the tracking. Eddie.

Are some missing the point the system has to allow for picking up with a set of Pallet Forks without leaving the Cab or taking anything else with you apart from the Bag and no manual intervention? Eddie.

Greg's face goes as long as that rope at the mere mention of unspooling it! Not often it get used, but the reassurance it gives when required is well worth having it fitted. I have a bit of a special project coming up, so I might ask a friend to come along with his drone setup to capture a bit of action. Eddie.